Lily Is a Preschool Grad!!

Goodbye Preschool!! Lily graduated this week and couldn't have been happier to drive away from preschool and never look back. She is SOOOO ready for kindergarten. However she is quite bitter that now that we live in UT the kindergarten class is only 1/2 day, not a full day like Mia had in TX. But we are already counting the days for summer to be over and school to start. Mia on the other hand is heading into her last week of school and can't wait for summer vacation and no more homework, projects, spelling tests, etc!!! I am looking forward to having both girls at the same school. :)

Lily and Mrs. Ashley (her academic teacher)

Lily and Mrs. Amy (one of her dance instructors)

So, Lily had 5 preschool teachers this year so I wasn't sure what to give them - I came up with this idea at the last minute. Thank goodness for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and their delicious caramel/chocolate apples!!

Happenings

I finally got to downloading some pictures tonight, and thought I would post just few to show what has been going on around here as we wind school down and get ready for summer. Lily has been busy with her dance lately - she was invited to be part of a dance dvd that will be coming out sometime soon. It is the same company that created "Signing Times." This show will be about weather and she is a cloud. It was a long, tiring day of filming, but Lily was a total trooper. She loved it from the moment they walked in the door, put on costumes and got to have their hair and make-up done. She smiled and danced like a beautiful cloud for hours. I was fascinated with the whole production process - the green screen, tons of video cameras and the work that goes into getting these little girls to cooperate and perform over and over. We are excited to see the finished product when it is done.

Lily's class also went to the zoo. It was Piper's first time to the Hogle Zoo, and she thought it was great. She is a complete animal lover so she was memorized at each stop by the animals. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the visit so much. And it made me realize that there are a few things about Utah I do like better than Texas: going to the zoo in May in Texas was miserable - you are covered in sweat, the animals aren't out and moving and the kids are complaining. It's good to have moments like these to remind me to be happy about the little things here. But I have to admit, my heart is still in Texas on most days. And we have had a few moments with Mia lately, too. She has had tears over the fact that she misses her friends, the swim team, her school and our pool in Texas. That is when I have to put on my happy face and help her see all the good things we have here in Utah (even though my heart is breaking and I feel exactly like she does).

We even made it to a Bees baseball game one night. We aren't much of a baseball family, but we love to eat at games!! After the hot dogs, fries, chicken strips, cotton candy and hot chocolate (it turned out to be cold that night) were done we did watch some of the actual game before heading home. :)

My husband has found a new hobby these days - training for triathlons (sprints). He did a few in Texas before we left, and last weekend he did one here in Bountiful. The girls and I were there at the transition point cheering him on!! After watching the whole event very intensely, Mia is now convinced she wants to try one, so she and Jason are going to train this summer and she is going to try to the novice race in the fall. Jason now has the added pressure of not letting his 8 yr old daughter beat his time in the next race. If you haven't met our Mia, she is quite a competitor!!

Up next - Lily is finally done with preschool and graduates tomorrow. And Mia is wrapping up 2nd grade, and ready for 3rd!!

10 Years - and still in love!!

Jason and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary over the weekend! We decided to go back to where it all started...we did a session at the Salt Lake temple (where we were married) and then we spent the night at the Hotel Monaco (where we had our reception). It was such a great time to spend together. We had a romantic dinner out on Friday, a beautiful run up Memory Grove canyon on Saturday morning, ate a delicious late breakfast and then we spent the afternoon shopping at the new City Center mall. We love those rare chances we get to not have kids and just enjoy doing the things we used to do before Mia, Lily and Piper joined us. It has been a wonderful and exciting 10 years of marriage to my best friend - and I am looking forward to many more.

The tulips were in bloom all over temple square.

More of Mia's Birthday!

Let the birthday partying continue...
Since Mia's birthday was over spring break, we got to celebrate with her class on Monday. More cupcakes!

I took a few days to rest from our busy, crazy birthday and baptism weekend and then we moved onto another party. This past weekend we had Mia's "friends" party. She has opted the last few years to not have a big bash, but just have a few friends go see a movie and have dinner. She invited 3 darling girls from her school class. This year the movie she chose was "Mirror Mirror." With plenty of popcorn in hand the girls sat and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. We came home and had pizza, cake and opened presents. We had requested that each girl bring their favorite doll, and Mia helped me set the table for her friends and their dolls! The night was not complete until they had several rounds of karaoke with singing and dancing. Even Lily and Piper got into the dancing! Poor Jason - he seemed very overwhelmed with all of the girly giggling and squealing - and we have so many more years of this to come!!










