KYLIE and the PLEDGE

Kylie was excited to be the leader for the pledge for flag ceremony one Monday. Here she is doing her job...

We love their school & that the kids get opportunities like this. I love this picture because it has her teacher standing next to her & her principal in the background. We are blessed to have our girls attending such a wonderful school. Not to mention being blessed for just having such cute kids! Look how cute she is!!! Plus, I LOVE that she's so comfortable in front of people. I wish I had an ounce of that from her!

Student of the Month

Our little Jay-Bird received the Student of the Month Award for her class for September! We're so proud of her & how hard she works at everything! Here's what her teacher had to say about her....

"She is an outstanding young lady. Jadyn is a very responsible, driven, and compassionate individual. She attends class everyday with a positive attitude and eagerness to learn. I thoroughly enjoy having Jadyn in class."

JAY SLEEPING

Our girls toss & turn like crazy while they're sleeping. Usually when we go to bed Erik checks on the girls before we head upstairs. This one night I did & this is what I found. This is after being asleep for only about an hour, too. Crazy girl!
By the way, I did not turn the light on to take these pictures. This was all my flash!

CAMPING

It's been a LONG time since I've posted. Therefore, there are a slew of new posts coming again over the next few days. This whole not having a computer thing is getting REALLY old. Anway - ENJOY!


Our family went camping for the first time. Erik & I went camping a few times before we had little kidlets, but not since. Our poor deprived children. Thanks to a couple of the Sutherland families in our ward that changed. Thanks again guys for setting this up!

My girls loved holding this cute little guy....

Sitting around the campfire at breakfast....

It was a lot of fun. Only bad part was that it was freezing at night! The girls were pretty warm, so that was good. I'm sure we'll be going again next year. We just have to wait for it to warm up again!

FRIENDS

Last Saturday night we went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory with some of my friends. My Friend Melanie (aka Mel #1) came into town from Roswell, NM. It's always a blast to get together & laugh about old times.

The Girls.... (Mel #1, Heidi, Mel #2, Melissa, Jennifer)

The Whole Gang....

CONGRATS

My Kylie wanted to run for her school's Historian this year. It was the first opportunity for her to run as you have to be in 4th grade to run for this office. She was so excited to run. It's been a good motivator for her because she found out that you have to keep your grades up. She's been working extra hard to make sure that happened. The Historian at her school is in charge of taking pictures at Student Council activities & then making a book at the end of the semester for the Student Council members. Well, that is right up our alley! Here's her poster we made to display....

She also had to prepare a speech. This is where I started to stress. The poor girl has the most uncreative mom when it comes to things like this. I knew most of the kids would have very creative speeches with props & things. That's just the way it is with the mom's at this school. It's a dang good thing she is so animated - or it never would have worked! Here's her speech.....

She did so well on her speech! Most kids stared at their paper the whole time & were quite nervous. Kylie was nervous, but she is not scared to be in front of people. I'm so glad she's like that & not terrified like me.

We've prepped her for the past couple of weeks to not be shocked if she didn't win & to be happy for whoever does win. Especially since there was 8 other 4th graders running for this office. Well, the lucky little kid WON!! She was so excited - she just kept looking at me grinning while the Principal announced the other winners. She'll have so much fun since a few of her friends won as well! This will be a fun group! Here's Kylie right after she was announced....

Here's her excited little face when her friend Marinne was announced as the Secretary winner...

CONGRATS KYLIE!! We're so proud of you!!

St. George

Last weekend I had the priviledge of tagging along for a quick trip to St. George. When I say quick - I'm not exaggerating. We left early Saturday morning & came home on Sunday! It was crazy, but lots of fun. Mimi was driving with her friend Kathy that had been visiting in AZ back up to St. George. It was perfect timing because Steele & Amy had just had their baby, so she was able to go see little Max Steele Hallows! It was also my mom's birthday on Sunday. Which was my main reason for going. Although I was pretty excited to see my newest nephew (& he's pretty dang cute!!) it was nice to surprise my mom!


Here's Kathy, Mimi & I with our matching head wraps.....
I have a friend that makes these cute headwraps & they were a hit on our drive up. Check out my friends blog HERE.


When we arrived into town I called my Stepdad Alan to let him know I was their. He came into town to pick me up. He told my Mom he had to go into town to pick up a present for her birthday. They had had a long day & she told him not to worry about anything. He just told her to trust him & that she wouldn't want to take this present back.


We then made the journey (all of 15 minutes) up to their home in Dammeron Valley. When we walked in the door Alan announced that he was home as I hid behind the wall of the dining room table. My Mom walked right past me & then I jumped out at her. She jumped about 20 feet & then started balling. It was great!! Totally had her surprised & it was wonderful to spend some time with her on her birthday!

Sunday morning came & it was time to leave already. I said my good-byes as Mimi picked me up @ my Mom's. We then went back into town so I could meet little Max Steele.....


My niece Abi is one of the most hilarious kids you will ever meet! She was telling me all kinds of things. She asked me if I knew where her baby ate from? Well? Upon my not answering she informed me that he ate from his Mommy's tummy! What a nut! The best story is this one though..... (try & read this with the thought of a little girl with a high pitched voice saying these to me & OVERLY animated)



Abi: Did you know I came out of my Mommy's tummy once?
Me: Yes.
Abi: When I came out of my Mommy's tummy, I came out her throat!
Me: How did you do that?
Abi: I jumped!



I just about died!! Where did that come from? She's so funny. There's just no way to describe her & how funny she is. You just have to meet this little one to fully understand.

Then, we headed out to drive home....already. We came home in Steele's Pilot with Steele. He was heading back to AZ to finish some work on their house. Here's Robin & Steele jammed in the back seat...

We had a fun little adventure in between Mesquite & the Valley of Fire area with this turtle....

First, we heard a weird noise & saw items flying out the back of the car. We got out of the car & saw that the turtle was open & Steele had a bag of stuff that had flown out. We scoured the side of the highway for shoes, gloves & other misc stuff. Dodging speeding cars trying to get stuff out of the middle of the highway with Mimi just about having a heart attack watching us. Steele ahd some tape in his car, so he taped the turtle shut.



Second, we had a car drive up next to us pointing up & then Robin caught a glimpse of the turtle in their windows wide open. (This is within 5 minutes of our last incident.) We stopped again & tried to figure a better way to secure it since the tape snapped. Steele went scouring the side of the highway for rope while Robin & I put together 2 luggage straps & wrapped it around the turtle. Finally, we got Steele back in the car & were off again.

Then, (5 minutes or so later) we heard a noise & the strap was flapping in the back window of the car. The hinges had broken off the turtle & it was not staying together AT ALL! At this point we loaded all of its contents into the car & took the turtle off. We then looked for a hiding spot for Steele to stash it....

He stashed it & we were off. We made it home safely & all was well! Apparantly, Steele, drove by this spot on his way back home to St. George & found the turtle still their. He was able to take it back home to his in-laws! Fun times were had by all & we now find ourselves with a few more inside jokes like.....

"That trip was not real. That did not happen. And, no, they really had a girl!"