A Day at the Zoo

I finally got Evan to go to the zoo with me and the kiddos! We have only had one-year zoo passes three different times in the last eight years and he still has managed to not go. In fact, today he said that this was the first time he has ever been to the zoo! When he was on his mission he went to a wildlife park, but that has been it. We had a great day, the weather was great, and the kids were tired by the time we finished seeing all the animals they wanted to see.

Spencer especially enjoyed the elephants and the reptiles. While he was watching the snakes he started moving his tongue like the snake! 1 1/2 is such a great age.

I didn't get great pictures, but the ones I got will do. For some reason when I ask Spencer to smile for the camera, he closes his eyes!

I guess they do pay attention

I always wonder as a mother how much influence I really have on my children and how much they watch me. Well, the other night Spencer suddenly hopped off Evan's lap, ran to the bathroom and pretended to throw up. I missed that one and the three times he did it after that over the next few days. Well, I finally caught it on video. I guess Spencer has seen me throwing-up quite a few time over the last two months and thinks that that is just what you do!

Taneal's Birthday

Taneal turned 8! It is great to be 8! All she wanted for breakfast was donuts, instead of the cinnamon rolls I offered to make. I was grateful for her decision. For lunch she didn't want us to visit her at school because she cries when we leave. So, Evan picked her up early from school and took her to get an ice cream, only she wasn't hungry so she didn't get one. They went and got balloons. That night we had Troy and Becky over for a family party. Taneal wanted enchiladas for supper and she doesn't like icing, so she didn't want me to decorate a cake for her. She wanted her cake frosted with whip cream. I was getting off easy with everything!

For a gift we got her scriptures with her name engraved and a carrying case and a hymn book to match. She was very excited. Becky got Taneal such thoughtful gifts: a card making kit with assessories, a High School Musical shirt to wear while Taneal sings and dances to the movie, and new soccer shin guards. Taneal didn't like the ones she had., so she was very appreciative.

Taneal also was given the option to not have a friend party and just go out with a friend. So, Saturday night she and Bailey (her best friend from school who also had a birthday last week) went to a ceramic art shop and painted. Bailey's mom came because we were also celebrating Bailey's birthday. After two hours of painting, we went out to dinner at Chili's. It was a fun night and a great way to celebrate Taneal's birthday.

President Hinckley

I know many have posted about the passing of our beloved prophet, but I would feel ungrateful to not post it to my blog as well. He was a remarkable man and will be missed. I think it hit me of his passing when I was looking through a picture book that I made with Spencer. In this book was a picture of President Hinckley. I pointed to it to tell Spencer his name, and realized this sweet man is no longer here with us. I knew President Hinckley. He touched my life and helped me be a better person, a better mother, and a better wife. I am so grateful for a living prophet and that even though this great man will be missed, our Heavenly Father will not leave us without guidance and direction. He will give us another prophet who we can follow. And I think of the reunion of President Hinckley and his wife. What a glorious reunion.

Woes of Pregnancy

Colleen Melven

One of the most influential people of my life passed away Saturday morning after battling Melanoma cancer. She will be greatly missed.

This picture was taken this last summer.

About a month ago her son, who I was great friends with all through High School, emailed me and asked me to send some of my memories that they would compile into a book and give her as a Christmas present. Although I am not a great writer, I sent the information, and here is what I wrote:

One of my first memories is visiting Brother and Sister Melven when they lived in Ft Worth. I don’t remember where they lived, but they had a great back yard. Their lot seemed to be narrow and deep. I also remember they lived in a somewhat older home. My next memory goes to a long, long, long drive clear out in the middle of nowhere, maybe Arkansas (not really that far). They found some property that was in the hill-Billie country that they wanted to buy. It was very pretty but so far away. They did not end up buying that property because we both moved to Weatherford. One day I would like to know where that property is and if it really was that far out.