Mia had a ball! And I love to be with her friends and listen to their conversations...I can get all kinds of good info! I found out who they have crushes on and good stories about people in their school class. Her friends are so fun with LOTS of ENERGY!!

As a side note - our Piper is now fully addicted to Backyardigans. We watch it in the car, at home, on my phone - everywhere!! While the girls were busy playing downstairs I snapped this photo of Piper enjoying her show as she stands on the coffee table and dances to each song.

Mia's Baptism

After a day of fun birthday celebration we had a BAPTISM to get ready for! In our church we are baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the age of 8. So turning 8 is a special birthday! We have been excited and planning this day for a long time. Amazingly we all got ready early enough for some family photos with the grandparents. And my dad gave Mia a special compass to remind her of this day, and to help her remember that she now will have the gift of the Holy Ghost to help her choose the right each day. It was super sweet.









Mia's baptism was beautiful! She looked like a princess all dressed in white and smiling so bright. Jason performed the baptism and confirmation. What a sight to see - my wonderful husband and daughter dressed in white together for this special ordinance. It so so sweet having my parents, Jason's mom, my sister and her family, our sister-in-law Jessica and little Owen, our kind Home Teacher and his wife and even Mia's 2nd grade teacher all there to see her be baptized. Mia has grown up so much over this past year. She is turning into a strong, determined and kind-hearted and sensitive girl. She loves being the big sister and helps me so much around the house. I get to be her Primary teacher at church, so I have witnessed how much her knowledge of the Gospel has grown over the past year, and she is an example to me when she always remembers her prayers and to read her scriptures.




Two of Mia's cute little friends were being baptized at the same time so it was extra special for Mia to have this memory made with them. They were little angels in white. I am so grateful for the fantastic friends Mia has made since our move back to Utah. They come from amazing families and will be such good influences for Mia as they get older.



After the baptism we had a family dinner back at our house. Mia's favorite meal - flank steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus, rolls and white cupcakes for the kids and my mom's incredible coconut cake and strawberry pie for the adults. :)




This was a day so full of tender feelings and memories! I am so proud of Mia and the person she is becoming - and seeing her go under the water as she was baptized is a moment I will never forget. I still remember my own baptism, and seeing your daughter do the same is simply incredible! And to have all of this take place on Easter weekend made it all the more special. I know our Savior lived and has showed us the path we should follow so we can return home again one day to our Father in heaven. And then He died and was resurrected for each one of us. On this Easter / baptism weekend I was constantly reminded of the love our Savior has for each of us, and how important He is in each of our lives.

Easter Egg Hunt

We had such a busy weekend with Mia's birthday and baptism, but I couldn't let the fact that is was Easter go by- especially for Lily and Piper - so we colored eggs during Mia's party on Friday and then we had our traditional Easter family egg hunt on Saturday morning. This year was a first for the kids - finding eggs in the snow!! Hayden came and joined us and they had fun battling it out to see who got the most eggs. This was the first of many egg hunts for Piper, who fully enjoyed finding and opening all the eggs. She was so cute looking behind the plants for eggs and then happily dropping them into her bucket.

It's Great to Be Eight!

So, my first-born, adorable, lovable daughter MIA is now 8. How can that be?





Our spring break ended with a weekend of celebrating, playing, eating and focusing on Mia and this special time in her life. Friday, the actual birthday, was a day of games! We had a family lunch with my parents, my sister and her family - subs for lunch, opened presents, had cake (meemaw's awesome chocolate cake!) and played games. Her favorite gifts - an American girl doll (finally - thanks, to meemaw and pop-pop), her own set of scriptures and Wii games. After presents were done the kids took off to play her new Wii games. Then we took a break a colored Easter eggs.






To end the day Jason and I took Mia and Hayden to the Jazz game! I don't think I have ever enjoyed a Jazz game as much as I did that night with those two beside me. They loved every minute, which made me love the whole game, too. We bought those obnoxious foam fingers for them and Mia needed a Jazz shirt. From the time we sat in our seats their goal was to make it onto the jumbotron, and it only took until halftime. :) I glanced up and there was Mia and Hayden on the big screen dancing away. Awesome!! They tracked down the Jazz bear and got a hug and he even picked Mia up and put her on his shoulders. We ate nachos and kettle corn and cheered the Jazz to a victory. What a great night. I love watching Mia and her cousin be such great friends. They are very different, but they love being together.




What a great, FUN birthday for our new 8 yr old!! It was so nice to enjoy a day all about her with our family. There are perks to being back in Utah - we get to be with family for all our birthdays now. :)