Emma + Sophie= Fun Times!

I never thought there could be another little girl like Emma.

That is until we invited Sophie over to play.

We soon discovered it was like 

they were kindred spirits.

They are so cute together!

The first thing out to play is always the doll house.

Everytime they play with the doll house Sophie is the red headed mommy because her mommy has red hair and Emma is the blonde headed mommy because she has blonde hair. 

(kind of.)

They don't just play like they are the mommies, 

they become the mommies.

I love how the doll mommies are sleeping so they had to sleep too!

Dressing up and playing princesses is a must also.  

One time they were "Princess Mommies" and wore their tiaras while doing the laundry.

(Maybe wearing a tiara makes laundry fun.  I might try that!)

They're both pretty darn smart too.

I ran upstairs for something and when I got downstairs this is what I found...

They got onto Nick Jr. and were playing Dora Candyland! 

 They were having a good 'ol time and taking turns so I let them stay on for a little while.  

Little smarty-pants'!

This just cracked me up!

One time they were playing golf and thought they'd "trick" me.  I looked up and they were pretending to be asleep--snoring and all! 

 It was hilarious!  

Emma's got to play with Sophie a lot lately because Sophie will be moving to another state tomorrow.

We're pretty sad. 

 (At least I know Emma will be sad when it hits her that she won't be able to play with Sophie anymore. 

 I don't think she understands.)

I'm so glad Emma had the chance to know Sophie!

Hopefully, their paths will cross again!

Hard

(My brothers and sisters --minus Cortney--on the first day of school.)

When I was a kid, we had a Navajo boy come and live with us for six years during the school years.  He would go home to his family during the summer.  

His name was Marvin.

He was my age (just a month younger than me).

He soon became more than just a boy that came to live with us.

He was another brother to us all.

Marvin was a great kid and I loved him like my brother.

He stayed with us until he was supposed to start 7th grade.

His family didn't want him to go away anymore, which I understood, but it was hard.

I remember how sad I was when he wasn't going to be coming back anymore.

It was really fun when he came for a visit the year I turned 18 and I was so excited when he said he might come back for college.

He had big plans to become an architect and to go on a mission.

But, living on a reservation is hard and as it turned out, he made some bad choices that ruined his dreams.  

Eventually, he would make some really self-destructive choices and it really saddened all of my family. 

 But, we always loved getting together with him.  

He is a part of our family.

(This is a family picture taken when he brought his daughter to visit the first time)

Well, I remember the last time I saw him.  I ended up yelling at him because he had done something really stupid 

(I don't want to go into details but it was really bad) 

and I told him to go home and get his life in order. 

 I haven't spoken with him since.

A few weeks ago, I was at my mom's house and she got a phone call from Marvin's ex-wife.

Marvin was in a coma in critical condition.

He was involved in a hit and run accident and was run over by a car.

It doesn't look good for him.

He has brain damage and many broken bones.

The last we've heard is that they couldn't do any more until he went through withdrawls.

This is just so sad.  

It's hard to believe that the cute little boy that we grew to love and that was so funny and had such high hopes for the future is now lying in a coma. 

 

I feel so bad about the last time I saw him.

I was so mad at him but even more disappointed.

I wish I would have handled it better.

I really hope that isn't the last thing I will get to say to him in this life.

Whew!

I usually like it when the kids are out of school.

I might even go as far to say that I love it.

It's usually so relaxing and fun.

But, after last weeks Spring Break,

I think I need a vacation!

It's beginning to be really hard entertaining three sets of kids in various age groups with various interests.

Although, quite frankly, I don't think I need to be the one to entertain my teenagers.

I'm just saying.

Anyway, the plan for this Spring Break was to have the older boys golf everyday while I did things with Emma and Max since I can still manage to find things they like to do together.

Well, stupid Mother Nature had other plans and the boys only got to golf on Monday due to the weather.

(I still can't believe it SNOWED!)

It was too windy the other days.

So, without going into a lot of detail,

our Spring Break basically sucked.

Seriously, if I had to hear

"I want to watch my show!"

or "Can we do..."

or "Can I have..."

or "Why can't I..."

or "There's nothing to do!"

or "I never get to do anything fun!"

one more time,

I probably would have ended up here:

Oh, I hope this wasn't a preview of what Summer will be like!

Please excuse me now.

I have to go grocery shopping since my 4 growing boys ate me out of house and home last week.

I may need to get a job just to feed them!

Can boys survive on bread alone?

Just wondering.

Awesome Sale for an Awesome Cause...

Those of you who enjoy 

Shade Clothing

(or knows someone who does)

the Provo High School Speech & Debate Team and IB CAS Club is doing a fundraiser on 

Saturday, April 19th from 9am to 6pm 

at Provo High School.

