Pearly Whites

This little mama is newly free of braces! We think she looks fantastic!

First Day of School 2012

I can't believe my babies are so grown up!! 7th and 4th grades this year and they are super excited about it. I may have shed a tear or two when Grace walked out the door. It feels as though I'm sending her like a lamb to the slaughter. I wish I could hold on to her and keep her young a bit longer. Seventh grade can be brutal. Let's hope we both survive it! The babies and I are bored and counting the minutes until they walk in the door.

I'm back

I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I blogged last. I'm wishing I had kept up on it for our own family records, but as much as I'd like to go back and fill in it's just not going to happen at the moment. Except to point out that the last time I blogged we only had three children and then in April 2011 our sweet Audrey joined us. She was a terrible infant but she is such a love I've almost (almost!) forgotten how cranky she was at first. She's now 15 months and so dang cute. She will be our last so I'm trying to soak up all the baby-ness she has to offer. I'm sure she's sick of me squeezing and kissing her.

Claire is now three and just about the funniest thing I've ever known. She has the most entertaining inflection to her voice and quite the lisp. She is completely infatuated with her big sisters and will miss them terribly when they head to school in two days.

Speaking of the big girls, Jenna is now 9 and Grace is 12. Grace went to Girls' Camp for the first time and had a blast, and is starting junior high this year. We're both excited and nervous. I honestly would not survive without Grace. She is so helpful around here and is truly the second mother. Jenna girl is going into fourth grade and is still the sweetest, most carefree child. She is such a pleasant addition to the family.

Here are some recent pictures I took with my phone. Life is good!

You Don't Want To Miss This!

My friend and local composer, Rob Gardner, is premiering his latest work, Lamb of God, next month and you really have to come. It is a glorious combination of music (soloists, 200-voice choir, full orchestra) and scriptural text about the Savior's atonement and resurrection. Great for people of all faiths.

The performances are September 10th and 11th at Gammage Auditorium. Tickets are shockingly cheap, starting at just $6. And until tomorrow you can buy your tickets at Spire Music and they will pick up and mail your tickets to you free of charge, saving you the "convenience" fee that Gammage normally charges to mail your tickets. You can also purchase tickets directly from Gammage's box office or at Ticketmaster.

From a personal standpoint I can tell you that Rob's music has changed my life. I have experienced some of my most powerful spiritual moments while participating in and listening to his music. I can assure you that this performance will increase your testimony and understanding of the Savior and His atonement.

Don't miss your chance to see this remarkable performance. It's not likely to come around again any time soon. Bring your friends and family. I'll see you there!

p.s. Click on the picture to visit the website where you can hear clips of the music.

Summer Adventures Part 10

Last one! Kudos if you've made it through all the Summer Adventures!

All combined we spent about two weeks with Devon's family this summer. Staying at Devon's parents' house is always one of the highlights of our year. Luckily, we overlapped for a couple of days with Devon's sister from Texas and the kids were excited to spend time with their cousins. One day we had all ten grand kids together and took a few pictures. Quite the trick with this many kids!

We then went to Jump On It! which is full of trampolines. The kids had a blast! Thanks for the fun Nonni and Unky!

Adyson and Grace

Summer Adventures Part 9

This was our last night in Samoa. I have to say it was not fun to say goodbye again. (It didn't help that I was getting on an airplane for a ten-hour flight with three kids at midnight.) We feel very blessed and grateful for the opportunity to spend two fabulous weeks with my parents on their mission and to have created such a wonderful memory for my kids. Thanks Gammy and Papa!

After Samoa we headed to Bear Lake. It was quite sad to be there without Gammy and Papa (and a lot more work!) but we had some friends to keep us company. The Robles family joined us for the first part of our trip and we played countless games, played at the beach, swam in the pool, ate tasty food and thoroughly enjoyed each others' company. Then we got the stomach flu. That was not so fun!







We also had a visit from the Stephens. Unfortunately, our time with them was cut quite short because we shared the stomach flu. Major bummer!!


Thanks to our friends for joining us and thanks to Gammy and Papa for use of their house!

Summer Adventures Part 8

Devon was only able to stay in Samoa for one week but the girls and I stayed an extra week and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my parents. We played lots of games, hunted for seashells, did crafts and even went to tea. The following picture is my girls at tea with Sister Wendt. She hosts a formal tea party at her house every week. Her husband was the Samoan ambassador to the U.S. and she collected a whole bunch of tea sets because they were hosting foreign dignitaries. (Hope I have that story right, Mom.) So now she serves tea and food every Wednesday. It was so fun to have an actual tea party. And yes, I'm a complete nerd, and took pictures of the food because it was so beautiful (tasty too).






Inside this beautiful little package were scones. In the little cups are whipped cream and lemon curd to put on the scones. I had never eaten lemon curd before--it is delicious! In fact, the next night my mom and I went to a Relief Society meeting (formerly Enrichment) and Sister Wendt taught us all how to make lemon curd. Somehow I got home without my recipe so I'm hoping my mom still has hers!

Little sandwiches and quiches.

Super tasty cream puffs.

(And thanks to Papa for watching Claire so we could go to tea!)