Lei'd to Rest

My good friend Misty planned our murder mystery dinner in October.  She did everything for it to get ready and then on the night of the party her son fell and she was in the ER with him all night. 

It is only fitting that for her birthday we had another murder mystery party.  

If I was a better friend I would have thought about it. 

Instead she did all the arranging AGAIN.  I owe her.

Jeron was a lawyer and I was an aspiring actress/mistress

What is it with me always being the mistress?

I have now been to three of these parties and all three I am the sexy, EASY

mistress.  Haha, apparently I play the part well.

I think it is because they all know I won't blush when I read my roll.  haha

Here are my men at the party.  My OLD man and his lawyer who is in love with me.

Thank goodness I only had to snuggle up to Jeron, hehehe

Here are the other suspects.

The newlyweds, the doctor and crazy religious zealot, the chef and the modern day pirate. 

The bus driver and the tour guide, the old man and the Realtor, The actress and the lawyer.

It was such a fun night.  We had a great time.  These really are a lot of fun.  I have a hard time when I see them not to call them by their character name or think that they have a shady trait.  Thanks for a great night Misty.  I'll have to return the favor...

Dreams Take Flight

It is that time of year. Things at school are coming to an end. We get to see what the kids have been working on all year long. Emma had a program titled "Dreams Take Flight" They did a great job. Emma was darling. I don't know what it is with my kids but they won't take a big part. She was a wonderful choir singer though.

Way to go Emma.  You did a great job.  We are so proud of you.  Thanks Mama and Grandma for coming.

tHe mAny fAceS oF elSiE.

This little lady goes from 0-60 in no time at all. As you can see playing at the park is not any different.

Happy Easter

I promised an egg picture and here it is.

Yes, that is a lot of eggs. 

My kids look so cute.  I love the outfits.

and the shades;)

Beautiful Emma

Darling Ellie

Handsome JJ

Adorable Elsie

When I told the kids to strike a pose for the pic Ellie thought that meant dance like Hannah.

Here she is 1...2...and tada

This was one of my favortie moments of the day.  Elsie and Grandma B checked out their toenails.  Grandma B's toenails matched Elsie's dress.  She is so cute with our kids.  She takes time to have special moments with them.  We are blessed that our children still have a great-grandparent in their lives.  It sure makes me miss my Grandma when I am around her.  They have some similarities that make me think of Grandma Dorothy.   

Easter at Grandma Jan's and Grandpa Gene's.

We started out with a great Easter dinner.  Then Grandma Jan had a HUGE egg hunt.  They looked in the basement, the living room, and the backyard.  The kids got money and candy galore.  It was a lot of fun for them.  They love seeing their cousin Brock and especially Grandma and Grandpa.  Elsie even learned to shoot a gun.  Grandpa was so proud.  Grandma always does a great job to make us feel special.

After we went to Grandma and Grandpa's we headed up north to Mama and Papa's house.  It was so fun for the kids to find their baskets filled with candy and their special Easter book.  Mama and Papa always get them a special book.  I am glad they remind us what Easter is all about.  This is so important to me.  I have read all of them now and I will have to say they all made me cry.  Mama and Papa sure know how to make the kids feel loved.  We also skyped with the Vogels minus Lucy:( and Smashlee.  It is always great to have the whole family there...except Michael who was missed.

Easter is over.

There is way to much candy at our house.

The kids had fun.

The kids got spoiled.

Got to love holiday's.  

The one thing that is important to me is that my kids understand this:

"He lives all Glory to His name. 

He Lives My Savior still the same.

Oh sweet, the Joy this sentence gives, 

I know that my Redeemer lives."

The Reason we celebrate Easter is all because of
Jesus Christ our Savior

cOloRiNg eGgs

Coloring Easter Eggs is one of my favorite things you do for a holiday.

I love watching the kids design different eggs.  

Their personalities shine through.

JJ's were all very creative.  He thinks of things outside the box.  

Of course his were all green, blue, and brown.

Emma did fun things to her eggs making splendid exciting colors.

Hers were more of a rainbow.

Ellie throws puts hers in the bowl and spoons the water over and over

She stops so suddenly and we have to really be on it or her egg will break when she takes it out.

Elsie was very particular in what color to do her eggs.  She runs the color over and over it. 

Hers were all different shades of pink by the time she was done. 

Getting our egg on.

Normally we do a preview pic but since it was WAY past the littles bedtime we didn't do the egg pic...yet.

The Mermaid of the OPERA

Ellie's kindergarten class has been working on their opera for months.

They wrote it...all by themselves.

They designed the sets...all by themselves.

They picked the characters...all by themselves.

