Madi student of week posters

 Packing week over here and I'm in total sentimental mode as I remove things from the walls and my kid's doors. I took these off Madi's door today - her student of the week posters from 2nd and 3rd grade. Had to document!

Mother's Day 2018

I feel so blessed to have the honor of being mom to these four! 

For Mother's Day I asked for one thing - happy, helpful kids. I told them the only thing I didn't want was fighting and/or crying. The morning (before church) went perfectly. Elle helped Cal get dressed and he didn't complain about anything (which is huge)! She helped James get ready too. Then we came home from church and Madi was bummed out about her primary class which she is not a fan of (she's been anxiously awaiting our move so that she can be in the Las Posas ward where she has several friends and girls her age). So there was some sulking and sadness... not wanting to take the picture below . . .

The afternoon was ok - I just wanted to be able to enjoy my kids on Mother's Day, but I found myself getting after them for not helping get ready for dinner. We volunteered to host dinner at our house with Spencer's parents and the Beede's. I made rolls, Spencer barbecued tri tip, we did baked beans, and baked potatoes, Corinne made a salad, and Grandpa Al & Boppi brought strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was a good meal. After dinner we went for a  walk to Heritage park and then came back for dessert. 

One of my favorite things about Mother's Day is all the cards and sweet notes my kids make me that I will cherish forever!!! 

I am one lucky mom!!!

Family Meetings . . . 5 years ago!

While going through more papers I found a binder of agendas from our family meetings. Funny thing is that I totally remember planning for these family meetings - doesn't seem that long ago and yet it was 5 years ago!  Wanted to include photos of our agendas before I throw away.

Going through old papers . . .

I had a glorious afternoon  - all by myself at home, going through old files and binders, working on decluttering and packing for our upcoming move (fingers crossed all goes well with the appraisal).

I came across a few things I just couldn't bring myself to throw away. One was some chicken scratch, written on the back on a wedding invitation back from 2011. It was a conversation Madi and Elle must have been having.

Here's what was written:
Madi: "When you're 8 years old you're gonna know everything about Jesus. Then you can tell everyone about it. Sometimes there's naughty boys and girls that you can teach them about the commandments."

Elle: "I think about Jesus everyday."

Madi: "Don't interrupt me when I'm talking about Jesus. ... Do you know how I learned all this?"

Madi's quiz to Elle:
"Do we pray everyday or just one day?"

Too funny! Time is flying by too fast and I hold on to little treasures like this - back form the days when life was simple.

Teacher Appreciation week 2018

These kids have had some super awesome teachers this year! We made sure to make it a great week for them - with sweet notes, treats - banana bread and cookies, and gift card flowers. 

General Conference

What an amazing General Conference this was! The Solemn Assembly was such a neat experience as we all stood and sustained our new prophet - President Nelson. This conference was particularly powerful for me as I felt so strongly that President Nelson is a prophet for our day, called of God. I was happy to receive that witness and reassurance. President Nelson was so strong and powerful as he warned of dangers in our day and reminded us of the importance of teaching our children how to recognize personal revelation.