Growing, growing, growing…

One year for Christmas, Jake and Liz gave us each a birthday board. It had Joe’s height already written on it from him growing up. Each time one of our kids has a birthday, we measure them too. Colin is growing by leaps and bounds! It’s fun to compare our kids to Joe, what a cool gift!
Beau is creative and was hiding under the laundry bucket. Joe put his foot on top of the bucket and Beau completely freaked out. He ran upstairs and came down a few minutes later with this picture he drew of the situation. Joe is standing on top of him, Beau is trapped in the bucket, and Joe is crossed out. I guess that’s how he interpreted the events.

Maybe one day Beau will draw as well as Colin…cute boys. We went to visit Jake and Liz in their newly remodeled (completely beautiful) home! Camri and Alex had fun dressing up, and Camri LOVED invading Alex’s closet. They did a little fashion show for us. Cuties!

Everyone keeps growing up! Slow down!

Romantic day with my valentine.

Around here, we take turns planning Valentine’s Day and Anniversary. Joe gets the odd years, I get the even years…so guess what? It was my turn.
I wanted to do something different, and we did.
Shooting.
I know nothing about it, Joe’s been a few times. So we went down to the shooting range, had a quick lesson, and went to it.
Joe looks so dang cute. And he had great aim, too.
 
Since I was so new at this, I was a little nervous. But Joe was a good teacher and I actually had a lot of fun.
Afterward, we went to Carver’s for dinner…baked brie, yum! Dinner was absolutely delicious and I love hanging out with my best friend.
I’m so grateful for this man, he takes his role of provider, protector, and presider seriously. I got a good one, people. I love him and I like him.

Valentines Day fun!

Friday was Valentines Day, so we had family day. Parties at the the school, lunch with Dad, early day, good stuff. That night, Dad surprised the kids and took us all to see the Lego Movie.
Everything is awesome!!
The movie was cute and the kids loved it. We went home for pizza and wings, then passed out little prizes to the kids.

These kids are the coolest! I love my little valentines.

Daddy Daughter Date

Our Young Women’s activity this week was epic…Daddy Daughter Date! The girls and their dads all came to enjoy dinner, dancing, pictures, and lots and lots of laughing! It was such a fun night and all the girls looked totes adorbs.
This may be fuzzy, but it’s my favorite pic of the night. I was snapping away at them as they danced closer and closer towards me…Love it! 
Groovy, this night was outta sight!!

Time for Valentines!!

Beau wanted Ninjago…here’s the result.
Colin made his box all by himself…look how cool! He wanted to do basketball, but look at the attention to detail! Hoops and players and everything! He passed out some fun dip with his Jazz valentines…Since Beau makes his box at school (hallelujah!), and Colin did his by himself (double hallelujah!), I had some extra time to work on Camri’s. Good thing because she wanted a Lalaloopsy box. I think it turned out pretty well. Camri and I had fun working on it together.
Of course, Winnie the Pooh is still the favorite for Camri’s actual valentine…Dangit, didn’t get a picture of Beau, but I did spend the morning in his classroom for the party. I love spending Valentine’s Day with these kids!
 

Emma, the science gal.

Emma is taking middle school by storm. She’s getting perfect grades, she has wonderful friends, she’s involved in yearbook and the school play, and she still does dance three days a week. This kid is rocking her busy schedule.
One day I noticed her at work. “What are you doing, Em?” “My science project.”
What? I didn’t have to help pick a topic? Or do an experiment? Or anything? Nope, she did it all herself. She got the data she needed, did all the research, typed everything up…amazing!
I helped her print a couple of things for the poster, but other than that, she was on her own.
Even more amazing? She advanced to the District Round.
Great job, Emma-lu!!

3 Things I know for sure…

Number one: Annie is hilarious and creative.
Number two: Annie is very loving and cuddly.
Number three: Annie is very stubborn and headstrong. She was mad at me and told me she was going to her room. After a minute, I went to check on her…this is as far as she got. She was fast asleep.
My little sunshine-girl!

Baptism preview

This girl is getting baptized this year!! Joe, Camri, and I headed over to the church on Sunday and attended the baptism preview. They showed the kids the font, the clothing, they talked about activity days and scouts…it was cool! There will be four girls and four boys from our ward who will be baptized this year.
We just found out that she gets to be baptized ON HER BIRTHDAY!! She is very excited!!
My little darling is growing up too fast!!

No school, let’s play.

The kids had a day off, so we decided to have some fun. First stop, library to pick up some good books.
Second stop, Yogurt Stop. Yum and yum! You can have frozen yogurt for lunch, right?
 
A quick trip to the grocery story so they can pick out some reading treats, then home for our Read-a-thon. Everyone comfy? Good.

Love these kids!

Yep, she’s old.

