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Baptism Day

My children impress me. This day, it was Amelia. For months she would talk about June 2, the day she gets baptized. I'm touched that she has the desire to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm impressed that she wants to do what's right. I feel strongly that she has gained a testimony of basic gospel truths through the Primary Songs that she loves so much. She is shy about sharing her feelings, but she is not shy about the way she lives. She is bold and emphatic about dressing modestly and following the prophet. She is mindful of others, and always (usually) desires to help out.

That reminds me. We saw her science teacher at an event one night. She approached us to tell us what had happened in science one day. The teacher was sitting on the floor...can't remember what they were looking at...and because of her bad knee was struggling to get up. Amelia jumped right up and said...I'll help you!!

That's Amelia. Yesterday while I was in the shower, she poked her head in the bathroom. Mom, what can I do to help get ready? I needed that! She continued to help until we got in the car to leave.

Her baptism day was very special. We are lucky to have such supportive and loving family.

The week before Amelia's baptism, we had attended Peyton's baptism, and a lady had given a talk about baptism that talked about the 3 bears of baptism, referring to the promises that are made.

1. Bear one another's burdens

2. Bear the name of Christ

3. Bear witness of Christ and his gospel

She asked me if I would give that talk at her baptism, and I was happy to. Instead of buying stuffed teddy bears, I found honey bears to give the two kids getting baptized.

Henry took Amelia's bear.

Someday I'm going to hire a photographer to take pictures when we have family things because we very often come out of the day without many pictures. As was the case on this day.

My Mia Mae

It's hard to believe that this beautiful young lady has turned 8. She's looked forward to this birthday for so long. She seemed equally excited for everything that comes with turning 8.

She wanted cupcakes instead of cake, so we did a little cupcake wars style decorating, and turned out some pretty cute cupcakes. Being Mother's Day, we had all the Lester cousins over. She was in heaven.

The ladies made good use of Amelia's new makeup kit and decorated each other and then put on a fashion show for us. We each had a sheet of paper with everyone's name and a place to rate their makeup:) We laughed. I love their ingenuity and the way that they just play.

Happy Birthday to my miracle baby girl.

Amelia's Favorites

(coming soon)

St. George

We went to St George for Spring Break. It was a fun break from home, and we got lucky to find a place to stay on such short notice. Here are a few highlights.

Day One:

Swimming with Aunt Deb

Hiking in Zion's National Park...with a stroller

Cool Red Rocks going to Emerald Pools

Emma didn't like that her shoes got SO dirty

Under the falls
Riverwalk trail to the Narrows

(that's when the camera battery died)

Dinner and visiting with friends from dental school

It was fun when we drove out of Zion's and saw a Suburban with WY plates...that looks like my Aunt Jen...nate says. And it was. All of his Aunts and Uncles from WY were there visiting for Spring Break too. We got together the next day.

Day Two:

Henry rock climbing with Uncle Paul

Crazy teenagers jumping into the frigid water with gale force winds.

Adults and younger kids watching

My boys.

Day Three:

The rain poured this day. We got up late and went to breakfast, did a little browsing shopping, and then went to the hotel for swimming, the highlight of the children's trip:)

I swam too, just won't post pics of that. That night we went to the movie, Mirror, Mirror. All the kids enjoyed that.

We needed a break from all the crazy of home. Even though the weather wasn't the warm and sunny liked we hoped, it was all good.

On the Move

deiter finally rolled over tonight:) finally

front to back...no problem...he doesn't like to be on his stomach.

tonight, he finally got over the arm that seemed to be blocking his way. now he's rolling his way around the living room:)

now the girls are working on his crawling.

Jackson

One of my favorite places on earth is at the base of the Teton Mountains. I was happy when Sam's wrestling schedule took us there for a tournament.

We found a condo (hotel rooms don't work for us anymore), and stayed the night after he wrestled. We made a big breakfast, went to church, and enjoyed a sleigh ride through the elk refuge.