When I was twelve, Sister Melven became my Beehive advisor. She taught every Sunday. She really loved the girls in her class. She always had a great time and allowed us to enjoy ourselves while teaching the lesson. I always felt the spirit, I knew what Sister Melven was teaching was true, and I knew Sister Melven really did care about me. When I finished Beehives, I guess I hadn’t learned everything I was supposed to because Sister Melven was called to be my Sunday school teacher. She also taught again in Young Womens, she was always called to be some kind of teacher to me. I am a better person because of that. Sister Melven always was a part of my youth. I always respected her and loved her presence. I still have the high school graduation card they sent me. Even before Sister Melven got sick, I cried every time I read it because of the love and support they always extended to me. If I listed the five most influential people in my life, Sister Melven would be at the top. I really believe because of her willingness to serve throughout my youth, because her testimony that she shared, her love of the Savior, and her love of me, I was married in the temple and have been able to grow my testimony and truly be happy. She let me feel the spirit time and time again so that I recognized how precious it was and I desired to have it with me. She was always there encouraging me and lifting me up when I was down. I love sister Melven and I am so grateful the Lord used her as an instrument in my life.

One of my funniest memories was staying at the Melven’s home when they were out-of-town. I was in college and home for the summer. After finishing up at the snow cone stand, I went over to the Melven’s home to house-sit. They had a pet iguana. I am not a big animal person because quite frankly animals scare me. Yes, the iguana scared me. Not only did I not like the iguana, but one evening it managed to get loose in the house. There was no way I was going to sleep with that thing running around the house. I tried to capture it without getting to close, but to no avail. I finally called some guy I knew that lived in Ft Worth to come all the way out to Weatherford to catch the loose reptile. I think I might have even waited outside for my friend to come because I was so afraid of being in the house with that thing loose.

Another memory I have is of “TP”ing the Melven’s home. We set off with rolls and rolls of toilet paper and headed towards the Melven’s home. I guess my brother, Michael, was mad that he was left behind, and he called the Melvens and gave them a heads up that we were coming. Brother Melven was waiting on the front porch with the watering hose. I can’t remember if he got us wet or not, but I do remember getting in the car and taking off like a mad man down their narrow road in reverse. I accidentally touched the brakes too hard and did a 180 right in the road without touching the edges of the street. The front of the car magically spun around and I no longer needed to use reverse. I was scared out of my pants! I had never driven like that before and have never driven like that since then.

I have so many more memories, but just fragments of little things here and there. What stands out most is the influence this remarkable couple had on my life. I am a better person, a happier person because of Greg and Colleen Melven. I will miss Sister Melven so much.

On the first day . . . .

I received this email today and thought it was pretty funny. I hope you enjoy it:


On the first day, God created the dog and said:"Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years." The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?" So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said: "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family For this, I will give you a life span of sixty Years." The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years." But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?" "Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.
For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.
For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.
And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you...

My Little Penguin!

Last week I had my first ultrasound. The heart beat was strong and look at my little baby! It still is maturing and developing all its vital parts and has a long way to go, but how fun to be able to see it.

My Birthday

Last Friday was my birthday, over a week ago. Yes, I'm just now writing about it, but it us worth writing about. I live in a fantastic neighborhood and Ward with amazing people. Thursday night before my birthday, my friend Nichole, arranged to take me to the movies. She invited many of my friends and we went and saw PS, I Love You, the 10pm show. This didn't interfere with bedtimes so the husbands didn't mind. Nine of us ended up going to the late movie. It was a tear-jerker (and being pregnant didn't help)and a lot of fun to go out with the girls. We got home after midnight.

The next morning I was served breakfast-in-bed. My girls enjoyed helping Evan make pancakes and scrambled eggs with oranges and milk. Later that day my brother, Dan, showed up from out-of-town. He was only able to stay a short time, but I enjoyed seeing him. Nichole brought over some peanut-butter M&Ms, which I was actually able to eat. I had many happy birthday phone calls. Around 5, three of my other friends showed up with supper and a cake. Another friend dropped by banana bread and then Saturday night my sister-in-law, Becky, brought over supper and a gift card for a pedicure and movie. Friday night I called it quit right after dinner and went to bed. The kiddos stayed up and watched a movie with Evan while I snoozed away.

