Talent Show 2010

Both Luke and Emma were in their school talent show this year. Emma danced and Luke played the piano. I don't think Luke was thrilled at first, but I really think he enjoyed himself in the end.

Emma wanted to look pretty with curls in her hair, etc. so she had to wear curlers to school the day of the performance. I remember when I was young and I HAD to wear curlers for dance competitions, etc. I swore I would never make my kids, so I was sure to let her know that if she didn't want curly hair for the performance then she didn't have to, but if she did want curls she had to wear curlers because that is the only thing that holds in her hair. She decided to go for it but was really embarrassed. I tried to lessen the humiliation and I wrapped this cute scarf around her curlers. I thought it was adorable but she got really self conscious by the time we got to her classroom. She was in tears! I felt horrible! I emailed her teacher a little later to ask if she was ok or if I should come take out the curlers, and she said she was doing fine. She made it through the day and by the time the performance came the hard price of curlers was worth it!

Matt had been out of town and his plane was supposed to get in right before the talent show. We were worried all week that his plane might be delayed and that he would miss it. It was really a big deal to Emma. Each night she prayed that his plane would get in in time and that he would make it to the performance. One night at dinner I prayed and when I finished she looked at me all upset and said "MOM! You didn't pray that daddy wouldn't get divorced!" WHAT????!!!!! I couldn't believe she even thought of divorce! I asked her what in the world she was talking about, and she replied "you know, so his plane won't be late!" She got the words delayed and divorced mixed up! BIG difference :)

Well her prayers were answered and Matt walked into the auditorium right as the show was starting!

My boy is 8!!!!! I can't believe it!

8 is a big birthday....so when I asked Luke what he wanted to do for his party he said he just wanted something where he could invite ALL of his school class and church class. Well it is too expensive to do much with that many kids and so we decided to have the Birthday Olympics at the park! It turned out SOOOOO fun. It also turned out to be a lot of work, but the pay off at the end was well worth it when Luke said it was "the best birthday party EVER!" That made my day! He had about 22 friends come and boy was it wild :)

When the kids first arrived they all designed a country flag...

Thank goodness for my whistle or I would be without a voice today :)

Then we had opening ceremonies/a parade....and then we split them into 4 teams...

Team America!!!!

Team Jamaica!!!!

Team Japan!!!!

Team Russia!!!!

First event...Basketball Throw:

Second event....capture their flag:

Third event....Frisbee throw:

PIZZA!!!!!

Play, play, play...

Closing ceremonies and trophies for all!

What a cute group of kids!

Then today after church we did a little family party with gifts and left over cupcakes :)

Luke was sooooo excited to get new books from Grandma and Grandpa Rose! He is such a great reader and has finished every book we have in the house!

He was SO surprised to get his scout shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie! He put it on and wouldn't take it off all day! I can't believe I have a Cub Scout! I have so much to learn!

Then last was the gift from Matt and Me....it looked BIG and exciting....

But when he opened it it was just a coupon to go get a new Sunday suit :) He was still very excited. We have been so crazy busy that we never got the time to go get it before today!

Happy Birthday Luke! I am so proud of you and the wonderful son, brother, friend, and kid that you are! I have loved watching you grow up so much lately. I feel like their is another adult in the house they way you laugh and joke just like your dad. You are always striving to choose the right and make good decisions and I appreciate your love for learning. I love you Luke!

Is it just plain adorableness or is it manipulation????

Gavin knows how to MELT my heart! I am hoping he will continue through his years this way and I hope it is always sincere cuteness and not just him working me over and getting his way :) Today at church after the opening song in sacrament meeting, he leans over to me as he is sitting on my lap and says "You did a great job singing mom!" Is that not so darn cute!? Then a few minutes later he strokes my cheek and says "You are so cute mom". I LOVE that kid!

The adventures in Potty Training!

Well this week was actually a step in the right direction...Gavin is really starting to catch on to the whole potty training concept. Today we took him to church in big boy underwear and he had an accident the 2nd hour. (Just after I leaned over to Matt and told him one of us should really go into nursery after class to take him potty :) So this is what Gavin looked like the rest of the day :) Pretty funny stuff...he looks like a beach bum church goer :)

Date night!!!!

