Savana and Luke

First off we'll go with Luke. Wow, this kid is going to give me a run for my money. I don't know if I can rank him even with Scottie at this point or if I should say he may surpass him. He has figured out how to open the sliding glass door. No matter if I lock it or not. We're going to have to get another one of those child-proof locks. I think we're probably what keeps those companies afloat. He doesn't want to keep on a diaper anymore. In fact, he doesn't want to keep on any clothes anymore. So, all Sunday he kept opening and closing opening and closing the sliding door. He'd play around for awhile in the backyard naked all the meanwhile. Finally, he discovered the coolers on the back patio. They're empty so he decided to jump in and have a little fun inside. What an imagination. They don't need toys or bikes. Give them an empty box(or cooler in this case), pots and pans and they'll find all kinds of things to do with them!!
On to Savana, my little beauty queen. Poor thing woke up first thing Sunday morning and had a stomach ache. We weren't sure what it was from and then she had to throw up. It's the WORST feeling. So, she slept a lot and ate little, but she was such a trooper and let me shoot a few candids of her. Being sick with the 24hr bug she still looked gorgeous, I'm afraid to say I wouldn't be able to say the same for myself.

Scottie's Play "Lemonade"

Scottie got to perform in two plays in the last week. The biggest perfomance of the two was called "Lemonade." It's about all the nursery rhymes and the bad luck they fall upon. The moral of the story is.....When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. He got to play the role of the Spider from "Little Miss Muffet." In his character description it called for him to state his lines in a sinister voice. He did a great job!! He had no trouble memorizing his lines and he got into his character very well. He was paid a few compliments after the performance. The second play was a bit smaller. It was a "Pirate Play." I actually can't tell you much about that one now, I'll need to watch the video first. Luke starting crying and being loud so I had to take him out of the classroom. Luckily, one of the other moms came out after me and asked if I wanted her to record it for me. That was sooo nice of her. I was a little sad that I wasn't going to be able to watch it. So, amongst all of his other talents, we've found another area he's pretty good at......performing. Well, I guess we all kind of knew that already.

Turn your Blog Page into a hard-bound book!

When I went to my photo workshop this last Saturday, I discovered that you can have your blog page printed into a book. So, for those of you who may think this is a waste of time you can totally justify it now by printing yours into a book and making it a journal!! So cool!

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day actually started off on Saturday morning. I went to a photo workshop that was ALL day long. From 9am to 8pm, but I had to leave my house by 7:45because it was in Mesa. So, the night before Scott took Scottie AND Luke(yes, it's true, Luke too) on the Father and Son camp-out. Savana and I had a girls night out. We went to Olive Garden and then Sweet and Sassy where she received a mini-mani. She loved it!
Saturday after the workshop,I got home about 9pm and on the kitchen counter was a card and a vase with roses. Scott was in the living room watching some sports. So, you know what that means, he was not in tune at all with what I was saying. As I walked in the kitchen and saw my surprise I said "Oh, how sweet. Is this card for me to open and read or do you want me to wait until tomorrow?" Well, I received no response and amongst the chaos I went ahead and read it anyway. When I started to thank him and the kids for the wonderful card it sank into him that I had just read it. So he says to me "Hey, is it Mother's Day? No, it's not. So why are you reading your card tonight?" FUNNY could've sworn that I just asked him if he wanted me to read it or not. So he says later on "I didn't think you would go into the kitchen when you got home, that's why I put it out tonight." When does a woman and mother not go in her kitchen? The next morning I was greeted with a plate of crepe's for breakfast. Everyone knows Daddy makes the best crepe's. So, that was wonderful. Next, I got treated by being able to sit up on the stand(I'm the new ward chorister) while he got to wrestle with the kids for half of sacrament. And finally, I got to hear him speak in sacrament. It was great, a very nice Mother's Day treat. He had also planned a nice dinner for me. He went out the night before, filled the propane tank, and bought some steaks to grill. The steaks were awesome!! Very yummy! You wouldn't believe it though, dinner did not include any vegetables. No.....Scott??> ;) That's my man.
All in all it was a really great day. Scott made sure to make it a special day and it was. He did a great job. It's the little things that count, just to show you care and let us know you appreciate us. Love you Scott!!!



