Emma

Here is Emma's professional dance picture! I thought it came out pretty cute! She loves taking pictures and is always willing to say "cheese"!

Dance Recital

Dance Recital

Saturday June 21 was Emma's dance recital with Arizona Desert Dance. Emma absolutely loves going to dance there and she did a great job for her recital. After the dance was over and the lights went down, Emma was still standing there with her arms up in the air! She really took to heart the "hold your last pose"! She literally needed to be escorted from the stage! :) Jon was sad he had to miss it, but he flew out to Hershey, PA that morning. (Pictures from that trip coming soon!) But, Emma had support from Grandma Clark, Grandma and Grandpa Trafzer and Aunt Stevi! We now have a whole month with no dance...she is going to miss it! Thank goodness it's only a month!

Ready to go!

Curtain Call

Emma with her soon to be Aunt Stevi

Emma and mom

Dress Rehearsal

Last Wednesday was Emma's dress rehearsal for her dance recital. We had to come straight from swim lessons that day, but we made it on time and managed to get her hair to look decent! :) She did really good for dress rehearsal. But, I was also there helping her to remember to smile! I know I have mentioned before what a great class Emma is in. All of the moms chipped in and bought Miss Lainie a gift certificate and flowers to have the girls give her at rehearsal. They're a cute group, I can't wait for dance to start again!

(top) Mele, Reagan, Sophia, Gabi
(bottom) Ali, Ava, Emma

Ava & Emma

On stage practicing...I love how each girl is in a different position!

Emma's dance class with Miss Lainie

Swim Lessons

Emma completed her 2 weeks of swim lessons on the 20th of this month! She loved every minute of it and did pretty good. From day one not knowing anything, to the last day jumping into the pool by herself, was an incredible transformation. Some of you may recognize her teacher, Miss Sharisse. (Julia and Sabrea mainly) It's Sharisse Blau! Sharisse lived down the street from me for a while when we were kids. It was so good to see her again. She was a great teacher and the kids all loved her. Emma's biggest challenge was jumping into the pool without holding hands with Sharisse. On the last day she only needed a very slight push from one of the other moms (who was kind enough to play the mean mom :)) and in she went. Of course, a little bribery never hurts! She picked out a new Snow White Polly Pocket! There were only 5 kids in her class so it was very one-on-one attention. At the end of the frist week Emma found a new favorite thing to do...dive under water for dive sticks! There was a bucket of dive sticks that the little kids were allowed to play with and then the class after theirs had big kids in it that would retrieve all the sticks. Emma caught on to this and wanted to try it. She started throwing the dive stick on the bottom step and Sharisse would help her swim under water to get it. Emma loved this! That Friday Sharrise let Emma take home a pink shark dive stick just for the weekend, which Emma named "Pinky Sharky"! She carried that thing around all weekend! She even "dove" for it in our little inflatable pool! She loves going under water and is getting better about taking big breaths! Jon thinks it's crazy that his little girl has a tan line! It's actually pretty cute! Now we just need to practice and keep up the skills that she learned.

In Memory of Mila

The 18th of June marks the one year anniversary of my niece Mila passing away. Most of you know the story of this precious little girl. She was very special and is missed by all who knew and loved her! We dedicate this blog to her, in her memory.

All About Jon...(sorry, it's a long one)

