11.11.11

Today was such a memorable day! The girls and I went to the Gilbert Temple this morning! We had a fun time taking a few pics before we headed off to San Tan for some shopping and lunch! I hope my girls will always remember today.

there is a first for everything...

ellie is in kindergarten at highland park elementary

ashley is in 6th grade at highland park elementary

lindsay is in 8th grade at highland junior high school

tanner is a sophmore at highland high school

clate is a junior at highland high school

new school year, new adventures, new friends, new teachers, new things to learn...

one thing that is still the same is that i love each one of my children and think they are

all amazing!! i know this will be an awesome year!

p.s. bella is at home with me and she is cuter than ever.

i am in love with her curls. she is in love with toy story, tangled, and toy story.

my best friend

this is the love of my life. i am grateful for him and how hard he works for our family. he knows me so well and tenderly takes care of me. i don't know where i would be without him.

i'm grateful he lives a righteous life and loves the Lord.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Ashley as Annie!!

Ashley tried out for the school play this past year and she got the part of Annie! The day she found out what part she got, Clate was working from home on the computer. Ashley walked over and asked him where I was. Clate told Ashley I was back in my room and to wait because I would be out soon. She started pacing around the kitchen and then went and stood right by Clate. She said, "Dad, I had a really good day at school today." Clate said, "Oh really! What happened?" Ashley said, "You know how I tried out for the school play? Well, I got the part of Annie!!!!" Clate got all excited with Ashley, gave her a high five and a hug and said, "Let's go get mom and tell her!"

We are very proud of Ashley. She spent many, many, many hours practicing her speaking and singing parts. We feel like she made the perfect Annie. Everyone that helped out at the school was amazing! They did a fabulous job casting all the parts. We had many friends and neighbors in the play. Daddy Warbucks lives 3 houses down! Enjoy all the pictures!

I need to apologize to Kristin and Hannah Howard for taking so long to post these pictures. :)

Right before her Thursday night performance

That is one proud dad!

Everyone is excited to watch the show!!

Camille, Ashley & Abi backstage before the show

Beautiful girls!

Daddy Warbucks(Davis Brown) & Annie (Ashley Mask)

Miss Hannigan (Ashley Wrigley) and Ashley

Carlee Oliver, Ashley, and Alyssa Denison

Annie & Daddy Warbucks after the Thursday night show!

Ashley and Davis did a fabulous job during their first night performance!!

Ashley even had a little girl come dressed up in her Annie dress too!

Lily Saint Regis (Abi Cluff) & Ashley

Ashley and Ashley
We realized our little Annie is very talented!

Ashley and Lindsay

Ashley and Mrs. Smith

Thursday night was a wonderful performance!!

guatemala

on july 9th at 3:15 a.m. our dear friends, Kevin and Vickie Palmer picked us up for our 5:15 a.m. flight to guatemala city. Vickie offered to let us catch a ride with them since it was so early in the morning. thank you so much! it was very nice to be able to leave our kids sound asleep in their beds. plus my sister, tenery appreciated the extra hours of zzzz's.

when we got to the airport we met up with a lot of other people that were part of our group. we were all wondering why we booked such an early flight. we knew we would be able to sleep once we got on our plane.

we had a safe flight to dallas with enough time to grab a quick bite to eat, make a few phone calls and catch our flight to guatemala. i always love traveling alone with clate. we have so much uninterrupted time to talk. it's amazing to me how nice it is to have a conversation without having to stop to change a diaper or go pick someone up from a party or to turn the music down or to say, "play nice" or "answer the phone" or to stop to get someone a drink. . . you get the point. i also love the miracle each time we land on the ground safely.

