Principal Staker

Hailey got to be Principal for the Day because she earned 120 AR points this year. She actually ended the year with over 130 points!

Here she is with our AWESOME principal Mr. Marlowe

Making herself comfortable.

There were two other girls from our neighborhood who were also Principal of the Day with her, her good friend Megan Saunders and a first grader Makenzie Ulrich. In this picture Mr. Marlowe is speaking over the loud speaker and announcing that the girls will be leading them in the Pledge of Allegiance. Look how excited Hailey looks!

Their day as principals included two field trips with the kindergartners to the zoo and park and going out to lunch with Mr. Marlowe and Mrs. Ritter to Wendy's where they had kids meals and frostys, which is a big deal for Hailey because I'm cheap and I never buy the kids meals!

Ally is a morning kindergartner so she and I got to spend the first half of the day at the zoo with Hailey.As we went around the corner this peacock was standing there and had his tail feathers spread, by the time we got the picture he was starting to put them down, but all of the kids were freaking out and didn't want to turn their back to the peacock in fear that he would charge at them if they did.This was Ally's group at the zoo, her good little friend Memphis Owen is in the front, then Kobe is behind Ally and a little boy in our ward Kaden Taylor is behind him and Hailey ringing in the back. Those other two kids happened to come over when I was taking the picture.

Here is Hailey with Megan who is wearing high shoes but is still quite a bit taller than my little Hailey! I am so proud of Hailey, I think I say that a lot, she is such a good little reader and student. Along with all of the AR points she earned, she also finished the second grade accelerated math program and went partly through the third grade program. All of that is in addition to her regular classwork which she always does very well on. Hailey loves to write and I have enjoied reading her journal entries from school as she finishes a unit and brings them home. I LOVE Hailey's teacher this year and she has done such a good job motivating her students and the best part is Hailey will get to have Mrs. Julian again next year for 3rd grade.

Simple

I have a lot to blog about, but today is not going to be the day that it gets done. Since I use this as my "Journal" I wanted to record some thoughts that I have been having. This Sunday we had a Regional Stake Conference. It was really awesome and uplifting, we heard from Elder Grow of the Seventy, Barbra Thompson the second counselor in the Relief Society Presidency, Elder Hales, and President Monson. The overall thing that I felt so strongly was how simple the gospel really is. As I listened to these general authorities speak, they didn't say anything earth shattering or new, they just reiterated the basic principles of the gospel. Allan and I teach the 12-14 year old Sunday School class in our ward and every week we ask at least one question that the kids rattle off the "seminary answers" of: pray, read your scriptures, have FHE, keep the commandments, do service, listen to the prophet, etc. It really is that simple, that's what we need to know, straight from the mouths of prophets.

I had a similar experience last month at General Conference. As I listened I felt the spirit instruct me as an individual, but as I looked over my notes, I noticed the talks covered: instruction for priesthood holders(men), duties of members of the church, faith, instruction for women, families, scripture study, service, keeping the commandments, prayer, repentance, etc. Again, the basic principles of the gospel.

Here is the big question I had to ask myself, if it's so simple, why don't I do all of the things I need to do each day? The only answer I can give is that I have not made following the gospel a high enough priority in my life. I get so busy with the daily tasks of cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my children that the important things sometimes fall through the cracks. I feel like I am a good member of the church, I go to church every week and I don't do anything inherently wrong, but it seems like I go through spurts of being dedicated to prayer, scripture study, FHE, temple attendence, visiting teaching, and other day to day habits. I try to teach my children the gospel and be a good example for them, and I am so grateful that there is so much support in this endevor from family and their church leaders and teachers each week. I feel like there is so much more I could do though to be a more dedicated follower of Christ.

As I listened on Sunday, I jotted down some of the things that I felt like I could do better at in my life, (I am sure I didn't catch them all since I was sitting with 5 children) but here are the things I am going to work on making a priority every day:
Prayer
Scripture Study (individual and family)
Reading my Patriarchal Blessing
Following the Prophet
Reading the words of the Prophet
Pondering
Being more Obedient
Teaching my children about Jesus/the Gospel
Family Home Evening
Temple Attendance
Taking full advantage of the Sacrament
Seeking and Developing Gifts of the Spirit
Having a Gospel Centered Home
Service
Visiting Teaching

Now, obviously I am not going to do all of these things every day, but mostly I want to think about them daily and focus on how to make them more of a priority in my life. I think I will print off a copy of the list so that I can have it out somewhere and see it everyday. I am so grateful for the influence of the gospel in my life and for the ability to repent/re-evaluate and improve myself, I know I am not perfect and that is okay as long as I am trying to be better.

