SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS

First Did you know I'm doing a preschool. We sacrificed our playroom and tranformed it into a preschool room. Here are the results. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Second. Here is my baby boy on his first day. Interesting fact - his teacher and I went to the same junior high & high school. We were on the cheer squad together. The picture above is him lined up ready to go. The one below is him posing in front of the mass chaos that is the first day of school. I always prided myself on not being a sappy mom, but as Jeff gave him a father's blessing this morning I found that my eyes welled up with tears. I held it together as we dropped him off but the tears are right on the surface and probably will be all day. Man I love that kid!!

Logan's 6

Logan turned 6 on Thursday. We took him and 5 friends bowling. They had a blast but we forgot the camera. We can't believe how big he is. We love him and can't wait to see what he'll accomplish this year. He starts school next month and is so excited.

Good 'ol Friends

While we were in Utah we were able to visit some of our friends "The Beans" who moved up there last year. We had a great time and they took us to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. This is my friend Serene.
Makenzie & Bella
Logan & Maddie
The whole crew.

4th of July Fun

We were able to go to Utah and visit Aunt Pam's family this year for the 4th. Because of daylight savings times fireworks didn't start until almost 10p.m. As you can tell, Logan enjoyed the show. He loves the fact that fireworks can be set off right in the street in front of the house.
Makenzie loved sparklers. That is until she droped one and picked up the wrong end. She burnt her finger pretty good and decided she had had enough.
Ashleigh also enjoyed the light show, but what she really liked was my sister's 100lb golden. She would laugh every time Skipper would come into the room.

Like Father, Like Son

So the other day Logan handed this note to Jeff and then left the room. It says - I accidently saw Fourarms and Heatblast (Ben10 toys we had gotten him and were saving for his birthday). Jeff said he used to be shy like that. He remembers one time when he went to Thatcher after being away for a while and wanted to show his friend his new GI Joe action figure. To "break the ice" he wrote him a note, put it in the door, rang the bell, and left. He then came back a few minutes later and asked his friend, "Did you get my note." And then things were just like he had never left Thatcher.

It is such a fun stage (other than the amount of paper Logan goes through in one day). I love him writing me notes. It's fun to read them and try to figure out what he is saying. He is such a sweet and thoughtful kid. He writes notes all the time like I love you mom, from Logan. It's great!

5 months and counting

Ashleigh is 5 months. They are so fun at this stage. She loves standing in her exersaucer. She tracks things around the room. She takes 1 long nap during the day and 2 shorter naps. She loves to be held upside down. She loves ice cream. She is starting to notice when we are eating food and wonders why she isn't eating with us. I think she is ready for cereal.

Flagstaff - Family Reunion

We had the opportunity to go to Flagstaff for a family reunion a couple of weeks ago. Jeff spent the first part of the week hiking Havasupi then we met up with him on Thursday. He had a very enjoyable time hiking, except for the hike out. We enjoyed the cooler evenings. This is a picture of us at the top of the Snowbowl lift. Ashleigh had had enough by this time. I think her ears were bothering her.

This is on our way down. She's all better now. She went everywhere with us. She is our most portable kid. She slept good away from home. She's so fun to take because she just goes with the flow.
We went to a deer farm about 25 miles west of Flag. We saw deer, reindeer, camels, llamas, goats, pigs, monkeys, and birds. Logan was his usual self getting right in there, Makenzie on the other hand had to be held by Aunt Marcie.
But she soon got over her fear and even pet the animals.

SUMMERTIME FUN

We went swimming at a friends house last week. Ashleigh loved it, although you can't tell by her face. She just kind of hung out. It was so relaxing it put her to sleep. Logan and Makenzie started getting their sea legs back. They were a little scared at first but did better the longer they swam.

GIRLS' CAMP IS OVER ... and we all survived

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to girls' camp this week. This is a pictures of the girls in our ward - all 26 of them (all but one) came to camp. We had a great time. We spent 4 days in the woods and loved every minute of it. We have a great group of girls in the ward. It was exciting to see them interact and include one another. I absolutely love girls camp. It is such a unique and wonderful experience for the girls and their leaders to really get to know one another and feel of the spirit daily.

Thanks to my great husband for supporting me in my calling. I truly love him and don't know where I'd be without him. Thanks to my great mother-n-law who supported my husband by coming to stay with my family when I was gone. Her willingness to help made me feel more at ease as I was away from them, in fact I didn't cry over missing them until last night. Thanks to my children for being so great and easy going. They are good to always go with the flow. Thanks to friends and family who helped mine by entertaining my children or calling to check up on them and Jeff.

I am so happy to have had this experience. It was great!

KINDERGARTEN HERE I COME!

Logan graduated from preschool yesterday. The bucket on his head is an astronauts helmet, not a trash can as you might have thought. This week he wants to be an astronaut so (in his own words) "I can sit on the moon and touch the stars and see shooting stars up close." We are so proud of him. He as learned so much this year. He is starting to read, he writes all of the time, and can add & subtract! WAY TO GO LOGAN!!

