Anna's First!

We celebrated Anna's first birthday on the 7th! Happy Birthday little Doll. Anna is a delightful baby and I can hardly believe she is already one year old. I must say I am so thankful for her sweet disposition or I'm certain I would not have survived the last year.
Anna is not walking yet but as for everything else she did it all early. She started sleeping through the night at 3 months and honestly I cannot remember a time since than when she got up at night. We are very grateful for this. She was rolling over around four month and army crawling at six, and upright crawling not to much later. She loves her brother and sister and will crawl after them as fast as she can trying to keep up. Anna loves treats, me, she likes sitting in car seats which are not in the car or any sort of little chair. She loves phones and remotes and says "Hi" We love her and are so glad she is in our family. I think she has the most beautiful eyes and smile ever. Everyone informs me she look just like her dad! We love you Anna! My pictures from her birthday are not very good, but we well go out and take some one year photos and add them to the post.

The First Day of Preschool!

September is proving to be a busy month. I imagine as children get older this becomes even more of a reality. Andrew had his first day of preschool on the 9th, and we are all loving it. Andrew has seemed a little bored the last few months so this is a great change for all of us. He is loving the interaction with the other kids and I am loving running errands with only 2 children. It is amazing what a difference it makes when you are down one than your normal. It has been fun having a little more one on one with Lexie, and the kids seem to get along better with a little break from one another. I'm sold; preschool is great! We tried to have Andrew attend preschool last fall and it did not work out, that is a blog all of its own and I am happy to report that things are going without a hitch this year. Lexie is cute she will ask Andrew when we pick him up,"Andrew what did you learn today?" Thursday he reported he learned about Jesus, I don't think this is true as they wore swimsuits and had water fun, but eventually he will be able to decipher between primary and school right? The time is flying by and I pray I'm doing a good job with them, cause there are days I have my doubts. I'm so happy to have this darling boy in our family and excited for all the firsts we will be experiencing with Andrew. Oh yea, yesterday Andrew burned his fingers on the stove, they are blistered and pale looking. Last night he said,"Mom, I'm turning your color." I've gotten a good laugh from this. This is his picture on the first day. I think he is darling and is quite the poser. I'm also into this faded color look with photos lately. Andrew good luck with school this year and do your best! I love you.

Luke Michael!

This is my new nephew! Isn't he beautiful!! He was born on September 12th and I was lucky enough to get to be Jessica's nurse. It was so fun to experience this with my sister and her husband. They are great parents and I want them to know what a wonderful memory this will always be for me. I was nervous to be her nurse. I have been a nurse long enough that I have long since quit being nervous, but I was on this Friday. Jess had a c-section and observing this on a loved one makes me feel more sympathetic for my patients. What a tough thing to have a new baby plus the recovery of a major surgery! Luke is a sweet baby and seems to hardly make a peep. We took pictures of him today and I liked this one. I do love new babies, they seem to bring the spirit into the home in a special way all there own. Congrats to Jess and Wade and Family. We love you and hope the recovery is going well.

Patriots Day

I'm very behind on my blogging so I am playing catch up. Meghan, I'm getting caught up because of you so thank you for the reminder I do love blogging and think it is a great way to record our family histories as well as our thoughts and feelings. I took this photo on September 11th. When I woke up that morning and saw all the flags the scouts had put out, I'm embarrassed to say, it took be a minute to remember why. Then I remembered it was September 11th. This is probably the most historical event I have ever been alive to remember. I've heard those who were alive talk about what they were doing when they heard the news of JFK's assassination, and I totally recall the exact moment I heard of the events of that day. I was on my way to school, for the last year of nursing school I commuted to BYU from Bountiful and I was just at the point of the mountain when I heard about the events on the radio. The first thing I did was call Jeremy. He ran downstairs and started watching the news. I will always remember that day. I'm grateful to live in a country which values freedom and human rights and will fight to preserve there own as well as those who cannot fight for themselves. I am grateful to all service men and women and love our beautiful flag and will fly mine proudly. The American flag will always mean freedom to me, and I hope I will always remember that freedom comes with a great price.

All I need to know...

While I've never read, All I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, I'm convinced it must be true. Since having children I'm convinced all of life's great truths can be summed up with a few children's books. All of the following books are some of my favorites to read with the kids and I think they truly have great meaning and the world would be a better place if we lived by them. So my summation follows:

I always loved this book as a little girl. Helen Keller had such determination and was able to accomplish so much because of it. This is a great lesson for all.

This is a darling book which points out the importance of manners. Manners count and I think they count more than we sometimes realize. The guy who learns good manners is miles ahead of the one who doesn't. As the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

I've recently come to the conclusion, if you think you can you can, and if you think you can't this will also be true. I knew this as a child but somewhere in my adult life I forget this. So we try to chant at our house, "I think I can, I think I can."

Life is full of so many things to be experienced. Some not so fun others are great. I love this book and think it teaches a great truth about life.

This was one of my favorite books as a child. I am still amazed at the human body and the amazing systems of checks and balances that make it all work. This reminds me it is important to take care of the body I've been given.

I found this one at Barnes and Noble and it has quickly become maybe my all time favorite. "You need the belief of childhood, the do of youth, and the experience of age." I'm a big dreamer. Sometimes as adults we quit doing this and it is really too bad because you have to dream it before it can be achieved. I'm sure the first person who stated they wanted to go to the moon was thought of as a lonney, but you never know.
I love all of the Value books, this is one of my favorites. Mostly for the same reasons as Dreams.
I like this one cause it toots my own horn. Mom's are great. Peter Pan says: "What makes mother all that they are? You might as well ask what makes a star?" I like this line because that is really how I feel about my mom and motherhood in general.

This is Green Eggs and ham, it is a well loved book at our house and no longer has a cover. I like this because so often in life we don't want to try anything new or venture out. How often would we experience something we loved if we would only be open to a new experience. "Luck favors the prepared mind." --Louis Pasteur I think part of that preparation is having an open mind.