Our fence got finished today, yea! It was really well built, but I hate that the yard doesn't feel as open anymore. But, now we won't have hogs ripping up our yard anymore. We are in the process of negotiating all of the details for a sports court, so hopefully that will get started at the beginning of August.

Cameron is loving FSY and has been calling to tell us about his new friends.  :) 

Errolyn doesn't enjoy her nanny job, but she's a hard worker and wants the money for college. She does Door Dash in the evening most nights too.

Logan had a blast at FSY! He said AFY was better and he had his biggest spiritual experience there, but FSY was more spiritual all week long. 

Emma has a late night at a friend's house tonight that she's excited about.

Allie sometimes feels left out that her older siblings all have friends to play with, but she does enjoy story time at her school each week.

Mike is loving his new job! And I love that he's home; I love talking to him when he has breaks. And he helps out a ton with dishes, yardwork, and general cleaning. Not many husbands are like that... I'm lucky I married a hard worker!

A little late on this news, but Cameron has been called to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brasil Rio de Janeiro South Mission. I'm so excited for him! When he opened his call it was a flood of anticipation and the Spirit. He knew he would be called where the Lord wanted him to be. We had a map up on the wall and everyone was guessing where they thought Cameron would go. Cameron put on a sticky note above the map, "Where the Lord Wants Me" or something along those lines. We've raised a good kid!

We've prepared Cameron his whole life for him to go on a mission, and now that he's going to leave soon, it's a little bitter sweet. I'm going to miss him terribly. And I'm kind of concerned about the crime in Rio. People keep telling me to have faith, but guess what? Sometimes good missionaries with faith still die on their missions. :/ But, I have to have faith that he is doing the Lord's will. Cameron is constantly trying to live the Gospel and I have no doubt he will be an excellent missionary. Like his Dad, once he learns something he doesn't forget it, so he knows a LOT about the church and its teachings. I'm so grateful he will have this opportunity.

Cameron was also accepted into BYU. After years and years of striving for this goal, I was really nervous for him. But, he made it! Yea! I'm so excited he'll have a chance to go to school with lots of people who share his beliefs. I love raising my kids out of Utah because it helps them become leaders and its easier to see the black and white of what is wrong. But, after an entire life of having to stick up for his beliefs and be the different one, I think it will be good to finally be around a lot of people who believe the same things and are their to support and lift him up in his beliefs. I'm excited!

Errolyn is doing so well in basketball that they've moved her from the Freshman team to the JV team for off-season. Yea! And she's also on a small club team and plays YW basketball so she's getting more experience at dribbling.

Errolyn and Cameron both received 1's on their solos for Solo & Ensemble. Cameron is debating if he should compete in State or work to save more money for his mission. He's $1600 short... but he's working any chance he can, so I think he'll be able to save it all before he leaves. Cameron isn't doing tennis this year, but instead has been participating in Quiz Bowl, Science UIL, Math UIL, and the Ultimate Frisbee Club. He's been having a blast his Senior year and has made some good friends that he plays games with at lunch.

Logan is doing well in his French Horn lessons. He enjoys playing sports, but realizes they will conflict with band a lot, so he's not really choosing "a" sport. Emma is good at soccer, but we see some natural abilities in basketball with her, so we're trying her out on that now. Allie is just happy and loves doing her chart and chores at home to be like the other kids.

I just returned from a trip to Utah to see Abigail's baptism. I really loved being able to see so many from my family! I loved hanging out with everyone and catching up. I had some travel mishaps with delayed flights and a rental car that was left in transportation mode, but other than that, I had a great time seeing everyone.

Mike is doing well. He was on TV yesterday being interviewed on the news, which was fun to see. I wish I wrote more. There's still a lot I need to improve on with my family, but there are some things I feel I'm doing really well in. We've decided to scratch our FHE lesson list for the next 3 months and instead we're focusing on social skills, conflict resolution, being teachable, etc. but from a gospel perspective. I've found some good routines with going to the gym in the morning, cleaning, and making my daily "to do" lists, and I feel like I'm getting a lot accomplished. We used to eat dinner as a family every single night, but the last few years (since having Allie), we haven't been great about it. I've made a renewed effort to make that a priority for the day by preparing dinner in the morning, since I'm always too busy in the evening to cook. And it's made all of the difference. I love talking with everyone around the table... it makes my momma heart proud.

I'm sure there's a ton more... but, that's it for now. Life is good!

I've been reflecting on much lately. First, my oldest son, Cameron has submitted his mission paperwork to the Bishop for his final interview, and then it will go on to the Stake. To see the wonderful young man that Cameron has become makes me proud and feel the spirit on so many levels. As a parent, you try to do the right things, to raise your children to be strong, responsible, capable, righteous human beings. But, ultimately, we all fall short. I am not a perfect mom and always worry that my weaknesses will negatively affect my children. But, my constant prayer is that Heavenly Father will make up the difference. And I look at Cameron, and I know that Heavenly Father has truly made up the difference. Cameron has such a strong, unwavering testimony of the gospel and he will be a great instrument in the Lord's hands as he serves his mission. Yes, at times I'm sad that he'll leave me... I love him so much! But, this is what we've raised him to do. And to see him start to fulfill his spiritual goals, is an irreplaceable feeling as a mother.

I've also thought a lot about Mike being Bishop over the last 2 1/2 years. When Mike was first called, many people offered their condolences, jokingly of course. And while his calling has been busy for our family, it is an experience I would not soon trade. The time Mike spends being Bishop, has actually made our family closer as we cherish the times more that we have together. I feel its good for the kids to see us serving and giving our all to building up the Lord's kingdom and in return, again, I have felt that the Lord has made up the difference in our family. I have felt like this with many callings Mike has held over the years. When he was first called to be Elder's Quorum President, many years ago, he was set apart with special blessings given for our family and I truly felt lifted up during that period of time. I feel that now. I am grateful for this opportunity that has stretched our family and helped us to grow. And I'm grateful for the man my husband is and who he is becoming. I know few husband's who work all day, spend time on their calling, and then come home and start doing dishes, or start cleaning the house, and then help kids with homework. He is a man of tireless service and spiritual insights and I'm grateful for him.

