Engagements: Ben & Cynthia

In all our busyness (and the fact that my blog is so behind) I didn't get a chance to post the engagement shoot I did for my cousin Ben and his (now) beautiful wife Cynthia! I have always known Ben to be an incredibly loving and sincere person and I know that those are just two of the qualities that Cynthia has grown to love in him as well. Cynthia is such a sweet and charming gal and I knew when I met her last year that they would be a perfect couple. :)  I wish them all the best in their happy future together.

 

 

 

Never-ending story...

I am absolutely, positively, completely behind on my blog. :( If I had one whole week with nothing on my schedule I could totally catch up...but, I don't. That makes me sad...and anxious. Sometimes I think I should give up on trying to blog and get ahead. But, that makes me sad too. I love to write and take pictures and document the events and things that occur in our family so here's to another empty blog post full of rants and hopeful sentences of encouragement to keep me going. :0/

Madysen's Daily News

Each day in Mady's kindergarten class, one child is chosen to share the "Daily News". One part of the daily news involves the child (chosen for that day) sharing a bit of their own "daily news" and writing that bit of news on a piece of paper (fastened to the large dry-erase board) in front of the classroom. This past Friday, we went to watch Madysen's Nursery Rhyme Program at school (post to follow Ü). While we were waiting for the parents to be seated we looked over some of the Kindergartner's Daily News sentences which they had showcased in the hallway. It was pretty interesting to see some of the news bits these little people had to share...especially since their news could be about anything...ANYTHING.

Thank you Madysen for sharing that bit of personal daily news with your class...please remember next time that there is a big difference between your cousin (Hadyn) getting new "guns" and getting new "water guns". :)

Never a dull moment with kids... Ü

New Beginnings...New Worries

A few weeks ago, our ward Young Women president called me to invite Sariah to their New Beginnings program. Sariah doesn't turn 12 until the very end of the year but they still wanted to introduce her to the program and spotlight her before she moves up. I was excited...at first. When I had a few moments to collect my thoughts I realized how terrified I am for her to go to the Young Women program. I wish I could keep her in primary and then skip her on over to Relief Society with me when she's older. That's an option right?!

Before New Beginnings, the president asked if we could write a little paragraph about Sariah and why we think she's special so they could spotlight her. Fred and I wrote the note together and although it was hard to keep it short it wasn't hard at all to express how special she is to our family.

At New Beginnings we listened to some of the young women present the Young Women values and explain what each one meant. After the presentation of values they spotlighted Sariah and another little gal who was also going to be moving up soon. There was a musical number by the young women and a few of the leaders spoke and bore testimony.

The YW Theme for the year is "Arise and Shine Forth". The YW presidency set up a challenge for the girls and presented it to them in a booklet. Here is what one of them read...

"...we would like to challenge you to learn 7 scriptures related to this year's theme, the temple, or our Savior. While you are memorizing the scripture, we would like you to get out your walking shoes and walk! Cut off the scripture and take it with you while you walk. We challenge you to get out in the fresh air for 30 minutes at least 3 times a week. Use this time to think, ponder, and memorize these great scriptures! At the end of our 7 month challenge we are going to go to the Salt Lake Temple. But, we are not going to just go there...we are going to walk there. We will begin at the Jordan River Temple and we will be walking to the Salt Lake Temple."

What a challenge! The presidency invited the parents to also participate and make the walk to the Salt Lake Temple. The first thing I did was mapquest the distance between the two and it's more than 15 miles! It's a huge challenge and we're excited to work towards it together with Sariah. I can only imagine how momentous it will be for these young women when they meet this challenge face to face in September and more so when they complete it.

They presented each girl with an "Arise and Shine Forth" t-shirt at the end of the evening along with their booklets. Sariah is so excited about the program and especially for the challenge.

I realized after New Beginnings that my fears weren't necessarily of her moving up to the Young Women but just of...growing up. I worry about the peer pressures and temptations she'll face. Of the influences that others might have on her. The examples she'll set. The choices she'll make. The consequences she'll endure. The disappointments. The failures. Just the thought of these is enough to cause heartache and worry in any parent.

But...then I remembered the good things and how they outweigh the bad. There is much joy and happiness in the things that she'll experience. I find solace in knowing that our Savior is mindful of us and I know that we can help prepare her for the world and the opposition she'll face. And it all begins at home. We can instill in her the values and teachings that will help her make right choices so that when these moments arise, she will have the wisdom, strength and desire to stand tall and to choose the right...at all times and in all things, and in all places.

