Picture Day!

It has been a long week! I left for Girls Camp on Tuesday, but came back early so I could have Emma ready for her first dance pictures on Friday morning. No offense to my wonderful husband, but I did not trust in his ability to work a curling iron! (I only came home a day early, so it wasn't too big of a deal.) I actually enjoyed camp more than I thought I would! The girls were great and I developed a love for them. It almost made me tear up a little when I went to get my things from the cabin and tell the girls good-bye, some of them ran up and gave me hug! It's the little things like that, that made me feel like all the effort was worth it!
Emma was so excited to put on her costume and get her hair and make-up done for pictures! As we waited in a room for her class to be photographed, some of the moms were taking pictures with their cameras. I was glad to get them emailed to me, as I forgot my camera. Emma's class is the cutest class ever! These girls and their moms are so great! We, as moms, just sit outside and watch our girls dance. We talk and share stories and have started developing friendships. I really look forward to dance every week! We are keeping the class together this fall. The girls get along so well and the owner of the dance studio even said it was good to try and keep them together because they tend to learn better if they are comfortable with their atmosphere and class mates. Emma's teacher Miss Lainie is so wonderful I don't even want to try another teacher! Pictures went great! When it was Emma's turn the photographer sat her down and posed her. As soon as she got behind the camera, Emma perked right up and said "cheese" and flashed her famous cheesy grin! I loved it! I can't wait to see the pictures!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all! I had a great mother's day! I was not expecting any presents, but Jon surprised me! He made breakfast, crepes my favorite, and gave the kids a bath! Then he called the kids back to help make their beds and they came out with cards and a present for me! The cards were so cute! Jon helped them put stickers and color on them! He even got into my scrapbook box to get stuff for the cards! I loved and appreciated the effort that went into these beautiful cards! I am so excited about my present! It's a remote start for my car!! I have been asking for this for 2 years! I can't wait to get it installed! Just in time for the heat to come! Around 10:30 am Jon's parents, Rick and Louise, and his brother, Sean came over! It was good to see them and to wish Louise a Happy Mother's Day! She looked good, and that was a present all in itself! We went to church and the kids were surprisingly good! Derrick stayed on the bench most of Sacrament Meeting, which is new record! He was a little noisy, but I am happy he stayed sitting down! After church we had my mom and Jon's mom and step dad over, along with Ron and Rachel. We had a delicious dinner and had a nice time visiting! I closed my evening by reading Elder Ballard's talk from General Conference on Mothers! It was a terrific way to end the day! I am so honored to be a mom and I am thankful for all the wonderful examples of moms in my life! Happy Mother's Day!

All About Emma!

Last week Emma gave her first talk in Primary! The topic was families! We practiced and practiced at home and she was so excited to give her talk. She even helped me write it by telling what she liked about her family! Here is what we came up with...

"Heavenly Father planned for me to come to a family because he loves me and wants me to be happy. This is a picture of my family. I like to have fun and play games with my family. I like being a big sister and helping my brother. Every night before bed we read scriptures and have family prayer. I like doing this because it makes Heavenly Father and Jesus happy and it makes my family happy too. I love my family and I am thankful that we can be together forever."

Grandma Clark even came to hear Emma. When the time finally came I went up to help her. You could not hear a word that came out of her mouth! I kept whispering,"Talk louder!" but, it didn't seem to help! Oh well! She's only 3! At least she stood in front of everyone and tried!
Yesterday at church during the Sacrament, we were sitting quietly waiting for the bread and Emma whispers rather loudly, "Hey kid, we're over here!" to one on the young men passing the Sacrament! She wanted her bread right then! I couldn't help laughing! Then during Primary, I was heading down the hall to go to Sunday School and saw Jon standing by the Primary room. He said, "Come look at your daughter!" I peeked through the window and there was Emma in the front row, laying across 2 chairs on her stomach, with her feet up in the air and no shoes on! I was so embarrassed! We had a long talk after church! I asked her in the car how she was acting during Primary and she said,"Tired"! So, we talked about respect, while I was trying not to laugh! I then asked her what she learned in class and she told me she learned about her body! Then said very matter-of-factly, "Mom, Jesus bought our bodies for us!" Needless to say, we got a lot of laughs out of Emma yesterday...the joy of a 3 year old!

Adventures in Neverland

On Saturday Emma had a girls day out with her cousins, Amzi and Brinklie! My niece won tickets to Adventures in Neverland at the Wright House! It was put on by Ballet Etudes, a local dance company, to promote their ballet coming up this month! The girls got to meet the cast, play games and eat lunch. Emma had a really great time! In the car on the way there she said "Mom, I'm so excited to go to Disneyland!". I felt terrible that she thought that was where we were going. She asks to go to Disneyland almost everyday! We are going to try to plan a trip for the end of this year to take them. I can't wait! They will have so much fun! But, even though it wasn't Disneyland, Emma was impressed by the Wright house and thought it really was where Tinkerbell lived because it was so beautiful! It was a fun day!

Fun with Friends!

On Friday we finally made it out to our friends, Ryan and Wendy, house! We have been friends with them for years and we never see them anymore! They live in Anthem, close to Florence! It's about a 45 minute drive from our house! But, we had fun! The kids were so excited to play with new toys and to see Carson, who is just 3 months younger than Derrick! Wendy is having her second baby any day now! We are just waiting for the news! After playing all night we tried to get the kids to lay down and watch a movie...that lasted about 2 minutes! But, it made for a cute picture!