Ellie picked out the characters of the Zebra and the Peacock...all by herself.

They decorated their costumes all by themselves...

and tonight they delighted each of us...ALL TOGETHER!

It was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen.  

I have even had moments since that I have thought maybe Elsie shouldn't take Spanish so that she can do the opera.  I know, crazy, but really it was that GOOD!  

Here Ellie is waiting patiently for her turn.

I asked one of the moms if Ellie was being good backstage.

She said "If only all the other kids were like her, it would be a lot easier.  Ellie is PURE WHITE"

I thought Yep, she sure is.  :)

They didn't put their costumes on until after the AM did their performance.  

They came out to watch.  She sat their just as good as can be.

I got to go back stage and help her get ready.  The girls backstage all helped Ellie out.

They are so good to her.  They look out for her.  

They treat her like she is one of their friends.  I LOVE these kids.

Ellie designed her crown with the help of some of the girls.

Here are the little mermaids.
 and the Opera by Children

Present

Caught by the Net

"They splashed, splashed, splashed to get the nets wet."

Ellie came out on stage ready to go.  She was so excited.  

She sat and had a full on conversation with the girl who was sitting by her. 

Everyone who came to see her wanted to know what they were saying to each other.

Only those two little ladies will ever know. 

Seriously, look at her face.  She is so excited.  She knew EVER word.  She sang out loud.

In fact, I watched it today with her class and I could hear her loud and clear.  

I loved it.
I only wish I could remember some of the awesome lines of the song.
"They wanted to have a party.  They wanted to have a party, tardy, party.  We saw a party commercial."
That is one of my favorite lines. 

The final bow, I wish it wasn't over but all good things must come to an end.  

These kids did such a great job, and their teacher is AMAZING to undertake this.

Our Mermaid standing by the set she painted

All her fans had to get a picture taken with her.

And here is the lady responsible for all of this.  She puts on an amazing opera.  

She ended up getting sick this year and had to miss 2 months.  She was still able 

to pull this off and you would have never know that she was gone for 2 months.

Ellie is one lucky lady to have gotten to be in such a wonderful class.

The End

Spanish Competition at BYU

JJ and Emma have been working their little behinds off the past couple of months getting ready for their competition at BYU.  

They have studied,

They have memeriozed

They have helped each other because Jeron and I can't.

They have missed out on fun.

They have cried a little.

They have been Nervous.

all for TODAY!

We woke up at 5:30 (5:10 for me)

They ate a good breakfast.

They strESSED.

They boarded the bus at 6:25

We all arrived at BYU at 8:30.

If you look closely at this group they are all very nervous.

The pressure was on because their school has taken 1st place the last 3 years.

These kids knew this and didn't want to be the reason for anything less.

Can we say PRESSURE.

Well, shucks that is one handsome boy.

Beautiful but tired little lady

After running all over the campus we finally saw JJ do his 4 page power point presentation on Thomas Jefferson.  He ROCKED it.  I know I don't speak Spanish but my brother David does and he was there.  He was rather impressed with all of our kids.
He had confiendce, took charge of the room, ran his own presentation, and spoke loud and clear.
He did AWESOME!!

So I was surprised to see his face when we walked out.  He was clearly disappointed.  He had only received an Excellent on his presentation instead of a Superior.  He was superior, but he was timed and was not told he would be.  So he had to end his presentation early.  This really disappointed him.  The funny part was he had me entertained enough that even though it was in Spanish he still captivated me. 

In my book he was SUPERIOR!

Next up was Miss Emma.  After running back to her building the seven of us Mama, Grandma, Uncle David, Ellie, Elsie, Jeron and I barley made it for her play.  She had EVERY single part in the play memorized.  Not surprising really, since she had a good portion of JJ's presentation memorized.  Now, you are wondering how I know she had it all memorized.  Because she mouthed everybody's parts  while they did theirs.  Hehehe

Their play was darling and if you looked over at the judges they thought so as well.  they couldn't help but smile and giggle on the funny parts.  It was fun to see the awe in their eyes.  These kids know their Spanish. Emma played a Gato (Cat) was very convincing.  Her Nana would be so proud. 

See her in character.  Darling little kitty.  She did great at speaking out loud, and convincing me that she was a cat. 

All I know is even though both of the kids only got Excellent (which, who says "only" and excellent in the same sentence) We think they did superior.  

At the end of the day it was time for the closing ceremony where they handed out the awards.  I was extremely nervous for all of the kids from our school.  I knew they were all feeling the pressure.  They made the 3rd place announcement and it wasn't us...phew

2nd place announcement was US!  I was a little bummed for our kids but so proud of 2nd.

Then when I saw the kids that were the 1st place team I about died.  They were all Latino.  