I've also been reflecting on some goals I personally set and that we set as a family, about 2 years ago. With few exceptions, we attend the temple every month. As a family, we've all started doing more family history work and Cameron, Errolyn, Mike & I, have all taken names to the temple this last year. We're reading the Book of Mormon more consistently as a family and discussing it more frequently. Our dinner time has turned into one of reflection, where we return and report what we're thankful for each day, how we've served someone that day, and how we in turn recognize and are thankful for a service we received that day. Our Ward is paired with the Spanish Branch, but a year ago it was a Spanish Group within our ward, and Mike and I both studied Spanish each evening so we could better communicate with the members. We haven't missed a Family Home Evening in over 11 years, but we've been trying to bring the Spirit in more and make sure the lessons and discussions are better and more thought out. We've been praying morning and evening as a family and encouraging our kids to really talk with the Lord as they pray. We've been eating healthier as a family and all joined a gym this last year to exercise more frequently. I've been reading my personal scriptures more consistently and have received many insights and promptings from reading them. As a family we made a goal to be kinder and softer spoken, and I've seen the difference its made. I remember when we set most of these goals, they all seemed so daunting. Some of these things we already did, but we wanted to do them better or more consistently. And its so nice after a couple of years to look back and see that we're doing it! To see the progress we've made as a family! We're not perfect by far, and still have a long road of progression, but I am grateful for the help Heavenly Father has given us through our journey so far.

Mike and I went to the temple a few days ago, and these things and many others have been flowing through my mind and I just feel grateful; so very grateful for the blessings the Lord has seen fit to bestow upon my family. I wish that every family could come to know of the Spirit that we feel. (Which uncoincidentally are some of the goals we're working on as a family for this coming year.)

The other kids are doing well. Errolyn reads her patriarchal blessing each Sunday and as I watch her blossom, I am more and more feeling the Spirit through her. She is a beautiful young women inside and out and I'm grateful she is choosing the good path. Logan is starting to come into his own. He's definitely knowledgeable about the scriptures and if he can use the endless energy he has for good as he grows older, he will be an unstoppable force for good. It's so fun to see him make good choices and desire to serve others and to receive the Priesthood later this year. Emma is still as sweet spirited as ever and will be baptized next month. She has 2 articles of faith left to memorize before she's baptized and she already has developed a strong testimony of being Christ-like and helping others. And Allie, is our little sweet heart. She's kind-hearted, helpful, and rarely anything but happy. I'm so grateful for my family!

I'm not a cryer. In fact, I used to schedule time on my calendar every two to three weeks to cry, because it helps me to relieve stress. But, I just don't feel the need to cry very often. I'll tear up when bearing my testimony or feeling the Spirit, or when there is a really touching part in a movie, but every day actions, good and bad, just don't make me cry.

But, after coming home yesterday from Emma's parent teacher conference, I bawled. Not because Emma is being bad in school; in fact it's quite the contrary.

I have spent the last three days at countless school things for Logan and Emma. I always go to their events, I eat lunch with them on occasion, but I spend a lot more time helping out my older two children. I'm there for my middle two, but I've always had the philosophy that I'll "really" focus on them once Cameron leaves the house and then Errolyn. But, when Cameron and Errolyn were in Elementary School, the same ages as Logan and Emma now, I volunteered a lot more to help out at school events, I tried more to talk to them because they were my first children, and I knew everything that was going on in their lives.

Well, over the last three days, I have gone on a GT field trip with Logan, I've been to two of his choir concerts where he sang so brilliantly and I was one proud mom, I've taken Emma with me on errands, I've gone to Emma's Field Day and still have Logan's to attend later today, and then went to two parent teacher conferences. On the field trip, I think I talked with Logan more than I have all month. I talk to him in snippets at home, but rarely a 3 or 4 hour long conversation. It was wonderful. At his parent teacher conference, which was student led, he talked to me for a full 20 minutes about everything he's been doing all year. Most of it was stuff I had no idea about and it was wonderful. I was so proud of him. But, I felt like I didn't even know my own child.

Then, yesterday, I went to Emma's student led conference and she talked for 20 minutes about everything she had accomplished, her likes, her goals, what she wanted to still achieve... and I realized that I was so very proud of her but that I barely knew her. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I've been so focused on making sure my older two, who are leaving soon, are ready for the world and ready for life. And I've been focused on being there for my 2 year old, Allie, who really needs me, and so my middle two have gone by the wayside.

At those student led conferences, I realized how wonderful Logan and Emma are. They are smart, responsible, creative children who are full of promise and spirit. And I feel like I've missed part of their growing up. My eyes were opened to how wonderful they are... and how much I really want to get to know them. I love Logan and Emma! I will make a bigger effort to talk to them and really get to know them... because I want to... because I love them... because they deserve to have a mother who is part of their life NOW, not just when I have time because the older kids are gone.

I have already made an effort to talk to them more and I can't believe how much they are really willing to open up to me when I put aside my busy life and just focus on them. I feel like we're finally having real conversations instead of snippets here and there.  I know this all probably sounds silly to some and I've tried to always be aware of my middle children so they don't get lost in the mix. I've enrolled them in sports, music, clubs, etc. and I attend everything I can. But, putting them in activities isn't enough. I want to know these wonderful little people that are part of my family. I want to be a part of their lives... because they're worth it... and because I love them!  I will do better! I love all of my children and want to know all of them and be a "real" part of all of their lives!

I bought Mike a trail camera for his birthday... this is our latest find out at our land...