as soon as we got to the guatemala city airport and had our luggage we went outside to meet Clate's parents. they were taking someone else home from the airport and so Manuel, our guatemalan tour guide, was waiting to pick us up. Manuel is the nicest man and helped us to feel safe our entire trip. he had a bus waiting for all of us and once we had all the luggage loaded up we were off. i think there were 16 of us & that is a lot of luggage. :)

i was very excited to get to our hotel because it is absolutely beautiful! clate and i came to guatemala 8 years ago and we stayed in the same hotel. it was called Quinta Real when we came 8 years ago, but now it is called Hotel Vista Real. even though it has a different name, it is still the same wonderful place and the breakfast is simply amazing.

as soon as we got to the hotel is was so much fun to see clate's parents. they are serving as temple presidents at the Guatemala Temple and this is the first time we have seen them since they came on their mission. mom looked cute, like she always does and it was so great seeing them in their element. they both love guatemala. they both served their missions there. i am grateful for the love they have passed on to their children. my dad served his mission in guatemala and i have a love for the people as well.

once we were settled, we met Dave & Karina Lee and Mom and Dad for some soup and bread. it was fun to sit and talk with them and catch up. after an early dinner, we were off to bed. btw, i LOVED all the fluffy pillows on our bed. it's the simple things in life that make me so happy!

Gratitude

This morning I am very grateful.

I am grateful for Ashley. She wants to earn some money for school clothes and so one of the jobs I gave her was to make sure I had time to say my personal prayers, read my scriptures, write in my journal and blog. She has been so encouraging and has asked me throughout each day what she could do for me so that I could do those four things. I have been really busy, but Ashley kept encouraging me to just write a little bit in my journal and to just blog a little bit - whatever I had time for. Sometimes I don't journal or blog because I feel like I don't have enough time. Ashley, I love you for your help. Shopping today will be lots of fun!!! I woke up early this morning and I have already done all four of my things. I wanted to surprise Ashley. She is going to be so excited that she gets a little bit more money for school shopping. :)

I am grateful for children who reach out to new kids on our street and help them feel welcome and loved. I know that is what Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to do and it is what They would do if They were here.

I am grateful for prayer. I know my prayers are heard. I know it because I feel the Holy Ghost while I am praying. I feel peace. I feel loved.

I am grateful for scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. I am grateful for scriptures like Mosiah 7:33 and Mosiah 24:16. The words of the Book of Mormon can bring such comfort when things are rough and I love learning about the people in the Book of Mormon.

I am grateful for opportunities to serve. I love to find a need and help to fill it.

I am grateful for the temple. I love the peace that I feel when I am there.

I am grateful for my children. I am grateful for hard working boys who are working on their eagle projects this summer. I am grateful they are respectful, kind, and fun boys. I love them both. I am grateful for Lindsay and Ashley and their desire to help around the house. I love listening to them play the piano. I am in awe at their dedication to read their scriptures for 20 minutes each day because that is what our bishop asked us to do. I love watching them write in their journals and tape things in their journals. I am grateful for Ellie and Bella. I love the joy and work they bring into our house. It would be very different without them. I am grateful that all of my children are sensitive to the Spirit and that they all have good hearts.

I am grateful for my husband. He is an amazing leader. I am grateful that he wants to do what the Lord wants him to do. I love him more today than I did yesterday. I am grateful the way he tenderly takes care of me. I love his desire to learn more about the Book of Mormon and his desire to teach our children what he knows. I am grateful for his example of hard, hard work. I am grateful that my children have such a solid example to follow. I am grateful that it is Friday and that means it is date night. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do, it's the fact that we get to be together that matters.

I love Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I am grateful that they are all in my life. I am grateful for life and the opportunity that I have to be here and to try to do what is right so I can live with my family forever.

Today is already a great day!

Please, Thank You, & I Love You

ellie is working hard to say three simple phrases:

please

thank you

i love you

each night when clate comes home from work he gets an update on how she did for the day. he even made her a little chart that hangs on the pantry door. she gets to draw a mark each time she says please, thank you, or i love you. dad's are amazing.

i love those three phrases

i love ellie

i love clate for being such an amazing dad and husband!