Schools Almost Over!

Ha ha! I now have only two days left of school. Hooray! This is funny, because of my last post and it being awhile since I last posted. It might have something to do with me signing up on face book and me sharing my life there. Anyway, it's been a long school year and I'm so happy that it's almost over!

Only Two Days Left

Well, the dreaded days are just about here. School starts for the oldest two on Thursday and the youngest two on Monday. I've decided on the worst part of school - it's how your schedule becomes very busy. School hasn't even started yet and my calendar is full this week. I will admit that school will be nice for one reason. Once my house is cleaned (or at least one area) maybe it will stay clean longer than a few minutes now that all my girls will be in school.

Church Fireside

One of these days I'll post pictures, but for now I wanted to tell you of an amazing guy who spoke to the youth in our church. He had received a mission call and was working to earn more money for his mission when some large boards fell on him and paralyzed him. He can move his arms and a little of his hands, but not his legs. What is so amazing to me is his positive attitude. Instead of feeling sorry for himself he had such a great outlook and strong testimony of the church within just a day or so after the accident. Eventually he was able to go on a mission through connections to the mission president in North Carolina even though he was told he wouldn't be able to go on a mission. He really impressed me with his attitude of his affliction being minor compared to others' afflictions we can't see and his testimony of Joseph Smith and the awe he has for Joseph Smith and the trials he went through.

We've Got One!

One of our Red Star chickens laid our first egg yesterday. Isn't it such a beautiful brown color? It is about the size of a medium egg. Can't wait to eat it, but you can't eat much when you have to split it six ways so our other chickens better start laying soon:)

Family Trip

We were gone this last week on a family trip. We headed to Utah with a stop near St. George so we could visit Zions on Monday. It was of course awesome to see such beautiful creations. On Tuesday we went rock hounding with My Love's brother at Topaz Mountain near Delta. The first three days I couldn't understand why I couldn't get very much energy to climb the mountains and go rock hounding. I attributed it to the heat, but on Wednesday I came down with a terrible sore throat, so I must have been sick, because when it was gone a couple of days later my energy was back. On Wednesday I was able to see my friend that I've known since I was two. She lives in Washington and we were both visiting family this month. It was great to see her and her cute 3 1/2 month baby. We visited My Love's other brother and his family that evening. Thursday we visited the Oquirrh Mountain temple and the girls were thrilled to be able to see inside it. It's a beautiful temple, but aren't they all? Thursday through Saturday we went camping with my family. We left for home this morning. It was strange having only two kids in the back of our Explorer. AC is staying in Utah for Especially For Youth a church program that she'll attend for a week and then she's staying with cousins for an extra week. AR talked us into letting her stay an extra few days too. We have a travel voucher she is using and she'll be home on Wednesday. The girls had fun playing with and "hanging out" with cousins from both sides of the family this trip. Camping was fun, except my least favorite part of sleeping on the ground. I'll post pictures of the trip soon if they turn out okay. I accidentally dropped our camera in the lake. After drying it out, it now turns on and works, but the screen is a little damaged. M was saying our family prayer tonight and she said something cute that almost made me burst out laughing, "Thank you that no one was eaten by a bear." I say amen to that.

Sweet 16!

My oldest baby turns 16 today! Now she can begin dating! She's at girls camp this week, but we're going to surprise her with a visit tonight and take her cupcakes, flowers and a balloon. My beautiful girl.

Notice that you can see her cell phone through her pocket. A common sight. She now has one of those that makes it easier to text.

Gotta love this picture. She had a joke with her uncle about tree-hugging so she had me take this picture last year.

Dress she wore for a choir concert for the song "Masquerade".

Did anyone notice that she likes to wear a lot of green? It's her favorite color.

More Pictures from Our Visit to South Dakota

I thought this was a sweet picture.

K shows the dress-up she designed and G'ma made for her.

Putting flower pedals on a spider's web.