Sunday Stations

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Even Twilight gets into Sunday stations (see background)

So in our church, we are taught from the time we are little to keep the commandments. One of them being to keep the sabbath day holy. Now there is no official list of do's and don'ts, but there are some things that we really try not to do - shopping, recreational activities, go to movies, etc. Basically, we try to make Sunday a day when we can focus on the Savior and our family. In our family, we try not to watch TV, jump on the trampoline, play video games or play the fun music that we listen to the rest of the week. It may sound boring, and sometimes my kids think it is, but I think it's really nice. I love to listen to peaceful Sunday music - classical or MoTab (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) or other LDS artists. I love having a break from the TV, commercials, worrying about shopping or running errands, etc. Sometimes we watch a Little House on the Prairie or a church movie.

A friend of mine shared an idea that my kids have loved on the Sundays we've done it. She set up stations like we did in preschool with little activities the kids could do. So I tried it that next Sunday and it was a HUGE hit with my girls! I had a writing station where they wrote a letter to our missionary friend Justin, who is serving in Mexico. We had an Art station where they decorated a Liahona with glitter and sequins - (a Liahona was a compass of sorts from a story in the Book of Mormon - it's an awesome story if you ever want to hear it!), I had a blocks station where the girls had to build a temple using legos, a reading station where I pulled out some old Friend magazines and a Research station where the girls had to look up and answer some questions about a scripture story. We played Sunday music and the girls were entertained for almost 2 hours! They beg every Sunday to do stations now!! Thanks for the brilliant idea Tina!

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Abigail's Graduation Party!

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These are the best neighbors in the whole world. Seriously, I don't think that is an exsaggeration. We love this family so much! Abigail graduated from high school this year and we are excited for her to spread her wings and do great things in her life! Sarah is excited she is going to OSU - apparently, Sarah is becoming quite the OSU fan.

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Natalie and Elizabeth are such a pair - they have recently become the best of friends. (o: They LOVE to play together and no play date is long enough - even if they're together hours and hours it's always sad when it's time to go home. They are both adventurous girls and love Polly Pockets.

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Caryn and her parents. I was taking pictures to give to Abigail for her scrapbook, but I'm glad I got these. You couldn't ask for a sweeter friend and neighbor than Caryn. She would do anything for anyone and takes good care of us! From last minute fingerprints for a science fair project, to cringing with me as Vern* scrapes moss off the roof, to helping her kids watch the house when we are gone. Our most recent trip, I had some people in our ward run over to the house to get something out of the garage. In my haste, I forgot to warn Caryn they were coming. Before the garage was all the way up, she headed over to make sure everything was on the up and up! (o: I was talking to my friend Randie on her cell phone and could hear her saying, "Well you guys don't look like you're trouble!" (O: What a sweetie.

Ice Cream!

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In June, I did a photo shoot at a birthday party at the zoo. I brought Sarah along since it was the family of one of her good friends, Eaden. We had quite the adventure just getting a parking spot. It was ridiculous! We drove around for a half hour and when we finally found a spot and signalled to get in - waiting patiently for the car to leave - another driver came around the corner, looked at me and snuck right in! I couldn't believe it! I was flabbergasted that this old man would be so incredibly rude. Sarah did not see the best side of me that day, but I did resist the urge to leave a 'thank you' note like she suggested. Hmm, do you think the two of us need some anger management? When we finally got in the zoo - after 45 minutes in the parking lot - we had a lovely time taking pictures of Grace's 3rd birthday party. We even enjoyed a fun train ride! When we were done, we called daddy and the girls to meet us for ice cream because it was hot! It was nice to relax and cool off together.

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YW Leader's Waffle Party

From Blog Favorites #4

At the end of my time in young women's, one of the things I was very sad to lose was the close commradery I felt with my amazing young women's presidency and advisors. I wanted to thank them in a special way for the service they had given the girls and support they gave me. They are such wonderful women and I grew to love them so much.

The Saturday after being released, I hosted a Waffle Party for my sweet friends. A few of the ladies could not make it, but Kelly, Janae, Elizabeth and I had a great time talking over our yummy brunch. Christopher* gave me a Belgian waffle maker for mother's day this year - so we made delicious waffles with all kinds of toppings and I had to make Egg Stuff for a special treat too.

