A First Time for Everything...Even a Stake Dance!

Nothing like hearing the hair spray can spraying, the make-up flying through the air into and out of the basket and smelling the many ounces of perfume! Alas, it must be my oldest daughter getting ready for her first stake dance!

Tori turned 14 back in September but kept telling me "there was no way she was going to go to a stake dance". I kept telling her how much fun they were and that she would have a blast!

WELL, she finally believes me! She and the Mia Maids went together last night (Thank you Kelsey!) and Tori had a great time! Now, she is counting down the days until the next Stake Dance! So, to my sweet teenager....I told you so! (I love that phrase. ;-)

Shotput & Discus Queen

Victoria had a great track meet last night. She took 1st place in Shot put and 2nd place in discus. She just barely missed 1st place in discus by an smidgen! There were three schools competing and I have to brag, I think she had the best form out of all of the girls! :) Way to go Victoria, AKA Vinnie! xoxo


Here she is getting ready to throw the shot put.

Getting ready to throw the discus.

winding up...

Happiness....it was a great throw!

She came home today sportin' a Gold metal and a Silver metal!

Jumping for joy!

Here is a clip of her second "beastly" throw of the discus...

Yes...It SNOWED again in Houston!

Alright...I feel like someone is just teasing us. The weatherman said, possibly an inch of snow would fall around our city and all that fell from the sky were a few snow flurries and nothing accumulated on the ground. The kids just want to make a snowman, maybe a snow angel? Is that so much to ask? Oh well, the flurries were fun while they lasted. I let the kids stay outside late last night to play under the street lights as it "flurried". I was hoping that ice would form and school would be delayed. Well, no ice this morning, just cranky kids and buses ran on schedule.

The kids did ask an interesting question..."Why is it the year we build a pool, it is cold in February and not warm?" Ti's true, typically here in Houston, in February it begins to warm up and Spring begins to break through. In the 13 years I have been here, I can only think of one other year this cold weather like this winter has occurred. So...sorry kids. The hot, humid, sizzling summer will be here soon. Then you will be begging for this cold, cold weather again! Grass is always greener eh?!

Valentine's Day and the "Surprise Package"!

Around our home, we love, love, love Valentines Day! Each year we like to remember each other with cards and small gifts to express our love for each other. We even enjoy baking cookies and treats to take to neighbors and friends. Here are a few pics of our Valentine's Day!

Each of the girls received a pretty heart necklace and the family had a special breakfast. Ron took all of his women out for a special Valentines dinner! Thanks Ron, it was delicious!

We also received a package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Avery. It was so sweet of them to send Valentines and candy. The funny part of this story that I'd like to share is how this package arrived.

The mailman walked up to out front door and very apologetically handed me this package. He said,"I am so sorry, I am not sure what happened to your package, but we think this is blood all over it." They had cautiously wrapped the package in plastic to keep their hands clean....(gross!) but lucky me, I got to unwrap it and take out the contents! Luckily, whatever the red stuff was, did not bleed through.

So, my question is...who was poor postal worker lost a finger in the post office machinery? After opening the package, I threw it in the garage garbage can. I took a look at it the day after and the coloring had dried dark (like blood). EW! We will never know what it was, but hey, it sure made for a memorable Valentine's package! Thanks Grandma Avery! :)

Tiffany's Big Girl Bed...It's about Time!

Tiffany has been sleeping on a crib mattress for quite sometime now. I guess it was just pure laziness on this Mother's part. I just didn't want to hassle with digging into the attic and dragging out the extra bed from storage and also getting it on the "Honey-Do" list.

We told Tiffany that she would be getting a big girl bed, just like her sisters. She was so excited! It was very cute. Now that she is in the bed, she loves it and sleeps very well.

Here are some pics of the big day! Thanks Daddy for helping us set up the bed.

Julie B. Beck Hits Another Home Run!

I found this little gem in my inbox yesterday. What an incredible and heart warming talk given by the General Relief Society President, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Julie B. Beck. Her words are powerful and I encourage all of you to read this talk, take it into your hearts and homes...and apply it to your family's lives. I know I will.

http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2009/pdf/Julie_B._Beck.pdf

Basketball vs. Magnolia

Last night Victoria's basketball team lost. They are now no longer undefeated. Too bad. They only had two games left in the season and they were trying so hard for another banner to hang in their gym. They tried, but they just were not fast enough. Victoria did get a good amount of playing time last night and made 8 points. Two of those points came from the first half. The two pointer shot was beautiful...from pretty far back and it swished the hoop! (no video...Mother of Year missed this one. I am still kicking myself.)

A big thanks goes out to the Pearson clan for coming out to shout some support for Tori and her team! Thanks Carrie and girls! It was fun having you there.

Tori is in the white jersey, #20, striped socks.

