1st Day of school

Trying to get caught up on some old posts...

First day of school ... I posted about the day before school started- back to school night and meeting the teachers, but this is the first day of class.

This is the only "first day" with all of them at school together - all day, same schedule, same school.  Can't get over how big they are all getting! 

Alyssa is entering 6th grade.  I won't lie ... it SCARES me and EXCITES me!  When I think back to my 5th and 6th grade years, I can't believe she's old enough to do and know and think the things I did back then.  But I also am excited for the friends she'll make, the experiences she'll have ... memories she'll take with her the rest of her life.  I LOVED those years and who I became and I'm excited for the opportunities she will have.  She is growing up so much and I am so proud of her.  She's no longer a little girl.  She's old enough to do so many things, to be home alone, to go places with her friends (without parents), to have crushes on boys ... Wow.  Its going to be a fun year for mom and daughter!  I hope she will have a year like I had ... and with friends like the ones I made during that time. 

I was really grateful that Alyssa still WANTED mom to take a picture of her by her class.  My little girl hasn't grown up too much, yet. 

Taylor is in 3rd grade and growing up so much.  She is so proud of herself and showing so much confidence.  I hope that her 3rd grade year will be filled with friends, confidence and experiences that will help her build her future.  It seems to me that is about this age that children start to judge others rather than accept them as is.  I hope that she will continue to be a loving, gentle child, that she will treat others with respect and kindness, that she will make others feel important and valued and she will see the talents and good in those around her.  A childhood friend recently shared a memory of me in 3rd grade ... I hope she can be more aware of people and see more of what is inside of people than I could at that age. 

Taylor is also going through this funny smile phase ... she wrinkles her nose up and makes such a big smile that is looks silly.  It makes me smile

Jessica is so excited to be in first grade.  She scares me though ... she is so smart both academically and sometimes in her personality as well.  She has always been my sunshine and this past little while she has gotten a little more kick to her especially when she gets bored ... and I'm worried that will be often this year.  She is SMART.  She reads chapter books and does adding and subtraction without much effort and writes stories pretty well too - definitely learned a lot from her big sisters.  I hope that she can have a great time in 1st grade, feel challenged, make good friends, and LOVE learning new things.  I want her to crave learning.    She started out the year so excited about her homework ... I hope that continues!

One of the things Jess is most excited about this year is being able to ride her bike to school with her sisters.  I love it too  - no driving them to and from school - how could I NOT love it?.  This picture is actually the 2nd day of school when they all biked together the first time. 

All day on the first day of school, Steve would come into my office and say "Listen!"  My asisstant (Melissa) and I would stop working for a minute and listen.  Then Steve would grin and say "ahhhhh... quiet!"  Having the girls back in school is a real plus for mom and dad when they both work from home!  I love having the girls around, but sometimes, we just need some peace and quiet and uninterrupted time to get work done so that we aren't so stressed.  Its been nice to get work done without constant interruptions, although, I have to admit that when I said goodbye to my baby, I cried a little. 

20 years ...

No, not years of marriage, that's a few years away and our anniversary is another post, but this is about 20 years since Steve graduated from high school.  He graduated from Payson High School in 1991.  They got about 130 total people at the reunion, about 75 classmates.  Steve was the VP of the Sr Class so he and a few others "got" to be in charge.  They did a great job organizing it. 

As always, he was at home behind the mic as the emcee for the night.  The night went really well, badges with their old pics on it (to be worn "proud"), an hour of visiting, dinner, a video of some old pics, a game of "whose hat is that?" (pics from Sr. yearbook with faces fuzzed out), sharing answers from an online survey they took and a class photo.  ... It was a good night.   

I put this pic in because you can see the badges that we made ... ok, so my assistant and I made them.  I was quite proud of how good they looked.  Being able to do little projects like this makes me realize how legit my biz is and how good of a job we can do.  :) 

I spent the night at the sign-in table and then behind my camera.  It was fun to watch people from afar.  I saw some people who came in shy and unsure (and based on their high school picture), ones that I guessed weren't really popular or a part of the crowd in high school but they talked to everyone, they laughed and joked and enjoyed themselves.  Who you WERE really didn't seem to matter and that was Steve's goal.  He wanted to let people know that they had all moved in.  They had 4 classmates who have passed on and when Steve pointed out the memorial table and talked about how it reminds us all that life is short and we've all lived life, it was good to see everyone nod their heads and agree.  He talked about the fact that we've all "grown up", gotten older, seen trials of jobs, finances, families ...