Jon's birthday was yesterday and with Father's Day the day before, he got a little spoiled! I can't say the weekend started out great for him though. He earned the nickname "One Eyed Willy"!
Jon left on Tuesday for a scout outing. They were going to West Clear Creek and were suppose to be gone until Saturday afternoon. There is no cell phone reception down there and that is the longest we have gone without communication! This made me a little nervous! Well, Friday I was taking a nap because the kids and I had been out in the pool for about 2 hours! I had a dream that Jon called and told me they were coming home early. Then, the phone woke me up and it was Jon! I got so excited I didn't even think anything could be wrong! He told me he was hiking through the river bottom where it was very thick brush. He had just taken his shades off when a tree branch poked him straight in the eye! He told me he was on his way to Payson Hospital to have it checked out. One of the Priests was driving his truck and I needed to find a way to get up there to drive Jon home. A member of the Bishopric was going up so he could pick up Braiden and take him back to the outing. I called Jon's mom and she agreed to come watch the kids while Jon's step dad drove me to Payson. (We are so grateful to both of them for helping!) Once we got there I headed back to see Jon...he didn't look so good! His eye was really red and you could see where stick had hit it! OUCH! We waited for almost 2 hours after I go there until the doctor came in and looked at it and cleaned it out. He has 2 corneal abrasions, but luckily they are not serious. He just has to put ointment on it for about a week. They did not give him a patch, but he was tempted to go buy a pirate one to wear to church on Sunday! :) But, he has been keeping that eye closed all weekend and so he was called "One Eyed Willy"!
I think he had a good Father's Day. The kids were so excited that it was Father's Day and then Daddy's birthday! They gave him a digital frame so he could take it to work and put it on his desk. I gave him a new dress shirt to wear to the Awards Banquet next week. On Sunday I asked him if he really wanted me to attempt to make him breakfast, or if he would just be happier eating something he made himself! He asked me to make waffles, which turned out pretty good! He helped me with dinner, but I stilled tried! He also was called to be the 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum Presidency on Sunday. He will miss Young Men's but is ready to take on a new challenge and he is excited about the people he will be working with.
On Monday we took him out to dinner at the Keg for his birthday. The kids gave him the Indiana Jones dvd's and I bought him a new watch. He has been asking for Nixon watch for a very long time and I decide he finally deserved it! It was a birthday /congratulations present! I was worried he may not like the one I picked out, but he loved it!


Just as we were finishing our dinner, Jon's mom called to invite us out to ice cream with them. So we ended the night with some delicious Nielsen's Frozen Custard! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON! We love you!

100 degrees!

Last Saturday Jon was working outiside on the yard. It got hot really fast and next thing I know he had filled up the kids pool and came inside to tell them to get their swimsuits on! They were so excited ! It was one of our first 100 degree days, which for June, that's not bad! Derrick didn't have a swimsuit, so he had to just swim in his diaper. Jon even set up their slide to go into the pool. They had a blast and we have been in a few more times since then. Emma starts swim lessons tomorrow, so I'm sure I will have more swim pictures to post soon!Derrick did not like the feeling of an extremely full diaper!

Emma sliding down the slide on her stomach into the water!

Derrick showing me how cold he is!

Emma kickin' back working on her tan!

Not A First...

This was by no means Derrick's first haircut, but I couldn't resist a picture moment! Just the last couple of months he has started sitting all by himself, like a big boy, for his haircuts! He does really well. But, he has been getting an average of one haircut a month since he was 3 months old! He's just not a baby anymore and is turning into quite the little man! He mimics so much of what Emma says and I just laugh when Derrick says it because I don't expect it to come out of his mouth. The other day he wanted a ball that was in my room because it had been taken away (because I found it inside the piano!), I told him he could not have it back but he had other balls to play with in the family room. He walked out of my room and I heard growl, "UGHHH" in frustration! When Emma does that she gets in trouble because she is throwing attitude, but I laughed out loud when Derrick did it and I know right where he learned it (EMMA)!

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!

Count Your Blessings!

I thought I should post a positive and uplifting blog after the last few days! Emma is doing better today, she had a bit of a rough day yesterday (we all did actually)! But, I was laying in bed this morning and thought I needed to be more positive and be thankful for the wonderful blessings in my life! Sometimes it's the little things that get us through the day, but we can miss those little things if we are too busy, distracted or negative! So, I encourage all of you to "Count Your Blessings" and see how it makes you feel! Here are the things I am thankful for and love (in no particular order)...

