Improtu Photo shoot

I don't have a lot of pictures of Elena looking at the camera so I decided to take some pictures of her outside with her actually looking in the right direction. Here are some of the better ones.

Out with the small and in with the tall

So we had been debating on wether to move Elena into a twin size bed because she was getting a little too big for her toddler bed, but we knew that another twin bed would not fit in the room that she and Patrick are sharing. So we talked bunk beds. We ended up finding a great deal at Ikea so we bit the bullet. The only problem was that we bought a bed for Patrick almost 2 years ago and we felt it would be a waste to get rid of it. So we decided to keep it and take it apart and keep it under the bunk bed for when the kids have separate rooms in our future house. So we opened the boxes and of course the kids loved playing with the package foam. I laid down on the bed for a few minutes and when I came out this is what I found. A took a few days to finally get all the tiny white pieces.

 So Jesús and I set up the bunk bed so we could get rid of the toddler bed and move in Patricks new dresser, since his old bed had drawers underneath. 

 The kids pretty much love it. Elena has actually slept much better now that she has the space to move around a little. And her bedding that she got from christmas actually fits now.

Fathers Day

I'm a little late on Fathers Day but I wanted to make sure that I posted how much I love my husband and that I think he is a wonderful father. He is so sweet when the kids snuggle with him and just soaks up those moments. He is so good when Patrick needs some Dad time and will talk him out side and play water balloons or take him for a short ride on the motorcycle. I love him every day and am so glad he is by my side to raise these sweet kids.

I also want to say how grateful I am for my Dad. He doubts he was a good dad but I have so many good memories of him and spending time with us one on one. He had to be gone a lot with work and the National Guard but I know that I was so proud of him and all that he did for our family and our country and I looked forward to him coming home and us going out to dinner and laughing all night in the corner booth at Marie Calendars. I remember  him taking me to TCBY in his red jeep and we just sat on the curb and ate and talked. I loved our motorcycle birthday rides and trips to the Honda center to  see what new bike he was looking at. I treasured the times going to his office on a saturday and hanging out while he had to work for a little while. He has taught me so much about being a hard worker and standing up for what I believe is right. I really look up to him and hope that I can be more like him. I have his voice in my head everyday inspiring me to do better. I love you Dad!!!

Swimming Lessons

I signed the kids up for swimming lessons at our rec center and I didn't know about them but I was really excited. The first day Elena was loving it and even ran away from her class to tell me she could touch the bottom. Patrick like it was really scared to do the things his teacher told him. By the second day his teacher told me that maybe she should be moved down to level 1. He had already taken level 1 in Bakersfield and there was no level 1 at the same time Elena's class was so I really didn't want to do that. So we went home and practiced in our pool and then the next morning I left for girls camp. I worried about him all morning and then Jesus texted me and told me he had done great and his teacher could keep him in the class. I was excited to watch him when I got back. 

Elena was really brave until it came to jumping off the diving board. She was too scared and it was a little cold that day so she opted not to. Patrick did though and it was a small 12 foot pool which he jumped into and then swam to the side. He had no idea it was that deep and was so excited when I told him he has swam in a such a deep pool.

We were allowed to take pictures the last day. Elena had two kids from her primary class with her and she and Chase had the most fun.

I felt bad for her teacher because Elena was always trying to swim away and her teacher was so patient trying to get her to listen.

Then they moved them to the bigger pool

Patrick was already there so I got to watch his skilz.

Elena

I really like Patricks teacher because she was willing not to give up on him and made sure she talked to me after class everyday to let me know how he was doing.

Here's another of Elenas escape attempts.

Here's Patrick doing the backstroke

Mr. Cool wearing his sisters goggles because he forgot his.

Elena and chase kept splashing their teachers.

All the kids got certificates and a piece of candy. We are definitely going to practice so he isn't so scared next year.

Elena probably things she is ready for the swim team.