We had a fun time hanging out and talking. It was so nice to have a moment to celebrate the time we spent together! I love these ladies so much!

Sarah's Piano Recital

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Sarah has been taking piano lessons from Sister Stott for almost a year. She really has a love for playing the piano. It has been so neat to watch her talent blossom in the two years since she started taking lessons. For this recital, Sarah played a really cute song called "The Spinning Song". When I told my own teacher this she was surprised considering that Sarah has only been taking lessons for 2 years. So she gave me a copy to practice with and I can say, because I've tried to play it - it is not an easy song! (o:

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I need to get better at uploading my videos on here - pictures don't do these recitals justice. (o:

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Marilyn's cute students. Her boys standing in the back played the most amazing duet!

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We love Marilyn. She's been great for Sarah!

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Angela supporting Sarah and getting some yummy sweets at the end for her reward of sitting quietly!

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Poor Nat had a harder time making it through the recital. She got some barkdust in her eye during recess earlier in the day. It was a sad day for her - when she got her owie - she had to wait in the office for mommy to come get her. (I was at Out of This World with Angela, Tina and Tori - thanks to Tina for taking Angela so she could stay and play - we had only been there a half hour when I got the call from school.) Then we ran her to the doctor to make sure everything was okay and worked hard all day to help it feel better.

Twist Her

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The girls have discovered the fun of a classic game. I've played a couple rounds with them and it felt a lot like Yoga! Great workout! (O: The girls are WAY better than me!

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Young Women - Sewing Night

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After BillyBob* was called into the bishopric, I knew my time in young women's was short. It was so sad to think about leaving my girls, so I was grateful that it took a few weeks for things to get sorted out. I continued to be YW president for another month after initially finding out I would be released. I was grateful for the time to let it sink in and soak up as many more memories and hugs as possible. This was my last hoorah - our sewing project. We worked on sewing pajamas with my sweet seamstress friend, Rebecca. It took three weeks. I didn't get to go to the very last one, but I heard they were a hit and turned out so cute. I really wanted to go and get one more picture, but at that point I really felt like I needed to step back and let go. Plus, after taking all three girls with me to YW 3 weeks in a row, I was burned out. It helped me to realize that it really was a wise thing for me to be released. Two big callings in one family is too much!

I love the picture above of Natalie, Angela and 'big' Natalie. (she's not big, just bigger than little Nat!) My girls really love and adore the young women. That was one of the wonderful perks/ blessings of my calling. I loved them looking up to my YW - good girls who know how to have fun and be happy. Great role models for my little young women!

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Look at that concentration on Ellie, Tana and Heidi's faces!

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Hannah and her friend Michelle.

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I'll add this to my collection of funny Lizzy shots!

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I'm glad Kim pointed out Natalie to me while a few of us were chatting. Here was my Nat - who found a creative use for the fabric scraps - overlooking the activity. (O: Such a trend setter!

Natalie's Violin Recital

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Natalie's second violin recital was lots of fun. She knew what to expect and had more confidence. Plus, because she's been doing a lot of practice learning to read notes (the 'songs' she practices are more like drills), she got to play the same song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" but a bit fancier and with even better hand position. It's fun to see how much she's learned in the last 6 months. She was so cute. It was also really neat to see the amazing talent of the older students and Heidi's family. Very inspiring for Natalie! (o: Although, by the end, as she checked off all the performers on the program she wasn't feeling inspired; just hungry!

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I think Natalie's favorite part was going to Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate her hard work!

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I had to get a picture of each of the girls trays. They crack me up. Natalie LOVES veggies and fruit so she had a pretty colorful tray.

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Angela's tray - actually I'm surprised to even see peas made it on there!

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And Sarah's lovely yellow tray. (o:

Surprise!

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We got some cute IKEA shelves for the girls' room a few months ago and I finally made some picture labels to put on the baskets so the girls know which basket holds what. I posed the objects on Angela's bedspread in categories.

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Things were going well until a "helper" showed up. (O:

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Somebody was curious and wanted to see what was going on.

Zoo Trip!

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We had a free Saturday and decided to go on a zoo trip as a family. We haven't been all together since Christmas time. As soon as we got there it started pouring rain! We weren't prepared with good raingear (sad for a northwest family, eh?) so we purchased a couple umbrellas. Wouldn't you know the rain subsided 10 minutes later! I was happy to finally have a good umbrella though - our purchase didn't go to waste. It's the perfect 'waiting at the bus stop in the rain' umbrella.

