Christina's 6th Birthday Party- Horse Theme

Where do I even begin to express my adoration for this sweet girl. I don't think it's even possible. The minute I found out I was pregnant with her, my life had meaning. My life was worth something because of the precious soul who would become my daughter.

And yet, while I'd like to claim her as mine and mine alone. I've learned the lesson well. She is not mine, she is the Lord's. And rightly so, because I could never have made anything so perfect and wonderful as this little bundle of joy. She is my everything.

The past 6 years of life have been the happiest of my life. (Granted I had a wonderful childhood, happy and blissful) But the minute this kiddo was in my arms, my soul burst with the deepest joy one could possibly have. And the thing of it is, everyday that joy and love grows deeper and deeper. I am blessed beyond measure and my cup runneth over.

Christina is one of the kindness, most thoughtful, obedient, helpful little girls around. She is loving and compassionate. She is brilliant. She is a star. She is funny and has impeccable verbage. And she wanted a horse party, so here are the details.

I know, not bad. It only took an hour too.

The spread was watermelon, salad and pizza. The homemade pinata was super too.

Gorgeous best friend. Beautiful Yaya.

Seriously, is this not melt your heart cute!

We colored wooden horses while we waited for the party crew to arrive.

We played "hot horseshoe". (Like hot potato)

We had a horse hunt. (Like an Easter Egg hunt except with the above pictured)

We played musical horses. (Like musical chairs but with my little ponies we had) Carson was the ultimate champion and won this game!!!

We had sugar cube on a spoon races. And then the guests of honor arrived.

Meet Frisco.

And Rocky.

Carson, my favorite little boy friend of all times.

The lovely Maria. The other reason my heart has so much happiness.

The kids smashed open the pinata and got the loot! And it was good candy too. Thank you, only the best for my children and our guests!

BEST PICTURE OF ALL TIMES. I seriously am dedicating this picture to Amyra in her high school Senior Yearbook.

Bareback!! The people who brought the horses were excellent!! They must have gone in 200 circles around our yard giving rides to the kiddos.

The gang!!

Sisters and Best Friends.

If Maria keeps on making this smile for the Disneyland pictures I'm going to eat her toes!! It really is a great face though. We were so happy Tobi was there.

And finally, we realized Christina didn't get to have any cake. So she ate some after the party. It really was a wonderful time and we are so blessed to have the great family and friends we do. Thanks to all who came!!

1st 1st Grade Field Trip- Community Helpers

We had an interesting time today going to the Sparks Heritage Museum and Spanish Springs library.

The children were wonderful. Such a great group!

Did you know this is the only tribute and memorial in the nation to all the Chinese who worked on the transcontinental railroad? Yeah.

The above picture is absolutely correct, and yet there is only one monument to honor those who lost lives and were treated as slaves for the sake of progress? What. Honestly. Is. Wrong. With. Us.

I think the best part of the field trip was eating lunch and playing at the park.

We then took a tour of the library and that was that. Probably 5 out of 10. Just because all the community helpers were really boring.

Barbie in A Fashion Fairytale Party

 I love Barbie Movies. However... Zombie Mutant Peas were only semi entertaining. Barbie in a Fashion Fairytale wasn't my fav. But for the festivities we decorated cupcake fashion skirts.

Fashion Hats.

We did a gown walk.

Dress Up Relay Race.

We walked the catwalk, worked on learning how to "strut" and the girls used the camera to capture not just fashion, but anything they wanted to. We also had an acessorie hunt where the girls searched for candy necklaces. Bring on the sugar.

We colored some fashion sketches and enjoyed the movie. It was an interesting one. So glad we have Ram and her ladies in town! Double the fun!!

The Emerald City- Vacation Part 1

Joe's sister Rachael got married this weekend in a place I've never been... Seattle. I've never really had a desire to go there, as I tend to lean more toward sunshine and beach, but the experience was fantastic nonetheless. The whole time I just felt like moshing and ripping holes in my jeans. Or getting my nose pierced like a bull. Not really. OK, maybe.

The Space Needle was pricey and kind of like an overly tall enema. You just wonder what you've really gotten out of it. There was a group of veterans from WWII and of course I say thank you to veterans, so made me seem semi-psychotic in the elevator. Really, as we overlooked the city, it just reminded me of San Fransisco, but perhaps a bit cloudier and not quite as fantastic. Still, very very beautiful.

I was sad to leave the girls. The price would have been overkill if we'd taken them and driving wasn't an option because of timing. But I found that this was really the perfect age to leave them for 2 nights. They could talk to us, they were having a blast the entire time. I felt happy they were happy and so it made our time apart much more relaxed. They were in perfect hands with Papa and Yaya and the day we came back Christina woke up and said, "I miss Yaya already."

