party

can this little miss be a year old already?? what a fun birthday girl she was. she has had a rough month with sickness. i am so glad she was feeling well for her birthday, although i can't say the same for all her siblings. this is lydi's first go around with the "birthday hat"

this little doll was given to lydia from her grammy. i wish my mom could have been

here to see how darling she was when she opened it.

"happy birthday dear lydia"

can you tell who isn't feeling well??

a perfectly special day.

one

Once in a young lifetime

one should be allowed to have

as much sweetness as one

can possibly want and hold.

-judith olney

Standing for Truth and Righteousness

Young Women

Personal Progress

STANDING AS A WITNESS OF GOD

WE ARE DAUGHTERS of our Heavenly Father,

who loves us, and we love Him.

WE WILL "STAND as witnesses of God at all times

and in all things, and in all places" (Mosiah 18:9)

as we strive to live the Young Women Values, which are:

FAITH . DIVINE NATURE

INDIVIDUAL WORTH . KNOWLEDGE

CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

GOOD WORKS . INTEGRITY

AND VIRTUE

WE BELIEVE as we come to accept and act

upon these values, WE WILL BE PREPARED

to strengthen home and family,

make and keep sacred covenants, receive

the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy

the blessings of exaltation.

The Personal Progress program uses the eight Young Women values to help you understand more fully who your are, why you are here on the earth, and what you should be doing as a daughter of God to prepare for the day you go to the temple to make sacred covenants. It will help you prepare for your future roles as a faithful woman, wife, mother, and leader in God's kingdom.

To complete the Personal Progress program and earn the medallion you are to complete the required experiences in each value and in addition, a 10 hour (minimum) value project for each of the eight values.

Abi was recognized in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday for completing the Personal Progress program. We are so proud of Abi and this accomplishment. The best part about it, is she did it on her own! There were a few things we did as a family and skills she learned from others, but it was her own dedication and diligence in getting her goals and requirements met.

We celebrated with a dinner of her choice for family night on Monday. She chose a steak dinner . . . her Dad makes the BEST steaks!

Here is what she chose to do for her 10 hour value projects:

Faith: Think of Faith as a seed and plant and harvest a vegetable garden. Working alongside her Dad, she prepared the ground, helped plant the garden, weeded, watered, and harvested throughout the summer.

Divine Nature: Make and tie a quilt

Individual Worth: Learned how to knit (taught by her Grammy) made a head band.

Knowledge: Work with my Mom on a homemaking skill she will teach me. Made a recipe box. Learned to make several meals. Added "favorites" to recipe box.

Choice and Accountability: Study "For the Strength of Youth" personally and with the family.

Good Works: Visit and do some activities with the ladies at the assisted living center every Friday.

Integrity: Stay after school and help a teacher grade papers. Be honest and correct them wisely

Virtue: Read the Book of Mormon and record my testimony.

"Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations"

(D&C 115:5)

Congratulations Abigail. What an awesome accomplishment!

Braces off!!

Abigail got her braces off on January 19th!! She was so excited, it was like Christmas all over again.

When we arrived at the Orthodontist office they teased her by saying they didn't have her scheduled for an appointment. She got a little worried and they asked her what they were seeing her for . . . "I'm getting my braces off today" she said:)

We have just loved everyone over at the office . . . Abi said to me later, "Mom, they are really going to miss me over there"

But not to worry, she will still be visiting often for retainer checks:)

Doesn't she have a beautiful smile . . .

"WOW"

Behold Your Little Ones

Children are an heritage of the Lord.

-PSALM 127:3

Children are the promise of the future,

the assurance of greater things to come.

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them. They must lift their world, and the only levers they will have are the examples in their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of your testimonies and your knowledge of the things of God.

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

*** thank you audrey and laura for the beautiful family pictures. i will treasure them always.

birthday boy

my nate turned seven on wednesday. i love that dimpled, baby toothed smile. i know big boy teeth are not far off which is a whole different cuteness:) happy birthday dear nathan!

favorites:

food: bbq chicken salad

candy bar: twix

color: orange

movie: star wars

activity: play with toys

subject in school: math

primary song: i am a child of God

holiday: easter

animal: tiger

scripture story: samuel the lamanite

when i grow up i want to be a: cop

glimpses

what we have once enjoyed we can never lose.

all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

helen keller

{december}

{november}

{october}

life has been full and wonderful. i look back in awe at the blessings that flood my life and all the living that has taken place the last few months. each day is truly a gift.

this little piggy . . .