With as yucky as I have been feeling, I had a wonderful birthday. I live amongst the most wonderful people and I feel so blessed everyday to have such great friends and family. In the 33 birthdays that I have now had, this one will be remembered the most because of the kindness and generosity that was given in so many ways. Thanks for giving me such a great birthday!

And we even had to call the police!

I was so tired tonight that around 6pm I decided I needed to go to bed. I immediately fell asleep until I heard Camie crying because Danielle had pinched her. Evan was gratefully cooking supper and told Danielle to come downstairs so he could talk to her. Of course she wouldn't and he was in the middle of cooking, so the matter would be dealt with later. I fell back to sleep. About 20 minutes later Evan woke me up and said he had searched the entire house and couldn't find Danielle anywhere. I got up, searched closets, under beds, in stacks of laundry, under blankets, everywhere. Remember back to my blog entry titled "While you were sleeping" and Danielle had fallen asleep in a laundry basket in the closet? She has a terrible habit of hiding when she does something she knows she shouldn't, such as hurting her sister. She has scared me a few times before, but we were always able to find her within a few frantic minutes. This time Evan was really worried. I emptied the closets, ripped apart beds, and Danielle was no where to be found. We even turned on the fire alarm in hopes of waking her up so she would come out of hiding. Evan noticed the front door unlocked, and we always keep the door locked. He immediately started his search outside while shouting at me to call the neighbors and really start a search. I called a few friends and then 911. This whole time I was still searching my house. And my house isn't that big! The dispatcher kept me on the phone while I searched. Two of my neighbors came inside my house and were searching. Finally Evan came back home and told us that she had to be in the house. He walked behind the couch downstairs and under a few folded blankets, Danielle was sleeping. She is so small that she hid so well. We had checked there, but because the blankets were so thin and still folded, she was missed. Right as we found her, four police cars showed up outside. Several of my other neighbors were frantically searching outside. She scared us all so bad. I thought I had it in her head before that she should not hide from me when she thinks she is in trouble. I had her talk to the police to emphasize this point. Hopefully she doesn't scare us like this again. I was so grateful to have all the people that were helping look come over to me afterwards and hug me and Danielle and cry and tell us they love us. We have some pretty great neighbors and friends. Thanks to all who helped in the search!

Danielle learned to write her name!

We have been working on Danielle learning her name. I started teaching her to spell her name with a little jingle. I think I sung that song over one hundred times while we were running errands around town until one day I caught her singing it. She was so stubborn that she refused to sing it. Once she sang it completely, she got a cone from McDonalds. Since then I have been doing different activities to help her write her name and recognize the letters. About a week ago I used a big heart paper punch and punched out 8 hearts and wrote a letter from her name on each heart. She had to put them in the right order by herself by singing the song. I bribed her with a Strawberry Shortcake Movie, and she learned to write her name (still using the hearts, but arranging them without my help). She earned the movie. Over the last few days Danielle has learned to write her name without the use of the hearts and spent most of Sacrament Meeting yesterday writing her name.

Well done, Danielle!

Is my memory really that bad?

I don't have any fancy pictures or video clips. I also am way behind on new posts. What I am doing is a lot of laying around on my couch trying to eat crackers and ice chips in hopes of not throwing up. We are expecting baby number five and couldn't be more excited. I was hoping to be pregnant by December so that the baby would be born before Sept 1, thus not putting more then a year in between Spencer and the baby. All my children will be two years apart in school. Perfect timing, right? In the planning of it, yeah. But things happen. I sat through Sacrament Meeting today listing to all the comments about how the Lord refines those He loves through trials. I think I am very loved. I am blessed. I really am excited to be having another child, but the stress of circumstances around me are a bit overwhelming.

