The Gila Valley Temple

Our family headed down to Thatcher to see the Gila Valley Temple. We pulled the kids out of school early and headed out. It was a three hour drive and it was awesome to finally see the temple. The kids were thrilled that we were attending the temple open house. It was a windy day, but I wanted to get some pictures of my family surrounding the Gila Valley Temple. It was great to visit the temple as a family, since temples bind families together. As the kids toured each room, it was fun to watch their expressions, especially when viewing the Baptistry and the Celestial Room. The experience is so hard to put to words as the Spirit touched our hearts as we viewed the temple.

After viewing the temple, we headed to the Thatcher cemetery to view James Pace's grave. Jim was named after this man who marched with the Mormon Battalion before forming his own company to come back west. He founded Payson, Utah and finally settled in the Gila Valley. It didn't take us long to find his grave site and a memorial in his name. It was a great experience for the family to learn more about their dad's ancestors. After viewing the temple was such a good time to talk to the kids about James Pace since the temple binds the past, present, and future.

Let's Play Music

Emily participated in "Red Balloons" and "Blue Bugs" this year and learned music theory through song and dance. At the recital, her class played a major scale and a song on the bells. They also sang the songs they learned in class and performed a puppet show to classical music. The kids love the puppet shows and it teaches to identify themes in music and well as appreciate the classics. Emily and a couple of her friends were in the same class which doubled the fun for her. She loved singing the songs and learned so much music theory that will help her in the coming years. She is ready to play the keyboard next year and plays a couple of chords on our piano.

Angela participated in "Green Turtles" and "Yellow Indians" this year. She learned chords, how to play with both hands with correct fingering, learning the notes on the keyboard, learning notes on the staff, and more music theory. She also sang and performed a puppet show at the recital. Angela loved practicing the piano and it was great to hear her play. She had some friends in her class too and she enjoyed seeing them. Angela worked really hard and never got frustrated with the piano pieces, even when they got difficult, especially the fingering. This program has been a wonderful for Angela and she is ready for the next and last year of "Let's Play Music".

Last Porter Band Concert

Dani had her last Band Concert at Porter. I have had two kids in the band back to back and really enjoyed going to the Porter band concerts. I watched Dani before the concert started and she helped her friend Matthew play the drums. It was a really cute moment. Dani is so good with little kids and I enjoyed watching her interact with him. My camera died and I didn't get more pics, but I loved the ones that I got even though they are blurry. Dani has decided not to continue playing the drums, so I will miss watching her play in the band.

Memorable MondayCousins

Emily and Brandon played together so cute. It was so fun to watch the two of them. Emily and Brandon are only a year apart and they get along so well.

I loved looking back at my pictures to see other different cousin combinations. My kids are so lucky to have cousins their own age that live so close. They see their cousins often and participate in a lot of activities together. When they go to Taylor and Mesa High, they may see their cousins walking around school. How lucky are they?

Fishing

Josh went fishing with his troop and it looks like he had a great time. I'm glad that he took pictures of his fishing adventure. Josh didn't catch a fish - better luck next time.

Cute Nieces

I took some cute pictures of my nieces at the zoo today. I had a great time snapping pictures and hanging out with the girls. The pictures turned out super cute, but the resolution was turned on low, so they can't be printed any higher than a 4x6. I was a little disappointed that the photo shot didn't turn out perfect, but a did get some cute pics of the girls. Check out how gorgeous the two of them are.

"Most Improved Student"

Angela won an award of the "Most Improved Student" in her class. Each teacher picked two students from their class that earned this award and honored them with a pancake breakfast. Jim was asked to help cook the breakfast which made it more special for Angela. After breakfast, the principal gave Angela a certificate and said some nice things about her. She is so sweet and we are so proud of her and her accomplishments. Angela worked really hard this year at school.

Congratulations Angela!

Memorable Monday My Mom

My mom has been home for a week now. It's so good to have her home where she feels comfortable and where she can have more visitors including her grandchildren. They have all missed her and are so glad to see her.

I wanted to look back at some of the pictures I have of my mom and her grandkids. She is a special lady and I want her to know that I love her. She is a strong woman who has fought a lot of health battles.

Memorable Monday Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls

Grandma Wall got Angela a Raggedy Ann doll for her birthday. Because of her long stay at various different hospitals, she was finally came home and was able to give Angela her birthday present. Angela loved it, especially because it was her Grandma that gave it to her.

