Baby Jesus

There are times when Hallie says the silliest things, but today she was so sweet it literally brought tears to my eyes. We were listening to Christmas music and one of the songs you could really feel the Spirit. So Hallie said she liked the song and I asked her it if it made her feel good inside. She said " Yes, it makes me feel like I want to hold baby Jesus in my heart". It was the sweetest thing to hear her say that. Sometimes I wonder if Hallie really "gets" what I try to teach her because she always acts like she doesn't care. But it's those little moments like that one really validates all of the effort I put into teaching her. And to know that such a little girl can recognize the Spirit is really inspiring to me. It's nice to have little children remind you of what Christmas is really about.

Heart Checkup

Asher had an appoinment with his cardiologist today. Things just look better every year! Everything looks great & sounds great. That second surgery that was always a possibility is now slightly possible as an adult. He has asolutely no restrictions on anything and instead of yearly checkups we are going to take him in two years. It was such a shock when we found out he needed a surgery when he was only 2 months old and for everything to be going so well now is such a blessings for all of us.

ALLERGIES?

Today while Hallie and Asher were eating lunch I was in the other room taking care of Natalie. I heard Asher growling and roaring at Hallie. She told him to stop so he continued doing it longer and louder. That's very typical of Asher. He teases her all the time. Well, she finally got sick of it and said "Asher, I am allergic to being scared so stop it!" He growled again so she yelled "I AM ALLERGIC!! STOP!" Allergic of being scared??? Where does she come up with this stuff?

ORGAN DONORS

Are you an organ donor? I am. I realize that not everyone is okay with the idea of being an organ donor and I wonder why. Lately I have heard so many people have a negative view about it and I really don't understand. Ever since the day I got my license at 15, I have been an organ donor. I figure that if someone needs an organ and mine will work for them, why not? Especially after Asher having heart issues. If he needed a heart, I would hope and pray like crazy that we would be able to find a donor's heart for him. Now I know it will never come to that, but the realization of what it would feel like to be so helpless and desperate is enough to make me an organ donor. We donate blood when we are alive. Is it really any different than donating our organs when we are dead? I'm not okay with donating my organs for research, but to save someone else would be the greatest gift to them and their family. I understand if it is a religious belief, if you have diseased organs, or something to that effect if you are not a donor. And I know that not everyone has to be an organ donor, but why the negative viewpoint? What is your opinion?

SILLY KIDS

I was looking through my pictures and found some that reminded me of some interesting times. So here they are!

I know I mentioned all of Asher's loose teeth. Here's a picture with his two front teeth missing. I can't believe he has lost 7 teeth already. His front teeth are growing back in and they are huge. They are so big they actually pushed out another baby tooth that wasn't ready to come out yet!

Then I did Hallie''s hair awhile ago and I thought it looked really cute. She cried and cried and cried. She said she didn't want to go to school anymore and then she cried some more. Then I told her she was lucky because I never had cute hair as a little girl. Everyone had cute hair but me! After telling her how lucky she was that she got to go to school with cute hair she cried even harder. Then after going to school and everyone telling her how cute it was, then she liked it but wouldn't admit that she did. I hope she isn't always this difficult when it comes to doing her hair!

CUTE PICS

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A NEW BEST FRIEND

Asher seems to have a new best friend. Natalie just loves him. Mark and Hallie try to get to know her, but only Asher has actually gotten her attention. She always stops crying to listen to him talk. When Mark talks to her she avoids eye contact at all costs! Asher is really helpful and loves Natalie as much as she loves him. It's been fun seeing how my kids have reacted to a new baby!

TAGGED

#1. I hate feet! Ugh. They are ugly and sometimes stinky. I don't care if you have "cute feet" because they are still ugly to me! I hate touching feet and I hate my feet being touched! They are just gross.

#2. I'm addicted to the Sims 2. I was addicted to the original Sims until Mark bought me Sims 2. Now it's a whole new addiction. Now if I could just get Sims 3...

#3. I don't understand when people get obsessed over movies or books. For example, Harry Potter, The Twilight Series, and so on. Sure, they are great story lines, but the obsession baffles me.

#4. I think chocolate is overrated.

