Two girls and a really heavy 8lb ball...

As part of Jade's birthday week, we like to let them pick a place that our little family goes to celebrate. The girls almost always choose to go to Tepanyaki. This year, Jade picked going bowling and eating dinner at the bowling alley.

Ivy found a lot of excitement in bowling and Jade was a little bit less energetic about it. She was always just a bit disappointed in her throws.

It was a very fun end to Jade's birthday week.

Valentine's School Party

We're supposed to volunteer at Jade's school. I work full-time, so I don't manage to volunteer nearly as much as I should. But, I was able to take some time off and volunteer for her Valentine's Day party.

Those are some high energy kids with big voices.

It is always so much fun getting to watch Jade in her own piece of the world. She is very quiet and sweet while she's at school.

We also just had Parent Teach Conferences. I was tickled to hear such good reports from her teacher. She said that Jade is the kind of student that teachers dream of having. She is respectful, she listens, she doesn't push or hit (which she said is a big deal at this age) and she said that she is always nice to the other kids. Plus she's doing well in her classes.

GMYBS- My little lion...

This week, I decided it was time to participate again in Lolli's Give Me Your Best Shot. Check it out and see everyone's Best Shots.

Ivy loves dress up. She will start her day begging to play dress up. The other morning, she went and got her old lion Halloween costume. She wore this costume when she was 11 months old. It was a little big then but I didn't think really big. She can still wear the costume and fasten it- 3 1/2 years later. She insisted I take some pictures of her.

Here are two pictures that show just how different she is but the costume the same.

Valentine's and the Super Bowl

Hey, who won the Super Bowl? Just kiddng- I know who won, but not because I paid any attention to it. I know because I would be really embarrassed if I didn't.

During the Super Bowl, my mom put together craft time. We made Valentine cards and really cut little wood hearts. See...

... cute huh?

Tooth #8 and how it happened...

Just before Christmas, while Jade was rehearsing for the 1st grade Christmas program, her cute friend challenged her to pull out her somewhat loose tooth. Jade tugged and tugged. It finally came out. It bled and bled but she got on the school tooth board and got a cute little pink box to put her tooth in.

Why am I telling you this now? Well, as you know, we have a tradition of taking pictures of Jade with her tooth or at least the gap. We kept meaning to take the picture, but then we'd be running late and she'd come home looking exhausted and so it went. For months. Finally, in January, I set up my new lights and just played around a little with her. She wasn't dressed cute, her hair wasn't done and I'm not sure she had even brushed her teeth yet. But she wanted to finally document her tooth.

Why did I wait another month to finally post the pictures? Well, I meant to have Jade tell me the story and put it in her words. After so much time had passed, the story- according to Jade- was just about what was written in the first paragraph. So much for her being a gifted story teller. :)

Twi-Light and Blackberry Bold Pictures

I love good quality professional theater. I love getting all dressed up and having a place to go. But I also really love going to crazy campy dinner (I mean pizza and popcorn) theater with friends that also enjoy a good night of laughter.

We got to enjoy just that with some of our good friends. If you are a fan of the Stephanie Meyer series, you will get a kick out of this play. If you haven't read the books or seen the movies, you will still find the show entertaining and a good time. (Scott has not indulged in the books or movies but he still laughed a lot).

Here is the description of the show...

If you are interested in a fun night, click the picture below for more information...

The best part of the night was when Scott and Jason were chatting in the audience instead of listening. They were called out and joined the cast for a scene on stage.
Please excuse the quality of pictures- my blackberry does NOT take great pictures in the dark.

I Heart Faces- HANDS

When I heard about the subject for this week, I immediately thought of this picture that was captured during Grandma E's funeral service. I love grandpa's old and weathered hand. I love the love of these two old friends as they look so tenderly down at sweet Grandma in her casket. The 93 years of wear on these old hands has quite a story to tell.

Be sure and check out other hand entries over at I Heart Faces.

Great Nate is Eight

In our church, turning 8 is a very important birthday. Eight is the age of accountability. (It is around that age that a child begins to understand choices and consequences. It is the time in life where you are old enough to see the difference between right and wrong).

In January, Nate turned eight and was baptized on February 6th.

It was a wonderful service with sweet testimonies and many tears of joy.

We are so grateful to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. We are blessed to be able to know that Jesus is our Savior and to make the choice to be baptized showing Him that we accept Him and His teachings.

After the baptism, we went to Nate's house for lunch and game playing. I also took just a couple of pictures of Nate and of his sister Emily.

A giveaway...

A friend of mine is holding a giveaway of these cards and a couple others. Be sure and go comment before midnight tomorrow.
Click Here to go to the entry page.

Peking Acrobats...

Jade and Scott went to the Peking Acrobats for a daddy-daughter date. Jade absolutely loved it and thought it was awesome. Scott had been wanting to see it but Ivy was too young. So I stayed home with Ivy and played games. I'm glad Scott got to see it and glad that the two of them had a very good time.

Funeral Service for Edith Johnson

The funeral service for Grandma E was beautiful. Nearly all of her 42 great grand kids were there and all of her 17 grand kids traveled from all over the country to attend.

Each of her 4 children spoke and paid a beautiful tribute to her. She was a beautiful woman who was always there for her children. I learned that she would do activities that she didn't enjoy just to spend time with her family. Also, she made all of Janet's dance costumes and sacrificed in order for Janet to get to take all the dance classes she wanted. I also learned that she wasn't afraid of laughing at herself.

What I learned that impressed me the most was that she was a breast cancer survivor. She was a very prayerful woman and leaned heavily on the Lord during her life. At the time she was diagnosed with cancer, she felt confident- through faith and prayer- that if she had a mastectomy, she would not need to go through radiation or chemo. 24 years later, she was cancer free.

