Planting Flowers

For family night, we bought and planted flowers. It was so fun to see the different types of flowers that the kids picked out. It was a great activity and the kids were very involved. They really got their hands dirty and helped plant the flowers. They did such a great job and the flowers look beautiful. I just hope that we can keep them alive during the heat. I've always wanted planters filled with beautiful flowers and now I do.

Memorable Monday Engagement Pictures

I was asked to take some Engagement Pictures from a family member. I love to take pictures and was thrilled to take them. There were some good shots that they are going to use for their announcements and wedding. It's fun to take pictures of two people in love. You can see in their eyes that they love each other.
When Jim asked me to marry him, we knew each other for 5 years and dated for a little over 6 months. Jim asked me to marry him in January and we were married in March. It's fun to look at our Engagement picture and see how happy and young we were during those months. Jim and I enjoy reminiscing over those two months and the years that lead to our engagement.

Memorable MondayBaking

After Stake Conference, Dani and I made homemade bread. I wanted to teach her how to use yeast. Dani love mixing the ingredients, and kneading the dough. Dani and I enjoyed making the bread and spending time with each other. The bread turned out great and the house smelled good for days. The experience was a great one and I hope to do it again soon.

This reminded of a time when my cousin and I decided to make a pie. We got all the ingredients together and mixed up the batter for the crust. We kneaded the dough, just like you would if you made bread. We kneaded the dough really well and thought this pie is going to be great. We cooked the pie and were so excited to eat our awesome pie. To our surprise, the crust was really hard, too hard for us or others to enjoy. My mom explained to us that you don't knead the dough for a pie crust. I've learned a little bit more about baking since then.

Seussical the Musical

I took my girls to see Seussical the Musical with some of their cousins. We were in our sits 1/2 hour before the show to get good sits. Thing 1 and Thing 2 appeared on the stage for a minute or two and then headed to the audience to entertain them as they waited They brought out two huge balls and silly string which the kids loved. When the musical started the kids were glued to the stage. During the intermission, the kids went up to look inside the orchestra pit. I loved watching them because that's where I sat during my high school muiscals, except at Jordan High. I knew a lot of people who were involved off and on the stage and really wanted to go to support them. It was an awesome musical put on the the local high school. There sure is a lot of talent in Mesa.

Josh was unable to come with us because we went on the District Camporee with the scouts. He had a great time. Josh packed a camera but he had to much fun to take any pictures. We missed him, but we know that he was having fun with the scouts.

Rainbows

On Saturday after it rained, Josh and Dani pointed out a rainbow that they saw. It was so cool and of course I had to take a picture. I love the rain and to see a rainbow is just the cherry on the sundae.

This reminded me of Dani's baptism. She was baptized in March and the valley hadn't received rain in 143 days. On the day of Dani's baptism it finally rained. We were so thrilled that day. When we sang the baptism song, it was so powerful to me that day. Dani was baptized and clean again that day as was the valley. Every time I hear that song, I'm reminded of that day and the promises we make at baptism.

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I like to look at rainbows whenever there is rain and ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again. I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain. I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away, and I can be forgiven and improve myself each day. I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain. I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

Easter

Our family loves Easter. There are so many traditions that we do as a family. It was fun to have conference the week before Easter and remember the life of our Jesus. Elder Holland's talk about the last days of our Savior touched me and I'm so glad that I heard that message before Easter. Josh and Dani sang with Jim in the choir on Sunday. I enjoyed listening to the musical numbers. It was a special day and I hope my children remember the true reason we celebrate Easter. As a family, it takes us the whole weekend to celebrate Easter.The Saturday before Easter brought the valley much needed rain which changed a few plans, but who cares. IT RAINED! Angela loved dyeing eggs. Josh and Dani were very sweet and helped the girls.
Josh and Dani hid some Easter Eggs in the rain. It was sprinkling a little as Angela and Emmy hunted for eggs. Josh and Dani love to hide the eggs for the little girls.Dyeing Easter Eggs is such a fun tradition. The kids can be very creative with egg decorations.Here are my cute kids on Easter. This is the first year I didn't buy Easter dresses for my girls. After Elder Holland's talk at Conference, I realized that my girls really don't need new dresses. They have plenty of really cute dresses. As you can see they look adorable.

Emmy and Kenzie going on a Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house. They have multiple Easter Eggs Hunts and love every minute of it. The older kids hid the eggs for the little ones. It's really cute! After the Easter Egg Hunts, we celebrated Kenzie's 5th birthday. She is so cute and loves to celebrate her birthday.

The kids love to play with their cousins at the park. There was an Easter Egg Hunt, but afterwards they were found playing on the equipment. My kids have so much fun playing with all their cousins.

Josh is hiding the eggs while Emmy spots an egg. How is she going to get it?

