Chef Teague

Teague is one of my most picky-eaters, but the boy is obsessed with baking and cooking shows.  Tonight when I started browning ground beef, he came into the kitchen to check it out.  I asked if he wanted to help.

He did!  He made yummy taco meat to go in our taco salad.  And he actually tried some!  It wasn't his favorite, but at least he ate it.

Sleepy Sisters

Noé babysat for us one evening and we came home to find her and Macy asleep in Teague's bed.  So sweet!

Ali got her ears-pierced

Ali had wanted to get her ears pierced, so we finally made time to head to the mall and visit Claire's.

Look how excited she was!

Can you tell the butterflies in her tummy were starting to get really big?

I'm glad I captured this smile after she had butterflies in her ears...

...because this is how she really felt.

Ouch!  That hurt!

She put on a brave face, but she shed some tears first.  I told her that I cried the first time I got my ears pierced too (I grew up in the 80's, so I had my ears pierced many times).  It was so sad for me though to see her in pain.  Noé didn't cry when her ears were pierced, so I was hoping it wouldn't be so bad for Ali too.

*As I post this, Ali no longer has earrings.  Her ears were always tender and she wouldn't let me touch them, let alone clean them.  She tried so hard to keep them, then finally one day when I asked her again if we should take them out, she agreed to it.  I told her she could re-pierce them again some day, her response, "Maybe when I'm older."  That's just fine with me :).

Calypso

We took the whole family back to Calypso for an awesome day of water fun!

I think this will become a yearly tradition.

Shalessia

While Kaleb got to go to Toronto with his friends, Noé got to go to Montreal with her friends...

to the Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara concert!

Emmeline and Noé were able to get tickets at the last minute from some friends that weren't able to go.

They were so excited, can't you tell!

They went up to the city with Alessandra and Brogan too, but they didn't have seats together (thanks Brogan's dad for taking them!).

I love their music too, but I feel so old, ha ha!

Canada's Wonderland

Kaleb headed down to Toronto to spend a day at Canada's Wonderland with his friends Shannon and Zaynab.  Thank you Swatie (Zaynab's mom) for taking them there!

Unfortunately, Kaleb forgot his camera.  Luckily, Zaynab shared some photos of them with a bonus friend.

 

Zaynab, Daniela, Kaleb, and Shannon.

Acrylic Nails

Noé went with her friends Samantha and Navy to have acrylic nails put on.  I love those bright colors!  It reminds me of the 80's, ha!

Noé's nail color matched her shirt, my bedroom wall paint, and her eyes!

Pioneer Trek -1,000

I haven't been moving forward with catching up on this blog, because I wanted to go through the 1,000+ photos from Trek to make sure I got all the best ones.  I give up!  I'm trying to remember, "Don't let perfect, rob you of good."  Here are some lovely photos that captured Kaleb and Noé's trek experience last summer.

The handcarts each "family" had to push and pull.

The pleasant fields where they got to camp at night.

The lovely view as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked.

They had to go uphill and downhill and through streams and got rained on.  The theme was "Angels Shall Bear You Up", and I believe they did!

Time to rest after a long day of hard work.

Dinner time!

Noé with her trek siblings, not sure why her Ma and Pa weren't pictured.

Kaleb with his complete trek family.

I have fond memories from my youth, when I went on a pioneer trek. I hope each of our kids has this opportunity, AND I hope Len and I can go as a Ma and Pa, so he can have the experience too.

Living Clay

"To help another human being reach one's celestial potential is part of the divine mission of woman. As mother, teacher, or nurturing Saint, she molds living clay to the shape of her hopes. In partnership with God, her divine mission is to help spirits live and souls be lifted. This is the measure of her creation. It is ennobling, edifying, and exalting." ~President Russell M. Nelson

SHE MOLDS LIVING CLAY TO THE SHAPE OF HER HOPES...IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD.

This is my greatest blessing and greatest responsibility. I am so grateful to be a mother. And I am so grateful for my mother. I have been blessed with bonus mothers and I'm grateful for them too.

Happy Mother's Day to ALL women <3 span="">!

Uncle Tom

On May 9, 2020 the world lost a giant among men :(. Uncle Tom, I hope you know how much you impacted my life. You were such a kind, welcoming, loving man and my life is better because I knew you! You will be missed until we meet again. Sending all my love to Aunt Gretchen and all my cousins.

23 Years

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the backstreets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow

*All Star by Smash Mouth

23 years ago today, I became Leonard's wife- the best decision I ever made. 

I love you honey with all that I am!

We were asked to sing a song to share with the primary in our ward.

 

Click HERE to watch all of our kiddos sing (well you can't see Kaleb, he's playing the piano and he didn't fit onscreen).

Click HERE to watch Macy sing a sweet solo.

So very grateful for this family of mine!

Quakers and Seasiders

My blog is all over the place with "catch-up" posts interspersed with "real time" posts.  Someday I will get it all organized!

Kaleb just made the hardest decision of his life. He was accepted to Notre Dame, BYU, Emory, Duke, and UPenn, and he honestly would have loved to attend all of them. UPenn offered him an amazing financial aid package that he couldn't refuse. So we are rooting for the Quakers now!

Noé made the easiest decision of her life. She was accepted to UVU, UNLV, and BYU-Hawaii. Since she wants to live in Hawaii permanently, of course she chose to go to school there. We are also rooting for the Seasiders (although they no longer have sports teams)!

Now, Kaleb and Noé have another tough decision to make. Will they attend in the fall of 2020 or wait until 2021? Click HERE to read an article about this. If you or your child is planning to attend university this coming fall (as a freshman or upperclassman), what do you think about it?