Fall Break to California

When Christy called me and asked if I wanted to come down to California for our Fall break because it just happened to be the same week her and Brett had booked a trip to Spain, I of course said yes.  She was leaving her 4 girls home and they thought they were old enough to just stay by themselves, which really they were.  But she was hoping someone could just be there just in case and mostly to help Emmy.  It was the perfect plan.

We left Tuesday after school and drove to Las Vegas.  We got in late and left early except we had to stop by Techna glass to get a huge rock chip repaired we had gotten on the way down.  It was right by the airport so we were very entertained watching planes land.


We got to Christy's and the weather was of course perfect, warm and sunny.  So we heated up the hot tub and the kids went swimming and decided to catch lizards.  They of course had to jump into the freezing cold water of the pool but they didn't care.


The next day we went to Sea World.  Emmy got to hang out with us and miss school and it was so fun having her along with us.  My kids have never been there and we had a great time.  They have so many more rides there then when I was there last (probably 25 years ago)  The bummer was a dolphin had given birth the night before so the dolphin show got cancelled.  But we saw the sea lion show (and the sea lions weren't performing very well.) but the Orca show was amazing.  The kids insisted on sitting in the splash zone having no idea what that meant.  When one of the orca's came by pushing waves of water on us, they were screaming.  We had a few tears from Siena but after that they thought it was fun and cool that we got so wet.  Such a fun day and not crowded at all.




The next day we went to the beach.  Emmy got to skip school that day too...yay!  It was fun to relax and let the kids just play.  We had this aggressive bird eat Aria's sandwich right from her hand and then kept pacing in front of our stuff and as soon as I would turn my head it would try to charge in and grab something.  It was seriously the most aggressive bird I've ever encountered at the beach but was pretty enteraining.


Saturday we went up to Newport after we dropped Emmy off at her gymnastics practice and had fun walking around Balboa, eating ice cream at the pier, riding the ferry, etc.  Then we went and found a few tide pools even if it wasn't the right time of day for the tide.


Sunday we went to church and got to listen to Emmy give her part and sing in the primary program.  We went and walked along the beach for a while after church and then my friend Konstantina came down to eat dinner with us.

Monday we had to drive home all day...boo!  We made a long stop in St. George for lunch and to play at the park.  It was such a fun trip and the Brian's are always so nice to let us stay with them.  They were so polite the whole time even if the older ones didn't think they needed us, we were happy we got to come.

Siena and Aria get baptized

I can't believe this day actually happened.  I remember the day they were blessed thinking that their baptism day was so far away and here it is.


They were so excited to be baptized and it was so special to be able to help them learn and prepare for this special day.  We had monthly FHE lessons getting ready for it all year.



A few weeks before their baptism President Nelson announced that baptismal witnesses could be any baptized member of the church.  Before it had to be a priesthood holder.  So the girls asked cousin Abbey and myself to be a witness.  It was fun to be a special part of their day.


They asked Jennifer to give a talk on the Holy Ghost and Grandma to give a talk on baptism.  Both did such a good job.  I couldn't help but think how amazing it was that my mom was there and giving a talk on this day.  When she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer the week they were born and they gave her 1-2 years to live, I never thought my girls would be old enough to remember her and know her and yet here she was speaking at their baptism 8 years later.  A true miracle and blessing that I was witnessing that day.


The girls decided for the musical number to play 'I Am a Child of God' duet on the piano and violin.  They practiced so hard to be able to get that song down.  Not an easy thing to do by themselves, let alone get the timing down.  Even up until the week of their baptism I wasn't sure if they would be able to pull it off.  But they did it perfectly.  It was so cute to watch them.  The biggest mistake of the day was that I thought I was filming it but for whatever reason didn't hit the button and missed the whole thing.  Luckily Shane got a video of them practicing it before we left and they were even in their dresses.