After a long day of picking up toys and changing dirty diapers, how can you not look in those eyes and be thankful for EVERY moment you have with them? That's what motherhood IS about.....moments. I am sooo thankful for my children. They are truly a blessing in my life and I couldn't imagine life without them.

SAVANA'S 4th BIRTHDAY

We celebrated the big four. She had so much fun. There were many of her favorite things all wrapped in one: frosting on the cupcakes, presents, swimming, and her friends.
We had a great turn out and are so appreciative of all the wonderful gifts she received. We originally were planning a ballet party theme. As one of the activities we were going to have them all dress up in their tutus and do "Bella Dancerella." Plans changed a little bit and we still got to have loads of fun by combining the ballet theme with swimming. We had two crafts which were making a princess wand and making a dance bag(well, writing their names with puff paint on them at least). For the "party favor" I went to town and made seven little tutu's. It was sooo much fun! We sure wore them all out!











I can't believe it, she's already four. She thinks she's a lot older though. Time sure does fly by. She's now requesting a baby sister. We'll be at the store and she'll say, "We need to buy that outfit for the baby sister Heavenly Father gives us." Wow...that's a big fulfillment to live up to. She'll just have to sweet talk daddy a little more and leave the sex of the baby up to Heavenly Father.

Goodbye Happiest Place On Earth

Wow, that was an adventure. For those of you who are thinking, "didn't they just go to disneyland?" the answer is yes. We went back in October to celebrate Scottie and Savana's b-day's instead of throwing them both birthday parties. Pretty good idea. We had so much fun that I couldn't wait to go back again. The purpose of this trip was to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday(the big 5-0!!). My younger sister had a brilliant idea to start planning some big surprise for my mom's party six months in advance and my clever husband thought of the idea to take her to Disneyland. She hasn't been for twenty years, when I was nine. Wow, that sure makes me feel old.














She had been twenty years before that with her own father. There are a total of 9 grandchildren. She has wanted to go with her grandchildren ever since her first one was born 10 years ago. This was definetely a special trip for her. It was a little chaotic. How could it not be with 6 adults and 9 children ranging in ages from 10 to 3? We made the best of it. With our luck we ended up being there on a VERY busy and HOT weekend. The temp. was supposed to be an average of 82 and it was 97 the whole weekend. We got lots of great pictures and had a lot of great experiences. Maybe it will be another twenty years before we will be able to do it like that again. It was very rewarding though to hear the joy my mom had when she found out we were going and to actually have all of us make it there. Happy Birthday Mom.....Love you!! .....

REFLECTION

Sometimes life just doesn't make sense. I think we've all thought that at least once or twice. I've had a lot of time to do some reflecting in the last week or so. We have a set of twin ten yr old boys that live next door that Scottie has become very close to. He plays with them all week long. Early in the am Wednesday morning we got a phone call to come over and sit with the boys. Their mom needed to take their dad to the ER because he was having some problems. I won't get into the whole story, but he ended up not making it. It was such a shock to all of us. He was 43, an avid sportsman, in very good shape, ate really well, lived really well and loved really well. He passed away from a blood clot and massive heart attack. As I was in the moment of all of this happening I was in utter shock. How could this be? This man had two young boys to raise and a loving wife. How would life go on? Then the reflection turned to me. What if I was in this situation? What would I do? How could life for me go on? Heavenly Father must really have a lot of faith in her. He must know how strong she is to be able to survive something like this. Knock on wood, but I think he know's how I would be able to handle a situation like this(SOOO IT BETTER NOT HAPPEN).
To make a long story short, you never know what life will bring. You never know what is around the corner for you. So, you must always live life as today were your last. That's why I loved Danielle's post so much on "When you know it's true love."
Those little things are important. You may see a pair of stinky socks layed out on your counter and the person who did it may not be there tomorrow to do it again. This has been an eye opener for a lot of us and especially for me. You determine your own happiness, you determine your attitude. Make it the best because life is so precious and short. The good news is we know this is not the end. While it may seem an eternity for ones who experience things like this, life happens in the blink of an eye. We don't have any answers, no rhyme or reason, but it is all in Heavenly Father's plan. We will soon one day understand and say "Thank you Father."
I am very grateful for everyone in my life. I love all of you and if I don't take the time to say that to you often, please know that I do.