The day we've been waiting for!

This is the day we've been waiting for!

First of all because Wade graduated! Wahoo! He received a Bachelor's Degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of Utah. He actually finished his classes last December and then walked in commencement this weekend. We're proud of him and excited to see where his career takes us.
The second reason this is the day we've been waiting for is because we have a new niece to adore, and she was a complete surprise for all of us! Wade's brother, Jeff, and his wife, Elizabeth, adopted a beautiful baby girl and they only had a few hours to prepare. They received a phone call that they were chosen and that the baby was already born! So off to the hospital they went to pick up their new bundle. Adoption is such a miracle and we're grateful all of our prayers were answered and that we can share in their joy with them.

A little dirt doesn't hurt

Saturday night, we went to Sugarhouse Park to BBQ with our friends, Brad and Christine. It started to sprinkle for a few minutes, and then this gorgeous rainbow appeared. Isn't it awesome? After our BBQ, we went over to the pond to feed the ducks.
Emily loved the baby ducklings and would get mad at the seagulls and geese when they stole the bread right out from under the ducklings. She would say, "Hey you bird, that's not yours! That's for the baby ducks. You give that back RIGHT NOW!" She can get fiesty, can you tell? ;)

Trying to practice my "Love and Logic" parenting skills and let Jonny learn a lesson on his own, I didn't stop him when he fell in the mud. (Anyone else a Love and Logic Mom? It's helped me so much!) What cracks me up is how mad he got when he realized how dirty he was, when most of the time, he CHOOSES to play in the dirt and mud.

I just really liked the lighting on this one.

On Sunday afternoon, we went on a walk, and Emily was silly and wanted to ride in the basket underneath.

Then Wade and I pulled out the camping chairs and started reading and relaxing. Of course the second we got up, the kids wanted to copy us and ran inside to get their own books to read.

What the....? Emily, what are you wearing? Looks like I need to put a "I got dressed by myself" sticker on this girl!

Women's Conference

More than ever, I know that...

And it feels good to have TRUTH rush through your body.

Thursday and Friday, I had the opportunity to attend Women's Conference with 18,000 other women of my faith on the BYU campus. It's empowering to be with that many women who all have the same love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I attended most of the classes with my friends, Ryanne and Mardi, and had a blast hanging out with them in between classes and on Thursday night for some tasty Mexican food.

After dinner on Thursday night, I met up with my friend, Janine, and her mom and sister to enjoy an awesome concert. There were a lot of great performers like Hillary Weeks, Eclipse, Jenny Oaks Baker, and Coach Larry Gelwix who was the inspiration behind the movie, Forever Strong. But I especially enjoyed the performance of Alex Boye'

and Dallyn Vail Bayles, both of whom have stared in Liken the Scriptures films, that we are big fans of! I think of Dallyn as an LDS Josh Groban. Just Amazing! I bought his CD when I was there, and have already listened to it half a dozen times. After the concert, I stayed the night with my friend, Janese and her family. I could just gobble up that little Baby Orden. Oh my goodness, he's cute. Thanks again Janese!

The best part of the whole conference was hearing from my favorite apostle, Elder L. Tom Perry. He exudes such enthusiasm in life, and I love hearing him speak! He encouraged us to be better neighbors and to have courage to share our testimonies. I think about this a lot because my neighborhood is so diverse. It's not like we have to convert every person we know who's not a member of our church, but we can be more like Christ, and let others KNOW our love and devotion for HIM. So that's my goal.

I'm grateful to my mother in law, Eileen, who watched Jon and Emily all day Friday and even over night on Friday, so that Wade and I could have some alone time when I returned home from the conference. And thanks to Wade for taking work off on Thursday to be with our kids and for surprising me with Olive Garden when I came home.

What a refresher these two days were. I'm definitely a nicer wife and mommy now...we'll see how long it lasts. :) I can't wait for next year!

Introducing...

Shining Stars Preschool!

I am starting my own preschool, and I couldn't be happier! Last December, I went to visit Lyndy Butler at her performing arts preschool, Talent Sprouts, and she really encouraged me to go for my dream and just do it. I love teaching! It brings me such joy, especially when I can teach my own children as well as other children I know and love. Every time it was my turn to teach joy school the last two years, I was so happy and in my element. So Wade and I started talking and planning, and we made it happen. It's been such an exciting process! Yesterday was my Open House, and I already have more than a dozen parents interested. I am keeping my class sizes small for more individualized learning and will be teaching 3 classes of 5 students each. Here are a few pics of the preschool. Fun, huh?

Spring Music Recital

I have been teaching voice lessons for 6 months now, and last night was the Spring Music Recital for my voice students.

Karin is a wonderful woman in my neighborhood. When I was released as Ward Choir Director last year, she told me how much I had helped her and asked me if I could start teaching her and her grandchildren private voice lessons. She sang beautifully last night and has developed so much confidence since I started teaching her.
Emily sang just like a princess last night, with a soft and sweet voice. I was proud of her.

Here are all my voice students eating cookies after the recital. They even surprised me by giving me a bouquet of flowers afterwards. I have loved teaching voice lessons, but I don't think I'll be able to continue in the fall because my preschool will be starting up, so I'm going to have to let some other things go, so I can keep life simple (sort of).

Talent Show & Family Party

Saturday morning was the Neighborhood Talent Show and our family sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and the ABC's. Emily was too shy to sing, which surprised us because she had sung with such confidence at the last talent show. So Jonny stepped up and was the star of the show! He was so cute singing the last word of every phrase without missing a beat. Everybody loved it!

Then Wade hopped on his bike and performed some cool tricks. For his grand finale, he jumped off the stage on his bike, which freaked everyone out, but his landing was perfect. He was awesome!

One guy had created mini machines and had the kids take turns testing them out.
Jonny took a ride on daddy's bike, but I think it was a little too big for him...
...and so was the helmet, but it's sure cute on him, right?

Before and after the talent show, Wade and I spent hours priming and painting the back room to to get it ready for my Preschool Open House on Monday morning. I couldn't WAIT to start hanging up my newly laminated posters and white board and bulletin board. :)That evening, we went to Jeff and Elizabeth's to celebrate Dad and Claudia's birthdays. Brandon and Diana came too, and it was a lot of fun hanging out as a family.

The kids had fun playing dress up. First, Jonny put on these cool sunglasses upside down.

Then Ramsi tried on my high heels.Emily tried on the tutu Elizabeth made.

But Jake really got into it and was even posing with the tutu on. It was hilarious! What a cute boy!

Surprise Date

For Christmas, Wade gave me a gift of 12 Surprise Dates, one for each month of the year. He even scheduled it in my planner for every third Saturday, so I knew he wouldn't forget. It's awesome because I genuinely don't have any idea what we're going to do for the date, which is half the fun!
This last Saturday, we picked up sandwiches from Subway and a slurpee from 7-11, and we headed up the mountain to hike Ensign Peek. What a gorgeous view!
Then we walked around Temple Square, which is amazing this time of year with the flowers in bloom, particularly the tulips. When Wade went to use the restroom for a minute, I played a joke on him by having a complete stranger walk up to him, pretending to know him. I picked the right stranger to play along in my little joke because Wade was SO confused and just couldn't figure out how he knew this guy. It was hilarious, and then he saw me laughing from around the corner and finally figured it out. Afterwards, he wanted to take some pictures of me...
But for the most part, I wasn't cooperating and was just being a goof! Is that a surprise to anyone? ;)

We ended the evening by attending an orchestra performance at Temple Square. The music was beautiful, and we were both in awe of the talent of the young performers.