Face Painting

Andrew's Big Day :)

SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF ANDREW'S BIG DAY:

The girls each wrapped themselves up and when Andrew opened the gift, they jumped out with hugs and kisses.

 "The Exterminator" - Flies better watch it when they enter this house.

The girls have been "secretly" planning for Andrew's birthday for months! They made him binders full of beautiful pictures - they started the binder about 2 months ago. My favorite was about a month before Andrew's birthday, the girls stayed up one night real late planning/scheming. They came up with giving Andrew Dr. Pepper and giving him certificates for him and me to be able to walk around the block while they babysat Emily.

 Who wouldn't love a guy like that? Hehehe, the face of Andrew :)

 We love you, Andrew!

Angela's First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was an exciting day for Angela...a start to her school life! She already has a best friend at school, Jasmine, and I love hearing the songs she comes home singing. Her teacher, Mrs. S., seems so nice and we just are in love with the fact that she only has 17 kids in her class.

Carolyn's First Day of Second Grade!

 Showing a 2 for a 2nd Grader :)

Carolyn started 2nd grade today. It's always a struggle for me to send my kids off to school...I would love to home school but know that I have received strong confirmation that for our family - we need to be at Turnberry right now. It was fun seeing Carolyn reunite with her friends and run around and thrive being back at a school she loves so much.

Her teacher is Mrs. Haber. Carolyn liked her on her first day...she is pretty strict but will be nice as the school year goes on (Carolyn explains). She has a pet tarantula. Carolyn sits by Joey right now...who has been in all three of her classes so far. She met a girl name Paige in her class and sat by her during lunch. During her recesses, she tried to master the monkey bars and played with Cole Crawford, one of our neighbor friends. When she got home, she wanted to play barbies with Angela...then we played Uno and made pizza together...followed by reading and snuggling.

Emily and Angela spent most of the day at the library...story time and singing time. More than anything, Angela wanted to play Princess with Barbies with Mom...so that was a highlight today :) We did puzzles and then the girls listened to books on tape and danced to music while mom watched and got some work done.

One amazing thing that happen today was with Angela. I really wanted Angela to get Mrs. Burkeen for her Kindergarten class. Carolyn had her a couple of years ago and we are just obsessed with her...she was the sweetest and most enthusiastic and MOST LOVING teaching ever!! Anyways, at some point this summer, I realized that I shouldn't be praying that Angela got Mrs. Burkeen...that is what I wanted...I realized I should be praying for someone that would be best for Angela. So, I started praying that whatever was best for Angela would work out. I also was so indecisive about whether or not Angela should be in morning or afternoon kindergarten. I decided to put that in the Lord's hands as well. Today we found out that Angela got into a class with Mrs. S. The amazing part? She was put in an afternoon class with ONLY 14 KIDS!!!! Heavenly Father knew best. It is the smallest Kindergarten class and I think it truly will be perfect for Angela. Heavenly Father is so aware of us and knows what is best for us. I love that He showed His love for Angela and us by carefully placing her in the perfect Kindergarten class. I am so grateful for answered prayers and that Heavenly Father always knows what is best for each of us.

Father's Blessings

How blessed we are to have God's power here on earth to receive amazing blessings like Father's Blessings. Today Andrew gave each of us a special blessing. Here are some of the words that Heavenly Father told us through the blessings...

Carolyn -

When Christ was on the earth He and the apostles that the Holy Ghost will teach you all things and help you remember all things. This is for spiritual and applies to school as well. If you want to learn and remember what you learn you need to have the spirit.

To keep having the spirit, you need to make good choices. To be humble

To be able to take criticism from teachers and parents.

Continue to be a good missionary.

Continue to be a good influence on your friends and teachers at school.

Mom loves you. You need to be nice to her.

Be excited for school to start. Be excited to wake up every morning to go to school and learn.


Angela -

Heavenly Father loves you

You can feel Heavenly Father in your heart at school all day. He will be with you.

Your family loves you at home. You can feel Heavenly Father in your heart all day at school.

When you get frustrated or feel like you are  not getting something, keep at it.

Be yourself...not too silly...but be yourself.

Do you want to know you can be happy at school? Remember when you are nice and help mom and Emily and Carolyn how happy you feel. You look for special things to do for them. Do these things at school and you will feel happy. Help your friends and teachers. You will be happy.

When kids are not making good choices, you need to be nice back.

Emily -

When Carolyn and Angela get home, you will help them be happy and be a light in their life as you tell them about your day.

Learn about stories in the scriptures and other things with mom at home. This time will allow you to cultivate your relationship with mom. Be nice to mom.

This year you can learn the gospel and know Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Downtown Walk

Tonight was so fun. Andrew - being the hard working provider that he is - had to work today. So, we went downtown to hang out with him for a bit at around 6 PM. It was so fun!

We first took a free bus ride for a while, hopped off and just walked around downtown while we talked. It was so much fun! Carolyn began dreaming of being a carriage driver when in college :)

After our walk downtown, we took a long elevator ride up to Daddy's offices and drank hot chocolate, looked out the window below, ate popcorn, and danced to Michael Bubble.

On the way home we saw 2 beautiful rainbows in the sky and sang "I like to Look at Rainbows." Heavenly Father and our Savior sure created a beautiful world for us.

Carolyn and Angela  took forever falling asleep - they were staying up talking. When I asked them what they were talking about they got all giggly and secretive - they were talking about my birthday presents and Daddy's birthday presents...they were making some plans :)

Emily cracked us up tonight....here are some silly things she did today :)....

      - The car ride downtown took a little longer than expected with traffic. As we drove downtown at one point, Emily's face lit up and she said (holding her ears) - "I LIKE MY EARS!!!" We all started laughing at her happiness in life :)

      - Before going in the elevators...she started getting nervous and asked if they were going to bite her....we figured out that she thought we were  headed to ride on alligators. We did explain that we weren't going to ride alligators...but later in the night she started talking about how Daddy's work has crocodiles. Furthermore, Emily talked about how Daddy was at work drinking hot chocolate, eating popcorn, and taking rides on crocodiles. Yes, Emily, that is exactly what Daddy goes to work to do.

I love Emily and her way of talking.

Two things she says that just light up my life...

When she wants me to hold her/pick her up...she says, "Hold you!"

She frequently calls out, "I love you too much - the best!"

Several days ago she asked if Jesus would "hold you." We talked about how He will hold her some day in Heaven. She then said, "Heavenly Father and Jesus love me too much the best."

Now, just about every day she talks about how Jesus will "hold you" and that Heavenly Father and Jesus love her too much the best.