Ella's Baptism

This is my beautiful Ella Elizabeth.
She was Baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, on Saturday June 14th 2008.

I did a little photo shoot with her the week before the big day. I think they turned out pretty good. Thanks to Shawni and her Photoshop skills for making me look good!
And thanks to my friend Denise for letting me use her beautiful backyard.

This is the one we chose for her invitation/announcement. I only sent them out to immediate family. It perfectly captures her sweetness and innocence. I just love this girl.

Ella was so excited to have several of her Aunts, Uncles, and cousins from Utah and Texas travel here for the big day. She loves them all so much. She was thrilled that Romey was able to come with Grandma and Grandpa. These two are great buddies.

They are different in so many ways, but so much the same.

The above photo was taken at 1:30am. Paul and I were up late and decided to check on the girls before heading to bed. This is what we found. NO JOKE. They were dead asleep like this. Is that the most precious thing ever? I was so sad they had less than 24 hours together. They sure made the most of it though.

I took this photo of Ella and Paul just as we were walking into the church for the baptism. This really is indicative of their relationship. They have always been so close. I am so grateful for this because I know the influence a good relationship with a father can have.

Of course I made Paul take one of me with the special girl.

Ella and her Dad just before the baptism.

The after party went really well. I decided to make it easy on myself and purchase most of the food instead of prepare it. I did make some cookies in the shape of the number 8. Ella LOVES snickerdooles, so that's what I did.

Here are a few candid pictures of the event.


We feel so blessed that so many family members were there to help us celebrate.

We are so proud of you Ella. We couldn't ask for a better daughter.

I tried..really I did!

So, I tried to do a photo shoot with my kids last week. It didn't really turn out as expected...

But some were better than others...

As you can see from my blog header, it ended up fitting perfectly with my crazy good life!!

The renovation is complete!

I think it turned out pretty good. We are done decorating for now. It takes a lot of time, energy, and $$$!!

I can't believe I didn't take a before picture. This is the best I could find. It was taken on Christmas Eve as we were getting the kids ready for the Nativity. I guess it's a little perspective. This is the same angle as the picture above.

My New Inspiration

Thanks April!

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday Stew...back by popular demand!

YES!! It seems many of you have been having a hankering for some stew...and I aim to please! This is quite the random recipe, so hold on to your spoons.

We are doing a little redecorating in our front room/ dining room, and currently it looks like this!

And this is the view of the front door and stairs. No, we cannot answer the door. Yes, we can go upstairs, but only if you crawl on hands and knees through a maze of plastic. It is making for some interesting moments. Hopefully all will be finished tomorrow and we can start putting the room back together!

The kids have been in swim team for the last few weeks and are doing really well. It is tough, and sometimes they complain, but I love that it gets them up and moving every morning.

I'm REALLY late on posting about the end of the school year. The last day of school here was May 22nd. Jack had a cute little graduation ceremony from Kindergarten. He's so cute!

Here he is with his WONDERFUL teacher Mrs. Peluso. She just loved Jack and it made me so happy to know that they had a special connection.

This is Jack with the cutest little girl from his class Ava. I think they like each other. (the wind was really blowing...I did comb his hair for the graduation ceremony)

Here is Jack with his buddy Johnathan. He is such a cute kid and really liked Jack. Whenever I was at the school I could tell Johnathan wanted to be around Jack. It makes me happy to know that he is a kid that other kids want to be friends with.

I know this is totally random, but I was so shocked I just had to take a picture. This was taken with my cell phone (quite discretely I must say). I was in the UPS Store to mail some things and while I was waiting I noticed this lady making copies. Then I realized she was wearing some sort of Transformer underoos (or something like that) as REAL SHORTS?! OH, an here is the kicker...she was like 50 or something! Just zoom in and you'll see the full nature of the outfit...unreal!