Memorable MondayHigh School Musicals

On Friday, I watched the movie "Damn Yankees". On Saturday night, after the Priesthood session, Dani and I went to see the musical "The King and I". Both the movie and the play reminded me of the musicals that I did in high school.

In high school, I was in the orchestra pit and played the violin for 3 musicals: Oklahoma, King & I, and Damn Yankees. We practiced for months to prepare for the performances. I also participated in a Brigadoon which was performed by members of the community that I lived in. I played the bass and performed in Salt Lake City for that one. I loved playing the orchestra and seeing the plays over and over again as we practiced. I haven't heard the music from Damn Yankees in over 20 years, but when I watched in on TV I remembered some of the songs and the scenes from high school. One of my high school friends was in the play and I remember some of the scenes she was in. It was an incredible experience for me and I loved participating in the musicals.

General Conference

General Conference is a weekend that I look forward to. It's so wonderful to hear from our prophet,apostles, and leaders of our church. It was great to hear from our new apostle Neil A. Andersen. There were a couple of talks that touched me and gave inspiration to continue on the right path. There were many talks that I need to hear and make the necessary changes in my life. My favorite talk was given by Elder Holland. It was especially touching since Easter was a week away from Conference. In his talk he stated: "Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so." I loved that statement and know that I am not alone in my trials and life. What a great blessing we have to listen to Conference twice a year. Every year Conference means more to me and the words seem more inspiring.

Jim and Josh attended the Priesthood session together. It's great the Josh is old enough to go with his dad. I love that my son is willing to attend the Priesthood session and listens to the talks given. He is a great kid and I'm so proud of him. While the boys are away at Conference, the girls and I head to Jim's parents and play. It's a great tradition for all the cousins.

Dani and Kaylynn swinging.

Angela and Brianna playing on the monkey bars.

Emily loving playing with the Moon Sand.

Suns Game

Friday night, Jim and I took the two oldest kids to a Phoenix Suns game. We traveled to the arena by light rail. Our kids were so excited to try out the new light rail. When we got off the light rail, we only had to walk one block until we arrived at the arena. It was cool and cheaper than parking. The Diamondback were playing a game that night too, so the light rail was full and almost everyone got off at our stop. It was a fun experience for us.

Before we got to our seats to watch the game, the kids got their face painted and meet a couple of my favorite Suns players - KJ and Majerle. I know that it's been several years since they played, but they are still my favorite. I went to a game where they both played and loved every minute of it. I hoped my kids would enjoy the Suns game as much as I did.

The kids really enjoyed watching the Suns game. It was a very face paced game with the Suns leading the game the whole time, except for a second or two when it was tied. The Suns beat the Kings 139-111. It was so fun to watch Nash and O'Neal play on the court instead of just on TV. I'm so glad that Jim had this great idea to watch the Suns play.

Last Flag Salute

At Roosevelt Elementary, each grade puts on a cute 15 minute assembly called the Flag Salute. They sing the national anthem, repeat the pledge of allegiance, sing the school song and then turn the time over to those participating in the assembly. The theme of the assembly was recycling.

The special education program Angela participates is only at Roosevelt until she is finishes 3rd grade. Next year, she will be in the same program just at a different school for the intermediate levels 4-6. She is coming back to Porter and I couldn't be more thrilled. Roosevelt has been such a good school for Angela and she loves it there.

Dani's Birthday Celebration

This post is going to have two parts, so I can separate when I create my blog book. I just waited to late to blog it, but wanted to share it. We celebrated Dani's birthday with the family a week after her birthday. We celebrated with her friends a month later.

Dani's Birthday Celebration

Dani had a band concert on her birthday. She got a small digital camera and filled it up taking pictures of her friends and brother during the concert. We had celebrated with cake and presents at my parent's house a few days later. Her cousin gave her a fish. It's the first pet we have ever had and Dani is really excited to care for her new fish.

She named her fish Bubbles - so cute!

"As You Wish"

Dani took a couple of friends to "As You Wish" and painted some pottery pieces. The girls had so much fun and are very creative. It was so fun to paint with them. First, they picked out their pieces that they wanted to paint. This was the hardest part for us all. We had pieces picked out and then we would change our minds. There were so many fun things

to paint. After 15-20 minutes, we finally decided on our individual projects.

Second, we painted the pottery pieces. The girls were very creative and were very patient as they waited to fin the perfect color that they wanted to use. We had to paint each piece three times to get the right look. This process was the most time consuming, but also the funnest part.

This was Dani's project after it was painted. Dani's purple frog is so incredibly cute. We left our pieces at the store to be fired in the kiln. It was hard to imagine what the final product would look like.
Here are the final pieces. The girls did a fabulous job and had a lot of fun. Dani keeps asking when we can go again.