Update continued...

Next up is Eva, because she is always upset that she has to be last all the time!!

Back in January Eva was finally able to dance in the School Dance Festival.  She had been watching it for the last 4 years and was more than ready to strut her stuff to the "Chicken Dance".  She did a wonderful job shaking her little tail feathers around the gym with her classmates.

We did get snow this last winter, not too much, but a couple of storms rolled through town dumping enough of the fluffy white stuff to let the girls go out and play.  Being the youngest means that you get the hand-me-down's that are still too big for you- good thing she has such a cute little face peeking out of all those large layers!! Of course it wouldn't be fun without our neighbor Kate playing too.

February brings with it Grandparents Day at the school.  With all three girls at the school this year it was a little tricky to cover all the classes but the Davis' were up to the task.  Eva was delighted to have Grandma spend the morning with her "Because I never had Grandma in my class before" she told me most emphatically.

Of course we couldn't miss the huge class celebration of the first 100 days of school.  Eva made this poster of 100 pennies mostly by herself (Grandpa Griffiths helped with the hot glue) and she was so proud of how it turned out.  The lady at the store thought I was crazy when I asked to trade in a dollar bill for a bunch of pennies though :)

Eva LOVES dogs.  That was an understatement.  Eva REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVES dogs!  She has booked marked a million different dog breeds on our tablet and comes to me multiple times a day to let me know that "I really like this cute one mom, and look, it is very low shedding and really good with children".  We will not be getting a dog.  So Paul bought her this life size puppy and she quickly named him Luke (after our friends dog that had recently passed away) and he is now her constant companion. She has taken him everywhere, slept with him nightly, and buckled him in safely next her her on all our car rides. She wants to bring him with her to church, but that is where I draw the line! 

Our tree out front was in full bloom and this year Eva was able to climb it all by herself to immerse her senses in all it's pinkalicious glory.

Eva lost her first upper tooth!  It was a long hard battle between father and daughter.  I mean truthfully, a two month battle of wills before she let him pull it's brown wobbly self out- which fell in her mouth and then she promptly swallowed it!!!

That happened just in time because the next day Eva graduated Kindergarten!!!  Our school doesn't do a big ceremony, but they do spend the last day on a field trip to a park in Alpine for a picnic and playing games all day- oh, and they get to wear JEANS! Such excitement!! 
Eva had a great year in school. Our shy little girl that had never been without her sister's opened up and blossomed under the care of our beloved teacher Mrs. Strong.  She was a well behaved girl who followed instruction, learned really well, and became friends with all the girls in her class ("not the boys mom!).  Math came very easy for her, as did her phonograms and spelling.  Eva truly excelled in her reading.  When the class was finally ready to start sending home reader books in January, Eva skipped them all and went straight into the 1st Grade chapter books!!  She loves to read.  All her free time is spent with a book. We still have to go to the library every week just to keep her stocked up with new books. We are so proud of Eva!!

Soccer!  After the last day of school, Eva's soccer team played their final game of the season and ended it as undefeated champions!!  This spring she still loved the game and found herself more in the mix.  She loved to kick the ball down the field, block the other team from scoring and she even scored 3 goals!

The "Knight Lightning's"  were a very fun team (the only other girl, Mya, was missed on the last day). Coach Lee was so great and wonderful with these kids and hopefully we will have him again next year too.

 Oh, and it is all about the trophy for this girl too!!

And now Eva is ready for summer!!

Let's catch each other up!

Alright, I've been kicking myself for weeks to get a new post up- what? You are still enjoying that we are stuck at Easter here on the blog?  Well, I am tired of looking at the same pictures when I pop in here to check out what you have all been up to!

Naturally we have been doing ALOT over here these last 8 weeks.  Where to begin, where to begin? So I decided to do a series of quick (or not so quick) posts that highlight each of my girls and their grand accomplishments throughout spring, putting us nicely ready to highlight this fantastic summer ahead of us.

