Graduation

 My first born's High School Graduation. It was surreal. It was hot outside and pretty entertaining. There were interesting folks, beetles, nice musical number, one of which Emmy was a part of. Her choir sang Imagine by John Lennon. It was beautiful. Emmy was able to be one of the firs called to receive her diploma because she was performing. After she received her diploma someone said wait and she didn't go off the stage right away. My family got a kick out of it and we enjoyed seeing her up there a while. I was hoping to get more pictures and kept missing her, but it worked out in the end. They had a string of lights that helped with taking pictures as it was getting darker. We couldn't find some of Emmy's friends and I'm glad it as a family moment and we got a picture of Joseph with his arm around Emmy.:) I did pretty well holding in my emotions although right when they called her full name. I cheered with a crack in my voice and wished others had been louder. It was so formal and official. So real an yet I couldn't believe My baby was big enough for this. She was beaming and very grateful for everyone around her. She will have a great time at Disneyland celebrating graduation. She has a wonderful memory and will be able to relive these fun days. I'm happy for her to have a plan to go off to college and experience more and make even more great memories. She'll always be our little "bundle"of joy and will always welcome her home forever and ever.

Holiday and fun times

We had a great Veteran's Day this last weekend. I'm glad that Brian could have the day off to spend with the family. We went for family rides of course and were quite happy finding ourselves at Dickie's BBQ for lunch. We all felt a little sleepy except Celia after that and we woke up to her water mess in the bathroom. these children we have are precious and we have to teach them all the time to be careful. We try to take care of our bodies, our house, and our belongings. It is so easy to be careless, but it is more worthwhile to prevent heartache and accidents if possible. I've been feeling lately that I want to repair and fix up anything that needs attention. We fixed Emmy's car that was with out a grill and dented for 8 months. It turned out nice! There were hiccups and frustrations of course, but the end product was worth it. Emmy, her friend Kaitlyn and I even ventured to pick and pull and found a Mazda just like hers and got a grill with the emblem already on it. It happened to be half off day because f the holiday weekend and it felt so good to get that done! Now we can keep that care car a bit longer and use it as an incentive for Emmy to do great in school her first semester of college to get to drive it her second semester.

Emmy graduate from High School Tomorrow. I'm excited for the next phase of her life, she is a little hesitant. I'm happy with the woman she is becoming and all the great things she has accomplished. I'm excited to see her graduate from seminary as well. Joseph promotes to high school soon too. I like having older kids, they are helpers and understand so much. There is so much life to live and learn and experience. I really value our family time together. Lately we have been around the fire and making smores. We walk around the mall together, we got o concerts, and we eat out. We garden together and do chores. We finish projects and got for road trips. We read scriptures together and talk about important things in life. We play card games and board games and learn about scouting and tithing and budgets. I'm pretty pleased with our lives however imperfect they may be. I'm grateful for these memories made and the fondness I will feel later having persevered through the hard times and made the most of the good times.

May, So far So Good

This has been a great and fun filled month so far. Joseph is now a teacher in the priesthood, hooray! All is going well with getting my Webelos the Arrow of light. It is so fulfilling to get children to be kind, prepared, and also teach them about duty to God and country. We went on a 3 mile hike and Celia came too. She is doing better socially, although we are considering a school change for the new year to be surrounded by new peers and have more opportunities for better relationships. Another great and excited thing is that my parent are moving to Roseville! They found a beautiful home with a pool. Things are falling into place and it all seems so surreal. Speaking of surreal we have been a lot of finishing up Emmy's senior year. She attended the Academic Merit awards(so proud) attended Senior Ball( asked a boy she barely knew and had a blast) and took her AP tests. Also, she had a duet in a choir performance and accompanied them with her flute for one song.(such a performer). Emmy finishes off four years of seminary tomorrow. She has done great. She finished off big with completing her reading cover to cover of the Doctrine and covenants and also was on time for over a month. These are great feats to be celebrated. We will go to the Train concert tomorrow at sleep train amphitheater. It will be Joseph's first concert. Another first is that Celia will have her own room in four months. Times are definitely changing around here, but we are doing well and are healthy which I am so grateful for

Last of the April Family Birthdays

Spencer had a pretty good birthday. He rested most of the morning. What 17 year old doesn't love sleeping in? We went to Mountain Mikes Pizza with the whole family and to grocery outlet. Spencer picked some great treats. He picked out clothes with me at Kohl's yesterday and smiling in line got us 30% off and some Kohl's cash. I was so happy he did so well at the store with me!  Spence got a Very soft throw blanket yesterday too and some superman sheets for his bed. He smiled a lot and enjoyed being with the family. Rah Rah came over and visited for a while and he was happy with her gifts too. We love Spencer, Brian is spoiling him with more gifts in the mail coming soon. Such a big boy! He is growing up so tall and acting like a teen even not loving the picture taking.

Senior Pics

We had an adventure today going to take Senior pictures. We went with the tutor, Ryan and we grabbed a dining chair and had a photo shoot. It was beautiful light out. It looked like rain at sunset. We have beautiful falls near our house and a park nearby with long grass. The kids swung on the swings after and we enjoyed a walk in such beautiful area. Celia was being so cute grabbing a walking stick and loved seeing a little creek nearby. I love exploring with the kids and taking pictures. Emmy is growing up and I am I could capture this time.

Quietest Party Ever

Celia had the twins and Sariah over for a play date. Celia loves Lalaloopsey so we decorated for that. The girls were so quiet, it was nice.:) Allie is such a nice tutor for Celia. She brought her a present, all sorts of great markers to decorate a night light, but the girls took the cardboard it was wrapped in and made neat murals. Spence had his tutoring going too so he had a pre-birthday party. He played with shaving cream, we sang to him and had cake. I made Celia pink cupcakes filled with vanilla and they were a hit. Checked off the dual birthdays off for another year.  Spencer's teachers have a staff development day so he and I are going to go walking and shopping for his birthday this morning.

Folks in Town

I can't believe our little Celia is getting so big. We celebrated her birthday yesterday. My folks were in town checking out the house they want to move into, here by us. We had a great time and even had a family home evening. It was nice to hear their input and respond to the questions they had. It felt very familiar to me and warmed my heart. I told the kids how sometimes we feel prompted to do something, like for me writing down my thoughts. It has been an inspiration that I am happy I have tried out and learned that the Lord has his hands in our lives. He can have our experiences work together for the good of us and so many others. We attended the temple together on Tuesday Night after tutoring and cub scouts, it was busy, but the relationships made through those avenues are priceless.  Each of our friends and family members have blessed our lives in so many ways. We are grateful for Spencer and the strength and compassion we all have acquired from serving him. He has a birthday coming up too! There will be some changes as he gets older as far as tutoring and things, but he has made so many gains, I'm sure it will work out.

Celia has been doing great too. She had a new tutor over yesterday too. They played imaginary and they were pounding out street musical rhythms in the backyard on boxes with sticks. It was cute (Celia prefers I say; adorable). Celia was spoiled with many presents and a trip to build a bear and a visit to Rah Rah's after. Celia is so precious, she wished for her pony at build a bear to be kind. We need more of that in the world. We are so happy she is a part of our family.