During the funeral, I took several pictures of the flowers. I'm certain not all will care about looking at the flower pictures- but to me that is one of the important things to capture a memory of. I took several pictures of people, of Grandpa standing by Grandma, the graveside service and family groupings. Here are a few collages of the event. It is very hard to take pictures of people during a funeral- I often felt like I was invading their privacy. Because of that, I didn't take very many. (I could never be a paparazzo).

First Gymnastics Meet

Jade had her first gymnastics meet and she LOVED it. It was the same week as her dance concert so I was anxious to see which one she preferred most. (I'm hoping to lighten her load a bit next year by having her pick gymnastics or dance). When I asked her which she liked best- performing or competing- she answered "Both- the SAME!" Oh great- watch them conflict next year.

She is in Pre-team Level 3. In her inner squads, she has to score a 34 to move up to Level 4. (The Pre-team Level 4's have to score a 34 to get to travel). I'm glad Jade doesn't have the potential of traveling this year. She's really got enough on her plate.

I think we were all surprised at how well Jade did at her meet. She's been trying harder to focus on exactly what the coach is telling her. In fact, so much so that the coach has emailed us about it.

Look how straight her legs are! She still needs to work on pointing her toes with energy, but she'll get there.

On our way to the gym, I had her picture herself doing the routines perfectly in her mind. She really focused on doing them just right- in her mind. Afterward, she told me that it really did help. I hope she will make a habit of it every night before she goes to bed- to just think through and picture herself doing all of her numbers perfectly.

We will miss you Grandma E...

Edith Thorne Johnson greeted this world on April 28, 1917. She bid farewall shortly after midnight on February 9, 2010.

To share a little bit about her, here is her obituary...

Our loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister and friend, Edith Thorne Johnson, 92, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at Pioneer Care Center in Brigham City , Utah . She was born April 28, 1917 in Brigham City , Utah , a daughter of Henry L. and Oneta Johnson Thorne. Edith married J. Wayne Johnson on August 16, 1940 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple . She was a member of the Brigham City 9th Ward serving as a Relief Society teacher and officer and worked two years at the name extraction center. Edith served as a past captain of the Sunflower Camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. She served as secretary and became an honorary member of the Civic Club. She was Brigham City Peach Queen in 1936 and was a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International Club. Edith worked for Knudson Produce Co. and secretary to the manager at Cahill Construction during the building of Bushnell Hospital during World War II. Edith designed the home that has been the center for family activities since 1958. She owned and operated Edith Johnson Interiors for 20 years. Edith's favorite hobby was her family. She also enjoyed crocheting, knitting, sewing, playing bridge and watching the Utah Jazz and BYU football. Surviving is her husband, Wayne, Brigham City; four children, John W. (Cynthia) Johnson DDS, Mesquite, NV; Dale T. (BJ) Johnson, North Ogden; Janet (Bob) Sanford, Brigham City; Dawn Marie (Rett) Ferrell, Edmond, OK; 17 grandchildren, 42 great grandchildren with two on the way; one great-great granddaughter and one sister, Helen Smith, Bountiful. She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers and one sister.

"Grandma E" was an amazing woman. I feel so blessed to have known her for the past 9 years. It was always fun visiting her and hearing stories of an earlier time. My favorite visit was last Christmas when we learned about her mom's involvement in the Golden Spike Annual Pageant. Because of that, we were able to watch Grandpa this past year perform.

Grandma has been weak the whole time I have known her. I am so grateful she was well enough to come to our sealing at the Salt Lake Temple and that she was strong enough to have our girls develop a loving realationship with her over the years.

When we visited her a couple of weeks ago, Ivy kept giving her hugs and climbing on her lap. I'm sure it hurt Grandma, but she laughed and hugged her back.

About a week before she died, she was put into a care center. She fought it and it made her cranky. Unfortunately, Grandpa just couldn't take care of her in their home any longer. We had planned on taking the girls up to visit her on Sunday, but Scott had a head cold and we were told not to come. That night, she took a turn for the worse. By late evening, she wasn't responding. Scott and I went up without the girls on Monday. She opened her eyes for a moment when we told her that we loved her. Grandpa sat holding her hand and gave us hugs.

Later that night, her daughter- Dawn arrived from Oklahoma and her son- John arrived from Nevada. They joined Janet and Dale (her other son) at her bedside. The men gave her a blessing and just before midnight they left her to be alone with her sweetheart. She passed quietly with him holding her hand.

If you have seen the movie "UP", you will have a glimpse into Wayne and Edith's story. They met when they were in second grade (around 1925).

I Heart Faces- I Wanna Dance

It has been quite a while since I entered a picture in the weekly contests. But, when I saw this week's theme I had to. My girls just had a dance performance- and though I'm still learning about taking pictures in the DARK, I did get a few fun ones. But, this is my favorite one of Jade. (I also have a favorite one of Ivy, but I like this one just a bit better).

Do check out the other entries at www.Iheartfaces.com or click here to go directly to the page with all of the other entries.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Boogie Babies

It was an "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" with the cutest little ruffles on the bum! Ivy absolutely LOVED performing. She wasn't nervous at all and she did a great job of smiling (when her tongue wasn't out).

We really need to work on her cartwheels tho but it is pretty hard to improve on the perfection she believes she already achieves.

Boogie Babies are ages 4-6. Ivy is the second youngest- so she has a couple more years in this group to master her cartwheels and run run run run run leap. (Yes, she runs for as long as she can before she does her leap).

That's the end of the dance posts. Pretty adorable little girls that make me smile everytime I think about them and their love for dance (and gymnastics).