Photo Shoot

Matt couldn't resist taking a few pictures of the girls while they were here. We got them all dressed up and Matt took the pictures in the backyard. They are gorgeous!

Fun with the cousins

Titi Sette, Uncle Jay, Eliana and Taliah came up from Naples this weekend and we had so much fun! The last time we saw them was Thanksgiving and the girls have grown so much. Poor little Dax was the lone boy, we need some boy cousins around here!! We had fun playing in the pool, eating, playing scrabble, eating, taking pictures, eating, playing wii, eating. Are you noticing a theme here?! We like to eat!

We are planning a trip down to Naples at the end of September and can't wait. Uncle Jay has promised Dax some fishing and we are going to check out their super cool community pool as well. Grandma and Grandad are going to go as well and we are going to take our first big trip in the van. It is so nice that we can all ride down together! We love you guys!!

                                         Seeing each other for the first time in 9 months!!




Playing in the pool

  Silly Uncle Matt
        Uncle Jay was sleepy
Uncle Jay's shoe and Dax's shoe

American Idols Live

Matt's dad and stepmom bought us all tickets to see the American Idols Live concert. We went last night and had a blast! Matt's parents are die hard David Cook fans, but we had only watched a little bit of last season and didn't have any real favorites walking in. I must say overall I was really impressed. David Archuleta was amazing!! When he came out the crowd went crazy!! That kid is going to have a hard time serving a mission, the church will have to send him somewhere remote with no TV's. He was so cute between songs as he talked to the crowd. And his voice is just so smooth.



David Cook was great! He is a really good performer and I look forward to hearing him sing his own material soon. Dad and Kelly cheered and at one point Miss Kelly even got on her feet for David. This was quite a feat since we were in the nosebleeds and the drop looked scary! Matt tried to tell us that David couldn't even see us, but I am convinced he did! We had a great time and look forward to our next concert with the parents! Thanks Dad and Kelly!! We love you!

Me and Kelly before the show. Notice Dad in line at the Bud Light stand?! He was buying Pepsi...haha
   What is he drinking?! Don't worry, it's a Red Bull
The cute couple in front of us. She jammed all night, he didn't move once :)
        Brooke!! She was AWESOME!!

Tropical Storm Fay

Today was supposed to be the second day of school, instead it was a day off to play in the wind. No school, no work and no storm hitting us equaled into a photo shoot in the backyard. Maddax found a branch and said,"Daddy look what the Burger King did!". Matt said, "The what?!". Dax said, "You know the burger king.". Matt found the connection...burger king...hurricane. He was close...sorta.

Here he is cutting up the branch that the burger king blew down.



Piper hammed it up a bit for the camera as well.



We ended the day with with Grandma and Grandad and Grandad's hurricane soup. We were lucky, the storm changed course and we didn't even get any rain here. There were some winds but nothing any more serious than what a thunderstorm will bring. We are glad we were spared and pray for those that were affected by Fay. Only a few more months until the season is over.

WOOOHOOO!!!

We took a big step last night, we became minivan owners!! I have been ready to drive a van for years now. I am so excited and love my new van! We got a used 2004 Honda Odyssey with the navigation system, this means that I will never get lost again. The kids love it too. They are a bit disappointed that there is no DVD, but overall they are approving. I am loving the automatic doors. Look Ma, no hands!

First Day of School

Well Piper is a first grader! She had a fitful night of rest and ended up in our room around 5 am. She said her tummy hurt when she woke up this morning. I told her she had back to school butterflies and she informed me that she was just hungry :) She is not a morning person, much like her Momma, but she did pretty well this morning. She looked so cute all dressed in her uniform with her bookbag stuffed full of supplies.



She walked into class and started to set up her desk. After we checked her in we walked her to the cafeteria for breakfast and told her we had to leave. She got a bit upset but recovered quickly when she found a friend from church. Now I am home in my quiet house waiting for the day to pass so I can hear all about it. As much as I have been looking forward to school starting back, I am missing my little girl today. I am sure as soon as she and Dax start fighting this afternoon I will be reminded as to why I am glad school is back in session.

Twas the Night Before First Grade

This year is going to be much different from last year. She is used to spending her class day coloring, reading/looking at books, playing in centers, playing outside, etc. She learned a lot last year, but it was a fun year full of special activities just for the kindergartners. I have been told that first grade is the hardest year of elementary school. She will enter with some reading skills and end the year able to read chapter books, hopefully. I know she can do it. She is incredibly bright and I am not just saying that because I am her Mom ;) She needs to find her focus and have a teacher that allows her to be "Piper" but is also able to guide her and force her to follow through. I am excited for her and all that this year will hold for her.

Her lunch is packed and waiting in the fridge. She requested PB&J and vitamin water :) I put one of my special brownies in there as a special treat. Say a little prayer for our little girl. We are so proud of her and excited to see her grow up into this girl full of spirit and grace. She has a greatness in her that is so exciting to see come to the surface.

Final day of Summer fun

Cupcakes!

