Jason's Piano Recital

My nephew, Jason, has been playing piano for as long as I can remember. He recently graduated from high school and so he had a senior piano recital. The recital was all memorized music that Jason has been practicing for the last year. His music included Gershwin, Mozart, Bach just to name a few. It was very good. He was able to play on a brand new Steinway piano. It was a neat night. (As a side note, the piano cost about as much as our house so no one but Jason was allowed to touch it.)

This might be quite evident, but I'm a very proud aunt! We were happy to be there for Jason on his big night. Oh, and just a bit more bragging from the proud aunt, Jason was also the valedictorian for the graduating class and has earned full tuition scholarships for the fall.






Jessica(niece), Jamie, Jennifer(niece)

Jamie and Jennifer

Jamie turns 12!!!!

Our girl turned 12 last week!

Jamie has been looking forward to turning 12 since she turned 11. It is hard to believe that the tiny precious baby we brought home 12 years ago has now turned into a beautiful young woman.



Jamie had a great birthday. She got to have a friend birthday party this year. We don't let the kids have party every year, but this was her year. We have also never let the kids have sleepovers except with family, but I decided we'd give it a try. She had 5 friends come to the party. Aunt Becky (who is awesome with hair)came up and did all the girls' hair fancy. They loved it! They also did their nails. They ate tons of junk food, played games and watched movies. I tried to stay up until they all went to sleep, but I gave up at 3:30am. I later found out that the last one to fall asleep was at 5:30am. (I took a nap the next day!!)




For her birthday, we (well mostly me, Jared just gave in) decided that it would be ok if Jamie was allowed to start wearing a small amount of make-up. So we bought her some to start trying out. She is excited!



We are so grateful to have Jamie in our lives. She is a great kid! What a wonderful blessing Heavenly Father sent to us. Some of the wonderful things about Jamie are:
*She is a great help to me around the house. I depend on her so much!
*She is very sweet and tender hearted. She feels very deeply and wears her heart on her sleeve.
*She is feisty! I wouldn't dare tell her she can't do something unless you plan on her trying to prove you wrong! Definitely don't tell her she can't do something because she is a GIRL! OH, boy!
*She is very smart. She works hard at academics and is very successful. She loves to read and learning new things.
*She is competitive. Especially at basketball and any other sport she plays.
*I love her, but she is a bit clumsy. She tends to walk into poles, slip on stairs, etc.
*She is great with kids. She loves to play with little children. She has a ton of patience with them. (The one exception is her own siblings. They really know how to push her buttons.)
*She is very spiritual. Even at her young age she has incredible faith. She has a special connection with her Heavenly Father and works hard to make good choices. I'm so excited to watch her grow up and see her faith grow and bless her life as well as those around her.

Happy Birthday, Jamie! We love you!

If only I could blog....

We just got back from a long trip. We saw lots of family and have lots of memories to share. If only I could get the pictures off my new camera. I guess I'll have to wait until Jared is here to install the software for the camera.

Maybe I'll try to find the pictures Jared downloaded off the old camera just so I have something to blog about.

I think I'm going through blog withdrawal!

The End of the School

The last few weeks of school always seem to be jam packed with activities. Here are a few of the things that have been going on.

Jacob's Last Day of School


Jill's Last Day of School


Jamie's Last Day of School now she's onto 7th grade and Jr. High.
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Justin after his end of year preschool party. It was very fun! They had carnival games, popcorn, snacks, and even a clown.


Jamie at her 6th grade graduation. She received the Presidential Hope of America Award. It was really neat to see her get this award. It is in recognition of her success in academics and leadership among her peers.


Jamie competed in the District Math/Science Olympiad again this year. She went for Krypto again this year. Although she didn't place like last year, she did great and we are proud of her.


Justin graduated from preschool. It was such a cute program. I can hardly believe that he will be in kindergarten next year.

A new Floor!

Last weekend we put in our new floor. It was a lot of work, but thanks to a lot of help from our brother-in-law it got done. We are so happy!

Thanks to all of you who helped out! We couldn't have done it without you!!!!!

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EXCITING EPISODE:

BASEBOARDS!!!!!!!!!

Old and New

-12 Years Ago-

Twelve years ago this week we bought our very first car. It was the very last day of finals and we thought we'd just go look. Our other car was dying and Jared was very worried about me being stranded somewhere. I was 8 months pregnant with Jamie and decided it was time for a new car. We went to look at a car we saw in an ad, but when we got there that car was already gone. So we started looking around. The salesman asked us what our range was and when we told him he took us to the back lot at the dealership where they hold cars they have taken as trade ins until they can get rid of them. We found our '90 mazda 626 and bought it that day.






-Today-

It has been a great car. But now it is 18 years old, and honestly we don't know what has kept it running this long. Truly a blessing from above since we really haven't wanted more than one car payment at a time. Jared is so proud to tell you that his car has 320,000+ miles on it. It has many quirks. Those of you who have rode in it know what I'm talking about. The passenger door doesn't open from the inside of the car. The air conditioning died a long time ago. The heat only works on full blast. A pop tart box is the extension to the sun visor. The display on the radio no longer works so you have to hit scan and guess what station you are on. The paint is now chipped and faded. It also makes really neat noises too. Retirement for this poor old car has come.

Even though we are excited about getting a new car, we are a bit sad. We have had this car for a long time. We've brought home two babies from the hospital in the mazda. We've taken many trips in that car. And feel so grateful that it has kept running when there is no possible explanation for it to do so. It really is like saying goodbye to an old friend.








-New-

We have bought a new car for Jared to drive. It is a 2005 Mazda 6i. So far he loves it. It has air conditioning. The heat works on all settings. The radio works. All the doors open from the inside AND outside of the car. It is great. And we can still call Jared's car "the mazda" since we are trading one silver mazda for a newer silver mazda. And Jared can't help but smile like a kid whenever he goes out to drive it.

A laugh for today....

Since Justin has been in preschool this year I have enjoyed 2 hours 3 times a week that I can run errands and go grocery shopping all by myself. It is amazing how quickly I can get things done when I don't have the kids with me. I also spend less at the store because I don't have the kids begging me for things. I have also liked the time all to myself.

Yesterday I was reminded of how nice it is to go shopping alone. Here is what happened...

I was out running errands and I was in the store when this woman in the same aisle as me was talking to her two kids. They were being pretty cute and I smiled thinking to myself how much I missed my kids being that age. (About 1 1/2 and maybe 3) Anyway, the 3 year old starts asking her mom for a treat. The mom says that she only gets one if she has behaved in the store. The little girl asks, "How will I know if I'm good?" The mom's reply is, "Well, just do what I say and don't touch things."

So they go over to the next aisle, but I can still here them talking and chatting. Their conversation goes something like this.

"Mom, your butt is big!"

"What?"

"It is really big!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your butt, Mom. It is humongous!"

"Shhhh....Don't talk about that."

"But everyone can already tell!"

I don't think she got a treat! And I have a renewed happiness that I can go shopping by myself.