Back in June...

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Better late than never.  Here's a slideshow of the fun times we had when some of our relatives came to visit this past June.  It also features our small celebration for a big accomplishment for Lily.  She worked her way through her lesson book and learned how to read!  I'm so proud of her.  Each day when Amara would go down for her afternoon nap, she would diligently get her lesson book and sit with me and learn.  Go Lily!

Lily is 5 now!

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Well, she's gone and done it again.  She's grown up a little more.  Lily is precious to us.  Since she was born, her birthdays have always been celebrated with so many loving friends and family members, even if it means she celebrates four times.  This year, she basically celebrated twice (but got so many gifts it was like a second Christmas!).  On her actual birthday, she woke up to decorations, watched a movie, opened a few gifts, had yummy fudge frosted chocolate moosetracks extreme ice cream cake, had her pick of boxed mac n cheese for her birthday dinner, and went to bed a happy and loved girl, knowing that she would be celebrated a few days later on an even larger scale.

A few days came and we headed down to Utah Valley.  She got to pick out her present at Toys R Us and she picked a Tinkerbell toy kettle that opens up to reveal a house for Tinkerbell.  Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese and had pizza and played games with many of her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other family members.  It was pretty impressive to see how "rich" Lily was with the tickets her Uncle Matt, Aunty April, and Carrie (April's Sister in law) won and donated to her.  We're talking 1600 tickets to spend for Lily- and she picked out some Barbie Mermaid babies that have hair that changes color in the water.  She also was showered with love and gifts- many of which kept her plenty busy while Steve and I went on our anniversary vacation to Park City.  I'm so happy for my darling 5 year old, Lily!  She brings such joy to us.

Our Park City Anniversary

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I love my Stephen!
Oh, how he makes me smile.

I know it's been a month since our 7 year anniversary, but it's never too late to celebrate.  We went to Park City for 2 nights and filled our days with nothing but fun, food, and laughter.  It was a much-needed (especially after this year of teaching school for Steve) and pleasant time together.  The picture slideshow gives a good glimpse of our good time.  Here's the rundown in text:

Tues:
Lunch- Olive Garden (used the gift card from one of Steve's students)
Drive to Park City and Check in at the Waldorf Astoria
Shop at the outlets
Have dinner at the movie theater and watch "Letters to Juliet"

Wed:
Arise at 6:30am
Go golfing in Midway at the Wasatch Mountain Golf Course and hit at the driving range after
Lunch at the Homestead Resort's Fanny's Grill (used the year-old filled "frequent diners card" for a free meal)
Go to Park City Mountain Resort for Alpine Slide and Alpine Roller Coaster
Go back to hotel to get ready for dinner
Dinner and dessert on Main Street at Shabu (used the gift certificates for 1/2 off our expensive meal).
Rent a DVD from redbox to watch at the hotel. (Go Jackie Chan!)

Thurs:
Sleep in, pack, and checkout
Brunch at MacDonalds on the way home
Take Steve's parents to dinner at Zupas for a much-deserved "thank you" for caring for our kids while we were gone.
--------------------------
Stephen wrote me a poem on the pad of paper that was provided in our hotel room.  It reads:

In celebration of 7 yrs. marriage
06/02/10
To my Lani,

We had a wonderful
time at this place
We shopped, zipped, and ate
at a leisurely pace.

Thanks for the fun, laugher
and thrills,
But can we afford to
pay all the bills?

j/k  Love you,
Steve
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He's always making me smile.  I love that man!

May 3, Our 7th Anniversary!

Stephen and I are happy to be celebrating our 7 years of marriage.  This year, we decided to postpone celebration until school gets out in June and then go for an anniversary vacation in Park City.  Although we had agreed to celebrate later, Stephen came home from work and surprised me with a romantic bouquet of gerber daisies that he had put together and delectable Lindt chocolate truffles.  Gerber daisies are special to us because it was the first flower Steve ever gave to me.  He was so thoughtful and the flowers he picks out are always so beautiful.

We are looking forward to our anniversary celebration in Park City.  We got a good deal at a nice hotel.  It will be the first hotel room we've ever had that actually has a flat screen TV in the bedroom and the bathroom.  Here's a picture of the lobby.  It looks so fancy.  A big thank you goes to Steve's mom for helping us with our kids, thus allowing us to go here.  The countdown is on!

What Lily Would Do With Gold...

We've been teaching Lily to read using the book "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons" by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner.  She is doing an awesome job and we finished lesson 86 yesterday.  The story was about a dog that dug up yards, but it ended up being a good thing because in the bottom of the holes was gold!  Well, I prompted Lily with the question, "What would you do if you had a bunch of gold?"

Lily:  "Well, first I would go to the grocery store and buy all the healthy and nutritious things like blueberries and strawberries!  Then I would go to the check stand and buy some toys and candy... like PEZ."
Me:  "Wow.  That sounds good.  If you still had some gold left, what else would you buy?"
Lily:  "Probably... a house!"
Me:  "Oh, really?  What would the house be like?"
Lily:  "Well, I would buy this house, because it is so beautiful!"

Ah, we must be doing something right if she would spend her gold on healthy food, a few fun things, and our house!  Lily is so precious and she makes me smile!

A Dragon Bedtime Story

Brought to us by our bright and imaginative 2 year old, Amara...

(In a sweet voice) Once upon a time there lived a princess.
And the dragon (switch to low and scary voice here) LOCKED her in the CASTLE!
Then!  He blew fire at her!  (switch to calm voice here) And he made (switch to scary voice) a CAMPFIRE!
Then! (switch to calm voice) the dragon died.  And he never came alive again.
Then the princess (switch to scary voice) BROKE the CASTLE!
(switch to calm voice)  Then the prince telled her how to count to 3 in Spanish.
Then the princess didn't never die.

The End.

A Class Act! Go CTR 7!

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This past Sunday I taught my primary class (CTR 7) about the power of the priesthood and the miracle of Jesus calming the water.  After the lesson, I whipped out a few props and a camera and let them act out the story they learned about.  The majority of the class was reluctant to participate at first, but when I told them we had to use their chairs as walls of the ship, they stood up and played along.  I filmed the chaos, I mean action, and I thought that it wasn't too bad for a 5 minute production.  Maybe you'll notice in the video that there is a flickering light (lightning)- one of my class members didn't want to participate, so I gave him the job of creating lightning with the lamp I had brought.  It all worked out in the end.