I made cupcakes last week and let the kids have a hand at decorating them. They had a good time and made some real pieces of edible art ;)

In the arms of the Savior

Today (well yesterday if we want to be technical) was Fast Sunday. For those that don't know, my family and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On the first Sunday of every month the church as a whole fasts and during our meeting we are invited to share our testimonies with the congregation. I have been a member of the church for over 9 years and in that time my testimony has grown and gotten stronger. There have also been times over the last 9 years that I have not allowed my testimony to grow and have not allowed the Savior to be as fully in my life as I should.  Recently I have leaned more on Him than I have in a long time. I have felt a real peace even though the current situation that my family is in is very stressful. I have felt the Spirit around me on a continual basis and have grown closer to my Father in Heaven and my Elder Brother. 

Last week Piper told me she wanted to bear her testimony. I told her she would have to wait until the next Fast Sunday came. As we sat down in church today I let her know that it was Fast Sunday and that she could bear her testimony if she still wanted to. She said she didn't want to anymore and I said that was okay. After a few people had gone up and bore their testimony she pulled at my hand and said she wanted to go but she wanted me to go up with her. We walked up to the front and waited our turn. When it was her turn she walked up to the stand and bore her testimony. I have never heard her bear her testimony in church before. It was such a sweet moment for me and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the sweet spirit that is Piper. She said in her testimony that she knows the church is true, that Jesus is real and that her family loves her. There are truly no other things in this world that I would want her to know with such surety as these things. I was awed and humbled by those simple words and the grace with which she delivered them. She was not nervous or scared, she was strong and steady. What an example she is to me.

After she bore her testimony I felt it would be remiss of me to not do the same. I bore my testimony of the love that I have for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and even more so the love that They have for me. A perfect love that is never changing and goes beyond unconditional to a realm that I can not even begin to truly imagine. I spoke of my knowledge that the church is true and that we are blessed to have a true and living prophet on the earth today. How lucky we are! I spoke of the love that I have for my family and how GRATEFUL I am for them. I am especially grateful to have Matt as my husband and the father of our children, grateful for the priesthood that he holds and honors and the love he has for us.

As I went through the rest of my meetings I had a real peace inside of me and knew that the Spirit was with me. At the end of Relief Society a sweet sister bore her testimony. In it she spoke of a meeting in which a visiting member of the church spoke and told the gathered members to close their eyes and think of the most difficult child in their primary. How even though they loved this child they were frustrated with them at times for not listening, acting out, etc. She then asked them to picture the same child with the Saviors arms around them. Immediately I thought of Piper. At first I felt a little guilty to picture her as the difficult child, but the truth is that Piper is not an easy kid. She is wonderful and amazing but I would not say she is easy. But when I closed my eyes and saw her in the arms of the Savior, I saw that she was perfect to Him. That she was loved by Him and that she was precious in His eyes. Why have I never thought of it that way before? Of course I have often thought as my children as children of our Heavenly Father, but I have never actually pictured them in His arms.

The image has stayed with me throughout the day and I have been able to stay calmer and more patient as a result. These are things that I struggle with and that I pray for all the time. I think maybe I have been going about it the wrong way. Maybe what I really need to do is just slow down and appreciate the gifts that I have been given. I am grateful to be a mother. I am grateful that I was blessed to raise Piper and Dax. I sometimes wonder how I am going to get through each day and ask my Heavenly Father if there is perhaps not a better suited mom for Piper. I struggle with this and then feel like a horrible mom for even thinking something like that. I have spent countless hours in prayer asking for help as I raise my children and specific direction in what Piper needs from me. I think today I received the answer I have longed for. "See her in My arms. See who she is in My eyes. See the gift I have entrusted you with." What an amazing blessing for me.

I know that this by no means means that I will have perfect patience with my kids or that I will be able to always see the image as immediately as I should. But I am grateful nonetheless for what I was given this day. I am grateful for His arms and that they not only encompass my children, but me as well. I am grateful for a love so perfect that it never wavers, even when it is taken for granted.

BREAKING DAWN!!

Yes it is true, I am addicted to the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I somehow managed to escape these books until this past June. I read the first book the same week that I had Kate. Within seven days I had read all three books and given birth! I have waited very impatiently for the last 6 weeks for the final book to come out. In the meantime I have re-read the first 3 books over and over. Now don't get me wrong, I will re-read a good book, but usually I give it a year or so before picking it up again.

So on Friday night I proudly made my Team Edward shirt, even while Matt made fun of me and told me I would be the only adult there with a homemade shirt. Ha! What does he know?? I was pretty proud of my shirt. And I was not at all surprised to see that I was not the only adult there with their own homemade shirt. The release party was fun and I was so glad to run into some familiar faces from church to hang out with as we counted down.

I have finished the book and I am now reading it for the second time. I was so full of anxiety the first time that I didn't really enjoy it. While Matt continues to tease me, I have brought Amanda over to the dark side. She was about halfway through Twilight when she was forced to admit the book wasn't that bad. That is what I have been saying people :)

Team Edward all the way!

Me and Wita! I loved her shirt!

Ready with our vouchers out!