Ivan, Christian and Meliah waiting for their swim events!

After the swim meet in Durham!  Christian's first meet and he did amazing!  This was

Meliah's 3rd meet but her first time doing the backstroke  (Second place is pretty great for her

first year of swimming).  Is this the same girl that cried everyday the first week? :)

Meliah and Grace looking pretty crazy in those goggles!  I must say that getting Meliah's

hair in the swim cap is a bear.

Cutie cousins posing for me!  Love them all so much?

My destiny group at girl's camp. Yes, we have fairy wings on our backs. We enjoyed each

other soooo much. We did a rap, Haka, a silly crocodile song and were probably the

craziest the destiny group has ever been. Love these eternal friends that I made. The girls

were pretty amazing too!

i am a mother of a teenager now!!!!!  nothing has changed really except for the fact that if he ever turns on me, which I can't imagine, he may just be a tad bit stronger than me.  i love my teenager so much!  i know this is what they all say but really wasn't it just yesterday that he was waking up and wanting to get in bed with us because he was scared.  feeling so grateful for a good relationship and a boy that really wants to choose the right!

 I hope to be updating more often. Thank you for your emails, comments and patience during my bit of silence this year.

 my quirky trio!  I love them to pieces!

 stud muffin

can i have some of that hair?? 

 this could be the sweetest girl ever!  momma knows!

 dog pile?  really??... okay!

I have kind of lived in a bubble the last year.  It seems it has all been sort of a daze. I have focused on so many of the things that are required of me instead of the things that I really enjoy or want to do.  Balance has always been a challenge for me.  I look around me and see so many mom's and women that seem to have it all figured out and I wonder how??  This is the first time in my life that I have control over a long period of time everyday because all of my kids are in school.  So why?  I constantly ask myself why am I not keeping up with it all, afterall I only have 3 children.  Somehow I have lost sight of what are the most important things and need to make priorities again.  I have learned recently that it doesn't matter if my kids go out of the house without looking perfect, that I can close doors to cupboards and bedrooms that are a disaster, and that I can pile things up for work saved another day.  Right now I am a mom!  The most important thing I can do is to make sure that my children are saying their prayers at night and that they understand that they can have a personal relationship with God.  I also want to make sure that they know how much we love them.  I want to have this record so they do know that. 

 It has been almost a year since I have updated my blog and I have been feeling the urge to get back on it for a couple weeks.  After some nudging from some family members and friends I will start again and try to do better than I have.  I have so many reasons to be thankful and need to remember some of the things in my life that make me feel so.  #1 is my family who  keeps me in line and loves me unconditionally. 

Summer Dance program

Meliah and Lizzy did the summer dance program and just loved it. The did it with their friend Page and made a lot of friends too. They loved their teacher Tabitha. We will definatly be doing it again!

Cousins! Cousins and more cousins!

We have had a lot of company lately and the kids have loved it. It is so neat to see the bond that the kids have with their cousins. We got some pictures with the Eller side but I wasn't able to get any while the Warrens were here (I sent my memory card to girls camp). If it were their choice their cousins would be over everyday! I'm so grateful for family!

Last Day of School

It weird to say I don't have a Kindergartener anymore. This was the last day of school. Next year will be a big change for everyone with all 3 kids in school all day... but probably mom will be doing the most adjustments. I am actually one of those moms that enjoy summer break and having the kids at home. :( I will shed a few tears, but I know I'll stay as busy as ever!

Christian's Birthday

We celebrated Christian's Birthday a little early because he was going to be at scout camp on his Birthday. He wanted to do a sleepover with some of his closest friends. Ivan (his cousin), Calvin, Mark and Chase. They had such a fun time together. Christian and his friends are all such great kids. They got along really well. I remember my sleepovers always being a nightmare when I was young.

We are so pleased with Christian and all his accomplishments. He continues to be an excellent student, a great pianist, and a great athlete. He is so calm and easy to be around. He is good to his sisters most of the time. He had his interview to receive the Priesthood and spoke with Bishop Sannar for about an hour. As they came out of the office, the Bishop said, "I wish we had more time to talk, he is a really cool kid." It was hard for me to imagine Christian talking a lot, but at least, if he wasn't talking, he was patient enough to listen to the Bishop for that long. Christian is taking the Priesthood calling very seriously and has had a lot of questions as to whether he is worthy enough to receive it. He looks forward to passing the Sacrament and he also looks forward to going to the Priesthood session of conference with his dad.

Christian at Scout Camp on his Birthday