Firsts

Here are a few of Elle's "firsts" this year:

First day of school.  First time in middle school

And this was just a cute outfit

You may have noticed this other first. 

 First short haircut!

First time picking wild blackberries in our own neighborhood!

(It took us about 2 1/2 hrs and multiple scratches to get those)

And first time playing a cello!

Happy Easter

Check it out: mormon.org/easter

Now check out Chris' new suit (that's right! SUIT) and his new Easter tie. . .
And our coordinating Easter outfits from Target. (oh, and Elle and my matching sandals)
Yesterday we went on a walk and found "the bridge" that all the photographers around here use for pictures.  I think half the ward has family pictures of the bridge in their living rooms!
I was trying to decide if we should open our Easter outfits yesterday just so we could go pose, but I waited until today.  As a consequence, we just get the backyard.

and Elle's awesome Easter basket weave hair style.

Winter Vacation

Elle and I spent three days making this little movie.
We wanted to be foley artists and do the sound ourselves.
We deleted the original sound and put in our own.
I think we did a pretty good job for our first time!

Sunday Dress and Hair and talk and stuff

 

I tried to do an awesome hair-do today, but it just wasn’t working out.

Elle decided to use one of her birthday presents instead.

 

As you can see, Elle and her friend have been making miniature houses out of boxes and magazine cut- outs.  Big mess.  Even bigger fun.

In other news, Elle gave a talk today: (The only thing I did was  help her find the scriptures she needed)

“The Scriptures teach me about the Savior’s Birth and Second coming”

Prophets wrote in the scriptures about the Savior’s birth and 2^nd coming.  You can read and learn about these prophesies in the scriptures.  In the Book of Mormon, Moroni prophesies of the Savior’s return.

In Moroni  7:48

In the Old Testament, Malachi tells about the signs that will come in the Last Days.

Malachi 4:5-6

You can read about the Savior’s birth in Luke chapter 2.

Samuel the Lamanite stood on a wall and preached unto the Nephites that in five years Jesus Chris the Savior of men would be born in Bethlehem.

I realized that both of these great things have great and important signs like when Christ was born, the night wasn’t dark and there was a new star in the sky.  When Christ will come again, all mankind will admit that there is a Christ and before that day there will be great destruction like tsunamis and earthquakes and droughts and hurricanes and tornadoes and others.

We need to prepare ourselves for that day by going to church, going to the temple, and reading scriptures.  All these things put oil in our lamps so we can be prepared unlike the 5 virgins that were not like we heard last Sunday about the ten virgins.  I know that if we do all these things to prepare ourselves we will be ready.

I know that all these things are true.  I know the church is true.  I know that we can prepare ourselves.  I say these things. . . .Amen

 

She’s pretty awesome!  I am amazed how much she takes in.

 

 

 

And a little birdy may have told you

That I just had a birthday!

Chris made me blueberry muffins in the morning and Elle wouldn’t let me go near any dirty dishes

We went to dinner and had my favorite kind of food-  Indian.   Chris got me a NEW PHONE!  It is very fun and fancy.

I was so lucky that my friends helped me celebrate my birthday last week by throwing me a spa party.  We exfoliated our hands, soaked our feet, and put cucumbers on our eyes. We also had my favorite birthday cake—Strawberry topped cheesecake. Yum!

AND

When we went to CA for Thanksgiving, our BFFs  provided all my favorite things to eat while we were there!

*peppermint ice cream

*Chevy’s fresh mex restaurant (which we don’t have here)

*Broccoli soup in sour dough bread bowls

*red licorice

We even got pedicures one day!

It’s been a great birthday month!

Thanks everyone!

Sunday Dress and Hair

 

Well, technically  they’re not all Sunday dresses and hair, but here are a few interesting hair and clothes. . .

 

Elle and I were going to a baby shower and she agreed to let me do her hair up.  Half-way through, it looked so silly we just had to take a picture.

She’s saying “I’m two years old!”

Here’s the finished product:

 

She’s wearing a super cute shirt and sweater, but you can’t see the front.  (BTW- that’s water not dandruff or anything on her back)

 

Another day, she had an 80’s themed choir concert.  They still had to wear white on the top and black on the bottom, but they could accessorize. 

I had lots of fun:

 

 

Then today she wore one of her Christmas dresses (we bought another yesterday—stay tuned)

 

She agreed that a bun would suit the dress nicely.  She had the great idea to braid three ribbons together and place it over the bun.

I think it turned out great!

 

Thankful Turkey and Stuff

 

For FHE Monday, we watched a conference talk and I completely forgot about our annual Thankful Turkey!

That night at  about 10:30 I remembered.   Chris was all comfy in a blanket on the couch, so I gathered all the supplies he needed to get to work. (paper bag, pencil, artistic pens, artistic eraser, crayons, and scissors).

And here it is!

He said the feathers need to be rectangles.

Interesting. (that’s what his dad would say)

 

And today, I decided to try ‘fish tails’ in Elle’s hair

(she decided to do a fish face for her fish tail hair)

Not too bad for the first try! (at least I think so)

 

And now for a random thought- (don’t laugh)

I’ve decided that Elle and I need to stop saying “Oh my gosh” because sometimes when we don’t finish the end it sounds like we’re really swearing! (commandment #7)

Do you KNOW how hard it is?!  I didn’t realize how much I said it.

Then I was trying to think of what to say instead.  Is “Holy Cow” just as offensive as “oh my_” is to us?

I know, I know.  Silly stuff.  But  still.

YOU try it!

I don’t know how sailors contain themselves after joining the church. 

Sunday Dress and Halloween

 

Since I took a very long nap Sunday, I didn’t post Elle’s Sunday dress and hair:

She finally let me do a bun again!  In fact, it was her idea!

It turns out her friend has been wanting to see Elle’s hair in a bun. 

 

Last night, of course, was Halloween!

We walked from one friend’s house on the hill  to the other friend’s house on the opposite hill (1.4 miles) plus a few detours along the way.  My friend and I got plenty of exercise chaperoning them!

Elle and two of her trick-or-treating buddies:

 

 

Chris stayed home to pass out candy.  He said I got several comments on the scary door I did all by myself! (Well, except  Elle did the eyes)

 

 

The best part of the night was when we got home and Elle “boo-ed” Chris. She had been planning it for a few days.  She decided that she would collect some of Chris’ favorite candies during the night,  put them all in a bag, then “Boo” our bedroom door.  Every once in a while along our route she would ask me which piece of candy she should  get for Chris’ bag.

On Sunday while Chris was home teaching,  she wrote a note to go along with the treat:

You’ve been booed by the candy corn ghost.  You need not give anything to your neighbors, but do not inquire anyone until all the given treats are gone.  Unless you want to wake up to the whole house covered in candy corns.  This is the famous curse of the candy corn ghost called, the candy corn curse.

She is so sweet!  Chris was very touched by her generosity