And my new calling is...

Beehive Adviser!

I am joining the ranks with Allison, JayneAnne & Cherylyn...

You know, I thought that once our family moved into a home and started attending a regular ward (as opposed to our student ward down in Provo) that I would be kept in my callings longer. Apparently that is not to be (at least not for me). We have lived in this ward for not quite 3 years yet and this is my third calling since we've been here. They have not released me from my calling as ward choir director yet, but hopefully that will happen in the next week or two (I am keeping my fingers crossed!). Apparently my name was given to the bishopric by the young women's presidency for this calling and they were told "no" by the bishop because I have only been in my calling as choir director for about a year. The bishop told the YW pres. to try and find another person to fill the calling. Well, after thinking about it they went back to the bishopric and told them that they really wanted me and that there wasn't anyone else that they wanted for the calling (the previous adviser is moving). So there must be a reason for me to be in this calling at this time... This will be a new and different calling for me since I have not worked with the young women since I myself was in young women's. I am told that there are about 5 or 6 Beehives currently. Incidentally, several of the girls that will be moving from primary to beehives in the next couple of months were in my primary class when I was called as a primary teacher in this ward...

Yummy food!

Yesterday I gave Kitty her own spoon and a bowl of applesauce at dinner. She enjoyed dipping her spoon into the bowl and then licking the applesauce off. Then she realized that it was much easier (and more fun) to just stick the bowl up to her face and lick it!

Trouble is spelled K-I-T-T-Y!

Kitty just discovered today that she can climb onto Blondie's bed. Once she was there she realized that now she can reach everything on M&M's dresser!

Roses

I have always loved rose bushes, ever since I was a little girl. I think I got this love from my Grandma Lord. I always loved visiting her home where she had a whole row of rose bushes all along the side of her driveway, in all different colors. I knew that once I had a yard of my own to care for that I wanted to put in some rose bushes. When we moved into our home (almost 3 years ago now), I wanted to find a place where I could plant one. It took me about 2 years, but last fall I finally bought a rose bush and planted it in front of our house. It bloomed some in the fall and then when spring came, I pruned it the way my gardening book said and have been waiting for the buds to come. (When DH saw what I had done to the bush, he thought that I had killed it...) Well, last weekend I had my first roses bloom! Here are some pictures:

The bike ride (not race)...

DH, his brother S and Dad N participated in the annual Reach the Beach bike ride this past weekend (http://reachthebeach.org). They all made it the entire 103 miles (despite a late start and DH's knee hurting halfway through the event - sound familiar Tan?)! DH drove up to Vancouver on Thursday, rode in the bike ride on Saturday and was able to drive back home safely on Sunday.

Way to go men!!
Meanwhile on Sunday, the fun still continued for me at home... I had to conduct the ward choir for the special musical number during Sacrament Meeting, bring the kids with me to choir practice, and I was extended a new calling before church. The bishopric decided to wait until next week to sustain me to my new calling so that they can try and find a new choir director before then (stay tuned until next week to find out what my new calling is...). :D

While Dad is gone, part 2...

We eat all of Daddy's favorite gourmet foods:


























We go to lots of parties:




M&M & Luke were each invited to a birthday party, we had a ward primary activity, and M&M's Girl Scout Troop end of the year family barbecue...

While Dad is gone...

Blondie takes over the bed... She has a bad cough and hasn't been sleeping well the last couple of nights.






We had 2 downpours in one day... I'm so glad that I had the sprinklers run this morning. (Oops... :-)

Helloooo!

Lately, Kitty likes to pick up anything that looks like a phone and she puts it to her ear and says, "Helloooo". (Actually it sounds more like "ehh ooh".) As you can tell from the pictures, she has the "oooh" part down pretty good...

Daddy's little helpers

Kitty & Blondie are helping Daddy replace a sprinkler head in the backyard. :)

Don't I look pretty?

We just bought this dress at the D.I. today and Blondie had to put it on as soon as we got home. Then she went upstairs and found a brush, took out her ponytail and started brushing her hair so she could look "pretty". When I got the camera out and started taking some pictures of her, she told me to stop taking pictures because she had to put on the shoes that we bought as well so that she could look just right for the picture:)
Total cost for the dress & shoes: $4.00 (can't beat that, can you?)

Sisters

Kitty has figured out how to climb on the storage bins that we have. On Sunday while Kitty was sitting on one of the bins, Blondie thought it would be nice to bring her some toys to play with while she was sitting up there. What a nice sister!!

Kitty - getting big! Though not quite as big as her cousin who is 7 months younger... Kitty weighed in at just under 19 lbs at her 1 year checkup. (Thanks for the dress V & S...)

How many more toys can we fit up here???

The climber

Kitty has recently discovered a new talent... She is turning out to be a very good climber. Last week I let her play outside without any socks or shoes on and she figured out that she could climb up our slide in the backyard. Here are some pictures of her taken from some video I shot...

I made it!!!

Kitty's Birthday Cake

Is that whole piece for me???














Eating with a spoon...












I LOVE CAKE!

Bryce Canyon

The family at Bryce Canyon.




Me and the kids halfway through our 1/2 mile hike.















Don't step back!!

Easter picture

Here is an Easter picture with Luke in it. Luke couldn't figure out why I made such a fuss over the girls on Easter and that I wasn't too interested in taking pictures of him. Maybe next year I'll have to make him a dress too...

Dinosaur museum

Here is a picture of the kids at the dinosaur tracks museum in St. George. If you look closely, you can see a footprint right above Alicia's head. It has 3 toes and is larger than Alicia's head...