"Locks of Love"

Dani and her cousin got their haircut and donated it to "Locks of Love". Brittany, her cousin, had her hair cut a week ago. She looked so cute and she totally loved her new haircut. Dani decided that she wanted her hair cut too. Those two are like Peas in a Pod. So, we went to the salon and hoped that her hair was long enough to donate. To our surprise, there was enough to donate and Dani was thrilled. She totally loves her new haircut. She is constantly running her hand through her hair. It was a great experience for her, I just wish we thought of it sooner.

Dani before her haircut.

Here is the hair that Dani donated to Locks of Love.

Dani and her new haircut. Doesn't she look so cute?

Brittany and Dani with their short hair. They are two peas in a pod.

I took this picture when the wind picked up. I love this picture and it shows off her blue eyes.

Great Dads

Both Jim and I have awesome dads. We are so lucky to have such great dads.

My Dad

I have learned a lot from my dad. He has been such a great inspiration to me. I have learned so much and I wanted to publicly thank him.

• My dad taught me the importance of getting an education. Before we moved to AZ, I was going to attend college at U of U. When things didn't work out like I had planned, my dad encouraged me to take a BYU Correspondence class. That was a great experience that I wouldn't have had without my dad's advice. After we moved to AZ, my dad helped me get started at MCC, even paying for a couple of semesters. That was enough motivation to help get me started in college. I graduated from ASU and I am grateful for my dad helping me and encouraging me along the way.


• I am grateful that my dad holds the priesthood and was able to give me priesthood blessings. I've received some, but the one I remember most was when I broke my whole arm and needed to have surgery to fix it. I was terrified of having surgery. My dad gave me a priesthood blessing and I felt much better about having the surgery. I'll always remember that and I am grateful that my dad was able to give me that priesthood blessing.
  
  
• My dad has shown me by example how to honor your parents. My dad took us to see our grandparents about once a week. It must have been a trip to take 5 kids an hour a way to see Grandma and Grandpa Wall. I was so grateful for that because I have memories of visiting my Grandmas. The both died by the time I became a teenager, but I remember visiting them and have fond memories. My Grandpa Wall had a stroke a year later and was in a rest home for the rest of his life. My dad visited him daily and took the family weekly to visit him. It was such a blessing to see him and I could see the love that my dad has for his own father. That strengthened our family so much.

Those are just a few memories that I have of my dad. He is such a great man and he loves his family.

My dad likes to take pictures too.

This is my dad's latest project. He build a teardrop trailer to use when we go camping this week. It looks really cool!

Jim has a great dad. Whenever Jim needs advice about cars, camping, plumbing, or really anything he calls his dad. His dad's advice is right on. Jim continually learns from his dad. He have a great relationship with his dad.

Jim's dad loves to camp and invites us often to camp with him. When we do, he makes sure that we are comfortable. The kids love to go camping with Grandpa Pace. There is plenty to do up on the Rim, but the best part is Grandpa is there to play with them. There is nothing better than watching the sunset roasting hot dogs and sipping hot chocolate with Grandpa Pace. He always makes everyone feel special.

Jim's dad loves playing with his grandchildren. On father's day weekend, he was constantly keeping the grandchildren happy by spraying water on the trampoline and occasionally at the other grandkids who decided not to jump on trampoline. The kids love that Grandpa was spending quality time with them. I love that he spends time by pushing my kids in the swing and pulling them in the wagon.

Grandpa Pace likes to take pictures too. He takes good pictures and emails the pics to me or gives them to me. We went to the zoo this year with Grandpa Pace. He was taking a lot of cute pictures that day. The kids love going to the zoo with Grandpa and feel really special when their Grandpa wants to take their picture.

We are lucky to live by both of our dads. In fact, we all live in the same stake. It's nice for Jim to attend Priesthood Meetings with his dad and my dad, but my dad is usually running around making sure that the meeting is running smoothly. Whenever we need Priesthood blessings, they are both available to help. That is such a great blessing in our lives. We love our dads and want to thank them for all that they do for us.

Father's Day

Last week was Father's Day. I wanted to honor Jim and let him know that he is such a wonderful father to our four children. He is a great dad and my kids would tell you that he is the best. He is a really busy guy, but he always has time for his family.The kids really like to go camping with their dad. Jim loves it just as much as the kids to. Jim really enjoys the outdoors and loves to camp and spending time with this family. He cooks a great breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert in his dutch oven. Here is a picture of Jim and Angela taken at "Out of Africa" when it was near Fountain Hills.

Jim loves playing with the kids and having a great time. He is playing with Dani, Angela, and a couple of cousins. I'm not sure you is having more fun, Jim or the kids?

Here is a picture with Jim and Emily on the tractor. Jim enjoys spending time with his kids at the zoo. Jim also loved riding that tractor. Jim has a special heart for his girls. The girls love to go out with their dad on a date. He is so fun to watch when he interacts with his girls.

Jim has a great relationship with Josh. Since Josh is our only son, Jim gets to spend some quality time with him. They have a special bond that we will become stronger when Josh receives the priesthood. Jim is such a great example to Josh.