OCD

I realized today that I have a few OCD tendencies. If any of you follow my blog (if there's anyone left) you may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in quite sometime. :( It's not that I haven't written or that nothing terribly exciting has happened (maybe exciting...but not terribly) it's that I can't bring myself to post out of order! I know...crazy. If I don't finish a post, I won't post anything new after it until that post is done. And if I'm done writing it...I have to edit the photos to go with my post. If I don't have time to edit the photos and I have something new to write about...I'll start on that new post BUT I still won't post it (even it's finished) until the old one is done! Can you understand my insane methodical way of thinking? Here's a glimpse of what's been "in the works"...and even this is out of date. :(

That being said, I vow to make a change starting today. With all of the obsessive, compulsive and overly-organized thoughts I have of how my blog should be done...I will start anew. I'll eventually get back to my drafts but from here on out, I will begin new posts. :) Although...I can't promise that I won't repeat the cycle. Maybe I should take baby steps and just promise that I will begin posting again? Lol And I will try my hardest to finish one entry AND post it before I begin writing again. Here's to a new blogger!

Halloween 2011

Halloween Day had us up bright and early getting the girls dressed in their costumes and ready for their school's Halloween Parade and parties! Fred had to work Halloween night (again) and since he wouldn't be joining us for trick-or-treating that evening, he wanted to be there for the girls' parade. They were so eager to show off their costumes. We were just as eager to see them. Ü

The parade started at 9am and we got to the school 15 minutes early thinking it would leave us ample time to find a seat. Boy, were we wrong! The school doesn't have a large parking lot to begin with but I had no idea that we wouldn't find a parking spot for two blocks! We rushed to the gym and of course...it was crowded. We found some pretty awesome standing room right by the door and captured some shots of Mady's class waiting in the halls. The Kinderkids were last to march and they were so patient. Sariah's class went towards the middle of the parade.

Some of the costumes were so creative! Our favorites (aside from our girls) were the Chinese Take-Out Box and Pac Man. Pac Man was especially cute because his little brother dressed up as one of the little ghosts from the game. How stinkin' cute is that?! Sariah has already decided that she wants to make her own costume next year. She's been buzzing about ideas ever since!

After the parade, Fred headed to the gym while I stayed to volunteer in Mady's class. They sang songs, had story time and then broke into groups and visited different stations in the classroom. I led the Erase-A-Poem station which was pretty fun. The other stations included Halloween Bingo, a word matching game and a slime making station. I'm sure that was the kids' most favorite since it was the messiest! After class all of the kids received Halloween goody bags filled with candies (of course), crayons, erasers and glow sticks for trick-or-treating that night.

I didn't get a chance to volunteer in Sariah's class that day but she didn't hesitate to tell us all about their Halloween activities when we picked her up. Including how they decorated as many sugar cookies as they wanted. And eagerly consumed, I'm sure. Ü

We decided to stay local for trick-or-treating on Halloween night. We headed out just as the sun was setting. My nephew Tairiq joined us for the evening and he literally ran from house to house for the first hour. Mady was already calling it quits 30 minutes after we started so I gave her some words of encouragement to get her going again. Ü It was pretty funny getting cans of soda from two different houses. After walking several blocks and driving down a few others, we made our way back home. I checked over all the candy for the girls, tossed a few funky looking ones, separated the junky ones and let them gobble up a few pieces. Kudos to me for not completely indulging in all of the chocolate goodness they received. I wonder how long that will last?

Trunk-or-Treat Blues...Say No More.

I'm not sure why, but our ward primary hasn't done a Halloween activity since we started attending last year. Not cool. It really makes missing our ward back home in CA a lot harder . We've had a trunk-or-treat party every year for as long as we can remember. Loving on those good memories.

We were invited by some friends to attend the Heritage Samoan Ward's Primary Activity this week and we jumped at the chance! There were so many people who participated in their Trunk-or-Treat and some of the trunks were pretty amazing. We decorated our trunk as well with our good ole' dependable decorations we've sported for the last four years. Ü

The kids went trunk-or-treating until all the cars were out of candy. There were costumes and kids a-plenty and thankfully tons of candy to go round. After most of the cars went dry everyone made their way into the cultural hall for the costume parade. Not sure how the judges did their job that night because all of the chickadees looked great. They provided some yummy grub for the kids after the parade and some refreshments for the adults as well. A fun time indeed and I think we're warmed up and ready for Halloween Night!