Halloween

Halloween was crazy this year.  There was so much going on that Halloween was almost forgotten.

• Our Stake had a Youth Halloween Dance and Angela was the only one that could attend.  Danni was working on Seussical and Josh was taking his clarinet college class.
  
• We carved a pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds.  We burnt the pumpkins which was a bummer.  They are my favorite part of carving pumpkins.  The girls had a blast and the pumpkin turned out great.
  
• The night on the truck or treat, Danni had Seussical dress rehearsal, and Josh had a marching band competition.  Jim took the younger two girls to the trunk or treat.  They had a great time and I feel bad missing it again.  I went with them last year, but I really hate it when events take place at the same time and I can't be there for my kids.

  

  Saturday events

• Halloween Night was just as crazy and we went separate directions again.  Danni went with some friends to celebrate Halloween.  Jim and I went to the football game since it was senior night.  Angela and Emily went trick or treating with Grandma Pace.

Danni dressed up as a cat

Halloween Night

• Since Grandpa Wall didn't get to see the Halloween costumes, we had a fashion show for her.  Kenzie had a new costume and was so excited - she looked adorable.  Emily costume was falling apart, and I had to sew it back together.  I'm getting better at sewing.

Angela, Emily, Kenzie, and Joey

Senior Night

Josh asked Pablo to pin his yellow carnation on. It's a great tradition to honor the seniors just before the football game.  Josh and Pablo have become great friends during these last two years of marching During half time, the parents of the senior walk alongside their senior as they were honored by the school.  It was a sweet night and I loved walking alongside Josh.  He has a great future ahead of him and I'm so grateful for his time at Mesa High School, especially his time in the marching band.  

Aah!!!

Josh and Pablo

3 of the tubas are seniors

Jim, Josh, and I

Phoenix Temple

Phoenix Arizona Temple

We are so blessed to have another temple to tour this year. We took the day off work from school and work and headed into Phoenix.  We brought Cali with us again to tour the temple.  We invited him in February to see the Gilbert Temple.  It was a beautiful temple inside and out.  During the tour, I really looked at the details and I was very impressed with the beautiful artwork that represented Arizona.  I really felt the spirit inside the time and I'm so glad that I came with my family to see this beautiful building.  Families are Eternal and I'm so glad that I spent the day with them touring this beautiful temple.

Bus ride to and from the temple

Family pic

Temple pics

My children

Throw Back ThursdayLast Trunk or Treat

This was the year 2010 at the Ward Trunk or Treat.  Josh was Doctor Who, Danni was a gangster, Angela was a clown, and Emily was Minnie Mouse.  I wish I got a picture of the four of them together since it was the last trunk or treat we attended as a whole family. Marching Band and Musicals keep the older two kdis busy on those nights. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Memorable Monday4th Halloween

I've started a little tradition that I blog Halloween pics of my kids when they were the same ages.  It's time to showcase my kids' 4th Halloween costumes side by side.  You can see that they really look like each other when you see them when they were the same age.

Josh - fireman
Danni - Snow White
Angela - bear
Emily - pirate

Competition at Goldwater

I went to the Goldwater competition with Jana and Joella.  Lisa, Kristi, and Miriam rode to the school and back with us, but they stayed to help.  I really enjoyed the competition and was thrilled that I could be there.  It was fun to talk to the parents of the different schools.  We talked to a parent that night from Mountain View telling us that this was the 2nd competition of  the day.  They went to ASU earlier and the day and didn't place well.  I was thrilled that Mesa High only went to one competition that day.  They came in 2nd place with a score of 82.07.  They did an amazing job!!  It's so fun to see their show since it changes every time we see it.  This was the last competition to qualify for State - they did that 3 weeks ago.  Next step - State Festival.

Goldwater Compeition

Perfect Attendance

Emily received a ribbon for perfect attendance the first quarter.  She was honored at the flag ceremony.  School starts early for her and I'm so proud that she got to school on time. Good Job Emily!!!

Emily with her flag and ribbon

Kids who didn't miss a day of school the first quarter

Throw Back ThursdayPerforming at an Early Age

Danni and her sister Emily posing as ballerinas. Danni loved to dress up Emily up.  Em loved the attention. Danni also loves to perform and gets that chance next week with Seussical.

Memorable MondaySchool Pics

I love the day when my kids bring home their school pics and each picture turned out great.  They are such cute kids!!!

Josh - 12th grade
Danni - 11th grade
Angela - 9th grade
Emily - 4th grade

Since Emily is in 4th grade, I wanted to see my kids' 4th grade pictures side by side.   When Angela was in 4th grade, she returned to her home school - Porter Elementary.    All 4 of these pictures were taken at Porter - I just think that is so cool!!!

Since Josh is a senior and 3 of my kids are in high school, I thought it would be fun to show my high school pictures.  I scanned them from my yearbook and my school IDs.  It's important to remember that I attended high school in the '80's and big hair was in.