So lets begin!! First up, because she is my first born, is Abby:

For starters, I need to answer all of your questions about her science project!  Oh yeah, that thing I was alluding to so long ago. Well, she did a fantastic job putting the scientific method into practice finding out which battery brand last the longest and which brand is the best value. And she received the highest level ribbon for her work.

Results:  Duracell was the leader in performance. However, Kirkland brand was so close in longevity while having a lower price point thus making it the winner for best value.  (nice to know I have been spending my money so wisely all these years!)

At the end of Feb. she had her class Devotional Presentation.  In the fourth grade the students study Utah History.  This was great because they took 8 field trips during the school year to discover and have a hands on look at the things they were learning about.  Thus the theme of the play reflected all they had learned.

Abby did a great job delivering her lines about the Prophet Brigham Young and the values he taught to the people as they made the trek west.

Her soccer team competed in an Indoor full size field league up in Salt Lake.


She loved this venue, playing in the "bubble" was so cool to the entire team.  They were playing teams a year older and they finished in 4th place, I was pretty proud of them.

For spring break we went up to visit my grandparents in Shelley Idaho.

My girls have never spent this kind of one on one time with them before.  They were spoiled rotten by the greats!! They had pies and Ice cream of every kind for them daily and we crafted together, went to the Idaho Falls Museum with my Aunt Bonnie and cousins, played at the park, and went to dinner with Uncle Stan and Aunt Donna.  It was so relaxing and fun.

This was my favorite picture of the trip.  Paul had it right when he said "This photo could have been taken 30 years ago of you and your sisters and it would have looked exactly the same".  So true!!

Mother's Day-

Just a photo to show me with my girls- love them to pieces and they showered me with thoughtful love all day.

Abby made this plate for me in her Activity Days group- I will love putting it out on display every year :)

Every May the school has Shakespeare Week. A celebration of the time, and masterful writings of this great author and poet.  Everyone in the school dresses up in period clothing and focus on it in their History, geography, and writing classes.  Everyday they attend an act in the play of choice, this year it was "Comedy of Errors" performed by the 8th grade.

 Because Abby has grown so much, it was time to make her some new costumes.  Because my mother was still recovering from her broken arm I had to do the majority of the sewing- this was new! We made two white under gowns and then a Purple, Blue, and Orange over dress.  I think they turned out so well.  She LOVED them and really that is all that matters
.
Outdoor soccer and Soccer Academy started up again in March and played until the last week of May.
She was in her final session of Academy- they were the graduating seniors and had a fun goodbye party from their coaches and the younger girls.

 She will miss the fun times they had together as they worked together in their skills training.

This is Coach "Gel", Abby loved her so much and she was so great with Abby over the three years they worked together at Academy.

This season her competition team was back in the girls league playing their own age again.   The team did so well and finished the season as Division Champs- Go Storm!!

Of course the Trophy was really what it was all about to this girl!!!

I DIE over this picture when we found her crashed that night on the couch after the championship game-

  Oh to be 10 again when "All was right with the world"!!

After that, last week we had to endure tryouts for the U11 team.  I don't handle the pressure very well, with 52 girls trying to impress and snag one of the 12 spots on the team! But Abby is a seasoned veteran at this point and rose to the challenge and once again made the team she really wanted to be a part of.
Way to to go Abby, we are so proud of you and all you are doing!!

And then it was the end of the 4th grade.

 Abby is so sad to say goodbye to Mrs Knight :(  Seriously the BEST teacher she ever had!  Also her best friend Natalie is moving back to Tennessee this summer:( but she left with her usual heaping pile of academic awards and we couldn't be more proud at how well she did this year in her school work!

And NOW Abby is ready for summer!!!

Easter 2013

I know, I know!! One post last month, seriously.  What can I say, I just haven't been feeling it lately but today I am driven to post up about our holiday.

My brother Cory and his cute kids came over and joined us on Saturday for some Easter festivities. First we went to the City Egg Hunt at the park by our house.  We haven't gone in four years because last time we went the girls were too intimidated and only came away with a couple of eggs.  Boy how a little time and maturity changes things- plus having some cousins with us didn't hurt!