Our kids got beaten by a group of Latino children where Spanish is probably spoken in their homes. 

Needless to say I didn't feel to bad about our 2nd place anymore.  

Jeron and I are both so proud of JJ and Emma.  They really worked hard, and applied themselves.  No matter what place they got they were able to really focus on their Spanish this year and gained a better understanding of the language.  So in our book, they won. 

Thank you Mama, Grandma, and David for making the trek down south.

On a side note, JJ made the statement I really like the BYU campus (questioning look over at his mother). Followed by an explanation.  I just liked that there was prophets on each building and a lot of scriptures on the the walls... that's all.  Funny, that he was so nervous to say that to me.  I could see Jeron swell with pride. 

kind of cOrNy but FUN

If you know me at all you know that I LOVE my feet.  They are the only part of my body that I have total confidence in.  If fact one day while at the temple a lady leaned over and said "You have cute feet."  I said "I know."  I realized I probably shouldn't have been so cocky sounding but truly I do think they are cute.  Haha.  Why pretend like I don't.  I did remember to say thank you finally.  Elsie stands in front of the mirror all the time and says "I'm pretty".  I love this about her.  I never want this to change but change it will.  The only thing that I will openly say I love is my feet.  That is simply because they are the only part of me that is cute in my eyes.  Well, now after this long windedness I ran across a blog that features different things each month.  It is called I am... I thought it would be fun to put a post on it.  The blog owner has a topic every month and you send her a picture and one sentence comment.  You all should do it.  Next month is Mothers.  Since I know most of you are mothers or have a mother;) I hope to see a lot of familiar faces in May.  Have fun being you and please know Each of you is BEAUTIFUL to me.

Enjoying the little bit of sun

Ah, Spring is here, if only for a moment.

We took advantage of this fleeting moment.

What is up with that anyway.

We hit the trail and the kids had a blast.

I wish I could say the same for me.  

Okay at first it was a lot of fun.

Elsie rode her bike like a champ.

JJ took off and we hardly saw him at all as he rode the whole trail.

Emma rode on ahead, came back, rode ahead, came back.

Ellie and I took a brisk walk.

Seems nice enough.

We saw buffalo,Elk, and the kids thought that was grand.

We even met a hoarse named Liz.

She was funny.

When taking the picture of Elsie she tried to eat her hair.  

Elsie just kept ducking. 

Emma was nervous but finally touched the hoarse.

Ellie just looked.

JJ was still riding on.

But I have a problem!

Ellie CANNOT ride a bike.  She wants to keep up but can't.

By the time we made it about a mile Ellie was done.  

Here is why I didn't enjoy this walk.

It turned into major exercise.

I was walking with 40 pounds on my back,

while helping Elsie on the bike.

She had a moment where she went backwards on a hill.

From that moment on she no longer rode on her own.

We even tried to get Ellie to ride on JJ's pegs.  She wasn't having it.

Then we didn't see JJ again until we got back to the car.

I had to walk a mile bent over with Elsie needing me to push her and Ellie being piggie backed.

FINALLY, Elsie went off on her own on a straight stretch.  BUT, she fell.  I had to hold her the rest of the way as well.  It really makes it hard for me to want to go out and do things.  

It is sad though because I loved, LOVED the first mile.  

So long winded I know, but does ANYONE of you know of a bike that I can ride with Ellie

Jeron and I have searched but nothing. 

She is too BIG for the bike carrier.  

Use your smart noggins and help a sister out.  

Hopefully someone has an answer for me. 

There is Beauty All Around

We had to take JJ to Salt Lake to get a shot because he decided to step on some glass and cut his foot pretty good.  We decided since we were down there we should stop by Temple Square and see the Joseph Smith Movie.  Once we got there we decided the day was just to nice to spend it inside watching a movie.  We toured the North Visitors Center, Beehive House, and stopped at the Lion House for a cookie.  Then we walked around enjoying the water fountains and flowers. 

As we were leaving Ellie had to take a moment to give the statue of Christ a hug, then the other kids saw me taking a picture and one by one they came to join.  

As we were walking around Temple Square Elsie picked a flower.  I about died.  It was one of the prettiest ones on the Temple grounds.  I will have to say she is one cute thief.  .

The grounds were so beautiful.  It was a perfect day for a stroll. 

After the Beehive house we had to go an get ourselves a yummy cookie at the Lion House.  The kids love this little treat. We also went in the Tabernacle.  It was fun to have Elsie sing and you could hear her everywhere in there. 

What is a Temple walk without a beautiful pic to go with it?

It is one of my kids favorite things to do and it is absolutely FREE.  You've gotta love it baby:)