Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers in my life. I want to wish Ron a special Father's Day! I am so grateful I married such an amazing Daddy. Ron truly cherishes Reese and Nora and loves to make memories with them. I am not exaggerating  when I say that the girls squeal and run to him everyday when Ron gets home from work. He is so good to play with the girls when he gets home from work and help put the girls to bed and then do yard work in the dark. Reese usually has a difficult time going to sleep at night and Ron will lay on her floor and read to her until she falls asleep. Many nights, Ron will fall asleep on Reese's floor. If I ever leave, Ron knows the routine and he knows how to take care of the girls. He knows what they will eat and the bedtime routine. Every night he makes sure the girls have their vitamins and fluoride, he makes sure we have family scripture study, and is great at reading books to the girls. I am so grateful for Ron and the wonderful Father He is. For Father's Day, Ron wanted to to go to one of his favorite restaurants, Tepanyakis. The food was delicious and the girls loved the food being cooked on the Hibachi grill.

I am also very grateful for my Dad and Ron's Dad. They are both amazing men that we can count on.  I am grateful for all the amazing things I have learned from my Dad throughout my life.  Recently, Ron and I were talking about the what kind of parents we will be when Reese or Nora are playing sports and an opponent starts being unsportsmanlike or just plain cheap. I didn't realize until this conversation with Ron that I realized that my Dad never yelled in my games. He would talk to me after about the things that I could have done better on and the things that I did well, but He would never yell or make a scene in my games. Even if he felt like a referee was making a poor call, he would wait until after the game to tell me. He never wanted me to react on the field based on what parents were yelling in the stands. I was just taught to play better. If calls were unfair, just play better. I am grateful for that lesson I learned in my life. There are a lot of things that are unfair in life and it really doesn't do any good to whine and complain, but to just play better. Just be better, live the higher law and keep going. I am grateful for all the things my dad has taught me. He is a great grandpa and I am lucky to have him as my Dad. 

Youth Conference 2014

In June we had a great time at Youth Conference at Camp Williams. The youth had fun repelling, rock-climbing, doing obstacle courses, and swimming. I even got to go repelling, which was a lot of fun! The obstacle courses was definitely one of the best things of the day. There was about 20 obstacle courses which required the youth to work together to get a 50lb ammo box from one side to another, usually without touching the ground or water. The leaders were standing on an observation deck above the obstacles and we could not talk to the youth or give them any advice. It was neat to watch which groups worked well together, which kids were the leaders, and the different methods the kids used to get through the obstacles. The group that I thought would struggle the most, actually worked the best together. It was pretty difficult to watch from above and to not be able to help. I remember one group really struggling to get the ammo box across some water and they were about to give up and I was about to go down and help, but then I saw the face of one of our young women. I don't exactly know how to explain it, but I knew that she had the mental strength and determination to do the difficult task that this group needed to get through this obstacle. I realized that they didn't need my help, but they had the strength and determination to do it on their own. I likened this to our Heavenly Father looking down on us and wanting to help us. He has given us all different strengths and abilities to get through the trials in our life and He knows what we can handle. One group was stuck and didn't know what else to do and so the bishop came and helped them. Heavenly Father will not leave us alone. He is always there and we have bishops, parents, friends, leaders, and others who He will send to help us. Our youth are amazing, fun, and they know who they are. I love serving with the youth! They are amazing and this was a great youth conference.

Founder's Day parade

 We had a great day at the Founder's Day parade. Every year the parade gets more exciting as the girls get a little older. They were so excited for the parade and they loved getting candy. Well, I should say that Reese would eat the candy as fast as she could grab it and Nora would throw it back at the floats. I'm sure she will get the hang of it eventually:) I just love to watch the girls experience new things and see what they get excited about. They loved watching the princess float and the cheerleaders. Some of my young women were in the parade and they were nice enough to come over and bring Reese a TON of candy. Reese absolutely loved it! I cannot wait until next year!

Nora's 15 month appt.

We went in for Nora's 15 month appt and she is happy and healthy! She weighed 23lbs and I can't remember her height. Nora is such a happy baby and sometimes we call her NoraRoo because she is attached to me like a baby Kangaroo. Nora is so funny! I told you that she was observant before, but let me tell you how observant..... now that Nora can go down the stairs by herself, I don't have to put the gate up, but for a while, it was still right by the stairs. Well, I guess Nora had learned my morning routine because when I stopped putting the gate up, I would watch Nora pick up the gate and lay it against the stairs and then she would go over to Sachi's kennel and close the door if it was open and put Sachi's food bowl on the kennel. It's pretty hilarious that she noticed that I would do that every morning without thinking. I would shut Sachi's kennel door because Nora used to try to crawl into the kennel and then I would put her food on top of the kennel because Nora would try to eat it. She is so smart! Nora loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loves to sing the "Hotdog"and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" song. She also loves to say "Oh toodles". She loves to blow kisses and pretend to talk on the phone. She will pick up anything that looks like a phone and say, "Halllo". Nora is very funny and also stubborn. The other day she was sitting at the top of the stairs and I asked her to turn around and slide down on her belly. She hurry and turns her head toward the back and then looks forward again and says, "Ta Da". I started laughing and again told her to turn around or she would fall. She stands up and shakes her hands like she is going to fall. I started to walk up the stairs and tell her to turn around and she climbs up on the top step and stands up and turns around and faces the wall and just stays there until I get there. She is hilariously stubborn and I love everything about her. She loves to eat the Kids Clif bars we buy from Costco. Many times, if Reese leaves the pantry open, Nora will go get a bar and bring it to me to open. It seems this always happen right before dinner and I will tell her to put it back. She will then take it to Reese who opens it up for her and then she will sit behind the chair and eat it. She is clever and witty and so much fun to be around. She loves to sing and dance and lead music. We are so grateful for our sweet Nora and the wonderful blessing she is in our life.

Visiting the Dentist

 I just had to write a quick post about our visit to the Dentist. The girls did great and when it came time for me to get my teeth cleaned, Ron had to take care of both girls.Nora helped Daddy clean Reese's teeth!  I thought these pictures were pretty memorable.