Too many good things have happened... we had a fabulous trip to Missouri to see extended family, and to Nauvoo and other church history sites.  It was great!  Mike turned 40 and we had a fun and big birthday party for him.  We went to Rockport (the beach) this week and had a blast (Cameron got off work early for rain, so we decided to go last minute since he hardly had any vacation days this summer).  Cameron got us free tickets to Sea World and that was way fun.  Last night we hung out with the Updike's again and went to dinner, mini-golf, and then played some Dominion & Seaside.  So fun!  Cameron is a deep-water lifeguard at Sea World and making a lot of money and doing well.  Errolyn is going to a new school for 8th grade and she and I are both impressed with the new school and the students and teachers.  Allie is talking up a storm and smart as a whip.  Emma and Logan are just having fun and working hard.  Mike is an Executive Director at his company now and doing well. I'm the volunteer coordinator and document creator for Cameron's school orchestra.  And I'm in full swing working on this year's Messiah. We've had a great summer!  

I feel like life has been so crazy busy and stressful that I've lost myself a little.  There are so many things I would love to do each day, but I just don't have the time.  My "to do" list is so long that if I do the daily reoccurring things, I don't have time for my "to do" list and vice versa.  So, in the process, I feel like I'm not getting anything done and I'm failing.  But, I've learned not to get too down on myself because that leads into a downward spiral of guilt. I've learned to be happy with where I'm at and with what I'm getting accomplished even if in the back of my mind I feel otherwise.  I still try to do more and be a better person, mom, and wife, but it sometimes feels overwhelming at times and I wish I could do more.

So, I decided that I would devote one hour for the daily things I wanted to get done every day, leaving more time for me to start knocking things off of my lengthy "to do" list.  Yes, one hour is not long enough to do any of these things well or as long as I would like, but at least if I'm gone the rest of the day running errands I won't feel like I failed myself in some of these areas.  So, I picked six things that I wanted to get done every day and I set the timer for 10 minutes for each item.  Exercise: approximately 3 Zumba songs, Chore, Laundry, Organize: cabinets, drawers, closets, etc., Violin, and Piano.  I'll make more time to do exercise and especially cleaning on most days, but if I'm gone all day running errands, at the very minimum I've done these basics.

I love my 10 minute rotations!  Often times I come back to these things after the hour because I see more things I want to get done.  But, sometimes, I don't because I'm so crazy busy.  The exercise makes me happier and gets my blood flowing so I have the desire and energy to clean.  It's amazing how much you can clean in 10 minutes when you're moving fast and know you only have 10 minutes.  And the same thing goes for organizing.  My cabinets aren't terrible, but I can touch up several of them in just 10 minutes, or sort through a stack of papers, or clean under the couch.  I've always wanted to practice my violin more because I love playing and want to get better, but I just can't spend the time to practice for an hour each day.  It's been so nice to play each day, even if just for a little bit.  The last 10 minute rotation was going to be dinner prep.  But, because we currently have swim team in the evenings for 2 hours, we haven't been having formal dinners, but quick ones at different times.  We'll go back to better dinners in a couple of weeks when school is out and swim team moves to the mornings.  So, I had the impression to add in a piano rotation.  I used to love playing the piano, just to play and sing.  But, honestly, I haven't done it in ages!!  I play the piano to find pieces for my choir to sing, or for piano lessons, but it's been years since I played the piano just for pleasure.

I opened up a binder of music and began playing and singing "Look Inside Yourself."  After one verse, I was overcome with the Spirit and heard the thought, "This is who you are.  Remember who you are."  I broke down crying while I continued to play for the rest of the 10 minutes.  I am not a great pianist by any means, but I forgot how much I enjoy playing the piano and singing.  I forgot the calming peace I feel when I play.  I forgot how much I feel the Spirit when I'm singing good music.  I forgot how much playing for myself grounds me and fulfills my need for "me" time.  It was wonderful!  I will surely leave that 10 minute rotation in so I can fill my need for peace and "me" time.

Anyway, that experience probably will seem silly to most, but it was profound to me.  We are also trying to simplify our lives in activities and home organization and it's so freeing to get rid of junk or time wasting activities!

Well, Cameron turned 16!  He got his driver's license on his birthday.  He went on his first date this last weekend to Mormon Prom.  He paired up with three other couples which was fun.  The Prom dinner was at my house.  So, we hung up sheer curtains and lights in the archways to the front rooms to separate it from the house.  We put in a table leaf, got a nice table cloth and runner, I borrowed Heidi's china and one of the boys' gold silverware (or goldware), I ironed fancy napkins with name cards and small flowers tucked in the pockets, there were candles and flowers on the table, goblets for drinks, and I made a nice looking menu.  I know, I didn't simplify there.  :)  But, it was fun to put it all together and it's fun to use my creativity once in a while.  The other boys' parents were in charge of all of the cooking, and the food was great.  Errolyn and her two friends were the waitresses.  I daresay, that the table and food was way nicer than most restaurants. Heidi made two of the corsages and boutonnieres and they were beautiful.  Mike and I chaperoned the dance and then took people to their after prom activity.  Errolyn went to an anti-prom party for those not old enough to go to prom, and she had a lot of fun.

Logan auditioned for his school's talent show and was one of a few 3rd graders selected to participate.  He's singing "Wave Your Flag."  Errolyn competed against almost 100 teams from 12 different middle school's in a Gifted and Talented Mentathlon and her team took 1st.  Emma graduates from Kindergarten next week which is fun.  Allie is talking up a storm.  We taught her "Red Light, Green Light" yesterday and she loved it!  I wish I had videotaped her because she was so cute playing.  And I'm hosting a double 16th birthday party this weekend for Cameron and his friend Ben.

I'm sure a ton more has happened, but that's the short version.  :)

(The table looked way nicer in person...)

