Lovely Language

Today Norah surprised me with the phrase:

"I burped out of my butt!!"

*facepalm*

Faith in the future

Today at church we had fast and testimony meeting. I was really impressed by the testimony of one of our youth. She mentioned that for a recent school project, she and her classmates were assigned to do a "Me Board," where they share different aspects of themselves. One part of it was to include who they would like to emulate in the future. She said that many of her classmates spoke about wanting to be like celebrities or business moguls. But she didn't feel like she could do that. She wanted to put on her board that she wanted to be like Christ and Heavenly Father, but part of her was afraid of sharing her testimony.

But when it was her turn to present her board, she had a picture of the temple and Christ on it. She talked about how she wanted to emulate Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, because she had felt their unconditional love in her life. She felt the Spirit present, and was so glad that she followed its promptings.

After hearing that, it gave me renewed faith in the future. I'm amazed at the strength of our youth, and the courage they display in sharing their testimonies and standing for what is right. Sometimes I get bogged down in the doldrums of life, and get a bit pessimistic. But then I hear testimonies like these, and I know that if we keep the faith, hold to the rod, and endure to the end, everything will be alright.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Ava's first day of kindergarten. She was so excited that last night I thought she would hardly sleep at all. Here she is with her new shoes, new outfit, and pony backpack. Norah got new shoes too, so we took pictures of her. Norah was bummed that Ava would be eating lunch at kindergarten, so I took her out to McDonald's as a special treat.

Oh,and both Ava's and Norah's shoes light up when they walk.

Keira - 15 months

As of her 15 month appointment a week and a half ago, here are Keira's stats:

Weight: 20 lbs (10th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (30th percentile)

She still is a tiny baby, but to us she really chunked out the past month or so. She's now walking, and consequently getting into everything. Ava and Norah love playing with their Ponyville and Polly Pocket toys (which have very, very VERY tiny pieces), so I'm constantly telling them to play with them on the kitchen table, or else close the door to their room. So far Keira hasn't swallowed anything, and Ava and Norah are very pretty good about keeping those tiny things out of her reach.

Keira loves to dance, pull out all the DVD's from our TV unit, and snuggle with her various stuffed animals.

Beach

A few weeks ago we headed out to Santa Cruz. Ava has been dying all summer to go to the beach, but we've been having really mild weather (and when it's mild where we live, it's just cold at the beach). But we went anyway. Of course it was overcast and chilly, but we still had fun. Ava and Norah loved wading in the surf with Mason, and I chilled in the sand with Keira.

Keira and me



Just Keira



What is Ava pointing at?



The crazy mass of people going for an organized swim in the freezing ocean




Mason and the girls

Fourth of July

Next to Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Good food, friends, family, and fireworks! Plus, I love having the chance to be patriotic and feeling overall thankful for the country that I live in.

Some of our Fourth of July decorations

Our backyard table set up for our holiday bbq!


Ava waving the flag

Backyard Fun

Today we decided to try out our new sprinkler toy. It was a bit too cool at the beach, but it was warm at our house, so we played in the water. The girls had fun, and we had fun watching them. Now I want to get a Slip 'n Slide!