My Grandma Shaw had a Raggedy Ann and Andy doll in her playroom in her house in Salt Lake. They sat in wooden rocking chairs and my sister and I loved seeing them there when we visited. These dolls are very nostalgic and I often remember Grandma Shaw when I see them. These dolls represent the simple times when we visited Grandma Shaw. A few Halloweens ago, my sister and I dressed Angela and her cousin up as Raggedy Ann and Andy. They looked adorable.

Jam-O-Rama

"Home Sweet Home"

My mom was released from the hospital today. She was supposed to released last week, but the doctor and nurses were concerned about her wound and wanted to run some more tests. They informed her of this just before check out time, which added to heartbreak for the family. The Physical Therapists have been helping her transition for home care at home. She had several car drills to find the perfect car for her to travel in. It was frustrating for her, but she found the perfect one and was thrilled to use it on her way home. The saying "Home Sweet Home" has new meaning for her and for my dad too. She left home to have her hip replacement surgery on January 25th and was in different hospitals for 3 1/2 months. She had major problems with the hip replacement and had to have it removed. She had MRSA in her wound which required the long hospital stay. She had a blood test that showed that the infection is gone and she came home. Home is the best place to recover and she can have more visitors, especially visits from her grandchildren.

Medieval Festival

The 6th graders have a medieval festival every year and the kids really enjoy it. This year, Dani wanted to dress up as a jester and used some parts of Josh's costume from last year. Dani looked great as a jester. Dani made a medieval castle to be judged at the festival a couple of days before. There were many different stations; melting wax to make candles, jesting using a pole and skateboard, playing medieval board games, juggling, learning calligraphy, and a few more stations. I taught the calligraphy station and the kids learned to write their name using a metal pen & ink. It was hard to judge how much ink to use, but the kids did a great job. After the stations, the kids had a meal similar to what they ate in the medieval times. Dani was a squire and helped serve lunch. It was a great festival and I'm so thrilled that I was able to volunteer again this year.

Memorable MondayFirst Easters

Josh's first Easter

Dani's first Easter - also her Blessing Day

Angela's first Easter

Emily's first Easter

Easter Week

Easter is a week long event, especially this year, since General Conference falls on Easter Sunday this year. The girls dressed up in their Easter Dresses the Sunday before Easter. My girls are super cute and I love to take pictures of them.

Saturday evening, during the Priesthood session, the Pace cousins got together and had an Easter Egg hunt at the park. It was fun to watch where the older kids hide the eggs and then help the younger ones find them, especially those eggs that were hidden very well. My girls had a great time hunting for the eggs and spending time with their cousins.

While the younger kids were at the park, the guys went to the Priesthood session. I had to get an awesome picture of those who attended the Priesthood session. A couple of boys, including Josh had to bend their knees so that we could get everyone in the picture.

Easter morning is always so fun. The Easter bunny hid their Easter baskets this year and the kids searched everywhere for them. It was fun to watch them hunt for their baskets and then reap the spoils. We spent the morning watching General Conference. It was so awesome to have General Conference on Easter Sunday and the talks were amazing and they centered around the Easter season.Dyeing Easter eggs is a great family tradition. The kids headed in the back yard to dye Easter eggs between the morning and afternoon session of Conference on Sunday. Jim helped kids get started and then the kids went to town and dyed the eggs. I love to watch the kids dye their eggs and see what colors they choose.

After the last session of conferece, we went to visit my mom at the hospital. We had special permission to enter the courtyard with the grandkids and spend some time with her. It was a great for my mom to see her grandkids even though they were high on sugar. We had such a great time, that we missed the earthquake. I doubt we would have felt it anyway. Afterwards the Clawsons came to Sunday dinner at our house. The kids had several Easter eggs hunts in the backyard.

Trip through AZ

Our family took a road trip this weekend through AZ. I wanted to see some of the snow that has fallen this winter. The last good snow storm was several weeks ago, but I heard that there was still plenty of snow to play in, so we headed up north to found some. We had a great time playing in the snow and the kids found some ice to play with. Josh and Dani loved playing with the ice that formed around the melted snow. It was great to see snow up in the mountains. On our drive home from visiting the snow, we took a detour to get a glimpse of the some of the lakes in AZ. It was so great to see the lakes full of water since I still remember the drought years before. There is a scenic road that connects these three lakes and we had a great time exploring this part of AZ. The road was a little scary at times, especially when the road was narrow and there was a cliff on my side of the vehicle. Jim and the kids teased me when I freaked out at times, but after a while the road didn't seem as scary and I was able to enjoy the ride.

The scenery was beautiful and it was great to see the desert in full bloom.