Shady Lakes 2012

So I was called to be the Assistant girls camp director for our ward not long after being called the Laurel advisor. I was excited because I love girls camp but nervous because I heard Texas girls camp can be different. Because of the heat the girls can't sleep in tents so they sleep in air conditioned trailers with bathrooms. There's also a big fire ant problem so thats another reason they can't be on the ground. I was so sad we wouldn't be in tents and especially in the mountains. I love the mountains. The girls are also allowed to wear shorts because of the heat. That was actually nice. 

The girls were in a crazy mood all week. They kept trying to scare us by jumping out from behind the corner. They loved banging on the wall while I was in the shower. When I got there the first day it was so hot and I was preparing myself for the hottest week of my life but then it started to rain. Then pour then thunder and lightening. It was a big storm that lasted about 2 days. The good thing was that it cooled down and it was really nice. 

This picture is of two of the girls that snuck into one of the leaders beds and tried to scare but she got them first.

The girls were supposed to be able to swim in the lake but when the stake leaders got there they saw water moccasins everywhere (which is a very poisonous water snake) and some other kind of biting critters. So instead the girls were only allowed to boat and canoe around the lake. One morning they were standing on the dock and the saw this snake catch a fish. It was pretty fascinating. 

The lake was gorgeous!! I went for a run with my Mother in Law one morning and it was the prettiest run I have ever been on.

The girls loved catching frogs and even found a baby bird that had wandered away from its family. 

There were horses and a donkey hanging out on the other side of the lake every day.

 Thursday night we celebrated the 100th year of either Girls camp or Young Womens, I can't remember. But to commemorate we lit candles and let them float across the late and then they lit off paper lanterns while we sang. It was amazing!!! So beautiful!

The girls enjoyed stealing my camera.

I was lovingly given the name "Sister Burrito" and it has sort of stuck. 

I love all these girls and I had so much fun! I did discover I'm not as young as I thought I was and I was way too tired to stay up late or act crazy without having a head ache the next day.

 The bishops came up the last night and our sweet bishop was such a good sport and totally rocked the girls camp t-shirt!!

I did survive a girls camp in Texas and fortunately didn't have to experience a tornado (which they did have to survive a couple of years ago) and was able to have fun because wherever you go, the goal is still the same: to be closer to our Heavenly Father and come closer together.

Beca graduated!

We were lucky enough to go to Beca's graduation. We are so proud of her.

Swimming

We've been swimming a lot lately. Its been humid (which is normal for around these parts) so it feels good to at least be in a pool rather than just sticky and hot. Grandma and Grandpa have a community pool which is nice because its not too deep.

Then sometimes we go with crazy Aunt Beca.

It had to happen eventually

I think every parent will deal with their children cutting their own hair at some point. I have tried to keep scissors out of reach to avoid this very situation however I guess it was inevitable. 

Patrick had scissors to cut a tag off something and then I told him to put them away. I new something bad would happen if the scissors stayed in their room. All of sudden Elena comes to me with a handful of hair. She told me "Look Mom, its my garbage hair" Patrick yelled from their room "Don't tell her!!!!" When I got the story out of them I found out that Elena had told Patrick to cut her hair so she could be like tangled and it would turn brown and lose its power. It wasn't too bad, just a little off the side, nothing a clip won't fix if its in a pony tail.

Flooding

So one morning Jesús woke up to get ready for work and he woke me up by saying the bathroom was flooded with water. We walked into the kitchen and discovered the same thing. Our bedroom closet, the laundry room and the pantry were all flooded. Part of the carpet in the front room was pretty wet too. We went outside to find the neighbors had it even worse. The whole hall outside our door was flooded and there was water dripping from a hole in the sealing. It turns out the person living about our neighbors had a filter on their water pipe under the kitchen sink and it broke and flooded all night. The neighbors across the hall noticed the waterfall coming down their walls about 2am and tried to call the emergency number we were given for the apartment but nobody answered for 2 hours. The had to have everything replaced.

Aunt Sara's Engaged!!!

Sara is Engaged!!

 To this guy! His name is Bryan. 

This was Patricks reaction when I told him. I have a feeling that Patrick and Bryan will be good friends.