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It seems like when the weather is not so fabulous, the animals are always more interesting and active. This was certainly true today!

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This was the most active we'd ever seen these black bears - it was fun!

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The new lion exhibit was really cool!

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A cute little something or other. (o: Muskrat? Something furry and cute.

By far, the highlight of the day was watching the cougar. I will try to get the video up later that I took. One of the cougars climbed up a tree and sat down - on it's rear end - on a branch of the tree. It's bum was hanging over one side and it was sitting up like a person looking around. It was such a weird thing to see! Everyone was laughing pretty hard.

Daniel Beck and Jenny Frogley concert

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I LOVE the Venetian Theater in downtown Hillsboro and heard last minute about a concert being held there. So I sent out an e-mail asking if anyone wanted to go with me. Michelle, who is always up for something fun (like Twilight midnight movies!) responded and came along. Yay! I decided it would be fun to bring Sarah along too. She had never been to a concert before and loves music. We had a super fun girls night together. Daniel and Jenny are amazing entertainers. They pulled together a wonderful night! They arranged for the local high school ensemble/choir to learn a few pieces for backup and the high schoolers even sang a few of their own numbers. I was so impressed with the talent of the high school kids. Daniel and Jenny were not only amazing singers, they had us laughing quite a bit. I was so grateful to have Michelle and Sarah there - what a wonderful girls night!

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Movie Night!

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In May, the Booster Club sponsored our second movie night. The first one was such a hit and fairly easy to run, that we decided to try it again. Because it was nicer weather and there were still lots of sports going on, our turn out wasn't quite as good. Plus, something we didn't even think of was the windows way up high on the west side of the gym allowed lots of sunlight to come in right when we were starting the movie. It made the movie a bit hard to see for a short time, but no one seemed to mind. (o:

The kids loved watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and eating popcorn, licorice and other treats with their friends.

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Kim and Megan helping out at the snack bar. (O:

Sweetheart

I found a homemade note with Natalie's signature adorable handwriting on it in her school folder today. She used scraps from her flashcards she uses at school in reading. I almost threw it away, it didn't look like anything important. I'm so glad I looked closer.

This is what is said, "deer Mis calish I am soree that you had to get that hord opurashen on you."

She melts my heart. One of Natalie's teachers had to go in for emergency gall bladder surgery and has been gone for two weeks.

Natalie has always had such a compassionate heart. She does so many things that just pull at my heartstrings. I love to remember these things on days when we are butting heads, which seems to be a lot lately. I love my Nat.

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Violin Lessons With Heidi

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I happened to have my camera on Friday afternoon as Natalie and I went to violin lessons, so I decided to snap a couple pictures. Natalie LOVES violin lessons and she loves Heidi even more! She always is so wiggly during lessons because she is so excited. It has been neat to see Natalie progress and learn how to read music with her violin!

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Heidi and I thought that Natalie's outfit reminded us of Julie Andrews/Maria in The Sound of Music - especially carrying her violin case (rather than the guitar). She even walked around swinging it just like Maria.

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What a funny kid. Every single time we leave Heidi's house - Natalie has to go over to the wind chimes to the right of Heidi's garage and wiggle them a bit. It's part of her routine.

3rd Grade Field Trip Downtown

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It seems like the kids had a field trip marathon at the end of the year! Sarah's grade actually had two field trip days right in a row. I had never missed a field trip for any of my girls, but doing two right in a row was a bit much, so I missed the one to the Forestry Center the day before this one. We got to go downtown and see a play - I think it was called "Wayside School" or something like that - based on a book the kids read during the year. It's pretty kooky. The kids loved it and we had a good time.

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Sarah's got so many friends, they all wanted to sit by her. But I wanted to sit by her too! (o: I was grateful that she humored me and let me be one of the lucky two that she sat by! I think Abby forgave me by the time the play was over. She was pretty bummed.

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Jensen has been Sarah's best friend in Mrs. Elliott's class this year. They are so cute together and have had arranged for playdates throughout the year. Jensen is a cutie, and her mom is our good friend too!

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The five girls I was in charge of. Two Abby's in the group - funny, I almost named Sarah Abby - it was less common. I've been surprised how few Sarah's her age we actually know.