Summer Wedding

I know, I know...once again I am playing catch-up. We had a great summer. Uncle Joe got married! Hooray! The girls thought the wedding was "magical" and loved dancing late into the night. We love you Joe and Amy!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Today is not only Valentines day but as Adi is continually reminding me, thanks to the help of Taylor reminding her, it is her half birthday. She can officially say she is "three and a half". But, unlike Taylor who can't wait to grow up, can't wait to turn six, can't wait to lose a tooth, Adi hates the idea of growing up. She doesn't want to change or get older, which is fine with me. I love this little girl with her big personality. Adi loves animals, doing puzzles, coloring and being a big sister. Adi colors a picture, signs her name, and folds it up as tiny as she can then gives it to mommy or daddy for a "surprise". She is a sweetheart who has a mischievous side and she is always saying things that make us laugh. I wanted to document a few recent conversation with Adi.

"Mom, I want a cold sandwich for lunch." Adi informs me as I am heating up a soup.
"You do?"
"Yes, a freezing cold sandwich."
"Okay, what do you want in your cold sandwich?" I ask pulling out the bread.
"Umm, icecream."

"Adi, I need you," I call from upstairs.
"I didn't do it!" Adi yells back.
"Adi, come up here please."
"What did I not do, mom?" Adi asks climbing the stairs.

After watching Cinderella one day Adi asks, "Who is my very good mother?" (Apparently you are not a very good mother if you don't own a magic wand!)

Do the crime,

Do the time! No, she didn't really get into that much trouble since it just wipes off with a magic eraser but she did have to put in the elbow grease. If you can't tell this is my very old and much abused kitchen table where Adi signed her name in crayon. She even tried to blame it on Taylor. If it was Taylor she wouldn't have written it backwards, elementary my dear Watson!

Lately...

We have been super busy not to mention sick and excited for Christmas all at the same time. Since the last time I blogged...

We blessed Lydia,


The girls were cheerleaders for Halloween and Lydia a cat,


and they have been enjoying Ballet.



I love the Christmas season and it gets even more fun the older my girls get. It is sometimes hard to keep them focused on the "reason for the season" especially when they see all the toys they want Santa to bring them. I decided for FHE this week I would give them an object lesson and took the baby Jesus from our Nativity set when no one was looking and wrapped him in a big box and put it under the tree. I wanted to show the girls that Heavenly Father gave us all this special gift and thats why we celebrate Christmas. As I was getting dinner ready and waiting for Justin to come home I heard Adi in a soft voice asking "Where is he? Wisemen, do you have baby Jesus? Angel, where is baby Jesus?" It was really sweet, I didn't think she would notice. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin the surprise when she opened up the gift for FHE. But a little bit later I noticed that she had rearranged the Nativity scene and in the middle of all the figurines was a purple crayon! At least purple is her favorite color and she realizes that there has to be a baby Jesus for there to be a Nativity.

Pictures!

I finally found my camera cord!

Lydia was born July 28th. She was 7 lbs 5 oz with brown hair and blue eyes. We are so excited she is finally here!


Taylor' first day of Kindergarten



Happy Birthday, Adi! We love you!


Taylor started soccer and it is hilarious to watch but she enjoys it.

My Nightmare

The thing Taylor looked forward to most about starting Kindergarten is what scared me the most- riding the bus. She couldn't wait to be a big kid and get on the big yellow bus. But growing up I remember all the bad things that happened on the bus and yes I realize that comparing the elementary school bus with riding the HS track bus is not exactly fair but I was still scared to send her. I woke up the first day of school in a cold sweat because of the nightmare I had just had. Taylor woke up bouncing off the walls, dressed for school hours before the bus would pick her up, too excited to even eat her breakfast. I took all the usual precautions: pointed out all the landmarks she needed to pass before getting off the bus, introduced her to the kids at her stop that she would get off with, and told her to never get off the bus if I wasn't there to pick her up.

After school I found myself standing at the bus stop as kid after kid that wasn't mine filed off the bus. I got more anxious as the older kids started exiting the bus. Did Taylor sit in the back? I specifically told her to sit in the front with the younger children! When the last kid got off the bus I was sprinting before my brain registered what was really wrong. I stuck my arm out to stop the closing doors.

"My daughter didn't get off," I explained to the surprised bus driver. I called her name, there was no answer. I climbed the steps and started to scan the seats...no Taylor.

I turned on the driver who seemed annoyed that I was slowing down her route. I described Taylor to her and she couldn't give me any information, she didn't even know if Taylor had gotten on the bus in the first place. The Driver finally shrugged and suggested "Maybe she got off at the wrong stop."

I stared at her in horror and she looked back at me with impatience. We were the second to the last stop on the route. We live at the very edge of town. Taylor could be wandering alone anywhere in Springville completely lost.

I numbly descended the steps trying to focus so that I could decide what I needed to do next. Run home and call the school or drive there myself...

"I think your daughter got off the stop right before this one." I looked down to see a strange girl I had never seen before. She was around seven or eight with blonde pigtails. Was she just guessing? How many girls look like the Taylor I had just described to the bus driver got off at that stop?

My mouth was dry and I barely choked out a quick "thank you" before running back to my car where my other two daughters were sleeping. The bus stop before Taylor's was on the same road. It was far but still close enough that we could see the bus stop there before it headed to our stop.

When I arrived the bus stop was deserted. A few mothers stood outside their homes chatting. In the back of my mind I was hoping I wasn't wasting time by not getting to the school or calling the police as I described Taylor to the mothers.

I saw the pity in their eyes as they shook their heads. They hadn't seen her and now I was desperate. I turned to run back to my idling car.

"Wait. I saw a girl that looked like that." A woman was walking towards me. She pointed down a street. "She followed the group of kids that got off the bus."

My temporary hope vanished as I looked down the empty street she pointed to. There was nothing else to do. I ran down the street and up the next yelling her name. At the top of the street I got in my car and drove it to the next set of streets. I ran down again and up the next, through a field yelling her name at the top of my lungs.

I repeated this again and again, stopping my frantic run only to describe my daughter to more strangers. None of which had seen her. My breath was coming in ragged gulps now and my body was shaking. Where could she be?

I was about to give up and head to the school when the road curved and there walking determindly with her eyes focused in front of her and hauling her oversized pink backpack was Taylor. The dread that clenched my heart released and I pulled up beside her. She quickly moved away from my car without looking to see who it was.

Jumping out of the car I called her name with a shaky laugh. She turned and her brave facade melted to tears as she rushed into my outstretched arms. We crumpled to the street crying with relief.

Taylor was lost for over twenty minutes and they were the scariest in my entire life. I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven that watched over and protected her until I could find her.

Moving Hazards!

I hate moving! But the reason for my tantrum is that I can't find the cord which uploads pictures from my camera to my laptop! So...an update without pictures.

We obviously moved, not far, just closer to Justin's work which is so nice! I love having him come home for lunch!

Also, we had our baby! Everything went well. We named her Lydia Allyse. We are enjoying her so much! She gets smothered by two older sisters who love her to death!

Adilyn turned three. Happy Birthday, Adi! She is such a sweetheart and we love having her around to make us laugh. She couldn't wait for her birthday so that she could join gymnastics like her older sister. She absolutely loves it!

and Taylor is starting Kindergarten. I am having a much harder time with this than she is. It's rough to send your little innocent child to school knowing everything she will experience. But it's life and there are plenty of good and bad lessons to be learned!