We had my family over to celebrate Faith and Doug's birthdays! It is always fun to get together and laugh and enjoy each other's company. Faith was thrilled with the fabulous clothes and jewelry from Grammy and Granpa as well as the LPSO from Uncle Steve and his family! Doug is always amazed at how my parents go above and beyond and make him feel like a part of the family (which he is, and we love him). I am grateful for my family and although they are not perfect, I love them very much and am glad to be closer to them and able to celebrate special occasions together!

Mommy / daughter time!

So, Friday Doug flew in from Colorado, and after picking him up at the airport we decided to celebrate Faith's birthday. We took the kids to see "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" in 3d, and then to the Mayan Restaurant for dinner and a diving show, and then home to open presents. She is at the age where most of what we got her was clothes and she was thrilled!
Saturday, I took Faith out for some one on one girl time! After the primary activity, we grabbed lunch together and then went and got pedicures and our hair styled. Faith looked so beautiful, so of course I had to take some pictures. Then we went out for smoothies together and headed home. It was wonderful to spend the day together just us girls! Faith said it was the best day of her life, and I am glad! What a blessing it is to be a mother!

My 10 year old daughter-Happy Birthday Faith!!!!!

Today Faith will turn 10 at 9:02 pm! It is crazy to think that she is that old already. Time really does fly. She is growing up to be a beautiful girl, inside and out. I am very proud to be her mother. I love her so much and it is hard to imagine life without her. I am grateful for her smile, and the example and helper she is to her brothers.
Doug is out of town, so we didn't do too much. When she came home from school I had balloons tied to her bed and a poster with candy on it on her bed. She opened a card from Grandma Ward and was pleasantly surprised to find 10 dollars. We took cupcakes to school and have some cupcakes here. I let her pick what we had for dinner.....pancakes! But, the real fun begins on Friday. Friday is our family fun with Faith day and Saturday I am taking her out for some mother daughter fun and then Sunday more family fun with Grammy, Grandpa, uncles, aunt and cousins.
It will be hard to top last years party, 22 girls getting makeovers and singing Karaoke in our basement, but we will try!!!!

4th grade field trip to Camp Floyd

I am grateful that my husband is able to work from home occasionally and can watch the kids so that I can go on these fun field trips with my kids. Friday we went to Camp Floyd. The kids got to see the the old schoolhouse and had to bow or curtsy as they walked in. They walked through a museum they have there and got to shoot muskets. They learned how the early settlers made bricks and got to make their own candles. In fact, today is Faith's birthday and we used her candle on her pancake for dinner to sing happy birthday and then later on the cupcake.
Apparantly I am considered a "cool mom", or so Faith and her friends tell me. I had a lot of fun playing with the kids and teaching them camp songs to sing on the bus.

Homemade Scones + General Conference = a good day

My kids all get excited for General Conference. Maybe that is because I always cook big breakfasts, buy tons of candy for Conference Bingo and we all get to relax and be together. I am a big fan of the DVR. One of it's best uses is to pause Conference to ask questions, or talk about something the speaker just said. I was impressed with how well my kids listened, and how well they could tell me what the speaker was talking about. In fact, today during Family Home Evening, Doug asked each of the kids to tell him something they had done today to show love or service to someone. Faith immediately said, "Hey dad, this is just like the Conference talk." She then told us just about the entire Conference talk. It was neat to see my kids putting away the bingo cards to take notes a good chunk of the time. Brayden's notes were pictures of family, temples, Jesus, the Prophet and the Book of Mormon. Gavin's notes were one word or thought at a time. Family, Love, Jesus Christ, Temples, Service, The Holy Spirit. Faith's were stories she heard and thoughts she had during Conference. It was wonderful to listen to the Conference talks as a family and be uplifted together.

Gavin's 2nd Grade Field Trip to the Farm

I went with Gavin's class on Wednesday on a field trip to the farm. We had a lot of fun! They had a lot for the kids to do and learn. I was especially proud of Gavin on the bus. Some of the kids started chanting, "Bus Driver Stinks" because he asked them to sit down and not put thier hands out the windows. Gavin told me he didn't think that was nice, and on the way off the bus he said "Thank you bus driver for taking us on a field trip." The other kids followed and said "thank you". I was very proud of him. I love going on field trips with my kids. I am grateful my husband was able to work from home and watch the kids!

Gavin reading his scriptures

This last week Gavin has been reading his scriptures on his own without us even mentioning it. I went in his room Monday night and he was just sitting in bed reading scriptures. After we had read our family scriptures that night he didn't want to stop reading. When I poked my head in he said, "hey Mom, can I read you this verse, I really like it." It was very special to see my son reading and loving the scriptures so much.
Then, the next night he was reading them again. I went in to his room to tuck him in and put him to bed and he said, "just give me a few more minutes, I am reading about Nephi." When I went back in he had fallen asleep with the scriptures over his face. I had to laugh...and take a picture!