We normally do our Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday because we like to leave Sunday for the more spiritual parts of Easter, but we ran out of time yesterday.  The two funny parts of the Easter Egg Hunt were: Cameron's eggs being hidden really hard but yet Allie finding two of the eggs that Cameron couldn't find and Mike writing the egg papers this year, which will not happen again!  Haha!  I usually write the papers that go inside of the eggs, but asked Mike to do it this year.  His papers were: one back scratch from Mom, Mom will do your chore, etc.  :/  Haha... my way out is that Mike and I are one... so he has to do them too.  :)

I planned our Ward Camp-out this last weekend and it was awesome!  It was really difficult finding a camp-site for a ward this large!  I spent hours calling campgrounds for prices and driving around to different sites.  I finally found one, but the Bishop (Mike) didn't like it.  Then I found another two which fell through.  I started driving up and down the river asking campsites for discounts.  Finally, I prayed (again) but this time said that I had done everything I could do and now needed to turn it over to him completely or we would have to cancel the camp-out.  There was one more place I drove to that was expensive and completely booked up when I called the manager.  But, he called me back and said that one of his camp sites that had washed away in the flood 2 years previously could be cleaned up in time for us to use it.  And, he gave us a flat rate that was way cheaper than every other camp site I had looked at.  I was so grateful!  It was a beautiful site with grass, trees, right on the river, bathrooms, sinks, showers, etc.  We played volleyball, had s'mores, stayed up late hanging out with friends, the kids swam in the river, the Ward provided breakfast, and then the Primary had an Easter Egg hunt.

Last night, Errolyn and I went to the Conference broadcast and they really emphasized service and helping out the refugees and those in our community.  The talks were wonderful and I enjoyed cuddling with Errolyn since it was FREEZING in the chapel.  :)

I only have a few minutes left to write so... we went to Universal Studios and Disney World for Spring Break and it was awesome!  Harry Potter World was absolutely amazing!  And Emma loved meeting Anna, Elsa, and dancing with Belle.  Our condo we found on VRBO was super nice and cheap.  We also went to Utah for Christmas and had a wonderful time with family, sledding, and with the kids seeing real snow.  We also went on a month long road trip last Summer, with Mike joining us for the last two weeks.  My favorites were: Mount Rushmore, Garden of the Gods, Carlsbad Caverns, Yellowstone, Brian Head... but there were many cool places in between.

I do have to share one experience from Martin's Cove.  The kids and I were going on a 3 mile or so handcart trek.  Logan jumped on something and scraped his chest really badly so he had to ride in the handcart with Allie, then Emma said she was freezing and we realized she had a high fever, so she had to ride in the handcart.  I had to tell the kids we weren't trying to re-enact the actual Pioneer trek and to stop getting sick, ha.  Poor Cameron was doing the bulk of the pushing.  Anyway, I was talking to Cameron about how many of the men died on the pioneer treks because of how far they had to go, the freezing weather, and the lack of food.  He turned to me and said he would be fine; if he could hike Big Bend, then he could do a pioneer trek and be fine.  I told him it was harder than he thought and he said he wouldn't die but would have been fine.  I thought for a minute and turned to him and said, "No, you would have died.  Because I know your heart, and if Emma or Allie were starving for food, you would have given them yours.  And if they were freezing, you would have given them your shelter.  And you would have died... for them."  He thought about it for a minute, and a little teary eyed said, "You're right.  I would have died."  I love my son... he's such a caring person.

What else... Mike is Bishop now and that has been such a blessing for our family with the spiritual growth that comes from that.  The kids are all doing well in their sports and music.  Errolyn made the top all-region orchestra.  Allie is talking and walking now... she's so sweet all of the time and rarely cries.  There's been so much since I wrote last... but I need to rush off to our Stake's Musical Easter Fireside where Cameron and I are playing a cello and violin duet.  Tata!

Summer has been good but busy.  The kids just had their last swim meet before the championships.  Emma did so good this season!  At the first meet, she could only swim half the length without stopping and then she used the lane lines for help.  At the 2nd meet she swam the length by herself but it took her 4 minutes.  At the 3rd meet she did it in 2 1/2 minutes.  And then at this last meet she swam it in 1 1/2 minutes and swam backstroke in 1 1/2 minutes.  She's becoming a good little swimmer.  Cameron wasn't excited to do swim team this year, but we bribed him with paying for his drivers ed.  He's competing against all of the year round swimmers, at this age, but he still did well and it was good exercise for him.  Errolyn and Logan both did well too, coming in at the top of their races most of the time.

Allie is crawling and still a super happy baby.  The only sad part for me is, she is starting to self wean... and I am sad.  I love nursing my babies!  There is such a special bond while nursing that I can't even describe, but it makes me feel so emotionally connected to my babies.  Since this is my last baby, I've been extra sad that we are almost done nursing because I feel like I'm losing my baby and I will miss that special bonding time that we have together.  I know our family is complete, but one of my favorite parts of being a Mom is having a smiling, happy little baby.  I love just cuddling and playing with them.  I will miss having this phase of my life!

We are excited for our vacation this summer!  We're going to Carlsbad, White Sands, Pikes Peak, Mount Rushmore, Martin's Cove, Yellowstone, 3 family reunions, and Cameron & Errolyn will go to their BYU sports camps.  I'm excited to see my family!  :)  My friend Selena will stay in our house while we're gone since we'll be doing vacationing at the same time and she was planning on visiting here.

For Cameron's 15th birthday, my friend Maryann and I threw a joint surprise party for Cameron and her son, Ben.  I made a truth or dare game which was a lot of fun (the truths were "Would You Rather" questions and the dares were more like minute-to-win-it challenges, so nothing bad).  The boys were completely surprised, a lot of friends came, and it was fun!  The most fun part was probably the tornado warning that came through during the party.  Maryann made a duct tape pinata for the boys and right as Cameron hit the pinata a transformer blew, the electricity went out, the girls screamed, and everyone ran inside.  So, they played Mafia in the dark until the lights came back on.

Cameron and Errolyn made business cards and they've been getting a lot of jobs.  Errolyn has been babysitting for a ton of people and Cameron is teaching piano lessons.  They're both enjoying their new found sources of income.  Cameron plans on getting a job at Sea World next summer when he's 16 and because they work well with vacation schedules and they pay well.

During the summer, well always, our motto is "Work hard, play hard." So, the kids do swim team, their chores, their music practice, scripture study, reading, and a few other things in the morning and early afternoon, and then they can play with friends the rest of the day or go somewhere fun,  One of those "other things" is what I call "life lessons." I teach them a new skill each week.  Some skills are for everyone, but some are for just some of the kids (tying shoes, braiding hair, indexing, cooking, ironing, sewing, etc.).  I taught Cameron and Errolyn indexing this week (transcribing birth certificates, military records, death certificates, etc. for family history purposes) and they've been really enjoying it.  When they're bored or it's super hot, now they like to index.