#5. I love finding & trying new recipes. I don't mind cooking as long as it is something fun to cook. And I love to bake.

#6. When I am in Wal-Mart, I look for people who don't look trashy. Some days it is very hard to find anyone!

#7. I wish I could still toilet paper people's houses! I am too old now, but back in the day it was so fun! Now I feel like I would be a bad example for my kids and as an adult, I wouldn't want to get caught!

WELCOME NATALIE!

After a long and eventful pregnancy, Natalie is finally here! She was born October 19th weighing 7 lbs 8 oz. Labor was easy and delivery was even easier. I feel that I totally deserved an easy delivery! She is a sweet little baby. Asher thinks she is great and Hallie is taking her time and is still unsure about her. While we were still in the hospital, a nurse came to get Natatlie. Hallie told the nurse that Natalie needed a bath. The nurse said "oh really?" and than Hallie responded by saying "She smells like a horse! She really needs a bath!" Hallie always has the right thing to say to make you laugh! Anyway, it will be fun with a new baby.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween was quite fun. We dressed Natalie up as a cow. She looked super cute! This picture is the only one with her eyes open. Unfortunately you can't see the entire costume. Owell.

Ash & Hallie was Batman & Bat Girl. I think these are the cutest costumes so far. We went to Jennifer's neighborhood to trick-or-treat. They thought that was great. Pretty soon they will be old enough to go without us! But it was fun.

OUR RAINMAN

Mark said the other day that Native Americans had a rainman. Well, we have one in our family too. Whenever Asher prays for snow, it snows! If only Mark would stop convincing him to pray for all this snow! Can you believe this snow in October? I tell him he can't pray for snow until after Halloween, but he keeps praying because he wants to go trick or treating on a snowmobile. Crazy kid. He lost his two front teeth. He looks hilarious. I can't help but laugh when he smiles. So now he smiles all of the time. I'll have to post a pic later. He has two bottom ones missing too. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. It's kinda sad! Soon we will have another addition to our family that grows up too fast! I'm actually hoping my doctor will induce me this weekend. I'm so tired of being pregnant and appointments and all the pregnancy pains! I have an appointment this afternoon so we will see what happens. I also don't want a Halloween baby! We'll keep you guys posted.

BABY UPDATE

Every week that I go to the Perinatologist he would say to expect to schedule a transfusion for the following week. I don't know why, but this baby has finally decided to cooperate and every week we could put it off until the following week. At my appointment this Wednesday, he said we probably won't have to do another one at all! That is incredible. If the baby shows signs of being anemic we will probably just deliver the baby instead of messing around with transfusions. I'm sure that the latest we will have a this baby is mid October. But nothing has gone as planned with this pregnancy so who knows what will happen! I am looking forward to not having dr. appointments all of the time! I have at least 3 a week. My kids are even sick of it. Hallie is excited because I don't have any appointments today! What an exciting day. Anyway, I thought that was great news because it was not fun doing the first transfusion! Now I just hope this baby cooperates with me after she is born because I don't know that I can handle having two stubborn girls!

LIL' MEG

At the beginning of the year Meg had a seizure. She was fine, but it was a little scary. Well, the other night Meg had what we thought was another seizure. Mark realized she wasn't breathing so we started rubbing her and trying to stimulate her so she would breathe. Finally he had to blow air into her lungs to get her breathing again. We thought she'd be fine in a while, but it took her an hour before she was able to try to move. She couldn't keep her balance and couldn't really move. The next day Mark took her to the vet and found out she had an infection. He said it could be spinal meningitis and so we went ahead and treated her for it without knowing for sure so we wouldn't have to do a spinal tap. He also said that she could be suffering from some kind of trauma because she was having neurological issues. The worst case scenario is that it was a stroke! He gave her steroids in case it was trauma to reduce the risk of blood on the brain and swelling. It was pretty scary. We weren't sure she was going to be okay because of the amount of time she went without oxygen. She seems to be getting better though. I think she did have a seizure and just wasn't going to come out of it, but she did because we got her breathing again. Bo was playing with her so maybe something he did or something we did while trying to revive her hurt her neck. That's why she couldn't move. She is slowly getting better and becoming her old self again. I don't know what I would do if we lost Meg! She is irreplaceable to me. She is the dog that made me into a weird dog person who buys clothes and accessories for their pets! Anyway, I'm glad that it wasn't a stroke or something more serious. Hopefully Meg will be with us for a long time.