Jim holding Emily on Emily's blessing day.

We are so grateful that Jim holds the priesthood in our family. There have been many times that Jim has used the priesthood in our home. It has been a blessing in our lives and it has strengthened our family.

We love you Jim!

Dance, Dance, Dance,

We had a weekend full of dance recitals. Dani had her dance recital on Friday evening at Red Mountain High. Because the recital was being professionally video taped, the studio asked that no flash pictures be taken. So I couldn't take pictures of her dancing, but I really enjoyed just watching her dance. So many times, I watch my children perform through a lens to capture them on film or video, but I don't thoroughly enjoy the moment. She is so fun to watch as she dances. She shows off her personality. She has been tapping for 6 years old and really loves it.

Dani and Angela have been taking a dance class from a neighbor. The class lasted for 2 weeks and then they put on a performance at the end of the two weeks. There were 8 girls in the class from ages 6 - 10, most of which live close by and are good friends. The danced three dances and some of the girls did solo parts. These girls did a good job and had so much fun doing it. Dani and Angela practiced at home almost every day. It was fun to see the complete performance.

On Saturday night, Dani went back to Red Mountain High. There was another dance recital that night, and Dani volunteered to help the girl with their costumes. Dani was so sweet to volunteer her time.

New Truck

We recently bought a new truck. We replaced our suburban for a 2004 Ford Expedition. Our truck was getting old and needed some repairs. We decided that we wanted a buy new truck instead of investing time and money into the suburban. My sister's brother-in-law works for a car dealership and was able to get us a good truck without a lot of hassle, which was what we needed. We planned to meet at the bank, sign papers, and trade the vehicles. On the way to the bank, the suburban died on the freeway. I was able to cruise the truck to the off ramp, but I had to stop the car when the ramp ended. The car was completely dead and wouldn't start. It was as if the truck was refusing to make the trade. We prayed that we could get out of the intersection so we weren't in any one's way. A nice gentlemen helped us out and supplied us with some cold water bottles while we waited for Jim in the heat. Luckily everything worked out and the trade happened an hour or two later at the auction. The brother-in-law was able to get the suburban onto a trailer and met us there. I was angry with the suburban when it stranded us, but cried a couple of tears as I left it at the auction. We had the suburban for 8 years and for the most part was very good to us. It was a great truck and I'll miss it, but I really do like the new truck a lot.

The kids pose for one last pose in front of the suburban for the last time.

Here is a picture of the Suburban. This picture was taken before it died on us. What a great truck it was for us until the end.

We are ready to drive to church in our new truck.

Here is a picture of our new truck. This is a little smaller than our suburban and should get much better gas mileage.

School's in Session

Jim started school this week. He has classes on Tuesday and Thursday night. He is taking two business classes for 10 weeks, well 9 weeks now. After that he'll get a two week break and then he'll take a couple new classes. This masters program is a one year program. Jim is realizing that this program is going to be intense, but he ready to tackle it. Jim is really excited for this opportunity to further his education. I hope that the kids learn how valuable college is by watching their dad.

I took this picture when we stopped by ASU a couple of weeks ago.

Teaching R.S.

On Sunday, I taught the Relief Society lesson. I decided to share Sis. Beck's message from BYU Women's Conference. It was such a neat experience for me. I watched and listened her talk several time to prepare for the lesson. It was wonderful to listen to her talk over and over again. There were some awesome quotes that I wanted to share.

"The gospel is simply about knowing that we have a Father in Heaven, it's about knowing we have a Savior and making covenants with Him. It's about knowing we have a restored gospel on the earth and that we are led by a prophet and it's about testifying to one another about these truths."

"That's the world I get to live in and navigate in. How wonderful, because with that challenge comes our opportunity because we have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the truth and we know how to act and how to get answers. We aren't lost and left alone"

"The Relief Society organization is something wonderful where we can support and help each other to grow in our faith and help ourselves navigate in this world."

It was a wonderful blessing in my life to attend BYU Women's Conference and give this lesson in Relief Society. There is a lot of information about BYU Women's Conference this year and past years on this website: http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2008/. There is a section called Sharing Stations, there are wonderful handouts to check out.

Summer is here!

My kids wait all year for summer to arrive. They love to go swimming. If they had their way, we would be at the pool every day from the time the pool opened til the pool closed.

We bought a swim pass for the public pools in Mesa. We bought the pass on Memorial Day Weekend, but it was to cold to go swimming. My kids were a little disappointed that we didn't go swimming when it was 70 degrees outside , especially in a pool that wasn't heated. We took the kids to a neighbor's pool where the water was heated and went swimming. The kids had a great time swimming with their dad while I watched from the sidelines. Since then, the kids and I have been swimming a couple times and plan to go today.

Angela and Emily really love to play in the pool. They are both learning to swim. Angela loves to put in head in the water and pretend to swim. She is so close to taking off and swimming on her own. Emily just loves the water, she not sure about putting her face underwater. Josh and Dani are swimming away and having a great time.