We also found time to get our first family picture since Deiter's blessing in August. It's not great, but it'll do for now.

I'm Back

WOW! I did start a post a while back, so I will finish it here. Sorry I've been gone so long:) Maybe I'm back...no promises.

December 18,2011

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I have intentions of sending a card to everyone, it just won't be a Christmas card, or arrive this year, even.

Having six children is a busy thing.

You would think that I'm so busy and tired with the baby. I am convinced, however, that Deiter (4 mos) must have promised me in our pre-earth life that he would be happy, nice, content, and good if I would let him come to our family. He is really so delightful. He will lay down just about anywhere and smile and talk to angels in the sky. He fusses if he's hungry, and sleeps all night long. He's nice, patient, and happy to watch the commotion going on around him.

Henry (2)is so busy. He is more demanding of my attention than Deiter is. He broke his little arm last week, and now sports a bright red "bandaid." Although he tells us that he wanted a purple bandaid. If you ask him what happened he will blame it on yaya (Amelia). He was trying to climb the ladder to the new bunked and Mia was protecting Emma's candy stash from the top of the ladder. Broken ulna and radius resulted. He has learned the value of his cast as a weapon, and likes to beat up Clay. He likes to help me do whatever chore I am doing around the house, and has developed an affinity towards anything electronic....ipad, iphone, tv, wii. Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Cars, Toy Story. The kid knows his alphabet, and will point out letters on any book, computer keyboard, or sign that he sees. His intellect and enthusiasm for life amaze me. He is currently afraid of the Baxon (winnie the pooh movie).

Emma (6) is our little Kindergartener. Today she put on her Easter dress from April, and it was 3 inches above her knees. She is getting so tall. She is still our little mother. She has a very kind and nurturing personality, and loves to care for babies and stuffed animals and dolls. In fact, one of her Christmas lists was: doll, puppy, tree,

Every day she asks if I will pick her up early from school. Every day I tell her no. That's usually met with a tirade of comments about how much she doesn't like the specials (art, socials studies, gym, library, music) that she has that day. Every day. We think it all may have to do with her phobia of crowds. This is the girl who hated Disneyland. But she is helpful, and loving, and delightful, and very matter-of-fact.

Amelia (7) is in first grade this year. I have never known a child who likes to pull their own teeth like she does. The minute the tooth has any give to it at all, she is in front of the bathroom mirror until she emerges with a gap in her teeth, and a request for $100 from the tooth fairy. She has begged for a retainer, and when we went for an ortho consult, learned she has a cross bite, and really needs it. I don't think she'll like it so much when she gets it. She is my responsible child, and I can count on her to relay information, give me notes from school, and remind us of everything going on. After begging for a bunk bed, she was upset when we surprised her with it, but has gotten used to it.

February 5, 2012

Well then...

Clay (10) is such a teddy bear. He has enjoyed wrestling this fall, and is excited to start back up again in March. He has a hard time being aggressive on the mat unless he is really angry, and from the time he gets paired to the time he starts the match, he's best friends with the kid.

He has found a new interest this year with Student Council. He was elected President, and seems to be enjoying this new opportunity. He does incredibly well at school, and I am very happy for his teacher this year who has instilled in him a sense of responsibility. Things are better on that front. He won the school Geography Bee, and hopes that his written test score was enough to qualify him for the state competition, and even the nationals...he wants that $25,000 scholarship to go to BYU and major in architectural engineering.

Sam (13) is such a great kid. He's always joking and making clever remarks. He loves music (loud bass) and dancing (don't tell him I told you that). He is in the middle of his middle school wrestling season and doing very well. He's 17 and 3, with the 3 losses being to the same person. He's in an 8th grade algebra class this year, and we are in a 'discussion' with the school district to find a way to offer them Geometry next year. He is 13. But we still adore him, and are happy for his helpful attitude.