Logan went to Cub Scout camp this last week (he was upset he didn't learn indexing while he was gone, but he's a little young for it).  He had fun doing archery, bb guns, swimming, crafts, and other classes.  Emma is our little artist.  She has been drawing horses and cats and other things that look way better than what I could do.

I've been busy planning the Messiah.  I've been called, for 1 year, to produce the Messiah (I will still conduct too).  But, I have some really, really good assistants and filled some new callings so the work load has been much more reasonable this time around.

I ordered Father's Day presents for our dads several weeks ago and then promptly forgot about Father's Day.  We got to church today and the Bishopric wished all of the fathers a Happy Father's Day... oops!  We normally do breakfast in bed for Mike, but we all forgot, even him.  So, we made him a special lunch.  But, Errolyn had the idea to make a fake lunch first.  We made him eggs, tomatoes, and chocolate milk since he doesn't like those foods.  The kids brought up the lunch, handmade card, and sang to him.  We could tell he was in shock about the lunch, but he figured out it was a joke.  Then we presented him with his real lunch.

We've been working on getting along better in our family and I showed the kids this talk about anger by Lynn G. Robbine in 1998: https://youtu.be/fGzDSurv1Zk.  It explains in a clear and concise way that getting angry is a choice.  We plan on watching it once month for a while and trying to drive home the concept.  Also, every dinner meal, we all share 2 things we are grateful for that day and one way we've been a peacemaker that day.  We've been doing the grateful thing for a while, but the peacemaker thing is a new addition.  Even though it's a small thing, it's fun that the kids are now looking for a way to be a peacemaker throughout the day so they have something to share at dinnertime.

Life is good!  I love my family!  :)

What a great evening of music! We had a Stake Easter Musical Fireside and each Ward contributed one or two pieces, all of the Primary children sang a piece, and then all of the choirs sang a joint piece together. Some of the music was so, so good! There had to have been at least 100 Primary kids singing He Sent His Son and it was fabulous and the Spirit was so strong. I conducted the last piece, Did You See Him in the Garden.  All of the Ward Choirs practiced on their own and we had never rehearsed all together... but it turned out great and was so powerful and the Spirit was so strong! There were so many other great musical numbers and choir numbers! Afterwards, we had a dessert potluck and there was a ton of good desserts. Cameron played in a cello duet for prelude and did a great job, Logan and Emma got to sing in the Primary number, Cameron and Errolyn sang in the combined choir piece, I conducted and ran the evening, and Mike ran the sound. And Allie was just  happy to be there. ;)

There have been a few hiccups with the land we're buying. We feel that everything will work out in the end, but buying the land will be one of those leap of faith decisions. I'll write more at the end of this process. We took the kids to hike the land on Saturday and they loved exploring and hiking around. I'm getting excited to own it soon!

Poor Emma is allergic to Oak pollen. Her eyes have been hugely swollen and she's been congested. The Zyrtec helps great, but if we give it to her even a little late, her eyes get so bad. Errolyn was excited that they got Sweepstakes at UIL.  Cameron's orchestra also made Sweepstakes. Logan is doing well in chess and has his first tournament in a couple of weeks. Emma started soccer for the first time and is so excited. Logan will be doing baseball this season, and Errolyn volleyball as usual, and Cameron's doing well in tennis at school. We've been slowly but surely getting the house organized. It always goes into disarray when I'm pregnant and then slowly gets back to where it should be after I have the baby. The kids have been super great at yard work and inside cleaning and I'm glad I have a hardworking family!

Life is good!

Woohoo!!  They accepted our offer!  3.5 acres!  w00t!  We were super worried because another offer came in.  So, we switched our offer to be all cash, instead of a loan (although we're still trying to rush through a loan so we don't have to use all of our cash), and a 30 day closing period.  They were "enticed" by the cash offer and took our deal.  And for those new to the conversation, we aren't building on the land until it's paid off... so it will be many years.  But, we will hike and play on the land in the meantime.  w00t!

So much for me writing more often.  :)  The Stake Conference in February went well and the music was good.  Now, I'm preparing for a Stake Easter Musical Fireside.  It's not too much work since all of the wards are providing the musical numbers, but it's a good variety of pieces so I'm excited.  We're having a dessert potluck afterwards to try to get more people out. 


Allie is 6 months now and tall for her age, of course.  She is gaining weight well and is eating baby food now.  Mike spent a long time installing a garage door opener in the Stake Center attic with a camera attached so it would retract out of the ceiling for Stake Conference.  Between that and his new webcasting equipment he had a nice set-up. 


Cameron, just came back from his High Adventure Scout trip.  They were supposed to hike for 30 miles, but they quit at 22 miles since one boy had severe blisters and others were complaining.  I was sad and wished they had finished since we don't want Cameron to learn that it's ok to give up when things get hard.  But, I wasn't there, so there may have been extenuating circumstances that I don't know about, who knows.  Errolyn had a blast at Girl's Camp and felt the Spirit a lot and made lots of friends.  She went with another Stake since she will be missing ours this Summer, and now she loves the girls in the other Stake.  I'm so glad she was able to go. 


Logan is in the chess club at school and loving it.  Emma is so excited that we got Sea World passes this year.  Her pass was free and I was waiting for a special to decide if we would get passes for the whole family or not since it's been many years since we've gone and it's quite expensive now.  They had a buy one get one free sale for a few days and so we took the whole family last night, bought our passes, stayed 30 minutes, and then left because it was closing.  Lol.  We knew it would be short, but the sale ended today and you could only buy tickets at the gate, so late last night was our only chance to cash in on the sale.


I'm sick right now... I think that's the only time I sit down and write.. when I'm sick.  It's just a bad cold, but I feel badly for Allie since it's her first bad cold too.  :(  The humidifier helps a lot though.


My parents and Janet's family came up earlier in the week and it was nice to visit with them.  I wasn't feeling good both days and so I wasn't very talkative.


