Girls Camp!

My Paige is all packed and ready to go to girls camp. This is her first year! She is going to be gone for a whole week. She is so excited. I can't stop nagging her, trying to remind her to do this or don't do that. I hope she has as much fun as I did when I went to camp.

Our Summer Walking Log

I'll admit it. My kids have a lot of screen time during the summer. I try to get them playing outside or go to the park but the reality is that they end up watching their fair share of tv/wii/computer.
We do a reading log every summer (provided by our local library) and it is great. The kids do read a lot during the summer. But this gave me the idea of a walking/running log.
Paige has started running a little bit in the evenings to help build up her endurance for swimming. So while I was outside walking/running with her, the other kids ended up joining us and we all walked around the block quite a few times. So as a family we decided that we would start a running/walking log. They are all so excited about this!
Every time one of us walks around our block (it's a 1/4 mile) we can fill in a box on our Log. We all can contribute to the log at any time but walking as a family at night will help fill it up faster.
After we fill in 300 boxes then we will have our reward!
The kids decided they want to build a fire in the backyard and make S'mores. (We don't have a fire pit or anything so this should be interesting!!!) I will let you guys know in a few days how it is going.

Jeffery R Holland's book

For Mother's Day Matt gave me Jeffery R. Hollands new book. I love Elder Holland. He is my favorite speaker to listen to. He has the talent of making you feel like he is speaking directly to you. I love his new book! It is filled with quotes from all of his talks. This is my favorite one so far:

Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in his hands and in his feet and in his side. Signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect; sings, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you; signs if you will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours.

Visiting the Listons

A few weeks ago for spring break we went up and visited Travis and his family. The kids had a great time! We loved chilling with them and spending Easter together. Megan made yummy food, we went hiking, and the kids bounced on the trampoline for hours on end.

Laurel Time!

I took 5 of my laurels camping to the beach last weekend. It was a trip I will never forget. I love them all so much and treasure my memories with them. All 5 are graduating this month and I will miss them so much!

Blue Ribbon!

We found out tonight at Open House that Mitchell won FIRST PLACE at his school for the science fair (for his whole grade)! I am so proud of him! He worked so hard on it.

Now his science project board is going to be entered into the County Science Fair. I think he won because he did a lot of research for it and had a very detailed journal that he kept about it.
Way to Go Mitchell!!!

Grant's Birthday!

Grant had a great birthday! He is such a sweet boy and we love him so much. He was so stink'n excited for his new shoes and clothes. Go figure! He fell asleep wearing them.

Grant decided to go with an airplane theme for this birthday. Tomorrow his play group friends are coming over and we will have a mini party.

Thanks Grant for being such an amazing kid!

Poor Charlie

Paige's hamster died on Saturday. Poor Paige was heartbroken. Charlie was only a year old and she was so upset that he died already. Matt and Paige buried him in the backyard. The hardest part of being a mom is holding your child while he/she cries.

Aladdin

For the past few months Paige has been in a play production of Aladdin. She has had so much fun and really enjoys these plays. She played the part of a Soldier and a city person. She did a great job!

Spring time FHE.

We went on a walk for FHE. It was such a beautiful day today. Then we came home and measured everyone on our front closet door. This is something we do every 6 months or so to see how the kids have grown. They are all growing so fast! Paige grew 1.5 inches in the last 6 months. She is now 5'2" and weighs 100 pounds even. Mitchell grew 1.6 inches and is now 4' 9". He weighs 81 pounds. Harry and Grant both grew 1.25 inches. Harry is 3' 11" and Grant is 3' 5".

No more Barking!

I can't sleep when a dog is barking. Period! It doesn't even phase Matt, he just sleeps right through it. But not me! The minute a dog starts barking I am up and stay up until it stops. So, I came up with this letter to give neighbors when their dog is barking for long periods at night. Over the years I have given it to a few neighbors and it has worked every time to keep their dog quiet without starting a feud. I thought I would share it for anyone else that wants to be as bold as me and give it to a neighbor in order to obtain some peace! Here it is: It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. We are so happy to have you in our community and enjoy the contribution you make our neighborhood. We have noticed that your dog is happy to be here too, so much so that he/she is a very enthusiastic barker. I am not sure if you were aware, but for the last few nights you dog has barked on and off for long periods at night. It makes it impossible to sleep when your dog is barking. I understand that from time to time dogs bark but we would really appreciate it if at night (especially after 11:00 pm) you would do something to prevent your dog from barking for long periods. We hope this message is received in the kind spirit that it is intended and please know that any effort you could make to quiet your lovable dog down at night would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

Going to the Temple

On Friday Matt and I got to take Paige to the temple for the first time. What a sweet day that was for us. My parents came and Matt's mom came with us too. The 6 of us had a wonderful experience together as we were able to watch Paige have her first experience in the temple. Matt baptized both Paige and I and then Matt and my dad took turns confirming us. Pat and Mimi where there to attend us and give us out towels. Paige was so excited to go and had been looking forward to it for a long time. Everyone in the temple was so sweet and helpful to us.

I am so thankful to have the opportunity to go with her and share with her the things that are so important to me. I look forward to being able to bring the rest of my children with me to the temple.

All Thumbs!

Yes, Grant is still very attached to his thumb. I really try to not let it bug me and ignore it. Everyone tells me that he will stop when he gets into Kindergarten and the kids start to tease him, but I am wondering if I should help him stop before that. I have this really nasty fingernail polish that I can put on his nails to make him stop but I just haven't had the heart to do it as it brings him so much comfort.

What to do.....What to do.....

Harry's Owie

Harry fell the other day and hurt his arm. The last 14 days we have seen 3 doctors, taken X-rays and had our friend who is a physical therapist work on his arm. We finally think that it is healing and he no longer has to wear his splint!

Also, Harry lost one of his front teeth. Poor kid looks like someone beat him up!

Easy Turbo!

I swear every time she wakes up she is taller. She has passed up a few friends and family members in height the last few months and nothing makes her happier.

First Day of Young Womens

I am so happy to have Paige with me in YW now!

Harry is 6!

My sweet Harrison is 6 years old!

I took some cookies and Capri-suns to his class at school. And then we had a family party. He got a new Wipe Out wii game, super Mario trading cards and some Ben 10 toys. Mimi and Papa gave him Bay blades (they are like spinning tops) and Nana gave him 10 dollars which he was VERY excited about!


Harry is starting to become more and more independent and mature. He has such a sweet, tender spirit and so so smart. We love him!

Party Time

Paige had a bunch of friends over from school for her birthday party. She had a lot of fun! They had pizza, played Sing It and the Human Knot and just hung out.

Paige turns 12!

I can't believe my little girl is 12! She had been counting down to her birthday for a really long time and so we were all relieved when it finally came around.
We had our typical family party. We had a very sweet moment when Nana (Pat) gave Paige her old YW in Recognition necklace. She told her she could wear it until she had earned her own and wrote her a very sweet and sentimental card.

Paige of course got a bunch of yarn. She is still really into knitting. She also got her first make-up! Just some mascara (much to her dad's dismay).

I know

I really need to blog about a few things (Paige, Harry and Matt's birthday....lol)
But until I get around to doing that I wanted to share a video I uploaded on Youtube about Mitchell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjB1z6OrfQ8

I made one of Paige too when she was 5, but I lost it. :(