The stress started when Evan called me late in November and told me his company was laying off 260 employees, including us. At the time of planned pregnancy our insurance covered us 100% with no deductible. Free baby sounds great! Well, now that has changed. Baby just went from free to $12,000! I just had one eighteen months ago, I'm pretty confident on the price. Not to worry, right? So a week after Evan was layed off we found out we were pregnant. Very excited, but also very worried. Christmas came, as did a new transmission in my van. Evan was on the way to pick up my brother and his family for the holidays at the airport when the transmission suddenly went out and he had to turn around and come home. The tow truck took the van to the transmission place. OUCH! I'm back and running, just a little thinner.

Now to the title of this post. I have had four pregnancies before. I should remember what the first trimester is like? You'd think. As I remember, morning/all day sickness didn't start until week 7. This one started at week 5. With my others I could have used a nap, but it wasn't necessary. This one I lay on the couch all day. I swear I am not being lazy, but my body is sooo tired. I have no energy or motivation. I also have no appetite. I don't remember that part either. Evan and I got a sitter last night and we went out to dinner (yes, I was in my comfy pants) at a favorite Mexican restaurant. We never go out to dinner so this was a real treat. I was practically salivating as I was ordering. The waitress brought me my dinner and I took two bites and couldn't eat any more. I was so nauseated! I started crying! I wanted this food so bad and I couldn't eat it! I know my memory isn't that bad. This pregnancy is being just plain hard. It is all of my pregnancies combined times 10! I want this baby bad, but I think I have a lesson or two to learn before it gets here.

And a side note, who shows at 7 weeks? Not just thinks they're showing, but really is? All my normal clothes are snug and uncomfortable. The only thing that fit for church today was an elastic waist skirt!

And here I am adding to my blog because this is a place where you can learn all about me. Actually, I was trying to sleep but Evan has this horrible snore that regardless of how hard I try to ignore it, I just can't. If he rolls over, he stops snoring. When Evan initially falls asleep he isn't too friendly, so regardless of how persistent I was, he refused to roll over and I refused to lay in bed getting mad, so I came downstairs to vent on my blog. And Evan won't remember a thing when he wakes up in the morning!

Christmas morning

I remember so well Christmas as a child. I loved and hated the anticipation of what Santa would bring. Magic was in the air, even as I was a teenager. There is nothing better then to relive that magic through your own children. I love to watch my children so excited. I love shopping and anticipating their reaction. I think I have a harder time sleeping Christmas Even then my children.

This Christmas Taneal woke to the sound of jingle bells. She thought Santa had come upstairs to check and see if she was sleeping because she kept hearing bells jingle. When she realized what it really was, she was wide awake and it was 5:30am! (What she heard was my mom getting up to use the bathroom and her necklace, which always has a bell on it, jingling as she walked.) Taneal came into my room and asked if it was too early to wake her sisters up and go downstairs. I wondered what the decision would be. Growing up, I was not allowed to leave my room until 7am, which was absolute torture. In Evan's family, as soon as they woke up, they could go out. Of course this would be my option, since I was so excited anyways. The only problem was that my parents were here for Christmas as was my brother and his wife. I loved having them visit, but would they want to get up? I think I reverted for a moment back into the kid mode where I was going to have to follow my parents rule. I quickly recovered. I didn't wrestle with this in my mind but a split second. I opened my parents' bedroom door and told them the kiddos were awake and then I did the same to my brother. I love being an adult and making those decisions! Eric and Angela's baby is 5 months old, so I don't think they were quite feeling the excitement at 5:30am. But they still got up and we had a wonderful Christmas morning. The video is a little long, but it is a clip of our Christmas morning, the most magical moment of the year.

Camie

Danielle and Spencer

Taneal

Danielle and Grandpa Bell

Angela and Aaron

The new playset!