We've been looking at land... we'll see what happens!  Other than that, I'm excited about our Summer vacation plans this year!  They are ambitious, but filled with lots of fun sights and experiences!

So, we all may write a little more on our blogs now that church is earlier in the day, but we'll see.  The Christmas season went well.  We went caroling to some friends and family, we went and saw Christmas lights, Errolyn had a Christmas Party with a ton of 6th graders, instead of acting out the Nativity this year we read and discussed it, we had lots of family in town, and we gave and received good presents.  Cheryl came into town with her family and it was fun to hang-out and play games with her.  We had the in-town family come to our house for a big Christmas gathering.  The kids also had a blast playing with their cousins.  Mom, Dad, and Janet came after Christmas and we got to spend time with them either at our house or at David and Heidi's house.  Games we played were Shanghai, Tossed Salad, Cash Flow, and Disruptis.

Allie is nursing great now and gaining weight well, although I may have said that last month too... it just took a little while to get her there.  Allie is a smiley, happy, laughing baby and the kids adore her.  Errolyn starts volleyball this week, and Logan and Emma start basketball.  Cameron's studying for mid-terms.  Emma's been sick and throwing up the last two days but is finally feeling better today.  Mike's been busy installing a garage door opener at the Stake Center.  :)  He is attaching a camera to it so it will retract into the ceiling when not in use.  It will be pretty cool.  I've been busy preparing for our upcoming Stake Conference, Music Training, and Music Workshops.

Now that Allie is sleeping through the night (10 hours now!) I've had to start helping Mike take Cameron to Seminary... not fun... so tiring!  But, Cameron loves seminary and has a great teacher.  We made our new family goals for the year and one of them is to do quarterly family service projects, but I want to try to do them monthly if possible.  So, we scheduled out the first four and the kids are excited.  I'm sure more has happened, but that's the short version.  :)

Logan was baptized on Nov. 29th.  Janet's family and my Mom and Kevin came up for it.  Also in attendance were David's family, Carol, George, Grandma A. and Jim.  There were friends and teachers from church and then my friend Estee showed up with her kids and I was glad to see her.  The baptism went well and Dad was able to watch via Skype.  Logan kept saying he just felt "good" which we told him was the Spirit.  I've seen Logan spiritually mature a lot this last year and he was ready to be baptized.  Afterwards, all of the family went to Olive Garden but it was crazy with so many kids.  Janet's family came over for a short time afterwards and then left.

Thanksgiving was also good and we had a fun time seeing family.  Dad had been in and out of the hospital with kidney stones so my Mom, Kevin, and Janet's family stayed behind and had their own Thanksgiving to be with him.  I would have done the same thing if I had lived there.  Luckily, the weather was nice on Thanksgiving day and the kids were able to play outside while the adults talked.  George taught Cameron and Errolyn how to play some Shanghai game and they loved it and played it most of the day.

We just had our "Messiah" concerts this last weekend.  The Friday night performance was just ok, and many other things seemed to go wrong for me that night, including Allie's feeding schedule and her not wanting to be held by strangers.  But, the Saturday night performance was wonderful!  The choir and orchestra sounded amazing!  I have to admit that the dress rehearsal and performances were a bit stressful for me because I had a young nursing baby I was worrying about.  When the soloist on "He Shall Feed His Flock" sang "Take His yoke upon you... and ye shall find rest" I felt that to be true!  I prayed that Heavenly Father would make up the difference and asked to take his yoke upon me and when I did I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.  I was crying through the end of the piece and was touched by many other choir pieces on and off throughout the rest of the concert.  "Worthy is the Lamb" is so powerful that you can't help feeling the Spirit during that piece as well as "Hallelujah." And I had fun conducting!  I generally just had a good time for the last performance and it was such a joy to conduct the Messiah for my 6th year in a row.  It was also fun to see Cameron playing the cello in the Messiah orchestra this year.  Errolyn and Cameron also played in the youth orchestra for prelude.  Logan and Errolyn sang in the Children's Choir and Cameron sang in the Youth Choir as well.  And then Mike did the sound, as usual.  It was the first time I felt that the "Messiah" was serving my family and helping them because of the unique opportunity it was affording them to use their talents and grow.  I also felt the prompting that because of the efforts they saw Mike and I making they were learning how to be future leaders and to be dedicated in service, which thought gave me comfort.

Every person in my family bore their testimonies today except Emma and Allie, of course.  Everyone had a different event in their life that made them feel the need to get up.  Logan, his baptism, Cameron his concussion and how he didn't realize how much of a difference seminary was making until he had to miss it for a week (oh yeah... Cameron had a concussion from playing soccer at church and had to miss school for a week... he's fine now), Errolyn bore a sweet testimony about watching me play violin for the Messiah prelude and watching me conduct and how she loved me and wanted to be just like me (I wish I'd recorded it... my jaw about dropped when she said that), and Mike about all of the blessings in our family's life recently, and me about some of the experiences I'd had with preparing for the Messiah. Many other people stood up and bore testimony about how they had felt the Spirit during the Messiah concert or how much they had enjoyed using their talents because of that.  Many people mentioned me by name, which was a little embarrassing, but I'm grateful that my efforts with the Messiah have touched so many lives. 

Allie has been nursing well!  It was a roller coaster of 2 months with pumping, cup feeding, frequent weigh-ins, etc. but she is now nursing well and gaining weight well.  Whew.  She's also been sleeping well and sometimes I'm able to get a 7-hour stretch of sleeping during the night.  Other than that, life is good.  I'm still getting ready for the Christmas season, but most of the busy work should be done this week.  :)

So, long story short... Allison Canella (Allie) was born on Sep. 7th.  I was watching a scary movie and right as King Kong was attacking I felt a giant pop.  I didn't know what it was but had to go to the bathroom instantly (I'm assuming my water broke but it wasn't obvious).  I sat back down and had the worst contraction ever and instantly knew I was in labor after that one single contraction.  I called Mike downstairs and two minutes later had another horrible contraction.  Yes, I went from nothing to instantly two minutes apart and painful contractions.  The hospital took way too long to give me the epidural but shortly after they gave it to me I had Allie.  She cried when she came out and then they laid her on my chest and she turned blue and stopped breathing.  They whisked her away, gave her Oxygen, cleaned out her lungs, and were rubbing her to warm her up.  30 seconds later she started breathing with the Oxygen and 2 minutes later she could breath on her own.  It was a SCARY two minutes!!  They thought something was wrong with her heartbeat, but after a few tests the doctor was luckily incorrect and Allie was fine.  Carol helped with the kids on Sunday while we were in the hospital which was nice. 