For almost everyone there, the facade that they created for themselves back in high school was gone.  It was refreshing and made me look forward to my reunion.  And it made me think about the people I've gotten to "know" on Facebook ... people who I associated with at some point in my "childhood" and who I now know as adults and totally different people than I saw them as when we were kids.  I hope life has torn down the exterior walls that I created as a kid to hide myself and protect myself from others ... and become a different kind person... a person who isn't pretending to be someone, a person who sees past labels and titles, a person who doesn't judge others on appearances and who can accept that sometimes life is tough and we all just cope and do our best.  And I hope that my reunion can go as well (if we even have one).

My baker...

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier this summer ... These are pics from Alyssa's birthday with us. Things are still pretty tight so we haven't done big gifts lately. But, Alyssa was on cloud nine from her birthday.  A

Alyssa LOVES to bake, especially cupcakes. Her favorite tv show is a show called Cupcake Wars. Half of the shirts she owns have a cupcake on them, and anytime she sees something with a cupcake she WANTS it. So, for her birthday, we bought her more stuff to bake with.   Unfortunately, I personally do NOT enjoy baking... I don't like the mess, I'm not patient enough to wait for things to cook.  We don't even bake cookies at our house (cookie dough is better anyway - just ask Steve and Taylor).   So, Alyssa does her baking with her sisters or on her own.  If any of you ever want a little assistant when you are baking, Alyssa would LOVE LOVE LOVE to learn from others. 

 

For her birthday, she got frosting tips and bags, which she has used probably EVERY week since her birthday.  And she got cupcake papers (which are all gone and have had to be replaced already).  Someday, I'd love to put her in a class of some kind, or maybe I'll bookmark a bunch of "tutorials" on youtube for her to watch.  Her favorite part of the gift was this cupcake recipe book.  It has recipes for cakes, frostings/toppings and lots of decorating ideas.  I think if the house was on fire and she could save just one item in the house ... it just might be this book! 

She also got a new apron and a matching oven mitt.  If you can't tell, the apron says "Queen of Everything" and that fits her PERFECTLY!  :) 

Alyssa honestly makes cupcakes EVERY week and would probably make them even more often if I would let her.  She is still learning to clean up after herself though ... her idea of clean and mine are rather different.  (frosting smeared with a wet rag on the counter ... is not clean, but she seems to think so.  But I do love how happy it makes her to bake.  And she made some VERY YUMMY peanut butter cream frosting a week or two ago.  I could have eaten it by itself but add a chocolate cupcake and it really was worth paying for!

Her dream is to grow up and open her own cupcake shop.  Of course, she also wants to have something like 23 ADOPTED children, not get married and go to Provo College because they don't have football players.  Oh, and there is something about a greenhouse with a flower store and being a vet since I won't let her have pets.  I love how she dreams! 

I love how much Alyssa is growing up.  This past summer she has gone from temper tantrums and whining like a little girl to ... well, a pre-teen who thinks and argues much more logically and strategically.  She is much more helpful and responsible.  We even leave her as babysitter when we go out on date night.  It still makes me nervous because she and her sisters sometimes argue, but she is getting a lot better at it.  I don't think they called once last weekend while we were out!  She is turning into an amazing, smart, talented, beautiful young woman and I can't believe she is 11!  Only one more year of elementary school.  Only one more year until she enters Young Women's at church.  Oh and her favorite excuse right now when she loses her patience or control of her emotions ... "its hormones ... I'm getting them!" 

Oh, my little girl, you are getting so big!  I love you!

Warning ... if cupcakes show up at your house and look like they were frosted by someone who is still learning ... don't blame me! :)
I honestly don't know what to do with all of them.  I don't like them all going to waist/waste ... and yes, I mean both spellings - my waist does not need anymore of them!  She especially loves to make the little ones and cut out fondant shapes to decorate them.

A Weekend of Memories

I love that we have so many traditions with our friends and family. I haven’t been great about blogging and I’m sorry about that because I know I’ve forgotten some of our special moments and not been able to share them or record them, but at least I have pictures and many memories!

