Summertime

I love Summertime because........I love spending time with my kids. I don't have to be on a schedule. We get to stay up late and sleep in. We get to travel and go camping. The water at the lake is finally warm enough for me to get in and it's pageant season!

This summer we spent our time packing in as much fun as we could squeeze into one summer! School got out on my birthday. We celebrated our 12th anniversary the next day. A week later was Whitney's 9th birthday. We celebrated with a "tea party" with her friends. I competed in the Mrs. Utah United States pageant and made several trips to SLC for rehearsals, photo shoot and dinner Gala.We took the kids to the monster truck show. We spent a week in San Diego at the beach house. Caysen learned to ride a bike. Uncle Fred taught him on the beach and John practiced with him on the boardwalk. We went to Lego Land. Caysen got his teeth fixed with 12 silver crowns and about 16 cavities filled.We spent a week in SLC and took the kids to the Zoo, Taylorsville Dayzz, Lagoon and Park City where we road the Alpine slide and coaster. Caysen celebrated his 5th birthday with a Transformer party at Jumpin' Jacks. My friend Lisa moved to Las Vegas right when school got out. Her and the kids came to stay with us for 4 days and we spent a lot of time swimming and relaxing. I went to Las Vegas to see the Mrs. United States pageant. We went to Brian Head to spend the 4th of July with my new friend Megan at her condo. Two weeks later we went back with our toy hauler and went camping. We rode the razor on a trail to Panguitch Lake. John had knee surgery. Whitney practiced cheer all summer long and made team captain. Caysen started gymnastics. Whitney got her braces off. We went camping for our family reunion at the Lodge Pole campground in the Uinta Mountains then we went to Vernal for a couple of nights with my mom and dad where we took the kids to dinosaur land. My friend Leslie and her family came to visit and we spent 4 days swimming, shopping, boating, 4 wheeling, went to the Washington County fair where we saw the annual demolition derby and the kids walked on water. We had a BBQ, went frog hunting, saw Aladdin at Tauchaun and hiked the narrows at Zion's. After an eventful summer you can see why it's hard for it to come to an end but I'm pretty sure we were able to squeeze in all our favorite things! Now that summer is over I'm trying to be better about being on a schedule. I'm going to make it part of my schedule to update my blog at least once a week.

Family Ties

About a year ago we had a very challenging time in our marriage. Satan is real and he will try his hardest to break our families apart. We have learned how important it is to stay close to our Heavenly Father. We decided to make some changes to help us grow spiritually stronger. Since then, we started having family home evening, nightly scripture study and family prayer. We have grown spiritually, have a closer family bond, a better understanding of the gospel and a stronger testimony. I have so many blessings to be thankful for. I truly am grateful to have the gospel in my life. I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, I am thankful for the atonement and the gift of repentance. I am thankful for my challenges and trials in life because they make me grow stronger. I am thankful for a kind loving husband who is willing to grow spiritually with me. He is a hard worker, a wonderful husband and amazing father. I'm thankful for my children, the gift of motherhood and the opportunity to teach them. They are my life and the air I breath. I love their sweet spirits and do my best to raise them to be respectful, honest, compassionate and to treat everyone equal. I am thankful for life and all it brings; the ups and downs, learning new things, discovering new talents and just enjoying the journey.

My 4th Grader

Really? 4th grade? Where does the time go? I remember 4th grade like it was yesterday! That was the year I had Mr. Shalappi. He had a treasure chest full of candy used as bribery for good behavior. That was the year I learned division. I also remember accidently stapling my finger. Whitney was not one bit excited for school to start. It's really sad that she hates school so bad at such a young age. I took her to school to help her find her class, meet her teacher and take a few pictures. It wasn't long after I got home that I started missing her. I enjoy summertime and having my kids around. I love spending time with them doing fun things, traveling and not being on a schedule. I love staying up late and sleeping in too! When Whitney got home and I asked her how her first day went I was surprised by her answer. "AWESOME"! She said math was easy and her teacher was nice. She told me about how they can earn play money and buy things at the 4th grade store. She was pretty excited about that! I'm greatful she had a good first day and hope her positive attitude remains for the rest of the year (probably not but it's wishful thinking)!

Whitney with her teacher Mrs. Nielson

Family Photshoot

I'm so excited to have our family pictures back. In October we had Melissa Mckinley Photography and Design do a photo session with our family. I am very pleased with the way the photos turned out and I will definitely use her again in the future!

Baptism

Today Whitney made a choice to follow the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She chose to be baptized. What a beautiful day! Words cannot express the thoughts, feelings and emotions I felt today. It was wonderful to have so many family members and friends witness her special day. I couldn't help but think back to when she was just a baby in her blessing dress. Now here she is dressed in white in her baptism dress. The next time she will be all dressed in white will be on her wedding day.

I took Whitney to the temple grounds to have her baptism pictures taken. Whitney loves the temple and talks about it a lot. She was so excited to be going to the temple to have her pictures taken. She was disappointed when she realized that we were taking pictures outside and not going inside the temple. She always asks me when she can go inside and what it looks like. However, her eyes lit up when she saw a bride getting her pictures taken too. She said "Look mom, she got married in the temple". Whitney's favorite Primary song is "I Love To See The Temple". This song was sang today at her baptism. It brought tears to my eyes. As it was being sung I thought about how much she loves the temple and wants to go inside and be married there. I hope to one day see her in her third white dress inside the temple.

Here is a poem that I really liked and put in her baptism book:

Daughter of a king,
born of royalty.
Sent to earth to learn and grow,
a light for all to see.
You'll take many little steps along the path of life,
some are full of happiness, others full of strife.
But remember God is always there,
his blessings he send to you.
He wants you to be clean and pure
and keep your covenants true.
May the white be a reminder to stay unspotted, pure and clean,
For you are born of royalty,
the daughter of a king.