My cute little Laurels are just not dating!!!!! They always get all bummed when I tell them all my fun dating stories and they say no one goes out on dates anymore! So I decided they needed a blind date! I contacted another ward and had 5 of their Priests (we were minus one so last minute we had to grab a Priest from our ward too) and we went on a date! It turned out to be so much fun and after the date the girls were giddy and loving boys again! Prior to the date they "hated boys" and said they were going to move into a convent. I was so excited to see the change and it was so fun to see them on their date.


We went to a nearby park where they also allow you to camp, so that we could have a campfire to make smores. To start the night we had the girls bring an item that represented them...the items they brought were:

• a football


• a toy frog


• an ipod


• a book


• a flag


• bubbles

Then we had the boys pick a number and then that was the order they got to go up and choose an item. Then that girl was his date for the night. The pairings were PERFECT! We ate pizza and then the first thing we did is we sent them on a photo scavenger hunt. The items they had to find and take a picture of were:

• a purple flower


• a picture of a kid playing


• a picture of someone wearing the same color shirt as them


• a picture of a tree hug


• a profile picture of them and their date making a funny face


• they had to have someone take a picture of them together on the slide


• a picture of one of them on a swing


• the lake


• they had to make their initials our of nature (leaves, grass, twigs, etc.)


• an animal (squirrel, raccoon, etc.)

The rest of the night we sat around the campfire and played games. What a fun activity. Did I mention how much I love my calling?????

Yoga at it's finest!

I came downstairs this morning to this...

Matt just started doing the P90X workout program and Luke has really gotten into it too. He convinced Matt to wake him up at 6:00 am so he could do it with him. So this morning was Yoga. I thought it was so cute to see little skinny Luke doing his Yoga. :) He is even trying to eat right like Matt and turned down ice cream :)

The Cat is out of the bag...

Well Sunday night we told the kids the big news...I am pregnant! We really didn't want the public to know yet but thought that Luke & Emma were old enough to keep a secret...we were WRONG!!!!!! Monday after school I picked them up and asked "Did you tell anyone?". They both replied "NO!" But after Emma added...."I didn't tell but someone guessed and there were 3 people standing there that heard." She said to my friend's little boy that she had something she wasn't supposed to tell anyone and eventually he guessed I am pregnant. His mom is also our neighbor so the whole neighborhood will know soon enough. Then Luke comes up to me and says "Well mom I just told Mrs. Lipsit because I knew I could trust her not to tell anyone." :) Then after piano he said his piano teacher guessed after he said that I wasn't feeling well. She is our Relief Society President also, so soon the whole ward will know! They are so excited that they can't contain themselves!


Monday morning Emma comes running in and says "Good morning Baby Momma!" She can't stop rubbing my belly and last night she found a binky laying around and came and stuck it in my belly button! For Family Night all Luke wanted to do is come up with names. Some of the names he and Emma have come up with are: Lenny, Rodney, Crisanthamum (not even sure how to spell that one), Molly, Brianne, Vanessa, Addison, Lisa, Liza, Jami, Kylie, Chaylee, Annie, Allie, Taylor, Dane, John, Nathan, Junior (actually he wants to name him Luke Jr.), Maximillian, Jake. Can you tell they are a little excited!!!! It's so fun to see them this way. Now if I can get them to keep it a secret a little longer!

What a wonderful Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter! I don't remember the last time General Conference landed on Easter, but boy was that a treat! It was so neat to hear such powerful witnesses of our Savior! What a wonderful weekend!

When Matt went to the Priesthood session we decorated eggs...

Then Sunday morning was the Easter egg hunt in the backyard...

Then we had a SPECIAL treat...Kim and Morgan were in town looking for a house and they were with Morgan's family and they all came for Easter dinner!!!! It was so much fun to have guests!

Emma and Luke were very excited to have their cousin's aunts, uncles, and grandparents...they made a welcome sign and then Emma made little name cards to go at the place settings at the table. It was so cute! I told her I could tell her the names of all the guests but instead she just wanted to write aunt and uncle and grandma and grandpa...but look how cute she spelled them! She is so thoughtful!

And then she took the time to draw pictures for her cousins....I had to include this one of Max because she really got the chubby cheeks right :)