Goodbye

A few weeks ago, we said goodbye to a good friend. David and her daughter, Monica, have been buddies since toddlerhood. We've had countless outings together at the park, the beach, and at each other's homes for playdates and babysitting swaps. Goodbye, Marisol, we will miss you!

Rewind a few years, and this is the same three kids. Amazing how fast time goes...

Now with the siblings, we are quite a crowd!

New Developments

I am not one to post pictures of "things" but I thought I'd share the latest on our hobbys. Joseph has become quite the genealogy enthusiast. A few years ago, he began a project that would result in a photo collage of our ancestors. My sister, Katie, made us the beautiful genealogy tree to go in the center. We are quite excited about how it turned out. The pictures are fun because they spark stories and discussions with our children. It is amazing how much these people sacrificed for their descendants. I am sure that some of them never imagined their picture mounted on a great-great-great grandson/ daughter's wall.

My hobby of teaching dance still remains. I love it! I feel so blessed to get paid to do something that I love. This year has really been quite challenging (in a good way) for me, because the classes that I am teaching are very advanced and it is often a struggle to keep up with the demands of curriculum and choreography. It is quite satisfying to see my students (some of whom I've had for 6 years) really begin to take off. I finally got my first pair of "professional" grade tap shoes. So far, they are very uncomfortable. They do slide across the floor, which is pretty fun.

D-A-D spells playtime

To be 18 months

Ruth has really been fun to watch these past few weeks. She fully desires independence in getting dressed (this includes putting on shoes, of course), sitting up to the table, eating, and even washing her hands. My favorite thing about Ruth is that she loves to sing. I will often hear her in the backseat of the car singing away to the tunes that we play. It is all jibberish except for a handful of recognizable words. Her favorite songs so far are "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam" and "Follow the Prophet". Though the words don't come out quite right, she definitely knows every word. The other funny thing about Ruth is that she is a quite keen on being tidy. Only one toy may be in the bath at a time, the windows must be regularly 'cleaned' with bubble juice, and when mommy says to clean up, CLEAN UP!

"down" means up

"be" means blanky

"nana" means food

"Pie-Pie" means Pilot

It is interesting to see how different girls are from boys. She hates being tossed, swung, or tipped upside down. She has a huge fascination with anything that colors. She is good at managing things for the boys (ie finding lost shoes or toys). I sure love my little Ruth!

I am a child of God

For FHE last week, we traced the kids onto paper, and then let them fill in the rest. The results were quite cute. David drew his veins, heart, bones (with help from Joseph), and other details. James thoroughly gave himself cloths and hair. Ruthie had some help from mom and dad. They were quite proud of their pictures and enjoyed them for several days.

We love the beach

We have had the most enjoyable weather the past month, with the temperature in the mid 70s most days. The other day I loaded up the kids for an afternoon at the beach. The waves were unusually calm and the sky yielded a perfect blue. With the beach to ourselves, we were in paradise.

I don't know why I even bother with a beach chair because it usually always gets taken over by a sandy child (Ruth, for instance).

This little piggy tail...

How would we survive childhood without blankies?