With that said, I was a little worried about my time with Joe. Do we still have that extra friendship outside of being parents? What would we talk about? Would everything be about the children? Come to find out, we still have plenty to say to each other and had a blast doing the most odd of things... for example, Joe wanted to check out a modern kitchen shop of all things. I don't know if he really thinks we'd ever have a kitchen like that in our house, but I patronized him anyways.

We learned there was the season opener game for the Seahawks and Joe is a huge fan. Unfortunately, $140 didn't really work for us. I felt really bad he couldn't go. Perhaps one day.

The city was colorful in a different way. We really didn't see a lot of children anywhere. People like piercings there even in their 70's. And most wardrobe hues ranged anywhere from blue to black, staying in all shades of a bruise. It was so odd because I didn't see 1 yellow car there. Seriously, with all the clouds it was pretty suffocating. I don't know how anyone could live like that.

Pike's Place was one of the highlights. Spectacular food. Like roll over and die that good of food. The atmosphere was very touristy, but fun because the locals were so extremely different from the tourists. I think 1 in every 6 Seattle natives has dreads.

Joe was like a fat kid in a bakery. Way too excited about all the seafood. While I enjoy a good shrimp every now and then, I was just happy he was ready to pass out from enjoying such fresh fish. And in all fairness, the food was insane.

After lunch we headed to the Seattle Temple where Rachael received her endowment. Then we went to a dinner where we had salad (we both were a little disappointed as we had just come from epitome of food and were craving more). We checked in to our hotel... such a great find! Then partied some more by staying out until 1AM to watch a movie. (Joe of course fell asleep right after the opening credits)

The Emerald City- Vacation Part 2

Like I said, our hotel was a find! They had a wonderful hot breakfast buffett. Plus free cookies, microwave popcorn and an awesome pool that we didn't have time to use.

We had a couple hours before the sealing, so we headed down the road to find a lighthouse festival going on. It hadn't quite started but we decided to check it out and see where it was. The local schools were involved... yes, that would be the local elementary school. I know. Wow.

But somehow, we couldn't find a place to park and ended up cutting in front of 20 cars to end up on a ferry boat. With our car. It was all very chaotic.

The ferry tole lady was extremely rude because we had cut, but in all honesty we had no clue what was going on. The boat ride was pretty spectacular. Not very much wind and very mild, no choppy waves whatnot.

We ended up here.

These little fellows were everywhere.

I wasn't necessarily wanting to spend the day my son died on vacation. We really were put in a difficult situation. Rachael has no family that is temple worthy except for Joe (and I) and it was important to her that we come. However, who gets married on September 11? Did I want to be away from my husband that day? No. Was Joe's death day any different really from other days? Each day really isn't that bad, but my heart still hurts. I think it all worked out OK. We ended up on a beautiful, peaceful beach and I could just feel God around me. That the beauty around me was just a glimpse into what the resurrection will be like with my son.

The shock of his death seemed to be a barrier that could never be overcome. The physical and mental anguish is indescribable. But even with all that "stopping"... my breath, my life, my world, my happiness- time continued. And I know we were carried (and are still carried) by a higher power, our dear Savior and Heavenly Father. The prayers and thoughts and love from our family and friends have been the hands that lift us past the devestation and panic. Jojo is our angel. He watches over us. He does God's work on the other side of the veil. He's perfect and He's ours for eternity. The very first commandment God gave was to multiply and replenish the earth. Family. Why would He do that and then after we die no more families? Are families not our greatest joy besides the knowledge Jesus Christ lives? It makes sense logically and naturally that families can follow in the life to come. Beyond logic and sense, I have felt and know this principle to be true without really being able to have words accurately describe my conviction.

I looked down at his dead body, I touched his cold arm and knew that was not him. He was more than a shell. He was more than a beautiful casing. He was there, but not in his body. He was perfect, I knew that from the moment he was born. I couldn't stop saying it because it was a part of me, this knowledge. I saw him and I knew heaven on earth. But God needed him. It was not what I ever expected or wanted, but again, Christ gives peace and understanding that surpass our own. I sat out and looked at the beautfiul water in this place I never in a million years thought I'd be on a day that I never in a million years thought I'd have to have and thought, it's Ok. God is all powerful, all knowing and all wise. We are to be resurrected and I will be reunited once again with my sweet son.

Joe spent the majority of time on this island in the bathroom while I was experiencing this profound sense of being.