Beautiful... Inside & Out

This afternoon our Laurels took part

in a fasion show of modest prom dresses...

aren't they gorgeous!!!

I just couldn't resist taking picture

after picture

after picture

of these beautiful,

beautiful,

beautiful girls!

I feel so lucky

to be able to serve them.

Happy Birthday, Adam!

I can't believe that Adam

is 14 already!!

He got some great presents...

a new shirt from Matt,

a game for the car from Camille,

some new church/dance clothes

from Brad and I,

and a game that he REALLY wanted

from Grandma & Grandpa.

And then we went out to dinner

because our heater was broken

and no one wanted to stay home!!

Happy Birthday, Adam!

I feel so loved...

When I got home from the market last week

I found these on my front door...

and this on my garage door.
I love my Young Women!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Don't you love how you do things once

and all of a sudden they are a tradition?

Last year Valentine's Day was on a Sunday,

so I served crumb cake and fruit for a yummy breakfast

to go along with their Valentine's books.

Then last week we were driving in the car

and one of the kids said...

"I can't wait for Valentine's Day

so we can have that yummy breakfast again!"

And a tradition was born.

I love that it's never too late

to add another favorite family memory!

Since Matthew "doesn't read" I picked up a Wii game

that he's been begging us to get

(it didn't hurt that I wanted it myself

for a little change of pace in my exercise routine!),

and may I just say--

best entertainment portion of FHE ever!!!

We laughed until we cried.

And look what Brad surprised me with!

We don't usually do the flower thing,

but it was a really fun treat!

(Isn't he a great guy!)

Hope your Valentine's Day was wonderful as well...

What We're Reading

The only thing I love more than a good book

is a good book recommendation,

so here are a few we've enjoyed over the last couple of weeks...

The Holy Secret is the story of a man who comes to terms

with the fact that he doesn't really love holilness.

I enjoyed the story,

but the real learning came as I read it again,

searching for nuggets of wisdom needed in my own life.

---

The Forgotten Garden was my guilty pleasure.

An abandoned child, a cottage garden, a secret book of fairy tales

and a mysterious past to be discovered - a fun read!

---

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

is one of the best books I've ever read.

You'll weep over Immaculee's tragic circumstances

and cry tears of joy as she builds a relationship with God

that is beautiful beyond words.

Adam loved The Lost Hero,

Camille is begging and pleading for the next book in

The Mysterious Benedict Society series,

and Matthew says no one should ever read a book

with the word "cuckoo" in the title.

Happy Reading!

A Very Merry Christmas

It's Christmas time again,

and, as always,

my favorite moments come from

spending time with those we love most

and taking part in traditions

that have been a part of our family

for many years:

Christmas Eve always starts with a

Christmas Concert,

followed by the reading of the Nativity Story
and some favorite Christmas hymns.

There are special ornaments
chosen specifically for each person,
and then the stocking madness begins.
Over the years they've gotten so full
that we now have to resort to using
grocery sacks to contain all the goodness...
but there are still tiny treasures to be found
down deep in the toes.As soon as we get home from Grandma Great's
the kiddos pop into bed in anticipation
of the gloriousness of Christmas morning.
Okay, not so much anticipation this year...
they didn't rouse until 9:00!
But good ol' Santa came through again...
Bringing everyone "something they want"
(used to be "something to play,"but who "plays" with tennis shoes?)
followed by traditional gifts from Brad and I...

"something to share,"
"something to read,"
and "something to wear."

Same four kinds of things every year. (This is my attempt to keep my life and my budget under control at Christmas time!)

Every year on the morning of the 26th,
we trek on over to Grandma & Grandpa's house
so we can do it all again.
Here's how they looked 7 years ago
when we got our first digital camera...and here's how they look now.
(oh - they were so much cuter and
so much easier back then!)
Grandma is a master at picking great gifts, then...
and now.
Then...
and now.
Then...

and now.

But just like that First Christmas,

this year the best gift was the gift of life.

We're so grateful to have little Molly in our lives...

Just like we're grateful to have the Savior

each and every day.

We hope your Christmas was blessed-

full of family togetherness

and gratitude for the gift of God's Son.

A Broken Wii

What do you do when it's Christmas vacation

and the Wii is broken?

Well, you invite your oldest & best friend over,

you each build a catapult

defended by a mighty fortress,

and then you see who can break down

the other guy's block wall first.

I love a broken Wii!

Our Favorite Pioneer!

Our little girl takes her Halloween costumes very seriously.

Since she had just finished reading the entire

Little House on the Prairie series for the fourth time,

she decided that this year she would dress up as a pioneer.

And let me tell you... not just any pioneer costume would do

(that would be far too easy!),

so she special ordered one from Grandma in her favorite colors.

Doesn't she look beautiful!!

Just in case you're wondering, we did tell her that real pioneers wore earthy, muted colors. She didn't go for it.

Summer 2010 Top Ten

Aside from our little jaunt to beautiful Lake Tahoe,

summer around here was slow & easy.

Here are our top ten...

#10 - My First Ever Lemon Meringue Pie. Okay, so it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I'm not a baker, so this was quite the accomplishment. The best part was when Brad told me it was as good as his Mom used to make. Wow.


#9 - The Best Ward Party Ever. Seriously Fun. It was a luau and one of my beautiful young women danced - she's amazing! There were also a bunch of kids home from the Y that performed as well.


#8 - Swimming, swimming and more swimming. I love it! This year we bought a pop-up pool and the kids (especially Camille) lived in there - even though the water probably never got above 70 degrees!


#7 - Adam builds me some garden boxes. Gotta love that Family Life merit badge. Brad showed Adam how to build a basic box, and then he went to town. Can't wait for those homegrown tomatoes!

#6 - The boys go South. While I was at Girls' Camp, Brad and the boys snuck off for another trip to Magic Mountain. Oh, how they love that place!

#5 - A Long-Awaited Cousin Sleepover! Ana is one of our favorites, and this little slumber party was a much anticipated event. How fun that she showed up with the exact same jammies as Camille!

#4 - A visit from our favorite Arizona friends. Okay, so they're our only Arizona friends, but we do love them so. Seeing them was a highlight for me -- but you'll see shortly why I couldn't rate them as number one...

#3 - Matthew Turns 16,

#2- Gets his room T.P.ed by his friends,

#1 - and finally, and I mean FINALLY, gets a phone. He's still a great kid and we love him to death -- especially when he calls and lets us know where he is!

There you have it. Summer 2010 in a nutshell. Well, at least all the things I took pictures of are in a nutshell. Can't remember the rest...