In the car line

While the girls were getting out of the car today and I was telling them I love them and have a great day, I could hear Porter behind me trying to be louder than me. I stopped to listen to him say, "we'll play water hose when you get home!" As I pulled away he was silent for a minute and then said, "Momma, I miss my girls." I said I know, they are your buddies and he quickly corrected me and said they are not my buddies, they're my sissies.

Cardyn's Baptism

March 10th, 2012 was Cardyn's baptism day. She had been looking forward to this day all year and it was a great day for our family. The day before was her birthday and we went out to dinner with her at her favorite restaurant Thai Isan. She ordered the Namtook "hot" and I'll never forget her over there sweating as she took bite after bite. My dad had flown in from Utah and he had never eaten Thai food before, so it was a fun experience. The next morning Richard went to the church early to get the font filled. It was so fun to pull up to the church as all our friends and family were arriving to be part of Cardyn's special day. I'll never forget looking around the room that was packed with all our loved ones. When I saw Cardyn in her white jumper I just thought she looked so little to be making these big convenants. I love waiting for them just outside the font and seeing my husband use his Priesthood authority to bestow these wonderful blessings on our children and then getting to be the first one to wrap my arms around them. I was so proud of Savannah who gave the talk on Baptism. She took each letter of Baptism and talked about something each of those letters stood for to explain why we are baptized. She then bore her testimony and included telling her sister how much she means to her. My friend Le sitting at the piano told me later it was neat to see Cardyn's face as her sister did that. Such a touching moment. I am so grateful to my Savior for His teachings that bring us so much happiness in this life and teach us to be the best people we can be here on earth to enjoy this life.

Getting Ready

Cardyn's baptism is coming up in March and she is getting very excited! We have found two dresses that we love and she is polling everyone to see which one looks most like "her". This week her Primary class had their "Great to be 8". They had a cute program of popping white balloons to get questions that help them understand more about their baptism. The leaders made them the cutest personalized totes with a towel inside for their big day. The towel co-ordinates with the tote bag and has "ctr" on them.




Porter caching in on the goodies afterwards!

Saints on 3

Had a great day at the park today with buddies!. . . & Emerson :0

Christmas Pictures

Richard has always wanted me to send Christmas cards and I've only done it about 2 times in our whole married life. Last year (the second time) I decided that I was going to continue to do them every year and made a list and addresses of our friends and managed to keep it. When I mentioned to him last week that we needed to get a picture done so I could make cards again I was a little surprised at his un-enthusiastic response since he was the one who really wanted me to do this. Then came time to take the picture and I've realized that picture taking may be the one thing that would make him not care if a card was sent out at all. First of all, we really didn't have time to take it. Second, it was just luck that Stephen came to our house Saturday and would be there to take the picture. Thirdly, the kids had friends over and Richard had quite a list of things he wanted to get done. I ironed a few clothes in the morning and just said to myself if it happens it happens. When we were getting close to no daylight, I just started getting everyone dressed and told them, "just a few . . .I promise." I started with the kids first. Porter would not put down his bat or cars and when we finally got him to put them down, he would not sit with his sisters, nor look at the camera + he insisted on playing swords with sticks. When I was ready to just pack it up I got the girls to tell their dad to step away from something he was working on and put on new clothes for a quick family picture. We managed to get Stephen to snap a few on the porch - let me add that Porter would not sit next to the girls without being gross and wipe gross things on them. I snatched him up and we took two pictures and called it a day. I would never waste a photographer's time nor my money to get this done professionally. Richard hates this saying, but "It is what it is" - and I'm fine with that. I need to make a collage of all the stick hitting, car running, pouting children - these three were by and far the closest to ok that I got. We do love to get cards from our friends however, and have learned that you don't get as many unless you send one as well. It is sad that some years come and go and a Christmas card is the only communication we have with all the people we care about. With the passing of our good friend Kelly, our hearts have been reminded of how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and want them to know how much their friendship means to us. You'll just never get that perfectly posed beautiful picture from us . .and I guess if you're our friend you already know that.

Friday Night

Hanging out . .Savannah is at a sleepover. I'm not sure what movie was on. I think maybe an Indiana Jones. I was playing Dabble on my phone.

Fright Night

Minecraft cuties!


Father's
{I promise I did not plan these two pictures. so cute!}
Son's



Super Girls!



It was very impromptu, but FUN to trick-or-treat with the Cluff's, Jewkes', Hanks' & the Roner's