The Everyday

I don't remember how long ago we started "store" - it's been over a year. The girls get Disney bucks for good behavior and then they get to use their bucks at the mom "store". They still haven't gotten tired of buying little trinkets and always spend tons of time deciding on what they want.

Natalie still has a reputation for very colorful fashion sense. There are still some days when she comes downstairs that I have to blink a few times to get past all the colors and patterns going on!

This is a favorite hiding spot for Angela and Natalie - our winter gear box in the closet. The cat also enjoys hopping in here for naps when the closet is left open.

Angela is learning how to do her laundry now. She is getting so big!

4H Demonstrations

We have had the opportunity this past year to participate in a 4H group that one of our neighbors leads. The girls have enjoyed learning lots of things and making new friends. One of the activities we did was called Demonstrations. The girls pick any skill and teach it to the group. There was actually a competition coming up that the girls could participate in, so we did a practice run for those who wanted to compete. Sarah and Natalie have been learning this last year how to do their own laundry, so that is the skill they decided to demonstrate. They made an adorable washer and dryer out of old boxes and did a wonderful job.

All the girls watching took down notes and shared their input after each demonstration.

Angela and her best friend Abbi did a cute demonstration on how to make watercolor clovers. Abbi's mom, Amy, worked hard teaching them how to do a demonstration and practiced with them during 3 different play dates. They were so cute and excited about it. Angela wanted to practice with me a lot the day of her demonstration. They did so good, especially considering they were the youngest in the group!

St. Patrick's Day Troublemaker

Last year in Family Fun, they had some fun ideas for leprechaun traps that I wanted to try. My girls love trying to "catch" Lucky the leprechaun and see the mischief that he makes when he comes. We decided to try the funny hat trap. Lucky is lured to the gold on top of the hat and climbs the ladder. When he steps on top, the hat gives way and he gets stuck at the bottom.

The sign telling Lucky what NOT to do, tempts him to disobey because leprechauns are full of mischief.

The next morning the girls found green confetti all over and a mess in the kitchen. They were so excited to see if they trapped Lucky. Unfortunately, he got away, but he left golden treats behind.



As he often does, Lucky had to use the bathroom apparently. He always makes a little mess and forgets to flush. (O: (see the green toilet water - the girls' favorite part)

I love this funny mask Angela made at school. (O:

Ms. Sarah

I love the creative things the girls come up with when they are playing. I found Sarah "teaching" her dolls one day when I came up to her room. She loves using her big whiteboard when she is "teaching".

I like how she gave each doll a pad of paper and pencil. And on top of that, she wrote their names at the top and assigned them each a number like her teacher this year did. What a cutie.

Here Comes the Bride!

Natalie has an adorable teacher at school this year. We have loved Miss Duncan. The kids were so excited after Christmas break to see what she got for Christmas - an engagement ring! She is so cute and sent each one of her students their own wedding invitation in the mail which meant the world to all of the kids. Natalie loved looking at the picture of her teacher with her fiance. I think all the little girls in that class had a crush on her fiance! They could not wait for the reception.

Since the reception was out in Midvale, we decided to carpool with Nat's best friend Janie and her mom. Janie is adorable and I have loved getting to know her mom, she's so fun. We had a great time watching the girls anticipation of seeing their teacher and congratulating her. They were so hilarious and got more and more nervous as the line got closer and closer to her. It was like Miss Duncan was a celebrity all of a sudden. Natalie even asked if there would be news cameras there. (o:

The new Mrs. Tingey was very gracious and so cute with the girls. She and her cute husband were so grateful we came out and waited in the long line. I love how Janie has one of the orchids on top of her head in the picture above. (O: She is such a silly - which is why she and Nat get along so well.

We had a great night and I was glad to have a chance to get to visit with Lisa (Janie's mom).

The girls found plenty of other friends at the reception too! It was quite the party!

Sweet Baby Kate

My sister in law told me about a friend of hers who had to deliver her baby very early due to some complications with her pregnancy. My heart went out to her even though I didn't know who she was. I thought it would be neat to help get pictures of her since she was at my mom's hospital and I love little babies. (Mom manages the NICU) So I made the offer to come get some shots of her while she was still itty bitty. Look at those teensy tinsy feet. When I took these, baby Kate was just under 2 pounds.

Shawnte was such a sweet and loving mama. It was fun to meet her. I admire her strength through such a heartwrenching trial.

This is Shawnte's wedding ring!

Little Kate had some meds just before we came so she was very sleepy.

But we managed to get one little peek! (o: What a little angel.