We had a lot of fun this summer, but one of our favorite memories is camping in early August at Pineview with our friends. This year about 14 families went with 6 boats and 2 jet skis. I wasn’t raised on the water. Not sure I ever went boating until once in college with a friend. But when our neighbors first took us boating several years ago, I realized how much I love it. I love being on the water … kind of like I always loved the sound of the waves and being at the beach (but I don’t need to be IN the water to enjoy it).

This year, Steve tried wake surfing for the first time and did really well.

All the girls tried skiing again and had much more success. They had two opportunities to try skiing … The first time was the first morning and we started from the shore.

Jess got up and loved it – no problem. She loved it and went quite a way before going down.

Alyssa got up with no problem too, and loved it.

Taylor took a lot more coaxing and it didn’t go as well, nor did she enjoy it!  She was up, but only for a few seconds and then she was done. 

When the kids weren’t on a boat tubing or skiing, they spent time in the sand, at the picnic tables playing games or at the volleyball court playing in the sand or swing. So much fun.

Alyssa got to spend time with Mady, a kid I love almost as much as my own. Mady and Alyssa have been great friends since they first met when Alyssa wasn’t quite 3 years old. There have been times when they were inseparable and times when they didn’t see as much of each other, but no matter what, they always love each other. Mady was always a great little girl to have around but she has really become a beautiful young lady and I am so proud of her and so grateful to have her and her family in our lives.

Steve’s favorite thing was definitely the jet skiis. Tammy rented two skis for the weekend and Steve probably spent as much time on them as anyone else. He loved just being out driving around. He took all three girls for trips out on them as well as he and I took a couple trips. One of the trips was a longer trip down toward the dam. On our way back, we stayed to the left and ended up in the other finger of the lake, LOST. We both got a little nervous (ok, Steve a little, me A LOT) when we realized we couldn’t find camp. But he figured it out and we got back without any problem.

Alyssa and Taylor both love to go tubing … Taylor is a speed demon and loves the thrill. She always wants to go faster.

I really appreciate that Steve strongly dislikes camping and yet he still tolerates it ... the good food probably helps a lot!

I mentioned that I love being on the water, but I don’t love being IN the water. I don’t feel confident swimming… ok it actually scares me half to death to be in water where I can’t touch bottom. The idea of being thrown into a pool turns my stomach. And the thought of wiping out on skis puts me into a panic. I know its an unrealistic fear, and it is one of the things I truly HATE about myself. I have promised to make sure to NOT pass it onto my children, which is why I push them to try things on the lake. I want my girls to feel completely comfortable and to even LOVE the water so they can enjoy their lives and not fear.

Every time we go to the lake, I try to work up enough courage to try skiing, wake boarding, or surfing. There have been times when I thought I was able to do it, but not with a ton of others on the boat (esp not my kids). I don’t want them to see y fear. So, this year, I finally got up the nerve and suggested we do an adults only trip out for a bit. I tried wake boarding. Before I got in the water, I was literally sobbing on the back of the boat. I am so grateful to a true friend who knows how badly I want to overcome this and knows how to talk me through it. He carefully lowered me into the water. As I sat in the water and waited for the rope to go taught, I reminded myself to breathe. I tried it about 5 or 6 times. I never got up, in fact, I never even let the rope pull me up far enough that I might flip forward, but considering the last time I let go of the rope before it even went taught, I was very proud of myself. This fear I have is something I will overcome and it is something I will NOT pass on to my girls. Thanks to the group on the boat who was so patient with me!

On the last day we were there, the girls had another chance to try skiing. It was just me, Michelle and Jason on the boat with the kids. Michelle sat in the water with the kids and helped them get up (then hung out in the lake while we let them ski a big circle). We’d loop around and let go of the rope just as we got back to Michelle so they weren’t down in the water by themselves. I held the rope while Jason drove the boat … leaving the girls to take the pics. Jason and Michelle’s daughter Makenna skied first. She showed the girls how to hold on with one hand and wave. But she has skied quite a bit, so I was totally caught off guard when Jessica popped up on the skis and dropped one hand to wave at us. The grin on her face was truly amazing!

When she got back on the boat, I asked her what she thought about skiing … this was her reaction!