Around Thanksgiving, my parents told me what they wanted to get us for Christmas. a week later a semi-truck delivered 5 boxes weighing over 1000 pounds. The kiddos asked what those boxes in the garage were, and I told them they were just some of dad's projects. They were satisfied with that answer. Christmas Eve came and I disappeared with the kids for the ENTIRE day. As soon as Camie woke up, my mom and I woke up the rest of the kids and left for breakfast at Denney's. Evan, my dad, Troy, my brother Eric, and a good friend in the ward and neighborhood, all were in the backyard assembling the play set. We then met my friend, Jana and her three kids and traveled to the zoo. The zoo was surprisingly not crowded at all. We stayed at the zoo for about 5 hours. We came back to Jana's house. She watched the kids while my mom and I quickly finished our Christmas dinner shopping. All the stores closed at 6pm! At dark (around 6pm) Evan called with the green light to come home. We came home and the kids did not suspect anything. We had the blinds shut and I had put my Christmas cards on the back door so they couldn't see out. We had a great Christmas Eve and put the kiddos to bed. They woke up at 5:30am for Santa and never suspected a thing, until I asked Camie to open the blinds because it was finally getting light outside. I love Camie's reaction in the video.

A New Tradition

My friend Nichole recently told me of her family tradition of decorating homemade gingerbread house and each year inviting a family over to decorate the houses with them. I decided this would be a great tradition to start in my family, but I needed to at least try it before I decided to do this each year. So, Nichole gave me her recipe, invited me over one afternoon and showed me how to bake and cut out the houses, and then great instruction on how to assemble. The results were great. Thanks Nicole!



We invited Troy, Becky, Austin, Tyler, and Audrey (Evan's brother's family) over along with one of my really good friend's family, the Humphrey's (Clint, Jana, Josh, Kayla, and Lindsay). I think we spent at least an hour and a half just decorating. It was so much fun. Even all the dads were involved! Each family had a house to decorate. All members of each family jumped in and worked on the decorating. It was a great family activity. I definitely think we will have to add this to one of our Christmas Family traditions.


Troy, Tyler, Audrey, and Austin working on their house
















Audrey, Becky, and Tyler

Austin adding candy to his house


















Clint, Josh, Jana, Kayla, and Lindsay Humpherys


















Evan, Danielle, and Taneal

Evan, Danielle, Taneal, and Camie

The Humpherys' final result!

My family's gingerbread house
Troy, Becky, Austin, Tyler, and Audrey's end result!

All the houses turned out so good. I'm glad we weren't in competition because I wouldn't have been able to choose. Everyone was so creative!

Spencer graduated to nursery!

Before church this morning I was just looking at my children and thinking how adorable they looked. Today was also a landmark. Spencer is now 18 months and able to go to nursery. He still isn't talking very much, so I don't think of him as being very grown up, usually, until days like today. I am in the primary presidency in my ward, so I had to basically just drop Spencer off and run. Evan teaches Sunday School so her couldn't hang out with Spencer either. Danielle is still in nursery, but because of the large number of children in our primary (about 125 in the entire primary) we have 3 nursery classes. She is in with the children ready to go to Sunbeams. About 25 minutes after I dropped Spencer off he was brought back to me. He couldn't stop crying. So, I sat in the class with Spencer until Evan was done teaching and then we traded off. So much for graduating. I think with Spencer it will probably be a while before he gets used to going to nursery. What can I say? He just loves his family.

I am the Greatest

I made this video last Spring, when Taneal and Camie's baseball consumed our evenings and Saturdays. The kiddos are almost a year older, but I hope you will enjoy.

IF WOMEN CONTROLLED THE WORLD

My friend sent me this email. Now that Evan and I have a home that we can actually decorate, we are realizing just how different we are. I want to paint colors, Evan wants white. I love flowers and such, Evan likes plain jane stuff. For Evan it is all about practicality, me it is some of that but mixed with feel. I like to put my things away, he likes to keep his things (like keys) out for the next time her needs them. We are different. I guess that is why I like this email so much.

Thanksgiving

I somehow managed to make it to Elk Ranch with my camera but no memory stick in my camera, thus making my camera obsolete! So, I traveled into town to buy a memory stick and was told my camera was too old and I could no longer buy a memory stick. So, I don't really have too many pictures to share with you, which is why I have not put anything on my blog about our great Thanksgiving spent with Bryce and Katie and their boys, Joshua, Conner, and Skyler, and with Troy and Becky and their children Austin, Tyler, and Audrey. I did manage to get a little video footage.