Every item will be

 only $5 each!!!

(A HUGE BARGAIN!)

The proceeds will go to these two groups at Provo High.  As you know, Jake is in the IB Program.  One of the requirements is to complete a 150 hour service project.  He is currently working on gathering items that will be assembled into classroom emergency kits (food, water, emergency items, etc.) for each of the classrooms at Sunset View Elementary.  He will be able use some of the money from this fundraiser to go towards his project.

So, if you know anyone who enjoys Shade Clothing...

Pass the word along!

Thanks.

Look Who's 15...

Happy 15th Birthday 

to my super talented, handsome, trumpet-playin', funny, smart, compassionate, helpful, golf-playin', soon to be eagle scout and permit drivin' son,

Scott!

(A self-portrait of the birthday boy I found on my computer--one of  MANY!)

I love you!

Thanks for being such an amazing young man!

Party On!

It was a birthday party at

Children's Corner 

today.

There were cupcakes...

Noise makers (minus the noise--thanks Stacy!)...

Fun party games and a big pinata...

The pinata was broke with one swing of the bat by Mr. Big Brown Eyes in the middle.  

It was really funny!

Max is so funny.  He's always the oldest kid there but he really enjoys it.  I think he feels like the cool guy as this picture shows...

dude!

I don't know what happened to my camera.

The pictures all turned out a little dark.  It looks like they were playing in the dark or something.  Oh well...

A good time was had by all -- just like always!

Thanks to Sarah and Stacy for making it fun for everyone!

It Makes a Mom Proud...

Last night I received a phone call from our very excited daughter who's away at school...

"Hi!  Guess what!?!

I have officially been accepted into the teaching program!"

Way to go Elisabeth!!!

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

What a 3-year-old and 8-year-old Talk About...

I love these little angels!

Sunday afternoon, while they were coloring together,

 I overheard a conversation between Max and Emma.

Their conversations are always so cute but this one showed the great faith of children.

They were talking about our fish,  Super Topher, that died Saturday.

Emma:  "Topher died."

Max:  "Yeah, but he's living with Heavenly Father and Jesus now."

Emma:  "He's happy?"

Max:  "Yeah."

Emma:  "He's living with Grandma-great too?"

Max:  "And Baba and President Hinckley."

Emma:  "I miss Grandma-great.  She was pretty."

Max:  "We'll be able to see them again when Jesus comes and we are resurrected."

Emma:  "Huh?"

Max:  "When Jesus comes again, everyone who died comes back to life and we can see them again.  I want to see Baba, Grandma-great and President Hinckley. 

 I miss them."

Emma:  "I miss Topher.  Beth's going to be mad Topher died."

Max:  "No, she'll be able to see him again too someday."

Emma:  "Oh good because I love Topher."

 

And Now I'm Feeling It

Last night was our school's 

Family Skate Night at Classic Skating.

Quite frankly, 

I wanted to go like I wanted 25 extra pounds,

but,

I promised Max and how could I say no to this face...

Anyway,

Cole, Max, Emma, and I went and had a good time.

Lee, Jake, and Scott chickened out and went to Thanksgiving Point to apply for summer jobs at the golf course.

It's probably been about 10 years since I've been on skates. 

In fact, Max was so surprised I even knew how to skate.

(That just goes to show how I really need to do more with my younger kids.)

But anyway, Emma was wearing her Barbie skates she got for her birthday that allow her to basically walk on four wheels.  She was VERY slow and I quickly found out that it takes more muscle work to skate slow than fast.  

My legs were (and are still) killing me!  

But, I have to admit, it was fun.

Max had a blast and Emma thought she was cool.

The best was when we were playing Wipeout and the girls won.

Emma was all, 

"Ha ha boys!  Girls are better!"

(Never mind that the judge ignored the fact that we didn't fall to the ground like we were supposed to.  We just kind of squatted.  There wasn't a chance in you know where that I was going to fall on purpose!)

Then the boys had to leave and the girls got to skate alone and that was icing on the cake for her.  

She cracks me up.

I gave the kids each $1 to go play arcade games

 (I know, I'm so generous.)

Max won a stuffed bee with the claw and was so proud.

Emma and Cole collected their tickets and cashed them in for cheap prizes.

 I have to say that Emma was really cute.  

She chose this Best Friends necklace and gave me her other half.

The rest of the night she kept wanting to put the necklaces together and she would say, 

"We best friends!" 

So cute!

For not wanting to go, I'm glad I did.

We had a good time.

I'm just feeling it today!

Oh, how I'm feeling it.

Ouch.