Allie is wonderful!  She is so cute and smiley!  The kids absolutely adore her and fight over who gets to look at her or hold her.  :)  We have been struggling with nursing though.  I got mastitis which led to thrush which led low milk supply.  She wasn't gaining weight and I've had to supplement a little in the evenings.  Now I'm pumping a lot to increase my milk supply and it's been a big pain. 

Life is a little crazy right now with little sleep, constant feedings, and the kids being in four different school, but we're surviving.  Things will calm down soon enough.  My parents came up for Allie's baby blessing which was nice and the kids performed "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" on the same Sunday. 

Tomorrow is Halloween and Allie looks so cute in her Super Girl costume.  Heidi has been super great and has been taking Emma on Wednesdays to a dance class with Halley and then over to her house so Emma can play with Halley.  It's been super nice.  Also, Halley and Emma are in the same class at school which is fun.

I'm sure there has been a lot more, but I need to go feed Allie again.  :) 

Sitting pretty at about 5cm and hardly any contractions.  The doctor honestly didn't expect me to make it to my appointment today because she thought I'd for sure have my baby this week.  She stripped my membranes today but said there was hardly anything to strip because my body is so ready have the baby and she doesn't know why I haven't yet.  That's just the way I roll I guess.  So, hopefully I'll have the baby within 24 hrs, but if not, I'll probably have to wait to be induced on Tuesday.

Logan had a homework question that asked him to explain how to solve a specific math problem.  He wrote, "Be smart."  Lol and rolling my eyes.  I made him change his answer but I thought it was pretty funny. 

The kids love dancing to Errolyn's "Just Dance 4" Wii game, but sometimes I felt the songs and dancing were a little too old for Logan and Emma.  So, I bought "Just Dance Disney" and they love it.  I think I'll try the "Just Dance Kids" ones next.  But, I love that they dance and get their energy out but also are having fun.  :)

The kids have been busy, busy with school stuff already.  Emma met her new Mother's Day Out teacher yesterday and found out that she and Halley will be in the same class.  Emma is so excited.

This is my last few days being pregnant... forever.  I'm SO relieved to almost be done with this pregnancy, but also a little sad and reminiscent of my past pregnancies and babies.  This baby will be the "last" of many things for us... last first steps, last first words, last everything baby wise.  But, we know and feel this last baby will complete our family so hopefully all of the lasts don't make me too sad but more grateful for the wonderful family I've been given the opportunity to raise. 

This will be short...

The kids love their teachers and classes!  School is going well.  Went to Carol's for George's birthday tonight.  As of Thursday I was dilated to 4cm and 75% effaced.  Contracted for 4 hours last night, getting worse and worse, and then the contractions stopped at 5:30am.  So hoping this baby comes soon!  Tired of this contraction/ waiting game.

So, my parents came out a couple of weeks ago and it was good to see them.  The kids all showed off on their instruments, played games, and hung-out with everyone.  Even though school hasn't started yet, Cameron and Errolyn have had their fair share of school events.  Cameron (and us) had tennis camp, orchestra camp, an orchestra parent meeting, a tennis parent meeting, and a prep day at school last week.  Errolyn had orchestra camp and a prep day.  Next week is much lighter, but there are still a lot of meet-the-teacher nights, meetings, and doctors visits for school.  I'm ready for school to start, but it will be very difficult having a brand new baby right in the first couple of weeks of school while I have kids at 4 different school.  We'll see how it goes... but I'm really worried about the timing of everything and hope my kids will still being able to do everything they need to do at school while I'm in the hospital or recovering.

I've been getting up a bit more now that I'm not on bed rest.  I'm still taking it easy, but there's just too much to do to get ready for the baby and school.  I'm dilated to 2 cm, which really is nothing, but the doctor is having me come in every week for a stress test on the baby.  At my last appointment she didn't say I looked good like she normally does, but instead told me I needed to come in later this week for an ultrasound so she can check a couple of things.  So, we'll see how that goes.

Carol has helped out quite a bit with taking Errolyn school shopping.  I finished Cameron's on Saturday with him, but had to ride the cart around Target.  I feel so embarrassed using the cart, but it was too much walking and I didn't want to spur on my pre-labor contractions again.  In one more week I'll be full term and then I don't care if I walk a lot because the baby can come at that point.  I've never had problems at the end of pregnancy like this.  I'm usually go-go-go at the end; nesting big time.  Even though I'm not that old, the doctor said having a baby at my age is remarkably harder on the body and she's not surprised that I've had complications that I didn't have with my other four kids.  Oh well.

We got a new YW Presidency today and two new YM leaders... and I'm excited for the new leaders for my kids!  Mike and I were just discussing last week how we hoped Errolyn would have good, spiritual, and fun YW leaders.  We wanted two specific ladies... and they were called today!  Errolyn doesn't go into YW for 5 more months, but I'm so excited that these two ladies will be her leaders.  And Cameron's new Teacher's Quorum leader is a cello player... there are only two teachers in the ward, Cameron and Ammon, and they both play the cello too... neat coincidence.  :)

How one decision leads to another.

