Monday, June 27, 2011

 Last week my sweet little Bryn said "Mom I hope you don't get mad at me". We all know that when our kids ask this, we immediately think "Oh no what have they done". This is exactly what I said.  Her response with those brown eyes and smile was "Well I sorta wrote on the van and you might want to go look at it".  So this is what I found. How could this make me mad? In fact it happened just when I needed to be reminded that I was loved.




Bryn is so fun. She loves to cuddle and will always come to me for a kiss and a hug. She is so cute with the things that she says. She is getting ready for her trip to Nauvoo in two weeks with mom and dad. This is a tradition for us to take each child when they get baptised. It is her turn and we can't wait!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

So Today was a very fun day for our Ms. Syd. She has always dreamed of being in a pageant and today was our first time doing this.  It was very fun to spend the day with her. We first went to the Beauty shop and had our friend Spring from church do her hair. Spring is so good at sassing us girls up and she is also a sweet sweet friend.


Here are some photos of our beautiful girl... She is growing up so quickly!


She was so cute and seemed to be a natural up on the stage. Work it girl- work it!
Some of the older girls were so cute to talk with Syd and give her words of encouragment. Fun way to meet friends!

But there are no better friends than a SISTER!

And a Dad...
She was crowned Miss Photogenic.  Loved it and wants to do it again next year!

She is such a doll. She will always have a special place in our hearts!



Dependable And Dedicated



D-ependable A-nd D-ediciated is this guy right here. He is one great DAD! I guess it is better late than never to say Happy Fathers Day to my Bruceter...  I love you and want you to know how much I do appreciate the Father that you are to our children. They are so blessed and I am just lucky:)

Sydney JOY is TEN!

 Grandma Rose and Max got to spend the night and be with us for Syds big day. Grandma made Syd her own smiley face pancake. She truly is a blessing to our family!
 Syd loved her shirt from Grandma Joy
 This was on the back of her card from her Great Grandma Lewis. We all got a good laugh from it.
 singing over her pan- CAKE...
We spent most of the day in Joplin and then rushed home so she could go to her rehersal for the Huckleberry Pageant that she is in tomorrow. She is very excited! More on this to come...
Sydo we love you so much. I can't believe you are a decade:) You bring so much JOY to our family. Your name truly fits you. Thank you for ten wonderful years of special memories!

OUR VISIT TO JOPLIN


 Pictures can't describe the feelings of emotion as we drove the miles and miles of all this destruction.





So this was awesome! I was so thrilled that we took a minute to walk on the ground where the Stake center once was. I thought it would be cool for the kids to take a piece of brick or stone. Little did I know what we would walk away with. I really wasn't prepared for it to be such a spiritual experience but it felt like a tender mercy. The highlight was Morgan reading from some scriptures that were turned face up to 2 Chronicles Chapter 24 and this was the verse she chose to read to us. Verse 12- "And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord".   This really touched Morgan and stregnthened our testimony as a family that the house of the Lord will be repaired.  I was so happy that the kids could find something so that they can share these memories with their children someday. It truly was a day to count our blessings!

One Happy Camper

 One nervous girl

who turned into one Happy Camper!

I can't beieve she is already going to Girls Camp. She was so nervous with all the unknowns of camp and wanting to make sure she was packed and had everything. Then when she got home and I asked her how it went she said. "It was too short". She loved it! Such special memories! 

Happy Birthday My friend... My Sister!





So we planned a little birthday lunch for one of my dear friends Rosie.  When we got there Amanda, another dear friend pulled out a tiara and Rose was not too thrilled about the idea of wearing it. 
 But she was a great sport!
Then after a few minutes of us girls making alot of noise these bikers were first teasing us that we were louder than them and then this one came over to do a little flirting with Amanda and then asked if he could borrow the tiara for one of their "Male " friends.  So we thought it would be funny to make Rosie go over to share in the Birthday song...
So she again was a good sport and went over for a birthday song. When she got over there we learned that this mans name was BOB and his wifes name was ROSE.  Well this then really caused laughter because our friend Rose is married to a Bob also.  It created such a great laugh!
The Back Porch cafe is so much fun and had the best Carrot cake and homemade fudge with ice cream...


As you can see we REALLY REALLY liked it!  Ok so this photo makes me laugh until I cry. We laughed and laughed. It felt so good to laugh like that. It has been a very long time since I got a laugh like this.


So as you can see we have the same shirts on.  They are called Hormone Mafia.  Well our waitress was so excited to see us wearing them. She shared that it was her friends who started them and part of it was because of some personal difficulties that she had been through.  The funds for the shirts go to charities for battered woman.
We are so proud to belong to the Hormone Mafia club! No- I am not grabbin Rosies fanny. I am just trying to show off this cool shirt from Grove Oklahoma...

Friday, June 24, 2011

How will our Garden Grow?

 So a family in our ward (The Andrasko's) invited us down to Vanita which is about 30 minutes from Grove to use some of their garden and plant what we would like in their garden. So Allison bought some gloves and some shovels for the kids to have some fun.  Little Miss Morgan is our little city girl that is not so sure about digging in dirt and sweating in the humidity and BUGS...
 Syd was hard at work watering the rows and rows. She of course has such a sense of humor. She reminds me more and more of me all the time. Yes she has this hose between her legs. A hose for the pose:)
 Brother Andrasko is know as the mean guy at church. He likes it that way. But really he is so sweet and was very patient with our kids. So he initiated Preston to the garden and turned him into a real man...
 Yes this is a worm on their tongues
 and it is gone...
 Yes this is true!

Such a fun day. We hope this will help our kids to gain an appreciation of where our food comes from and also teach them to work.  We are so thankful for the Andrasko's and are excited for some yummy veggies from the garden. Time will tell how our garden will grow!