May 2015 - Week 1 - Xander State Fair

On May 2nd, my niece Sawyer was baptized. It was wonderful to be there for her that day. We love you!

On May 3rd I was released from being the Primary President in our ward. I kinda knew it was coming. In July it would have been 3 years since I was called, and my 2nd counselor was called into the Stake Primary Presidency. I was privileged to be able to teach Sharing Time that day and bear my testimony to the kids. I made sure to get a picture with all of them too. I am really going to miss this calling and seeing all their happy faces each week, hearing them sing with all their might and feeling the spirit from their testimonies.

The next day Jaina thought she was pretty funny and was trying on everyones shoes. 

Here she's wearing daddy's shoes.

And then Melody's shoes!

Xander lost yet another tooth!  Seriously, this kid went over 2 years without 

any lost teeth, and now this is number 2 or 3 in a few months. This time 

it fell out while eating dinner. He took a bite of noodles and it 

just popped out! He's lucky he didn't swallow it.

Melody has been making the cutest smiley face lately and I was trying to get a picture 

of it, but when I turned on my phone she was just wanting to look at herself.

Xander had a State Fair project where he had to research and present the state of New York.

He designed a T-shirt, drew and colored their flag.

Made a map of the state.

Made a brochure with facts from New York.

Made a timeline of important events in the history of New York.

Then he had to have an interactive question and answer in a box

He really lucked out because he already had the Lego set of the 

United Nations Headquarters so he put that in the box.

He even dressed up like J. Robert Oppenheimer the creator of the Atomic Bomb and had a short speech as if he was him.

I was able to go to the Payson Temple Openhouse with Mara and the Activity 

Days girls because I was called to be one of their new leaders.  It was so great 

to be able to walk through this beautiful temple again with my sweet girl.

Melody like to 'help' me do laundry by wearing socks on her hands.

And underwear on her head!

I just thought she was cute when she was looking at the Leapster while lying on the floor.

May 2015 - Jaina Preschool Graduation

While Jaina was in Preschool our routine was awesome. We would leave at 9:00 to get to school by 9:15. When I would get home I would put Melody down for a nap and then it was my time to shower and get ready for the day.  But if February I bought a used elliptical and started exercising during Melody's morning nap. It was perfect because I could exercise for 30 mins, shower and get ready by the time I needed to wake Melody up and pick up Jaina by 11:15.  It was a perfect start to the day.  But on her last day of school her program was at 10:30 so I had to wake Melody early.

We got to the school and her graduation was outside in their playground area. They sang a few songs and presented each student.  She did great this year and learned a lot. I am so proud of her. She just loves school!

Here are a few of the students that were her teachers this year at SFHS

This is Mrs. Bodine, she was the teacher of the preschool. During the school year she had a baby and was gone for a few months while a Mrs. Prisby took over. Jaina just loved Mrs. B and was sad to say goodbye.

Here's her hand print and her name. It says 'Jaina TE' because her nickname is JET for her initials. 

She knows that and thinks that it's part of her name, so she writes it at the end.  

She also drew a smiley and frowny face.

Our traditional last day of school picture.

After we were done we went to lunch at McDonald's.

When we got home she just wanted to ride her bike. So when Melody 

went down for her afternoon nap we went outside to play.

Later that night Mana watched the girls while Pat, Xander and I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Jaina just loved the hand prints in Mana's room. She's matching her hand to mine from Kindergarten.

Way to go Jaina! You rocked preschool!!  We love you!

April 2015 - Payson Temple Openhouse

It was finally time for the Payson Temple Openhouse. I was able to get tickets for the first Monday of the tour, April 27th. It was so great to be able to walk through with the kids and see this beautiful temple. It is so colorful and has an apple blossom theme on the windows because this land used to be an apple orchard. I made the comment to Mara that this could be 'her' temple when she gets married.

Mana and Karri were able to come with us on the tour.

I love this new temple and can't wait to be able to serve inside of this amazing and holy building.

April 2015 - Part 4

On Mara's birthday, Xander lost a tooth!!  Both he and Mara hadn't lost a 

tooth for over a year but now all of a sudden they are both losing a bunch!

We got out the mega blocks to play with and Melody built this all on her own and showed me!

On Mana's birthday, April 14th, we had an adult dinner at Olive Garden. It's so nice 

to be with family when we don't have loud/screaming children to worry about.

Then it snowed in the middle of April. Jaina begged me to go outside to play 

in the snow. I tend to be a 'no' mom, but I decided to be a 'yes' mom. 

So I got her and Melody bundled up for the cold and took them outside.

My lilac bush under the snow.

This was Melody's first experience with snow. She mostly just walked around 

on the cement and wasn't too happy when I put her IN the snow. 

But otherwise she seemed to have fun outside in the cold.

Jaina just loved making snow balls and throwing them in the street.

Afterwards we came inside and had hot chocolate.

Melody is starting to really play on her own at times. I love when I'm able to catch her and just watch.

She can now climb on the chairs.

One night when Mana and Karri came down, Melody got into Karri's purse 

and pulled out her name tag from Target. So Karri put it on her. It was 

really cute, and she was happily looking at pictures on Mana's phone.

Melody really likes books too. She will find any book she can and climb into your lap to look at it.

In celebration of Mana's birthday we had our usual pedicure outing, and this time Sawyer came along too.

Peek-a-Boo

Happy Birthday Mom!

When Melody wakes up from her nap her hair is 'curly', and it makes me smile. Since none

of my kids got my red hair, I'm hoping that maybe Melody got my curls. Only time will tell.

I realized that her hair was getting longer so we ventured with piggies!!  

It automatically makes her look older.

I can't turn my back for one second with this climbing girl.

Cousin Maddox came to sleep over. The boys were playing the Wii U and 

Melody had to lay down like Maddox and watch them play.

Gotta love that Oreo face!!

We went to the mall with Karri and Jaina really wanted to ride the carousel. So since 

I was trying to be a 'yes' mom, she got a ride. And she was the only one on it!