We went to high school orientation. For Dakota. Because she’s going to high school. Next year. Did you hear me? NEXT YEAR!!
Annie’s as shocked as I am.
Actually, I’m glad she’ll be with great friends at a great school. We know Alli will show her around. Koko has decided to do the IB program, which is a program that will allow her to earn her associate’s degree by the time she graduates from high school. I’m so proud of her, I know she’ll work hard and accomplish her goals. I’m so grateful for a wonderful school down the street! She had a great time with her friends at orientation, she’ll have a grand adventure!

The Books I Read in 2013

Last year, I kept track of the books I read and it was helpful when looking for new books to read this year. I based the books on my own five-star rating. There were a few gems throughout the year, there were some slow reading (but otherwise busy) months. Enjoy! January Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West. 4 stars. Small town basketball team, miracle year. The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott. 4 stars. On Titanic crossing, the story of a dressmaker that works for a fashion designer – based on a real designer who was on the ship. The Confession by John Grisham. 3 stars. A false confession leads to death row and execution. A minister, who received a confession from the true killer tries to save man on death row and catch the real bad guy. The Painted House by John Grisham. 3 stars. Family hires help to pick cotton. Story of family drama and hired help (Mexicans and mountain dwellers). The Guardian by Gerald Lund. 3 stars. Junior novel about a girl with and enchanted pouch named The Guardian. Good guys v. bad guys. February The 12 Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis. No stars. Awful, didn’t get past chapter 2. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. 5 stars. Incredible life of refugees coming to America. Trials, love, language barriers and ultimately a road to success. The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi. 3 stars. Story of a young girl in Boston during the Revolution and Boston Massacre. March Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. 2 stars. Entertaining and strange, kind of like the movie “Big Fish”. April The Harbinger by Johnathon Cahn. 3 stars. I didn’t finish this all the way, but I want to. Very good, info about prophesies of the Last Days. May Inferno by Dan Brown. 2 stars. My least favorite of his books. The goal was to stop a plague created to stop overpopulation. Weird and unsatisfying. June Defending Jacob by William Landay. 3 stars. Former DA defending charges against his son in a murder case, and then a second murder. Mom loses it. Lots of bad language. I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson. No stars. Girl in love with David Cassidy. Lame, didn’t finish. Visions of Glory by John Pontius. 3 stars. John’s story of his four near-death experiences and the visions he had of life after death. Book club book. July The Racketeer by John Grisham. 3 stars. Story of a black lawyer, his incarceration and revenge. Come Juneteenth by Ann Rinaldi. 2 stars. Half-black, half-white woman in love with the son of a family she lives with. She doesn’t know slaves are free. It’s a love story with a horrible ending. Last Man Standing by David Baldacci. 2 stars. FBI agent left alive when the rest of his group died. Crime-solving forces team. Long, some bad language. Versailles by Kathryn Davis. 1 star. Marie-Antoinette, meh. August Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews. 3 stars. Story of Job, and Dinah (Jacob’s daughter). Well-written, combines Bibles stories plausibly. Midway to Heaven by Dean Hughes. 2 stars. Dad lost his wife, and his daughter brings a boy home to meet him. Struggle with moving on without wife and letting daughter move on and marry. September The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. 4 stars. Great retelling of Grimm’s fairy tale of the same name. Book club. October Wonder by R.J. Palacio. 5 stars. Story of a boy with facial deformities who goes to public school for the first time. Well-written, compelling story. November My Story by Elizabeth Smart. 5 stars. Her telling of events when she was abducted from her home. Impressive young woman, horrifying story. Tastefully written. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan. 3 stars. Funny ramblings of life with five kids. Too long. December A Captain’s Duty by Richard Phillips. 4 stars. True story of Somali pirates abducting merchant marine ship. The movie is good too “Captain Phillips”. Book of Mormon. 5 stars. Best book ever written. Life-changing, life-helping, life affirming. Read it. Grandma Pulsipher’s Life Story. 5 stars. Great Christmas present. Excerpts from my Grandma’s journal about her life. She is an amazing woman!

Stake Women’s Conference

Wednesday was New Beginnings, Saturday was Stake Women’s Conference, Sunday I taught the combined YW lesson on the Plan of Salvation. It’s been a Fill-My-Spiritual-Bucket kind of week.
As usual, Women’s Conference was amazing! The theme was The Family and they had magnificent women from our Stake speak. These women have faced devastating trials and here they were, speaking to us with grace and humility and a firm testimony of our Savior.
One sister married later in life, her husband’s first wife died during childbirth of their 7th child. They have since had 4 kids together. Amazing. Another sister lost her husband when he was 39 years old (my age now) and they had five little kids. She remarried later to a man who had lost his wife and had 6 kids. Amazing. One sister didn’t even make it to speak because she has terminal cancer and had to have emergency surgery a few days ago. She sent her talk to be read by her visiting teachers. Amazing.
   
Joe brought the kids at the end so he could help put chairs away.
We had a nice family day that ended with a bang..homemade burgers and fries…Yummmmm!