Now if you are wondering where the rest of the song went, you'll have to go elsewhere it find it. It is a really catchy tune, and the lyrics are funny, but . . . If you hear the song you'll understand.

Thanksgiving was great. Bryce and Katie brought their family from out-of-state and stayed with Troy and Becky until we left for Elk Ranch. We had a great time out at the ranch. The Thanksgiving feast was one of the best tasting turkey dinners I've had in years. Great job, Becky. I am still doing the no sugar until the end of the year, so I tried to make some pies that were sugar free, and . . . I can't wait until the year is over so I can have a yummy pumpkin pie. The great dinner made up for the sugar-free pies.

Katie taught me the fun art of beading. I have wanted to learn how to do this and was excited when Katie pulled out her supplies. I made me a beautiful necklace and had fun making it. All my girls got into it. They each made their own necklace.

Of course the kiddos had fun outside getting dirty. The lake was finally finished and filled so we were able to take the canoe out. Taneal especially loved this. Camie loved going around on the 4-wheeler. Taneal even got to drive the 4-wheeler herself this time. Evan took Spencer and Danielle around on the 4-wheeler. They had to rotate turns. Every time Danielle had to get off to let Spencer have a turn, she sobbed. It wasn't the tantrum cry, but the genuine sad cry. She could have spent hours on that 4-wheeler.

After we came back home and i got my memory stick, I did take some pictures of Bryce and Katie and their family. We sure enjoyed having them visit.

Katie and Skyler

Bryce and Conner

Joshua

Spencer loved baby Skyler. He was so gentle with Skyler. This is a picture of Spencer kissing Skyler, although my camera has lag time that makes it hard to capture quick moments like this. I guess it is getting time for a new camera.

Can I have this dance?

Christmas is upon us and so is the music. I turned the music on as we were getting out Christmas decorations. Danielle decided she wanted to dance . . .

uh, huh!

I have this terrible little game that started about a year ago with Danielle. She would say "yes" and I would say "no" and we would go on and on for a few minutes back and forth. Then it got to one of us saying "uh, huh" and the other "uh, uh" back and forth with quite some conviction. It is all a game. When Spencer was about eleven months, he picked up on the game and started joining in. Well, Spencer has taken that game to a whole new level. Of course kids rarely perform in front of the camera, so I captured this game as best as I could.

Camie's Birthday

Camie birthday started with yummy cinnamon rolls that I made the night before and then got up early to put them into the oven. It started her special day off great. She headed off to school and I met her for lunch and brought her McDonald's. Quite a big change from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I then came to her class at the close of the day to read stories. Camie looked wonderful with her crown announcing to the world that it was her birthday and then the huge grin on her face. That night we had Becky and her kiddos over for supper and cake.

Did you notice the two layer cake in the video? Yah! Camie wanted one of those Barbie cakes, which take 1 1/2 cake mixes. Just as I had dumped the second cake mix into the bowl, Camie changed her mind and wanted just a circle cake. Round cakes are much easier to decorate, so I oped for that choice, but had too much batter, so she got a layered cake. Camie was pretty pleased, but disappointed that she only got a one-layer cake for her friend party.

Saturday we had a friend birthday party. We don't have one every year, so friend parties are pretty special. We decided we would have a "tea party" for the occasion. Camie invited friends from church, the neighborhood, and school. We had twelve girls show up! I was expecting around eight, but happy that I planned for twelve.

We started the party out by decorating straw hats. We then colored tea pots on "shrinky-dink" and made necklaces. We decorated goblets with gems and then had a tea party. No, we didn't serve tea, but had a great time eating brownie bites, mini muffins, cheese, crackers, grapes, pineapple, pb&j cut-out sandwiches, and sipping on kool-aide.

All the kiddos seemed to have a great time and Camie especially enjoyed the party. Many of the moms stayed and helped out so I got to know some of the moms from Camie's class. Planning and having children's parties are so much fun!

