She found her feet...

and it's TRUE LOVE!!! She loves to suck on her fingers, her binky, and now her feet!

Zach and the Scorpions

Zach has LOVED playing soccer this year! He especially loves his team name...the Scorpions! next year he's hoping to be called the Cobras! I've been so proud of the effort he's made to learn and play and work as a team. He's also doing great in school with his Spanish. I never cease to be amazed at how much he knows already...here's a paper he wrote without any help at school (for all of you who speak Spanish...I'm not going to correct any grammatical mistakes) - last last sentence is just too much!!!

En octubre, nosotros estudiamos sobre las calabazas en el salon. Primero nosotros pensamos en cuantos semillas ay en la calabaza. Despues, nosotros cortamos lo de arriba. Entonses, nosotros miramos adentro. Luego, nosotros tocamos las semillas y eran suave y pagajoso. Al final, nosotros contamos las semillas. Es claro que yo aprendi sobre las calabazas en el ano dos mil ocho.

My KitchenAid

So...the first things we made today were breadsticks (we were learning about the letter W in preschool...so we talked about wheat saw how to grind it and made wheat bread dough) and butter. I've never made butter before and was amazed at how easy it way! I use butter all the time, so I might just be converted to making it!

An Ode to Noall

Over the past weeks, Noall and I had several conversations about what I wanted for my birthday. After giving it some thought I decided that what I wanted most of all was time: time with him, time with my kids, time to get organized, time to work on some projects (you catch my drift). So he took two days off work to grant me my birthday wish. We spent the first day moving around furniture to free up some space in my bedroom which facilitated me being able to organize my closet!!! All day long Noall would come to me and say, "OK, what's next? What can I do for you?". It was so wonderful!!! The next morning, a good friend came over to watch the kids while Noall took me out surfing...SO FUN!!! After a couple of hours I could finally get my feet under me on the board, but the waves were crashing so fast that I never actually stood up. However, I totally lost my fear of diving under the waves, only got smacked in the face once by the surfboard, only got drug along the bottom of the ocean floor a couple of times...so I considered it a pretty successful attempt! It was just so fun to hang out with Noall at the beach! We ran a couple of errands (to facilitate finishing projects and getting ready for his sister's wedding) and had lunch together (my sweet friend watched the kids until 5 PM). Then Noall made me a carrot cake (from scratch) and maple walnut ice cream (from scratch) which we shared with our neighbors. He even cleaned up afterwards!!! Then the kids gave me some presents and it was off to bed for them. The last even of the evening was Noall showing me a KitchenAid he bought me off craigslist...I have wanted one since we got married!!!!! Could I ask for a more perfect birthday or a more perfect husband?!?!?! I totally adore him and can't begin to express how grateful I am for him...I can't imagine life without him. There is a quote from a book I'm reading that describes him exactly, "The proof of love is not that your husband can read your mind but that you have clearly expressed a desire, he is willing to try to please you to the best of his abilities."
He's not just a great husband, he's a great daddy...I spoke in church last Sunday and he simultaneously swaddled the baby and got her to sleep, entertained Alex, and helped Camilla and Zach with their quiet activities. I'm pretty spoiled...I know!

Our Sweetie

This picture is too sweet not to post!!!

Jog-a-thon

Zach and Camilla were really looking forward to their jog-a-thon! They've been doing stretches and push-ups! It's actually a pretty big fundraiser for the school AND the kids love it!

Sucking her thumb...

She usually takes a binky, but we caught her sucking her thumb the other day!

The Church responds to Prop 8

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-responds-to-same-sex-marriage-votes#continued

Great article!

Our allies...

I think this message in response to the anti-Mormon facebook video (because of Prop 8)is very sweet. The world will continue to polarize and we are not alone!

http://www.christiannewswire.com:80/news/842518567.html

Our MONSTER pizza

I didn't realize that the pizza dough recipe I used tonight was actually for TWO pizzas! I knew it was a pretty thick crust...and that was before I put it in the oven. But I have to say that the combination of using my pizza stone...extra thick crust...and putting it on the lowest rack so the cheese just started to brown on the sides...it all made for a pretty yummy pizza! I love it when the kids ask for seconds and thirds for dinner (even if it is pizza...).

Alex is THREE years old!!!

All Alex wanted this year for his birthday were cupcakes and candy...isn't it nice when they're not picky!?!? So, since Noall had the day off work, he and Alex made ice cream w/m&ms and reeces peanut butter cups and I made the cupcakes. We threw in a few presents and we had a pretty happy boy! If you watch the video you have to watch him get ready to blow out the candles before he remembered that we have an "extended" version of the happy birthday song...it's pretty funny! It's also pretty cute to watch how intently he tried to figure out the words. The sad thing about being #3 is that your presents are never your own...everything is communal property. Luckily for me they are all pretty good at sharing, but I did have to scold Zach and Camilla for taking advantage of Alex's willingness to share everything w/them. It's especially funny to see what a kick they got out of his new underwear (in the pictures they are trying to identify each superhero).

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

Alex and his daddy perform for us...

Sweet Emma

Our little girl is starting to squeal and we all LOVE it!!! Here's a toned down version (she stopped when she saw the camera)...she's particularly loud during Sunday School!

Halloween

This year we had a vampire, ballerina, bumblebee, and flower. The bumblebee was not a fan of the camera on Halloween, but the first thing he said when he woke up the next morning was, "I want another one trick-or-treat!" That says a lot about Alex's sweet tooth!

Great Prop 8 Video...just a few hours left!

Modesto Bee on Prop 8

An interesting article showing a variety of viewpoints of supporters regarding Prop 8. Steve Sidwell is quoted who is a good friend of mine and of my family.

http://www.modbee.com/life/faithvalues/story/475121-p2.html