. . .had a rough day:(

autumn

it's a little bit of a picture overload. i just love lydia in this little red pilot cap. it frames her little round face just perfectly. i couldn't help sharing a bunch . . . i guess i am a little crazy for this girl:)

Golden

Eleven on the eleventh makes this a golden birthday for Miss Gracie. Some of her favorites are:

food: chicken pillows

dessert: dirt cake

candy bar: twix

color: lime green

movie: Avatar

activity in my spare time: getting together with friends

subject in school: art

best friends: Sydney & Isabelle

primary song: "I like to look for rainbows"

Happy Birthday Gracie!!

September Birthday's

Carter and I celebrated another year older at the end of September! It was a great celebration. The kids do such a great job of making it a special day for the both of us. Abi made "dutch babies" for us all for breakfast, a recipe she learned in Home Ec. Because Carter and I share the same birthday, this year we had a party for him on Monday night and we all went out for dinner for my birthday on Tuesday night. It was quite a treat! We have just loved having my brother Dave and his wife Kelli living here in Boise with us. It is so fun to celebrate birthday's and other holiday's with family. They are like celebrity's around our house:)

jump for joy!!

look what happened to come to our town. you can imagine my joy as i was driving down the road and saw the "coming soon" sign!! i love this place . . . if you live in boise and haven't eaten at cafe rio before you are in for a treat. it is similar to costa vida, but in my opinion much better. you'll have to give it a try. my favorite is the pork salad with the tomatillo dressing . . . and for dessert, the tres leches. yum!

seven months

oh how i wish there was a way to slow down the clock. isn't it funny how seven months of pregnancy lasts forever, but the first months of life are gone in the blink of an eye! we are crazy for this girl, what a treat she has been.

101%

we all celebrated when abi brought this paper home from school last week. spelling is something she has to work really hard at . . . it doesn't come easily to her. i love to see my kids work for and accomplish hard things. way to go abi!!

for the love of peaches

one of my favorite things about fall are the peaches. this year i went to a church orchard here in the valley and picked peaches right off the tree with my kids. first, we filled a bin for the church, and then we picked for ourselves. we came home with so many peaches, once you start picking it's hard to stop! we have been pounding down the peaches around here - peaches for every meal. i wish they would just last forever, but we have to eat them while they are good. i made peach leather with the bruised peaches, and we've had peach cobbler, peach pie and of course peach smoothies. i love that the kids come home from school and grab fresh peaches for after school snacks. we are almost through the last of our peaches for the season, they have definitely been a real treat.

yesterday i was trying to get some pictures of the little lady and she was not cooperating. abi, was helping me and gave lydi a little taste of her peach. she quickly took over and i snapped a few of her juicy and sweet.

back to school

every year i try to take back to school pictures of the kidlets. here they are - another year older and wiser too . . . except for the littlest lady, she's still working on her first year:)

8th grade

ready or not here we come!

thirteen

i have a teenager now!! the three girls and i went shopping on her birthday . . . she was in heaven. while my second daughter and i stopped to get a bite to eat, oldest dashes into a shoe store to see what she can find. she joins us while we eat and is preparing me for the news . . .

oldest:

"i found a pair of high heels! they are so cute, i can't wait for you to see them."

me:

"you don't want high heels, you'll tower over everyone"

second daughter:

"you just don't want her to be any more taller than you"

me:

"no, that's not it"

oldest:

"you just don't want me to grow up"

we finish eating and i reluctantly go into the shoe store to see the shoes my birthday girl has fallen in love with. i like what she has chosen, but i am still on the fence. she excitedly tells me all the reasons why she should have these shoes and that she will be happy to pay for them.

"you are a teenager now" i say. "how about you pay half"

its a deal. she walks up to the register with her shoes and the clerk informs us that it is buy one get one free. second daughter picks out a pair of cute little flats and i decide to foot the bill.

oldest:

"are you sure mom, i am happy to pay for them"

me:

"i'll get it, you save your money. both you girls get a cute new pair of shoes"

doesn't she have good taste? look how cute she is in her grown-up shoes.

a couple more . . .

five months

here is the latest of my little lady. just look at that sweet baby face. i can't seem to get enough:)

oh what do you do in the summertime . . .

do you swim in a pool to keep yourself cool? my kids have been spending a lot of time keeping cool in the pool! turns out this little lady loves the water . . . luckily she has big sister's who love dressing her up in her suit and taking her out for a dip!

and a fun daddy to launch them high into the air so they can flip, dive, or cannon ball.

oh, how we love the summertime!