The newest addition the the Black Family

Congratulations to Brett and Michelle. Brett Kael Black was born last week. He weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. He and Spencer will probably get along great. They both will know what it is like to have three big sister and no brothers!

I have pictures, I just can't figure out how to get a pdf file to a jpeg. As soon as I figure that out you'll be able to see this cute baby.

Onward Christian Soldiers

We have been trying to learn the hymns and teach them to our children. Taneal picked one of the hymns that she wanted to learn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." We TRY to pick one hymn a month and sing it over and over and over until all the kids have it memorized. Danielle can sing most of all the verses, but consistently sings the first verse all on her own. Check out how cute she sings the first verse . . .

All I Want For Christmas . . .

We've been asking the kiddos what they want for Christmas. None of them are coming up with anything except for whatever it is that they see in a magazine, which is basically every trinket and toy on every page. Taneal. She's been different. She says she doesn't really want anything except. . . 1) her two front teeth and 2) a trip to see Santa's workshop. She doesn't want anything else. She has plenty of toys, books, games, etc. So let me explain some of the reasoning behind the two things she wants. Taneal has been missing her two front teeth since spring break which was back in March. Last month she pulled a third tooth along the top making it a three-tooth gap! I asked her how Santa was going to bring her her two front teeth. She said he just could. Santa can do things like that. He knows how to get a hold of the tooth fairy and they will be able to get her the front teeth. As for the second item, she has seen Polar Express and knows this can be done. Audrey, her cousin, told her that she had a friend that was able to visit Santa's workshop. So for Christmas, this is all she wants. And that's where we are at.

Camie's school picture

Camie is doing great in the kindergarten. She loves to go to school. Monday I had to pick her up from school in the middle of the day and take her to a Doctor appointment. Before she even left the front office of the school, she had to make sure she was indeed coming back to school. I told her it was the decision of the doctor. She reluctantly went with me. She loves how busy the school keeps her all day long. I'm not really sure that she is learning much academically, but she loves being busy. I thought all day kindergarten would be hard on her. Quite the opposite.

Danielle sleeping

Last night Danielle and Camie spent an hour or so up their room building a fort. It was time to have family prayer and I couldn't find Danielle. Camie knew where she was. She had climbed into the fort which led into her closet where the dress-up box was. She had climbed into the basket with her pillow and blanket and fallen asleep.

Great Grandpa Bell

My grandpa came to visit my family and since we were already coming for Landon's baptism, Grandpa's visit was an added bonus. Friday I was able to spend several hours visiting with him. My grandpa is such an amazing man. He is 85 years old and has so much wisdom. He had so much patience with my children. He held them, talked to them, watched them play, and you could see the love he had for them in his eyes. We have never really lived close to Grandpa, so he didn't know my children at all. I was so happy when I heard he was coming to visit. i want my children to know him and remember him.

My grandpa was a member of the church as a young child. He later became inactive and married my grandma. They had two sons, one of which was my dad. My grandma was not a member of the church, but insisted that my dad and uncle were baptized at age 8. When my grandparents were living in Ft. Worth, TX, they had a faithful home teacher. That home teacher eventually brought my grandpa back into the church and my grandma was baptized. My dad and my uncle both served missions and married in the temple. I am so grateful to my grandparents for the son they raised who became my dad.

It was pretty awesome to watch Landon baptized and have my grandpa there who started it all. He introduced my family to the gospel. I am so excited Grandpa came to visit and that my children got to meet him.

Landon's baptism

My nephew, Landon, was baptized on Saturday. We drove to my hometown on Friday and stayed the weekend. There is something about baptisms that is really special. The spirit is so abundant. There is an added feeling when someone from your family or someone you are close to is baptized. I loved how all the children gathered around the baptismal font and witnessed the baptism. There were so many children there, all family. After the baptism we went over to Rob and Beth's beautiful home out in the country and visited and had a great time. I am so fortunate to live closer to my family and be able to experience special occasions like this with them. Congratulations, Landon. Thank you for sharing this special time with me and my family.