Emily's Day

The other day I took Emily out to lunch during her lunch hour at school. We went to Paradise Bakery, one of her favorite places. She had the macaroni, fruit and of course the chocolate chip cookie. We had a great time together, and it was nice to have one on one time with her.
After our lunch we got cookies for her whole class so they wouldn't be to upset that she had such a great lunch and they had to eat the school food.
On November 6th the Third grade classes at Weinberg Elementary did a tribute performance to all the military branches of our great country. Emily's class represented the Navy! They sang "Anchors Away" All the classes did great, but of course I think Emily's was best! They were all really proud to do this, and all the veterans that were their were really touched, some even had a tear or two.
I had to take a picture of Brennick the other day because he looked so darn cute! He had his leather jacket on, and was so handsome. He is such a good boy. He is always happy, ready to play some basketball or whatever, he just loves to play with his sisters and he makes friends where ever he goes. Pretty soon he will be 5yrs. old and starting kindergarden in July! I can't believe how fast the years go by.

The Little Things in Life

I am sitting here in my office going through my photographs. I love to do this because I get to remember the feelings of all the places we have been and things we have done together. I also love to edit my pictures it brings me a great deal of satisfaction to make things more beautiful. I love this photo because it reminds me of some very important things. When I look at it I first see a very delicate and beautiful part of the tree. The colors are gorgeous and vibrant! The soft vevlety red and the smooth shinny green, it all comes together to make something very simple but extraordinary at the same time. I think that is very much how we are. We are made up of mostly the same things. We all have bodies that have the same parts with some differences. While one may have long flowing hair another may have beautiful green eyes, some may be short while others long and lanky. We all have talents both obvious and hidden. There are many wonderful gifts we have all been given to enrich our lives while we are here. Most of the time to those around us we look very ordinary like the leaves on the tree look ordinary to the other ones just like them. But, if you look closely enough you will see the majesty in each individual. For like this little collection of life it was designed for a purpose, perhaps more than one. To bring joy? Beauty? To further the life of the tree? Much like the leaves we are meant to bring joy to others as well as ourselves, to share our beauty and rejoice in the individual divinity we all have. We have the ability to look closely and see the talents we have both inside and out. We are blessed with a divine heritage that is forever ours. Like the little leaves we probably don't even know the extent of our reach to others. We affect others every day. We shape and mold our children, we may brighten a strangers day with a "Hello" and a smile. We always have the choice to lift others or hide away. I challenge you to look closely, to see the hidden talents in yourself and others. To see the divinty you have in side and to realize your beauty. You were given this life for a reason, you chose to come to earth and take the challenge. That challenge is not one dimensional, not for only one thing, not to meerly make it through,but for many important things. See what you can do today to "look closely and see". You might be suprised as to what you find!

Dallas Trip

For Kims birthday back in July I gave him tickets to the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philladelphia Eagles game on September 15th. This would be the last Monday night game held in Texas Stadium! It has been a dream of Kim's since he was a little boy to go to a Cowboys game at Texas Stadium, so I couldn't let this pass by. The game was awesome and the Cowboys WON!! It was a tough game, full of excitement. Kim had a great time, and I was voted best wife by all the guys around us!! So anyway we had a great time, and were able to relax a little, and hang out with eachother.



These pictures are all before the game even started! There were tons of people there hours before. We got to watch them warm up and practice their patterns. It was a lot of fun because we were so close we could see every detail, not just blobs on a field.

This next picture is of TO. Even with him a bit away you can see how fit he is!! HOLY COW!! He was pretty amazing! All of the players for the most part were in incredible shape, it was pretty impressive.
So this old stadium is in it's last days and that is kind of sad given the history there, but, I must say the new stadium in Arlington is AMAZING! I have never seen one like it. It is absolutley huge! So hopefully we will be able to go there and experience it. Over all we had a great time, and yes I did talk to my husband even with all the reading of the TWILIGHT series I did. I read two books, apprx. 1400 pages over the weekend. I just stayed up really late mostly. So any way that is whats going on with us, let us know how you are doing!

San Diego Fun!!