4 MONTHS ALREADY

Ashleigh is 4 months old today. We can't believe how fast she is growing. She has started reaching for things and is able to get a hold of them. She is also sleeping between 10 and 12 hours at night.

She is deciding whether or not she's a binky or fingers girl. I have found her in her crib in the

morning on her tummy with her fingers in her mouth.

She started rolling over from her back to her tummy. She also started rolling from her tummy to her back, but doesn't do it as often.

It's been a great 4 months. We love you Ashleigh!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Today at church we had a great sacrament meeting about forgiveness. There were 4 speakers and each one was asked to talk about a Christlike attribute their mothers exhibited. Each one touched on their mother's ability to forgive. They all reference Presiden Faust's talk on forgiveness. If you didn't have the opportunity to hear or read it you ought to. http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-690-24,00.html The bishop's wife talked and said she both loved and disliked sacrament meeting on Mother's day. She said she loved it because if your child happens to be one of the speakers you get to hear all about the wonderful things you do and because you get to hear the primary children sing. She said she disliked it because when other people talk she goes through a check list in her mind and checks off the things she does as a mother. She says she often leaves the meeting with a whole list of things she needs to work on as a mother.

Last night I was not the most patient with my children. Friday I returned from a quick trip to San Diego with a cold and have not been able to sleep or breathe well. Anyway last night as soon as they went to bed Jeff went to the store. They were not quiet and did not go to sleep right away. I had to go in several times to "remind" them that the needed to close their eyes and go to sleep. Makenzie kept talking and all I could hear is Logan saying, "Mom, Makenzie is on my bed. Mom, Makenzie keeps talking." Finally I had to put Makenzie in time out on the couch in the front room for them to take me seriously. Jeff came home put Makenzie back in bed and they all fell asleep. This morning Logan came in and gave me this letter of appology. What a sweet hearted little boy. It wasn't his fault I was so upset last night. It was my choice in how I reacted to them. I love him for his sweet and giving spirit. To translate it says - I am sorry for making you mad. Will you please forgive me? To Mom. I am so thankful to my Father in Heaven for giving me the opportunity to raise these special spirits. I hope that I can always do better at being a mother and work on my own checklist.

SLEEPY GIRLS

Yesterday I caught Ashleigh sucking on the same two fingers that Makenzie sucks on and I caught Makenzie apparently praying while sleeping.

Makenzie 3

We took Makenzies 3 year old pictures yesterday. We are so lucky to have this sweet girl in our lives. These images are scanned and not as good as the original, but the cuteness still comes out.

3 months Already???

Ashleigh has made many milestones this month.

#1 Sleeping through the night! Need I say more?

#2 Sucking - she's found her fist and fingers. I wonder if she'll prefer them over her pacifier.

#3 Holding - she will hold your finger or a rattle if you place it in her hand.
#4 Laughing - she giggles and you can really get her going at times if you're entertaining enough. Check out her dimple on her right cheek.
She really fits our family and eventhough she's only been with us 3 months, it's hard to remember our lives without her in it.

If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.

-Vincent Van Gogh

Whirl wind of a Weekend

We started the weekend on Thursday with opening day for Logan's t-ball team. It was great. He got a hit, but forgot what to do after that, so he got out on first because he didn't run.
On Saturday we had a BBQ to celebrate Ashleigh's blessing and Makenzie's birthday. We had Grandma's & Grandpa's, Aunt's & Uncle's, and cousins all in attendance. We had a lot of fun and a lot to eat.
We also decorated eggs on Saturday. Notice the clean hands. They didn't stay that way for long.

On Sunday we blessed our beautiful baby girl. We are so thankful for all those who were able to make it and sad about those who weren't. Some of the men that stood in the circle escaped without getting their picture taken - Uncle John, Uncle Brad and Grandpa David. We appreciate all those who came, especially those who traveled from far away to join us for our special day. We love you all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAKENZIE!!!!

Our little girl is 3 already. We can't believe it. We had a big family party this past weekend and are continuing the celebration today by going to McDonalds and maybe a movie. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENZIE!! We love you very much!

Fun Times

One of the kids favorite things in the world is forts. Dad uses every blanket in the house to build it and the kids are entertained for hours.

Every Body Panic

You all have to play this game. It's a great time waster when at work or whatever. Pay no attention to the "high scores". They are achieved by hackers who have written macros to cheat. Just compete against yourself.
Jefd

2 months

Ashleigh is now 2 months old. She is getting big so fast. She weighs 10 lbs. 14 oz. and is 23 3/4" long. She is really starting to interact with us. She'll even laugh sometimes. Ashleigh has discovered her tongue and likes to stick it out and she is starting to move her arms and legs more.