*Jon leaving me random "I Love You" notes!
*Emma throwing her arms around me, kissing me and saying, "I love you lots and lots"!
*Derrick snuggling on my shoulder and letting me hold him like a baby!
*My mom, who is so willing to help out especially when she knows it means a lot!!
*My dad, who is very loving and supportive!
*My entire family, and it has been very nice to have a sister to hang out with lately!
*Emma and Derrick having 6 grandparents who love them!
*Baby news! Congrats to Julia! And to Wendy, who will soon have a new little one!
*Watching Derrick run! (He looks so cute when he does it!)
*Listening to Emma make up songs about random things like diamonds, the ocean and chocolate milk!
*Derrick saying "NOT" instead of "no", he just says it so funny!
*Emma being a wonderful big sister!
*The Gospel and the knowledge it brings!
*Temples...and the new one we are getting in Gilbert!
*An amazing husband who is loving and willing to help out (even if it involves throw-up!) and who is working so hard and achieving success! I am so happy for him!

This is our first "official" family picture and I love them all!

It's a "Great" Day to be a Mom!

Well, today was an experience that I hope never happens again! I was putting on my make-up before church and Emma came in holding her stomach telling me that it hurt! I didn't really think too much about it (she says that a lot!). We got ready for church and she was acting very sleepy! I told her she could lay on me and take a nap during Sacrament meeting and I would wake her up for class! Jon thought maybe we should keep her home and even said, "I hope she doesn't throw up at church!" (Maybe next time I'll listen to my insightful husband!) Emma really wanted to go to class today. We missed last week because she and Jon were sick! She was almost asleep in the car when we got to church so I carried her in. She just laid on my shoulder. We had been sitting for about 10 seconds when I felt something warm on my shoulder! I looked down and Emma was throwing up! I scooped her up and ran out of the chapel trying to have her throw up on me instead of all over the church! We ran outside and she finished in the rocks! It was all over the front and back of me, down my dress in my hair and all over Emma! Someone came outside with a roll of paper towels for us, (he was so kind) and I started trying to clean up! Jon then came outside and said he tried his best to clean it up off the bench with baby wipes, but that Derrick started rolling in it! GREAT! So, now I have 2 kids and myself that have throw up all over us! And it happened in the chapel! Everyone who was walking into church stopped and offered to help, but there really wasn't much for them to do! I was grateful for the kindness though! Poor Emma! We came home and took a shower and she fell asleep with in 5 minutes of laying down! She has now been sleeping for almost 2 1/2 hours! It's getting late, but I don't want to wake her! Hopefully it is just a one time deal! She's not really my throw up child...that would be Derrick! So, that was my exciting Sunday! Jon went back to church after helping me get things cleaned up at home and I sent him with a rag and some cleaner to clean the bench where it all started and to make sure there wasn't a trail on the carpet! I'm lucky and thankful to have a husband who didn't mind doing that! Hopefully, I can show my face in church again and not be completely humiliated!

Happy Birthday Grandpa & What's Going On!

Today was Grandpa Trafzer's birthday! We invited them over to have dinner with us and Kevin and Stevi. The kids were just excited to go play outside as soon as dinner was over! So, while all the boys went shopping for gun scopes, the girls played outside with the kids! Emma had a brand new bucket of sidewalk chalk the she has been begging to play with! She has started writing her name and is doing a pretty good job for a 3 year old! The "E" is the most recognizable, but you can tell the effort is there! We are all doing great! Jon just received an award from work called the "My Laureate Award"! It is a very high honor to be awarded with this and the awards banquet is in Hershey, PA! The company pays for the recipient and spouse to fly there and stay at a resort hotel! They provide all the meals and vouchers for fun! I am excited to get lost in a spa that offers chocolate treatments! It looked as if I may not be able to go when I saw that airline tickets for the kids were $400 a piece! But, through the generosity of a wonderful mother, I am able to go and support my husband while my mom stays with the kids! (Thank you mom!) This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and honor for Jon and I am so happy for him! We have truly been blessed as of late! I have been extremely grateful for our blessings! I have a wonderful husband and 2 great kids that make me smile everyday and I love them dearly!