Tami in high school

Josh's Talk

Josh gave an amazing talk today.  I came to church this morning and looked at the program and saw that Josh was speaking.  I was totally shocked and wondered if Josh knew he was speaking or if he was prepared.  After the sacrament, Josh got up to the pulpit and gave an amazing talk about his desire to go on a mission.  I was very impressed with his talk.   I asked Josh if he remembered that he was to give a talk.  He told me that he remembered when he got to church.  He can come up with a 5-10 minute talk on his feet - that's a great skill to have on a mission.  Here is what Josh wrote:

"Today I talked about serving a mission and how I have prepared for it. I had talked about how I had come to know for myself that I wanted to serve a mission. Then talked about how I knew for myself that the Gospel was true."

Competition at Williams Field

The Mesa Marching Band had a competition today and I ran away from home to be there.  I felt better every day from my surgery and I didn't want to miss one competition, so Jim came with me.  Jim was very patient with me and knew how it important it was for me to be there.  We only saw Division 2 compete and Mesa High did an amazing job.  They came in second place with a score of 77.22.   Good Job Mesa High!!!

Jim and I - just 1 1/2 week after surgery

Looking Good!!!!

Throw Back ThursdayFamily in 2005

Here is a picture if my family at end of 2005. I've been thinking a lot about my family lately and where we will be in the next few years, even next year. Josh is 18 and a senior this year and Danni is only a year behind him. Changes will be coming in the next few years, but today I still have at home with me. It wasn't that long ago, when this picture was taken.

Memorable MondayMy Surgery

I had surgery just a week ago - a hysterectomy.  I was really scared to have this surgery, but knew that I needed it.  I'm looking back into the events that led up to my surgery.

In August, I had some tests done before going to see the doctor.  These blood tests showed that I was extremely anemic.  I had only 1/5 of the iron that I needed.  I was always exhausted and that was due to having low iron.  The doctor scheduled for me to have 5 iron infusions to build my iron supply up.  I only was able to have 4.  When I visited the doctor, he said that there was something triggering my low iron levels and it needed to be addressed immediately.  I went to my new gynecologist and he found out that I had a huge fibroid and I would need a hysterectomy.  He felt uncomfortable doing it, so he sent me to a specialist.  The specialist confined what was mentioned earlier and scheduled the surgery.  During the surgery, he was going to have a pathology test run to see if there was any cancer.  He didn't think there would be cancer, but he wanted to test the tissue to make sure. I was also told that due to my low iron, I would probably need a blood transfusion during surgery.

The day that I had surgery, I was really scared and nervous.  I prayed that I would find the comfort that I needed.  The surgery was a great success.  I didn't need a blood transfusion after all - I think the iron infusions helped.  My pathology reports came out well - no cancer.  I was in the hospital for only 2 day, which was nice.  When I was in the hospital, the nurses had me walking the night of my surgery which helped a lot on my road to recovery.  

Throw Back ThursdaySLC Temple

I grew up in Salt Lake City and love taking my kids up there. I didn't take a picture of them with the conference center, but I have an amazing picture of my family with the Salt Lake Temple. It was a great conference weekend!!!

Memorable MondayJim's police car

Jim just bought a new car and Danni couldn't wait to drive it.  She took the car to go get her driver's license.  She loves driving the car around town and is willing to run any errands that we need.

2009 Ford Focus

Danni just got her license

Before the Ford Focus, we owned a Crown Vic, which was an actual retired police car.  At one time, he had a police memorial license and an antenna on the car, which made it look like he was the police.   Cars slowed down when they drove by us.  Haha!!  One day, a police saw the memorial police license plate and thought it was a fake one, so he pulled Jim over with scouts in the back.  To the officer's surprise, the license plate had been issued to Jim.  Jim really like this car, but it was acting up and Jim wanted a small commuter car.  When Jim sold his car, I asked him to take a picture with it, but it forgot, so here is a partial picture of his police car.  Notice the two cute girls washing my truck.

See Jim's car in the corner

Competition at Desert Vista

This was the first competition for Mesa High this year.  I went with Joella and we had a total blast.  When Mesa High marched onto the field, I started to tear up.  This is my son's senior year and I'm going to miss so many competitions due to my upcoming surgery.   It was great to see their show and the did very well.  They came in first place with a score of 72.01.   

Competition at Desert Vista
The flags look they are on fire

Throw Back ThursdayJim and I

Throw Back Thursday - Jim and I met shortly after he returned home from his mission. We dated on and off for 5 years and became really good friends. It's so fun to reminisce with Jim about those years. Jim is a great guy and I'm so glad that I married him. Jim has been there for me through the great times and not so great times.

Primary Softball

 Emily played primary softball again this year.  She struggled hitting the ball the first day, but never gave up.  She starting hitting the ball a couple of days later.  She had a really great time and I love watching her grow by doing things she is unfamiliar with.  

Sis Johnson helping Emily learn to hold the bat

Emily was so determined to hit that ball.  She was focused

Swinging the bat

Silly friends

Girls love to get pics taken

Emily and friends

KBP Group Picture

Emily and Kenzie