We came away with tons of eggs and lots of goodies- including Abby finding a dollar in one of hers, score!!

It was the most perfect day.  The sun was shining brightly, there was no wind, and it was almost 60 degrees in the morning. We were shedding our layers and couldn't believe our good fortune at how wonderful it was outside. So we spent the rest of the afternoon doing our own "Number Egg" hunt at home, had lunch, and then went back to the park for more play time together.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures of this, but just know it was a grand time together!!

Sure enough the Easter Bunny did come that night and the girls were thrilled with all the treasures, although Eva has been asking more than she should if I am the Easter Bunny :) But believing Liv is quick to tell her,  "of COURSE NOT, how could mom go to all those houses in one night?"  I mean really Eva, don't be absurd!!!

Then of course we all put on our new Easter dresses and withstood the yearly photo torture session before we made our way to church.

I hope you all had a terrific holiday with your families too!!!

All dressed in white...

Olivia had a lovely baptism day last Saturday.  It was filled with happiness, joy, and loads of family and friends gathering together in support of her choice to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  As promised, here are some pictures of her in honor of her day of celebration.

I adore that braided crown we weaved in her hair,  accented charmingly with those bright white daisies.  Her dress was complete and total perfection, beautiful and delicate just like her.  We found those shoes last minute and they just had to be ours! They anchored her outfit and pulled the entire look together :) As always, Olivia is a dream to photograph, and I love having the opportunity to spend that time together with her making each other laugh and smile.

Happy Birthday Olivia

WOW!! Olivia celebrated her 8th birthday today.

Did you notice her big birthday request?  Look closer. Yep, she finally got her ears pierced, despite her almost overwhelming nerves!! She was a champ.  Also, she wanted this pony cake more than words can express. Her love affair with the "My Little Ponies" show on the HUB network is pretty big.  Mix that with her love of collecting and you will understand how we have been looking for that elusive orange "AppleJack" pony for months.  How perfect it was to find it gracing the top of this birthday cake at the local bakery!!!

This afternoon we met up with four of her favorite people at Jack and Jill Bowling Lanes and knocked down some pins together.
 

They all had a great time, this one even rolled her very first strike!!

The excitement and joy was overflowing.

These are some pretty fun and silly girls :)

Next week I will be taking her official photo's in her new white dress.  I will try my best to get them posted up in a timely manner!!

We love you Olivia - It sure is GREAT to be Eight!!!

Twelve

  When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like these old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No: I won't give up

I'm still looking up, I'm still looking up

-Jason Mraz

We just returned from a fun three day getaway celebrating our anniversary. We had a lovely romantic weekend enjoying each others company and reconnecting. The Heber Valley is so beautiful this time of year. It is nice to close the door on year 11. This past year has been more than a little crazy.  We have been working through A LOT of stuff together.  We have been really trying to make our marriage stronger and better.  I won't lie, I am happy to close that door and open this next one- the sun is shinning bright in there and it has all the promise in the world to be our best yet!!

Happy 12th Anniversary!

Love you P-Nut!!

Volcanic Eruption

Wow, that was a posting break!!! I am so tired of seeing that last post, I'm sure you are as well :) To be honest, now that I'm not doing my Project 365 anymore I just don't know what to post!! I have been doing that for an entire year and now I just feel kind of lost creatively.  Paul told me I should just keep doing the photo a day then, but I don't need the self inflicted pressure of not completing it right now :)

 Lucky for you this last week Olivia set about making a volcano project for her science class at school.  She was thrilled with the idea of creating her own masterpiece and having it erupt in front of her class in all it's gooey goodness glory. I'm sure in her mind it was going to be EPIC!!

Paul came up with the master design plan of water bottle/cardboard structure and to then cover it in  paper-mache'.

After that was completely dry, I gave her the paints and she went to town for, oh, 3 hours at least!!

Then she took it to class to show it off and see what all the other kids created.

Finally it was Olivia's turn to erupt her volcano

Perfection! She was delighted with the results!