9 pictures

Allan and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary yesterday, I thought it would be fun to post a picture from every year we have been married.

2001
Our Wedding Day at the San Diego Temple

2002
Our first (and only) anniversary without kids, although Hailey was definitely there.

2003
Allan graduated from BYU

2004
Allyson was born.
(I think I need to explan about this awful picture, Allan's parents and Rob and Robin had come to Florida for Ally's blessing, they got lost and missed the blessing, I was upset, to say the least, and had been crying a lot. This was the only picture we got of the 4 of us.)

2005
Allan's brother Jonathan took us to Disney World
2006

Along came Natalie.

2007
This should really be a picture of Allan graduating from Dental School, but my camera broke that day and the only pictures are on our parent's camera's and evidently I still need to get copies of them! So instead here is a picture of us on a boat a few months before that.

2008
Another baby, Lilly was born.

2009
Disney Cruise

2010
Brayden joined the family!
(Thankfully a much better picture than Ally's blessing!)

I am so grateful for the last9 years that I have spent with my wonderful husband. Allan is a great husband and father. It is crazy to think how much has changed since our wedding day but I love him now even more than I loved him back then. I knew pretty much the day I met Allan that I would marry him and I am sure glad that I did. I look forward to many more years of adventures with him!

Lilly Turns 2!

Lilly had her birthday on Saturday April 17th!When she got up and I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she went to the fridge, and got out the ingredients for quesadillas and also a cheese stick. Silly girl, but it's her birthday so that's what she got!

We had Ally's first soccer game that morning so we went to that first. Speaking of Ally, she has lost her first two teeth in the last little bit and I keep forgetting to take a picture and blog about it, so here it is!

For lunch we went out for Chinese food at one of our favorite restaurants. (Allan is Ally's coach, notice his matching jersey)

Here is every one waiting to get their food.

Lilly loves chicken and rice!

But.. she was too tired to finish it!

After lunch we met some friends who were going to the zoo. This is the new baby zebra, only 7 days old!

Hadley and Lilly are good little friends.

After the zoo we went to Tautphus Park.

Everyone had a great time.

Even Daddy and Brayden.

After the park we went to get some ice cream at Sundaes.

We took that picture, but Lilly was mad because Allan set the car seat down on her high chair.

She got over it though when the ice cream came.

That night we made Lilly a little treat, but she was so tired she threw herself down on the floor before she realized we were giving her a treat.

Pretty much she is already acting like a typical 2 year old with mood swings all over the place.

The next day we had a party for her with Allan's family and I made these cakes for her. I am really excited about how they turned out!

Once again, Lilly was in a mood so Allan had to hold her while we sang Happy Birthday and she blew out her candles.

Everyone was very excited to pick which piece of the cakes they wanted!

Lilly is a very cute little girl. Like I said, her moods are kind of all over the place, and she is still in that stage where she knows what she wants, but can't always communicate what that is. She is getting to be a big talker. Lilly loves her sisters and brother. When they come home she runs and gives them hugs, and when Brayden is crying, and even when he is not she always wants to help. The only exception is when she is tired and grumpy and wants me to put the baby down and hold her, but usually a couple of minutes is all it takes to put her in a better mood. She likes to run and jump and be outside. Lilly loves to dance and sing, and anything to do with music. She is always trying to keep up with whatever the big kids are doing. Lilly also has a mind of her own, and when it's set on something there is pretty much no changing it. I still have more issues with her sleeping than any of my other kids, she doesn't like to go to bed, or stay asleep for very long. Lilly loves to get stuff out, but most of the time is pretty good about putting it away. She always wants to be held if I am in the kitchen, and seems to have a sixth sense to need attention when I am busy.

Brayden Smiles!

Brayden has actually been smiling for close to a month, he started doing it a lot around Allan's birthday. HE'S SO CUTE!!!!