Victoria & Basketball

Here are a few new pics of Tori playing ball. She played quite a bit this last away game and score 9 points out of the 33 total. Nice job Tori! There are only two home games left of the season. Next up...Track.


That's Tori standing under the hoop waiting for the ball to fall.



Oh look at that mean game face! grr. ;)


In these next two videos, you can find Tori by looking for the crazy striped socks!

Tiffany Celebrates her 4th Birthday!

Tiffany had a couple of celebrations this week! What fun to be four years old!

Tiffany loves Cinderella and was so excited to get this light up Cinderella dress from Grandma Carpenter.

Grandma & Grandpa Carpenter at the party.

Tiffany modeling her new birthday dress.

This is a video of Tiffany "trying" to blow out her birthday candles...

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY TIFFANY!

Today is Tiffany's 4th birthday! She has several nicknames...Tipper, Tip-Tip, Tiffer, Tiff.

Her smile, giggle and personality light up any room.

She really laughs when her big sisters tease and make jokes. She looks up to them and loves them so much. She loves when they play princess polly pockets with her or princess barbies. Some of her favorite things to do are play with her magnet dress up dolls, color and her new favorite pass time...reading. She has begun her "I like" series. Next week she will begin "I see". It is so cute watching her point to each word and read. She thinks she is such a big girl...which she is but, Mom just doesn't want to accept that her baby is growing up. (heehee.)

Yes, that's a scratch under her eye. Why oh why does this seem to happen right before birthday pictures....never fails. Oh well, it makes the birthday photos more memorable.

Some of Tiffany's favorite things....

Pizza

Chicken nuggets, french fries and LOTS of Ketchup!

Swimming

Riding her bike or scooter

Disney Princesses

Playing on the computer with her big sisters and sitting in their lap.

Going to the "Big kid class" -Primary

Watching Phineas and Ferb

Singing Book of Mormon stories

Having stories read to her.

She loves when Caitlin and Courtney come home from school. She gets so excited!

Bath time

She enjoys going upstairs to her room and playing with her dolls...you can hear her from the other room having a make believe conversation with all of her dolls. She will play for a great deal of time by herself and she loves every minute of it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet Tiffany! We love you so much!

Victoria's Rodeo Art

Nice job Tori! Her picture is the barn on the bottom. Done in pencil.

Cruise - Day 6 & 7 at Sea

Day six and seven were spent at sea. Day six was wonderful! It was warm and sunny outside, and there was not much of a breeze. We spent the entire day up on deck sunbathing, reading and eating. The ship served lunch up on deck this day. It was a Caribbean buffet. We also watched a belly flop contest. Of course the winner was a big guy from Texas!


Nothing for miles and miles around the ship. It was so peaceful at sea. I told Ron I felt like I was back in the middle of Nebraska. I loved it!


The sun peaking through the clouds and illuminating one spot on the ocean.


Formal dinner on Friday night.

Stacy and I trying Lobster and Shrimp. Neither of us cared for it. Good thing we also ordered a steak! ;O)

Our waiter (in gold), Joseph from India. The Assistant waiter Gabriel from Transylvania. These two men were incredible. They knew what we wanted, before we even knew what we wanted! What a great time we had being pampered!

Day seven was a bit of a disappointment. We really wanted to spend the entire day on deck again. But, we could not. A cold front pushed through the Gulf of Mexico. The weather was so cold, wet and windy that they had to close all of the decks. So everyone had to stay inside on day seven.

If you have not gone on a cruise before. You've got to have this experience once in your life time. It was pretty incredible. Here are some things that I enjoyed about our cruise ship. There was so much to do on the ship... there is a movie room, food, an ice skating rink, food, a theatre, food, shopping, food, rock wall climbing, food, mini golf, food, swimming, food, roller blading track, food, jogging track, food, a spa, food, a great fitness center, food, hot tubs, food, jugglers & comedians, food, exploration of the ship, food, parades, food, karaoke, food, dancing under the stars, food, dance classes, food, a dance club, food, game shows, and food. Did I mention food?

I have to mention that the theatre was my favorite place to go each night. They put on some very good performances. My favorite was the Broadway production. The singers and dancers were so talented. I also enjoyed the ice show. The skaters were from all over the world and were also very talented.

Cruise - Day 5

Day five was spent in port at Montego Bay, Jamaica. I didn't care much for Jamaica. It was very dirty and loud. The people were very open in their feelings about Americans and they were rude. The shop owners, taxi cab drivers and shuttle bus drivers were all out to make a buck. I always felt like a scam was in the works. However, the beaches were gorgeous!

There were a lot of Texans on this ship. Many kept asking the Cruise Director if some how they could show the Texas - Alabama game. Some how they ship worked it out and they set up a HUGE screen on the Promenade with food, food and more food for all to watch the game. It was pretty neat!