Alyssa took two tries to get up, but once she did, she was happy as could be. She also managed to do one-handed and wave at us ... picture courtesy of Taylor so it is a little fuzzy. 

Then it was Taylor’s turn … and we had to really BEG for her to try. Ok, we had to threaten and bribe a bit too --- Jason would give her a kiss if she didn’t get in the water and I’d buy her treats at the store if she got in! She may be a thrill demon when it comes to roller coasters and tubing but skiing, is not her thing. She got up and on the skis and lasted about 30 seconds. We tried a second time and she was up about 20 seconds. She started to lean quite a bit so I thought she was going down and I let go of the rope. Unfortunately, Alyssa hit the wrong button on the camera and turned it off so she didn’t get any pictures. And after the 2nd wipeout, Tay was done. I got her back in the boat and warm and then asked her about how it felt when she was standing up on the skis. She admitted that she liked it … which was HUGE! We took this picture of me and her to remind us that she really did like it. SUCCESS!

Next, it was time for knee boarding. Taylor agreed to try it with her friend Makenna. Makenna is Taylor's best friend. She loves her with all her heart and would do almost anything for her (knee board and ski, yes, eat food - no luck...). Makenna and Taylor have been in school classes together every year but first grade. They are great friends and I am really grateful for Makenna's peacemaker, calming influence in the lives of my girls. This picture showed one of my favorite moments ... the girls just having a ton of fun together!

Alyssa tried to convince Tay to stay in the water with her, but Taylor wasn't sold on that idea. We had shore started her with Makenna but starting her out in the middle of the lake didn't go over as well, so Alyssa got a turn by herself. Before she got in, Jason had explained how to do a 360. Alyssa said she wasn't interested in doing it and I told her to listen, just in case some time she wanted to try it. We weren't going very long at all when she tried it ... she dropped those hands down to her hip and then let go with one hand and forced her hand behind her back ... 180! Kneeboarding backward!

And then, like it was no big deal at all, she let go and turned back around! 360! Way to go Alyssa!  Very first try ever!  So proud of you.  I had no idea she would do it so I didn't video the first try.  So we had her try again and after 2 more tries she got it again so we could show dad video. 

Another amazing weekend, with great friends, in a beautiful place … memories we’ll always cherish. Thanks Steve for putting up with camping for us to have all of this!

A time to remember …

It’s a day that is burned into our memories forever. 9-11 will forever mean something different than it did 10 years and a day ago. It’s a day of terror, horror, fear, disaster, sadness, heartbreak … but it will also always be a day of heroism, a day that we saw the ability of the amazing human spirit to triumph, love, serve and pull together in the face of trial. It’s that spirit and the strength of individuals bonding together that makes us great.

I want my girls (Alyssa was just a year old when 9-11 occurred, the other two not born yet) to know what happened, to understand the terror and tragedy of that day but also to learn from history and to be aware of others and their feelings, opinions and needs, to love and serve others. I want them to understand that the daily trials and experiences we have in our lives, whether quiet personal trials or world-wide news are not the end of the world but are a part of life given to us to build our character and refine us like the refiner’s fire. And I want them to know the power each of us holds to rise up out of the ashes of disaster or trial, to triumph over evil and to have faith and hope in the darkness that sometimes surrounds us. The human spirit is incredibly strong, a gift from our Heavenly Father to help us through this life.

Stories of fire fighters, police, and men and women who were part of the community … those who reached out and helped someone who was injured, who guided someone to safety, who pulled someone inside a store to help them avoid the debris flying toward them, who searched for those lost, who held out their arms to those who were lost, scared or saddened by loss, who entered the building time and time again to get people out, who stayed inside the building with a bullhorn to guide people to safety.

Today, I was struck by the story of a man who saved thousands because he cared about his job for years before 9-11. He was director of security for a company in the twin towers and took his job seriously, conducting regular evacuations and then, when the crash happened, he ordered everyone to follow that evacuation plan and sent them down the stairs, saving thousands of lives. He used a bullhorn to find employees and guide them to safety only to return multiple times to save others, eventually losing his own life when the towers collapsed.

But many un-sung heroes were there, day-to-day people who just stepped up because there was a need. Thank you to each of them. And to all the heroes, I say thank you and I promise to do my part to keep alive the memory of 9-11, its heroes and lost ones and support those who fight and risk their lives for our freedom every day.