Great day with the girls then the Zoo

Celia has been coming home early from school lately. She has had some trouble lately with some mean girls, but we have been spoiling her. The other day we went to park days at the pool and had a fun time and today we went and saw Pitch Perfect 2 the movie. it was really funny. Even Celia and I laughed out loud. It definitely wasn't my typical type of movie, but I was happy to be there with the girls. We sent Emmy off to  Youth conference to sleep under the stars and headed to the Sacramento zoo for Dream Night. We got little stuffed animals and saw old friends there.We had two tutors with us:Alyssa and Allie. Spence seemed to enjoy sitting around on the various benches. He called a duck over once and we got to see glimpses on animals doing their thing. Spence was too tall for the typical place to take a picture, but for the most part, He was pretty happy. There were many more people there then I remember last year, It was too bad since there was a lot of waiting. The carousel seemed to be worth the wait for Spence and we were all so pleased we made it through successfully.
On the way home we saw an amazing lightning storm and the clouds were so cool looking. I'm grateful for rain and the wonderful time we had today.

Primary Temple Visit

I didn't realize how often Celia had visited the temple with me. As we attended a Primary temple day, I heard from her how much she had remembered about our visits. I am happy that she knows the House of the Lord is an important part of my life and so is she. There is so much peace and beauty there. Celia did great on the tour listening and holding still. I know it was hard for her, but what a great job she did! We learned about the symbolism and the architecture and most of all how touching the temple can touch our lives.

I want so much peace for her right now as she goes through school and social situations  that are less than ideal. I wan her to know she is loved and protected and can have the spirit to be with her. I'm sure the Lord was happy to have so many little ones visiting today. Celia is a precious daughter and I'm so glad she is an affectionate sweetheart to me. She plays with her little toys (Lalaloopsey and Shopkins) and uses her imagination and creativity to play and sketch like an artist.  Having one daughter grown up makes me want to take time and enjoy my next little young woman in the making. I hope for many more opportunities for mommy daughter time like this.

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.