Certificate of Achievement

About a week ago we got a letter from Robert's teacher saying that he was getting an award of achievement in scholar. That's all it said. We were also asked to keep it a surprise which was not easy to do since I wanted to pump my son full of questions on what exactly this meant. After all, how many kids were receiving this award? And what does "scholar" mean? Does that mean an award in academics? So patiently we waited.

Tuesday, May 12th was the big day for the Awards Ceremony. I got there just in the nick of time. Mike showed up by the skin of his teeth also. Anyway, after a lovely number presented by the music department, Robert's Kindergarten class was the first to be presented. I was somewhat expecting everyone in his class to be getting something, you know, being politically correct so as not to hurt any one's feelings and all. But when Rob's teacher, Mrs. McCaslin got up and said that these were her students whom she believed to have excelled above and beyond, my heart began to swell with pride and my eyes began to fill with tears. Robert was the only one to have received an award in the category of scholar in his class. He excelled in both Science and Social Studies. What a guy!

Mother's Day

Carly paints beautiful watercolored pictures. She uses beautiful colors and blends them perfectly together. I love her pictures so much I save them to make greeting cards out of them. This is what she gave me for Mother's Day:

Nice!

Robert loves me. Mike told me that he was thinking for days on what he was going to say in his Mother's Day card. This is what he came up with:

He quoted a scripture... "because Mom loves the Lord." he told Mike.

This is what Rob made at school for me. It's an actual wood frame painted white. He drew the flowers on with a paint pen. It's my favorite gift ever!

Mike made me breakfast in bed which consisted of cinamon french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice (he actually picked it up from somewhere). Delicious!

After church and my excrutiating lesson, I was sent back into my room to relax and take a nap. I was brought lunch and my sweet husband recorded the "House" marathon for me. To top off the day, the kids and Mike made me chocolate chip cookies and sent me off to bed.

At the end of the day I told my husband what a great husband and daddy he was and do you know what he said? "Yeah, well, don't let the word out 'cuz I have a reputation to uphold."

Don't worry, Babe. Your secret's safe with me!

Best Friends

Laura Lorenzen is Carly's best little girlfriend. They have so much fun together. They play dress-up, shopping and just plain 'ol love to be together. Needless to say, Carly just loves it when Laura comes over to play.



Well, Laura came over the other day and things got pretty quiet while they were playing in Carly's room and so I went to check on them and here's what I found:

Painting eachother's nails! Is that the most adorable thing EVER!!!

What Is A Peacemaker?

Okay. So I gave the lesson on being a peacemaker in Relief Society yesterday and I'm still confused....

I know what a peacemaker is: someone who helps others be happy instead of angry (blah blah blah). That goes without saying, but what if something needs to be said or something needs to be made right and others don't like it? I mean take the Prop 8 situation, for instance. That certainly didn't create peace in our community or our country for that matter. In fact, it created quite the opposite. Allbeit, we weren't the one's screaming obsenities at passersby, but we were the one's who stood up and said, "Absolutely not." and that did not create peace.

So it goes in our daily lives... or at least mine. I'm not a mean or rude person. At least, I don't think so. I know there are those who would beg to differ, but honestly, my heart is in the right place. I have come to terms with my "honesty" and rather like it. And this is where the confusion lies: Is a person considered not a peacemaker because one is honest and forthright? Being forthright and honest can sometimes cause contention. Also, sometimes we must stand up for what's right and not back down. And that almost always causes contention. How can we go through this life -- this life where we have to fight (literally fight) for truth and righteousness -- without causing a degree of contention?

And how about in our marriages? I mean seriously. Sometimes, it's a fight that creates peace. I mean, honestly a fight can bring out truth and the truth creates understanding which in turn creates peace. But that fight had to happen before there was understanding and peace.

So, this is why my lesson was so hard for me yesterday. I am not a peacemaker. I have peace. But I'm not a peacemaker. Sometimes I am. But not always. And sometimes I feel (and am even prompted) to speak up -- to say the thing that is sometimes the hardest to say -- the truth. And here's a truth I must say now .... I hated that lesson!

Face to Face Tour

Last weekend Mike and I went to the Billy Joel/Elton John Concert. I can't even begin to tell you how fabulous it was! We're standing at our seats (because it was so hard for me to sit down -- I was so excited!) and I turn to Mike and say, "I think I'm going to cry." These guys are some of my most favorite rock stars ever! And if you ask me they are two of the last true rock stars left. They sounded amazing and can still bring down the house.

The link below is the dynamic duo singing Piano Man together. This wasn't the concert we saw. This was in Tampa, FL, but it's almost exactly the same and will give you a good idea of what we saw. The stage set up is all the same and Elton is even wearing the same costume. However, I think our concert was better. Billy heard the crowd singing during the first chorus and stopped playing and let us sing. It was so cool! Anyway, here's to Billy and Sir Elton! Love You!!! WooHooo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1pbvoD214Y

Big Bear

On our way to go-carting, alpine sliding & tubing.

Hanging out on the porch swing.

Ski School for Rob.

Ski school was a little harder than he expected. He thought he'd be doing jumps and flying through the air by now. Instead he kept falling down. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy with skiing. Can you tell?

Hangin' out at the cabin.

It was so much fun!! I love cold weather. I really do. That is the ONLY thing I miss about Utah. In fact, it cracks me up what Californians think is cold weather. The first day we were in Big Bear it was 65 degrees. The second day it was a little cooler due to the storm coming in and the third day was spectacular! It snowed and was blizzardy. We spent the morning in the cabin with the fire blazing. I loved it!

Our Trip to Monterey

I Love California!

Dennis The Menace Park

Pebble Beach

I have more pics but these were some of my favorites. You can tell from the kids how great the weekend was. It was absolutely fantastic and very much needed. More than anything, though, I fell in love with California all over again. We had so much fun!!!