Paul was able a week or so ago to head up to SLC and attend the graduation of his little brother Dave from medical school and the University of Utah. Dave is one amazing kid and we are so proud of him. He and his wife Ashley and daughter Anna will be heading off to North Carolina for a residency in plastic surgery. Paul was able to go visit the grave sites of his grandparents while he was there. He took the above picture with his cell phone. I just LOVE the mountains up there. It made me a little homesick.

It is our off year for birthday parties, but we still do a birthday dinner. Ella wanted to go to Paradise Bakery for hers and we met her cousins there. Her cute friend Macy was able to come too and we were thrilled to have her around again. (she moved at Christmas time) I'm not so sure where they get these poses from, but they were cracking us up!

Her is a picture of Jack trying to pretend that he LOVES swim team!!

Two of the cutest little 7-8 year old swimmers on earth. This is Ella with her darling cousin Lauren.

Woodinville, WA

Paul and I were able to take a quick (36 hour) trip to Seattle, WA this weekend. He had a quick conference on Saturday and I tagged along. I was really sad that we didn't have more time because I really enjoyed the one day I had there. We were actually in Woodinville, WA just North of Seattle. We stayed in the Willows Lodge (pictured above). It was cool (58 degrees or so) but SO SO lush and beautiful. Here are some thoughts I had while walking around by my self Saturday morning:

• As social as I am, I really like to be alone.
• I love to visit new and different places.
• I could live anywhere...I really think I could.
• I have been blessed to be able to see beauty in any environment.
• I love to watch people and see how they live their lives.
• Green is a magnificent color.
• I am BLESSED!!!

I have a really REALLY busy week coming up, so hopefully there will be some fresh new ingredients for some stew next week!

San Diego-2008

So, a few weeks ago we went to San Diego with just our little family. Paul was meeting with a supplier in Carlsbad, so we turned it into an "end of the school year vacation"!! We had THE BEST TIME!!! Oh, and I LOVE Carlsbad. Seriously, Paul and I may just have to retire there. I just have to document about a toy store there that we went to. It was right by the Panera Bread where we had dinner. It is called Geppetto's. The kids were in there for over an hour playing and discovering. Max even came up to me and said, "Mom, they should call this store Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium." It was such a fun hands on store that had such great creative toys. We wish we had one here. By the way...I hate Toys R Us. Now, back to the trip...

I highly recommend everyone go on a vacation with just your family. It's so great to go with cousins, other extended family members, and even friends...but there is something about having that family bonding time. Our attention was only on each other. I LOVED not having the distractions of home and regular life and truly relished in giving the kids my full attention. It gave me a chance to realize that without all the distractions I'm a pretty good mom. I used to think that when I had only two kids. Ever since we had three my parenting has just gone downhill. It was fun to be able to see the glimpses of the capable happy mother I once was and always thought I would be. So, here are the highlights of the trip!

The kids were nervous at first to try the "Journey to Atlantis" ride at Sea World, but ended up going on it about 10 times!! I LOVE my telephoto lens and the priceless images it catches!! You really have to click on the above photos...they are hilarious! I need to remind Paul to really zoom in!

Our kids are still at really good ages for Legoland. They don't love big scary rides much either, so it's perfect. You can do it easily in one day, and it has fun for even the little kids!

This pirate ship ride was a favorite. Max had the time of his life squirting unsuspecting onlookers.

Nora really did have a great time, and caught a few zzzzz's when she could.

These kids have the best Dad in the world and loved having him all to themselves. When we got home it was major trauma when Daddy had to go back to work. We LOVE having him around. Thanks for a great trip Paul, I'm so glad we have such a great little family. I love you!

Funny thing...

So, you know that little ukulele video I posted down below? Well, it turns out those guys live just a hop, skip, and jump away from me and teach my cousin's boys?!!! How did I not know this? So, here is a little video of one of my cousin's boys (Smith) singing with two others. He is the one in the middle that sings first. How cool is this?

I'm totally bummed now that they are leaving on missions and can't help be brush up on my Ukulele skills. Maybe when they come home!!