Last weekend we took the family to San Deigo, CA for my cousin Kimberly Badgers wedding. Her wedding was beautiful and we are so happy for her and her husband David "Bud". The day before the wedding we took the kids to Mission Beach and had a BLAST!! We met some family there and spent all day, really all day, 9:30am-6:30pm. It was so fun and I was the only one that got sunburned at all, and it wasn't even that bad. If I could figure out how to put more than 4 pictures at a time on each post I would, so I will just publish more after this so you can see more of our fun!! The weather was awesome! 80 was the high temp., so coming back to 110 degrees was a harsh reality that we did not look forward to. But we do love Gilbert!! Anyway the trip was a very much needed break from all the stresses of business in this economy, it really helped push the reset button. We are so greatful for wonderful family and healthy kids. Have a GREAT day and if your in the area stop by and say hello!!

"Suprise!"

Kim and I had a wonderful suprise, our kids threw us an anniversary party! July 21st was our 13th anniversary, and I have to say it was probably the worst day ever. It was so bad that I cried! So our darling daughter Katelynn decided to call Grandma Gifford and have her help give us a party. So onFriday the 25th Katelynn made us go out on a date but "...we had to be home by 9!" I thought that was kind of supicious but hey I get to go out, so we go to diner and a movie and come home and lo and behold there is a "Happy Anniversary" banner in the hall, streamers in the doorway and balloons, a present and our cake topper from 13 years ago sitting on top of a mint ice cream cake! They had out the china and the crystal glasses with sparkling cider too! I couldn't have had a better time, or a better anniversary. Kim and I both said it was the best ever! We are sure blessed to have such loving and thoughtful children, and great parents.

Emily's Baptism

I thought I would share these beautiful pictures that I took of Emily in her baptism dress. She had such a wonderful day with lots of family and friends. After her baptism which was wonderful, we had a birthday celebration at the house. She is such a special girl, and we just love her so much! We are so proud of her decision to be baptized. We took these photos at Freestone Park in Gilbert, AZ. It was really hot but she was a reall trooper, and smiled like an angel. The kids go back to school on July 28th, which is only 1 1/2 weeks away. What will I do with all the quiet? I might get some things done around here. We should find out who their teachers are soon, and we will meet them on Friday the 25th. So the girls are really anxious about that. Of course they don't want to have the "mean" teachers, but they will be fine with whom ever they get. Well that's it for now. Let us know how you are doing. Talk soon!!

OK,OK,OK!

OK! Here is our update. Thanks to my lovely Aunt Terry I am updating things. Lets see, the kids are out of school, so I hear a lot of "Mom,...I'm bored!" and I say, "Great, there are some weeds to chop....go to it!" So I think they have learned to limit the "I'm Bored" statement. So...I am so excited for Kimberly and Buds wedding! How wonderful for them! And it gives me and the family a little get away, so that should be really fun. Yesterday I took the kids to the park and photographed them, oh...the pictures turned out so good!! I decided to do that because I needed a picture for Emily's baptism invitation. She will be baptized on June 21st. She is so excited to be 8, because she gets her ears pierced tomorrow (June 14th) before her dance recital, and then her birthday is on Sunday (Fathers day) and then she gets a sleep over on the 18th and then her baptism is on Saturday the 21st!!! Whew! It will be a busy week, but a fun one. So, other then everything is good with the kids and we are holding on tight with this crazy ride in the building/housing industry, we are great. Well lots of love and we will post soon!

Spring...

Well I must say two weeks of spring break is more than enough! Don't get me wrong we had lots of fun and sun, but it was good to have them go back to school on Tuesday. We are loving our new house and the space that we have to let the kids run wild and not have to worry whose yard they are in because with 2 1/2 acres they really don't leave the "yard"! Katelynn just made the honor roll at school. She got all A's, 1 B+, and 1 B. She does great in school and her goal is to make the Principals list for the last quarter, and that would mean getting all A's. We know she can do it! Emily is doing great also. She got great marks on her report card and she was given 3 awards at school! One for reading, one for outstanding attitude and participation in music, and one for science. She is very well liked by her class mates and is always helpful. Brennick, he has tons of friends, love to share his toys and is full of energy. I can't believe that he is almost 4! time really does fly. Kim and I are doing good. Kim is the Scout Chairman for the ward, and I teach the Valiant 9 class, and I am the camp director for Young Womens. So we keep pretty busy. We hope all is well with everyone and we will write soon!