Dryer breaks and is old, we’ve fixed it too many times- lets buy a new dryer, our washer isn’t great either, let’s buy a new matching washer and dryer, to fit the new machines we have to remove the giant metal shelf we use for food storage in the laundry room, where will we put the giant shelf- it’s so big, we remove the old washing machine and the faucet is slightly leaking, we replace the faucet but in the process water ends up gushing all over the laundry room floor and flooding it, in the process of rushing to turn off the hot water heater (because scalding hot water is gushing out onto my husband and burning him) paint cans get thrown aside because they are blocking the door to the water heater, we soak up all of the water in the laundry room, we realize in frantically moving the paint cans an entire gallon of white paint spilt all over the garage, we have to hurry and clean the garage and clean up the paint, we decide the giant metal shelf will fit in the garage, we have to clean the entire garage and move EVERYTHING around because the shelf is so tall, while organizing things in the garage an entire jug of coolant begins leaking all over everything, we end up cleaning and wiping down several tools and bikes in addition to the coolant... BUT, now we have a new washer and dryer, our laundry room is mopped and spotless from the flood, the garage is clean and excellently organized, and now we just have to buy a new smaller shelf for the laundry room for our food storage (which we will have to take out of boxes since it was on the floor when it flooded and the boxes are ruined)… and we are exhausted yet somehow satisfied with all of our accomplishments! Lol.

Ahhh!  Disaster!  So, Mike was cleaning out the laundry room and getting the washing machine ready to be replaced.  We have a faucet in there that doesn't shut completely off.  Mike's replaced it before no problem and was replacing it again.  He didn't need to turn off the water the first time so he didn't this time.  All of the sudden I hear a gushing sound.  I figured it was water but he didn't call for help.  Then after about 20 seconds Mike starts yelling, "Help, help, help."  I grabbed a shoe bucket on the way and dumped it out and threw it to him to catch the water that was already all over the floor.  He started yelling that it was the hot water... yikes!  I yelled to Logan and Errolyn to grab empty bins and trash cans in the garage while I threw paint cans, bins, and junk off of the shelf in front of the water heater door.  The lever to turn the water off was all the way at the top of the closet... luckily Cameron came down right as I was about to climb up the water heater (I surely would have toppled with how pregnant I am and how little ledge there was to climb) and he climbed to the top and I told him which lever to push.  The water turned off, whew!  But, now there is an inch of water all over our laundry room floor and poor Mike was burned with extremely hot water for several minutes.  :(  I'm glad this happened today instead of ON his birthday... but it still stinks.  Poor Mike.  This washing machine better be worth it!

Last Sunday we were invited over for dessert with a new family that moved into the subdivision.  The kids got along well and then we came back and had our last game night with the Beans.  We had a good time seeing them all.  They left on Monday and then we began packing for our Houston trip.

On Tuesday, we went to the beach.  We didn't have a hotel on the beach like we wanted, but our hotel had a shuttle that took us to the beach which was nice.  I bid on a hotel on Priceline and so we got a super nice hotel for a really reasonable price.  The kids had fun, although I had wished it were a little warmer.  The kids all had fun boogie boarding, even little Emma.  Then we went swimming and took a shuttle back to the hotel and ordered pizza.

On Tuesday, we went to Nasa and bought City Passes so we could go to many of the attractions in Houston for almost half the price..  I enjoyed the tour of Mission Control, and the kids loved playing with all of the science gadgets in the main area.  We stayed there for about 7 hours and then we went to the Kemah boardwalk and the kids went on some amusement rides.  Emma went on some really scary rides that even Errolyn wouldn't go on, and she had a blast.  I was amazed.  I started hemorrhaging a little from all of the walking which worried me since my baby has dropped early.  Then we went to Mom and Dads and talked a little and put the kids to bed.

On Wednesday, we went to the Children's Museum and it is by far the best Children's Museum of the many we've taken the kids to.  There was so much to do!  It was also way crowded which was not fun.  Cameron and Errolyn mostly stuck together, Mike chased around Logan, and I was lucky to be with Emma.  She didn't run from toy to toy to toy like the other kids, but found something she really liked and stayed there for an hour playing.  She stayed in the play kitchen/ waitress area for over an hour serving parents fake food, making food, and washing fake dishes.  She loved it and she was so cute serving all of the parents.  She also stayed in the ambulance car for a while driving and trying to save the dummy with the medical gadgets in the ambulance.  I was glad she stayed in places fairly long so I could sit down for longer periods of time.  The three older kids got filmed and were on the Houston news that night for a new balloon toy which was cool.

I was getting more concerned by my hemorrhaging and called my doctor.  She told me I needed to stop walking around and monitor myself to see if the bleeding got worse so I'd know if I needed to go to the hospital.  So, when we went to the Museum of Natural Science Mike got a wheel chair for me so I wouldn't have to walk.  The museum brought back old memories for me since I had been there so many times when I was a youth and young adult.  I think the dinosaur and gem exhibits are better in Houston than the other museums I've been to.  We went to Mom and Dad's and Kevin was there again.  We mostly talked and Mom read the kids a lot of books which they loved.

On Friday, we went to the Aquarium.  It was smaller than expected but I loved seeing the white tiger since its my favorite animal.  It walked and moved a lot and I could have watched it all day.  Then we fed and touched the sting rays.  The girls were too afraid to touch the sting rays, but I touched them and the boys all touched and fed them.  Then I decided I had probably already had too much walking and sat down the rest of the time while the kids went on the amusement rides outside for a while.  While I was waiting I saw a really cool large green eel that I'm sure people would mistake for the Lockness Monster if it were a little larger.  Then we went to Janet's and wished Lizzy a happy birthday.  We met Mom and Dad at Los Tres for dinner.  We watched a neat wedding video that Mom had made for Mike and I and then the kids went down to the lake to run around and get their energy out.  Mike and Cameron also went to play Ultimate with Kevin and his friends.

On Saturday, we packed up and headed to Janet's church for James' baptism.  I led the music, Mike prayed and assisted in the confirmation, and the kids all sang a special musical number.  Afterwards, I asked Mike and my Dad for a blessing since I was worried about the baby.  I felt comforted during the blessing.  Then we went over to Janet's for some great barbeque and talking.  We stayed several hours and then started the drive back home.

Now I'm in bed rest mode until my hemorrhaging stops completely.  But, I'm glad we had a fun family vacation and that the kids have some good memories.