The Silly Dog Story

Once upon a time, I was doing the usual afternoon routine. Doing the dishes, encouraging the little persons in our home to do piano practice, homework, chores, etc. It was all very normal except for the never ending yapping noise coming from the front yard. Our neighborhood has a lot of dogs and some that like to bark, so at first I didn't think anything of it. But it didn't stop and it sounded closer than the usual barking noises. One of the girls finally looked outside and realized that the dog was indeed in our yard, on our sidewalk by the porch. I checked out the situation. It was a little dog, with no owner just yipping away and as I approached it, the yipping got more intense and very loud. Someone walked by on our sidewalk and the dog went crazy, like it was protecting our house or something. I apologized and explained it wasn't even our dog.

Now I have never had a dog. I don't know much about them. I think some dogs are cute, but I wouldn't say I'm a dog person. (Heck, I'm not even a cat person, but I have a cat.) Anyway, I wasn't really sure what to do. I tried to "shew" him/her away with no luck. "Oh well," I thought, "His or her owners will find it pretty easier if I just let it bark here for a while." I went back to my usual routine and mostly forgot about the dog. The barking kind of faded to the background. However, after about an hour and a half, I was starting to get annoyed. That little thing did not shut up that WHOLE time! I couldn't believe something could go on so consistently for so long.

I decided to head back out with a broom this time to scoot the little thing which had moved up to our porch. At one point, someone tried bringing something to our porch and just about got their hand bit off. It was getting ridiculous. That little thing would NOT budge. I had to push it's whole body weight. The poor little thing was so scared it peed on the porch - my feelings were annoyance and sympathy at the same time. I was at a loss so I called Bob* for ideas. He headed home and managed to get the thing off our porch, but it just went in our backyard and hid under the back stairs.

Our next idea was to start asking neighbors and making phone calls. Bob* took a picture on his phone and walked around to all the neighbors houses. I made phone calls using the ward list and my limited knowledge on people in the ward who had dogs. We had a few leads that all piddled out. No one knew someone who was missing a dog after all. Luckily, the poor thing finally got tired and stopped barking. We decided we did everything we could. But then as we watched the news, we realized it was going to get pretty cold - in the 30's that night. That dog was sure annoying, but I didn't have the heart to let him freeze to death. So at 11:00 p.m. the two of us headed outside with a flashlight, a broom and a box. Thank heavens the little thing didn't put up a fight like he had before. We got him in the box pretty easily and took him to the garage where it was lots warmer. We put in an old shirt, some water and a little cat food and hoped he would stay quiet during the night.

This was him the next morning. He was good and didn't make a peep all night. He didn't even make any messes in the box. We still weren't sure what to do. I got a hold of a nice lady at the local shelter and I ended up taking him (or her?) over. It was kind of funny how sad I felt dropping him/her off - I felt so bad for the little thing and was grateful that he seemed to figure out we were trying to help him so he stopped being annoying. Angela and I decided to make some signs to put up around the neighborhood with the phone number to the shelter. Ang was a good little helper. (o:

The lady at the shelter was really sweet and grateful. She told us to Friend the shelter on Facebook so we could keep up on the little dog's status. (They can only keep the animals for so many days, so we were a little worried.) The next day we got great news that the family either saw our signs or just called the shelter and came to pick up their little dog. Hopefully they got a tag to put on him/her so that doesn't happen again. (O: We were so glad that this little dog's story was a happy ending. It would have devastated the girls. They really wanted to keep it. Thank heavens it didn't come to that!

Will's Mission Report

After our fun day with Will upon his arrival from Japan, we got to do some more celebrating with him at his homecoming. It was so neat to attend his ward and hear his mission report and some of the growing experiences he had on his mission. This was shortly after the earthquake in Japan so his emotions were especially tender that day as he spoke of the Japanese people he learned to love so much.

It was very cool to hear him bear his testimony of the Savior in Japanese. Vern* and I got to sit next to one of his companions from his mission which was fun. I just feel so proud of these awesome young men that go out and do miraculous work with so much faith at just 19 -21 years old. This is usually the stage of life when boys can be especially focused on themselves, but our church asks them to sacrifice everything to serve others and the Lord. It really is an amazing thing to see how mature and selfless these young men become during those two years. In other words, I felt very proud of my awesome cousin. And just a side note - not to give all the attention to Will. His older brother Charlie, came home just a year ago as well and I felt the same way. It was a bummer though that I didn't get to be a part of all his fun homecoming celebrating since we were in Oregon. They are good boys. Ahem, good men, I mean. Manly men. (o:

A little Simon Says is always a good way to celebrate!



Kimmie made the most adorable cupcakes for the occasion! Everything is candy. I like the broccoli the best!

My long lost cousin Megan. Well, I guess, I'm really the long lost cousin. I can't help but point out Lara's hilarious face in the background. He he! Sorry Lara! I want to know what she is saying.