The most memorable part of the day was watching her step into the font. My mom was sitting next to me and as John raised his hand and spoke the baptismal words my mom grabbed onto my arm and pulled me close. She had a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. This was a special moment for me because my mom has been inactive since I got married. I know she felt the spirit. I watched as my daughter's sins were washed away and she became clean and pure.

After she was baptized we were taken into a room where she was confirmed and given the gift of the holy ghost. The room was full of family and friends. Everyone wrote and little something special that was put into a book for her. Then we took some pictures and headed back to our house for a special luncheon in her honor where she opened gifts people brought for her. The look on her face when she opened her own set of scriptures from mom and dad was priceless! She was so excited to finally have her very own scriptures!

I am proud of her and the decision she has made to follow in the footsteps of Christ. I pray and hope she will always stay on the right path and hold to the rod. I fear I have not done my best as a mother to prepare her for baptism and teach her about the importance of it and the covenants we make. I can only do my best here on out by being a good example to her.

It's Great To Be Eight!

Whitney celebrated her 8th birthday with a pirate party! I went a little "ALL OUT" for this party and it cost "A LOT" of money! The things we do for our kids, right? Maybe I went a little overboard this year. I tell myself every year that I am going to keep it simple next year but it never turns out that way. This time I am "SERIOUS"! Next year it will definitely be more simple. I made it too hard on myself this year with a 4 hour party, lots of time planning, shopping, spending money, decorating, organizing games and activities and putting together invitations.

For the invitations we sent little messages in a bottle. It was a plastic bottle with the invitation and sand inside. Whitney wanted to go to Pirate Island Pizza but I thought it would be fun to have a treasure hunt and do some other fun activities at home. So, we ended doing both!

We went to Pirate Island Pizza first where we ate pizza, played games in their arcade and posed for cute pictures of course! I bought Whitney a pirate costume just for her party so I had to take advantage of the atmosphere. They have a pirate ship, caves, water falls, a jungle and pirate stuff that makes for cute pictures.



After Pirate Island Pizza we moved the party to our backyard. I had it decorated cute and spent a lot of time setting up for the treasure hunt.







I gave each kid an eye patch, earring and bandanna so they could be dressed as Lil' pirates.


First we did some crafts. I had bought little card board treasure chests for the kids to decorate. They had a blast adding gold coins and jewels to their boxes. I also bought little bottles that the kids could put sand in and make there own message in a bottle. We played pin the treasure chest on the X. Then I gave each kid a loot bag and a treasure map for the treasure hunt. I had clues all over the yard. Each clue led to the next clues until they found the treasure. For example: "Go where monkey's swing and sway, you can play here all day". The answer is the monkey bars. The last clue was "buried deep in the ground the treasure chest can be found! So use your hand to dig in the sand"! I had a treasure chest full of plastic coins, gum coins, jewels, rings and necklaces buried in the sand trap on the putting green.



I think this was the highlight of the party. The kids loved it! After the treasure hunt the kids broke open the pinata'. Then we had to take a break because whitney had her batism interview with the bishop. I thought the party would be over in time but it wasn't. So all the kids played on the playground while Whitney was gone. When Whitney got back we had cake and ice cream. I looked on line to find the perfect cake and I had my friend Wendy make it. It turned out so cute!


After cake Whitney opened her presents. She got spoiled rotten with so many presents. She got heelies and a DS game from us and lots of toys from her friends. On top of everything else the kids got they also got to go home with a goodie box filled with more pirate stuff!



It made me feel good when Whitney thanked me and told me this was the BEST party ever!

Whitney's Dance Review

This has been a VERY BUSY year with Pizazz Dance Team. I guess we really didn't know what we were getting into before we started. Whitney and her friend Shandelle wanted to take dance together. My friend Melanie had a neighbor who danced with Pizazz and that is how we heard about it. It's a professional dance team with a lot of technique and structure. There were endless mandatory practices and performances. They performed at "The World Senior Games" and during basketball games at every High School in the valley. They also competed in a competition. Here are some pictures from the dance review. It was a special night. Everyone dressed up, each dancer got a rose, was escorted by their father, had their name announced and had a special daddy daughter dance. I of course got teary eyed as I watched John hold Whitney in his arms as they danced to "Butterfly Kisses". I thought back to my wedding day when I danced with my father to that same song. Time really does go by too fast! I don't even want to think about Whitney's wedding day.

I do however LOVE to watch Whitney dance and reminisce back to when I was a dancer. It was fun to watch her perform at the basketball games. It reminded John and I of being in that high school moment all over again! LOL

I have to say my favorite moment was watching Whitney perform her ballet dance for the first time. It took my breath away! She was so beautiful and graceful. She had so much poise! She must take after me because ballet was always my stronger point. I didn't care much for jazz and I was not very coordinated. But when it came to ballet it just came easier for me. Whitney always talks about wanting to do ballet. That was the whole reason I signed her up for dance. I guess I need to find something that focuses more on ballet and less on jazz or hip hop. Her ultimate goal is to do ballet on point but you have to be at least 12 years old to start.

Whitney decided she didn't want to do Pizazz again next year. I think she was too overwhelmed with all the practices and performances on top of school, homework and no time for friends. I'm still hoping maybe after having a break she will want to take a ballet class because she is so good at it!


Whitney before the show


Whitney being escorted by her daddy


Whitney dancing with her daddy


The Pizazz Team


Whitney and Shandelle


Whitney and her friend Emma


Whitney in her ballet costume after the show