New Years Resolutions

I do not make New Years resolutions.  I am not a goal oriented person.  I do appreciate accomplishment and see value in making and keeping goals...but I don't see a lot of value in it.  Call me uninspired or unmotivated.  

Anyway, this year I felt a little differently.  I wanted our children to see it was possible to read the Book of Mormon.  I wanted them to feel like that was an achievable goal.  As a kid, I always felt like getting through the whole Book of Mormon was nearly impossible.  My family read the scriptures off and on but I never remember finishing the whole thing until I was in college.  So way back in January Will and I decided it would be a good challenge to have with the kids.  At first I just wanted to set the goal of reading a couple of chapters every day.  Will had the idea (he is way more motivated by goals) to put down a specific deadline for when we would finish the Book of Mormon as a family.  The kids agreed and we set our goal: reading the whole Book of Mormon as a family by Colter's 2nd birthday (May 19th).  

It was pretty easy in the beginning.  We were all inspired and we were ahead of schedule for a while.  Then life happened and we got behind.  Then we caught up...then we were behind again...pretty typical stuff.  Colter's birthday was on Monday and with a couple of marathon reading days over the weekend we made our goal.  It was awesome to celebrate the success with the kids.  We all read the last verse out loud together.  

I am pretty proud of my little family.  Now we just need to keep reading...

Adell and Clare really were excited to have met our goal.  We took a bunch of pictures with my phone on a timer.  They weren't sure when to get their excited faces on...

I love to see the temple

Sometimes we meet at the temple for Stake Conference.  There is a large Stake Center on the temple grounds and our Stake is big enough to need the extra seats.  We packed a picnic lunch for afterwards and enjoyed some time walking around the temple.

Clare and the Beanstalk

Clare participated in the school play this spring.  She loved it.  I think we found her "thing" which is only troubling because I don't think I can be a stage-mom.

The kids put on a musical-comical version of "Jack and the Beanstalk".  Clare played a Castle Maid and a Garden Fairy.  She killed it.  She was the funniest, most articulate and pretties Castle Maid around.  She practiced her lines with me but didn't tell me she had a bunch of other lines (another girl was out or something and Clare doubled up to get the lines covered).  I was kind of worried at first that she was maybe saying someone else's lines by mistake...but no...she was just doing her job...perfectly.









Totally awesome iPhone photos!

We were all proud of her.  Keep on breaking a leg out there Clare.

Gardening for Grandmama

Grandma Claudia (or Grandmama) sent Adell some seeds in a fantastic package for Clare's birthday.  Everyone got five dollars and a little gift from Grandmama--it was like Christmas in April.  We planted the seeds for Adell today...it was a mess.

Adell loves to watch things grow.  I love to get stomach ulcers from the worry I'll kill all of her plants.  It is a mutually beneficial relationship.

The one and only outing...

My friend made me take my kids to the Children's Museum over spring break.  We don't ever travel for the kid's school breaks.  We watch a lot of TV and sleep in.  It is wonderfully lazy and incredibly unproductive.






I used to take Lorien, Wyatt and Clare to the Children's Museum a lot...at least a lot more than I have ever taken Adell and Colter...which is never.



Lorien spent most of her time making this very detailed corn-husk doll.  It was amazing.  She is a little old for the Children's Museum but I was happy to see she could still find entertainment there.





My friend and I entered the Children's Museum with nine kids.  We left the museum with nine kids...and miraculously...they were the same nine we came in with.  No one drowned in the splash zone and Colter only ate 3 fistfuls of sand.

It was a total win.

Clare's big day...

Oh my darling Clare!  Clare was baptized today.  She has been beyond excited for her baptism since she was four and watched Lorien get baptized.  She knew her stuff and made the decision for herself.  She has a lot of friends at church who have been baptized this year.  

Clare was confident and happy about her choice and has been walking on air ever since.  One friend even commented: she is so happy she's floating!  

Great job Clare, we are so proud of you.

General Conference

We are getting ready to watch some General Conference and play "Conference Bingo".  The kids all get laminated bingo boards.  Whenever they hear a word from one of the pictures they get to put a piece of candy on that spot.  When they get five in a row they get to eat the candy.  This year they are marking their boards with dry-erase markers and get to pick out five pieces of candy from a bowl on the counter when they get a "bingo".  (run on sentence)  This saves a lot of candy stealing by Colter and a lot of spilling of candy from bumped boards.

Wyatt is showing Colter the ropes.  Mostly, I think Colter will run around and try to wreck the place.

Oh how we all love General Conference.

14 years!

Wedded bliss...we've been doing it for 14 years.  Crazy!  I sure love this guy and am so thankful he is up for all the crazy we've been through and all the crazy yet to come.

I love you William James.

Babes in the woods

We like hiking.  Living over here in the East Bay has provided many opportunities to get out and enjoy the woods and trails.  Sometimes we end up going off trail or get a little lost but it is always and adventure.

What a surprise!

Today was going to be a busy day.  We had several family activities and they all seemed to be happening at the same time.  Early in the morning Will sent me a head of him to meet someone at a breakfast place in Hayward.  I thought he was buying something off craigslist and needed me to go ahead and check it out first?  Really, I had no idea why he wasn't taking care of it himself.  When I got there I waited inside for a few minutes and up walked my best friend, Anne.  I couldn't believe it--I just burst into tears!

Anne and her family moved out to Boston a year or so ago.  We hadn't seen each other in a while.  We spent a lovely morning catching up, crying, laughing and feeling less crazy.  Then we hung out in the car she was borrowing and put on makeup.  It was like a grown up sleepover...except it was in the morning/afternoon...we didn't sleep...and...actually it wasn't like a sleepover at all.  Never mind.  It was awesome and seeing her made me so happy.  Will had been orchestrating the visit with Anne for a couple of days.