The actual baptism and confirmations were great.  Siena got baptized first and was great.  Aria then was baptized and her little toe popped up right at the end.  I think she was all the way under before her toe popped up but the bishop wasn't sure so they had her baptized again.  They had both told me before that they did not want to have to be baptized twice but afterwards Aria told me that she was glad she got to be baptized twice because it was so fun.  Then Aria got confirmed first and Siena was 2nd.  Both got beautiful blessings from their Dad.



Afterwards we went to my parents house for lunch and had a great time celebrating them.  Aria told me several times 'Mom I felt the spirit all day'.  Siena has been a little more quiet about it but she did tell me she felt the spirit as well.  I know I felt the spirit all day and mostly I just felt love.  Love for my family, love for Heavenly Father, love for their decision and I felt Heavenly Father's love right back.  I just felt like the day radiated with love and will always be a day I remember.

September 2019

All 3 kids played soccer again this fall.  The girls changed to a new league and played with some good friends.  They had a great season and improved a lot with playing positions and having a bigger field.  Jaron played with his same team and is loving a larger field as well.


Grandpa came for Grandparents day this year.  We missed grandma who couldn't make it but had a fun time reading to grandpa and showing off all their good work.


Wrestle time with Dad or didi as they still call him.


I got to go on the 1st grade fields trip to Red Butte Gardens and Natural History museum.  Red Butte gardens was so pretty I don't think I've ever walked around there and they had such great guides that walked us around and kept the kids attention the entire time.


Our driveway got re-poured.  It had been shifting and sinking a bit and so it had a big crack in it and a big lip sticking up on one of the slabs.  It's nice to have a smooth driveway again but we weren't able to drive on it for 6 weeks!


Shane and I got to go see Peter Breinholt for my birthday, which is always fun and I hadn't seen Peter in concert in a few years.  We also went to a new cookie dough shop to celebrate with the kids since the rest of the day was spent at soccer games.



We had a Come Follow Me lesson on putting on the Armor of God, they did a good job putting it on and learning what each piece represented.

And we got a jump start on making and trying on Halloween costumes for Gilbert.

Aria and Siena turn 8!

Here it is, 8 years old!  Siena and Aria have turned into such cute young girls this year.  They have changed a lot and it's so fun to see them grow up with each other.  They have started shining in their own individual ways and yet are still the very best of friends.


Siena loves to cook, do crafts, and loves to learn things on the computer.  She will often be found making slides on my laptop to show the family, do a lesson or look up pictures of cute animals.  Her favorite animal is a bunny.  Siena is funny and cute and kind.  If I need someone to go get something or do something for me, I always ask her because most of the time she will happily say sure mom and go do it.  She loves to make or do little things for her brother and sister.


Aria loves animals.  Especially horses and unicorns.  All summer we checked out books on animals but the ones she read over and over were about horses.  And not just fiction books, she loves to learn all about the different types of horses and how to care for them.  She begs us weekly if we can buy her a horse and oh how I wish we lived somewhere that could accommodate a horse for her.  Aria has turned into quite the reader and will read and read and read until I tell her she has to put her book down and go do something else.


Together they love to play with each other and fight just like sisters usually do as well.  For their birthday they asked for and received little 'best sister' heard necklaces that they each wear a piece of.  I hope they always realize that their sister really is their other half and to never forget that.  They still talk each night after I put them to bed and often I can hear them giggling over who knows what.  They have their best friend Sorena who they love to play with but also have some other good friends from church and school.  They are not lacking in friends.


For their birthday they each had to make a little slide show about themselves for their class and then I went and met them and ate lunch with them in the cafeteria which was fun since I had never done that before.  I brought them a swig cookie and got to go play with them at recess.


They also had a friend party at the clubhouse where we just did pizza and movie and they watched Secret Life of Pets 2 since it was an animal themed birthday party.


Such a fun day celebrating these 2 and I can't believe they will be getting baptized in a few weeks.  They are so excited for that!