SHOPPING

The other day I was getting groceries and I kept running into this lady who was driving me crazy! Her shopping cart was piled full of stuff and it was not organized in the slightest bit. She would grab something and toss it into her cart. Where ever it would land, that's where it stayed. Then I ended up in the checkout stand behind her. I just sat there and stared at her cart. It was such a mess! I looked at mine. All of the dairy was together neatly, all of the boxes were stacked nicely, all of the like items were together and orderly. I couldn't stand looking at that lady's cart anymore, so I looked next to me. There I saw yet another shopping cart piled high carelessly. Then I looked behind me. Same thing!! Then I watched everyone else and I saw only one lady who had things somewhat organized. So I thought to myself, "I must be some kind of weirdo because I'm the only one with an organized shopping cart!" Then the crazy lady in front of me started putting her groceries on the conveyor belt. She just tossed everything up there in a haphazard manner. Her meat was on top of tortillas, her fruit was on top of her meat, and her bread was squished somewhere in there. I couldn't stand to watch! After actually paying attention to how other people fill their carts, I can't help but wonder if someone else out there is just like me when it comes to shopping or if I'm the only weirdo!

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

Hallie's first day of preschool was yesterday. She had a great time. As soon as we got to the car she was like "Aren't you going to ask me 'How was school today'?". She was so excited about what she did. I asked her about the new friends she made and she couldn't remember names, but they were all boys. I don't know about Hallie! It's the same things at church. Hallie is nice to girls, but as soon as a boy comes along that she likes, they are best friends! She just doesn't make friends with girls as easy as boys. Hopefully as she gets older she'll just be one of the boys instead of boy crazy! Anyway, school is good because it is giving the kids a break from one another and it also makes it easier to spend some one on one time with each of them.

AIRPLANES

I'm sure that everyone has heard that the I.F. airport's main runway will be closed for about a month for new upgrades being done to it. Now all of the planes are flying right over my house! How irritating. It's usually helicopters and small planes, but now even the smaller jets are right above us. Yesterday I saw an airplane shadow on the ground bigger than my car! It's almost scary having planes so close. All I can think about is all of the stories on the news of airplanes crashing into houses. Well, if that happens at least we could buy a new house! Anyway, I'm so tired of hearing airplanes every 10 minutes. This is going to be a long month.

ASHER

Asher is silly. Very rarely do you get a smile out of him. More than half of our pics of him are like this one. No smile, just a silly face. He has two loose teeth right now and he's already lost two other ones. Asher is growing up way too fast! He picked up teasing from Mark and now he has to tease Hallie all of the time. He tries to be sneaky so we can't tell he's teasing, but he doesn't realize he has a smart Mom! Plus Hallie is a tattle tale. I just have to brag for a minute about how smart Asher is. His brain is like a little sponge and he is so eager to learn. He could recite the alphabet by himself before he was 2. He could recognize letters in preschool and not many other kids could. As soon as I taught him to count to 100, he never forgot and kept counting. He loves to write and is actually pretty good at penmanship. His kindergarten teacher is way impressed. I taught him the basics of reading and now he is actually pretty good at reading! He surprises me everyday. I am so proud of his learning accomplishments and he is such a special boy. He really adds a lot of great things to our family. He is so sweet and tender-hearted. My Patriarchal Blessing tells me the importance of my kids and I can totally see that in Asher. We are so blessed to have him as part of our family!

ALL ABOUT MY HUSBAND

1- Where did you meet?
Kelly Canyon. He was a ski lift operator and I was snowboarding. I had Kolton with me and Mark had to ask every time I got on his lift if Kolton was my son. Later Mark told me he thought I was a granola. Me? Granola? Seriously? Anyway, he thought I was riding his ski lift to see him and to his disappointment, I was only riding it because I was with Kolton and it was Skiiers Lane, the easiest run at Kelly's!

2- How long did you date before you were married?
6 months

3- How long have you been married for?
7 years

4- What does he do that surprises you?
He always comes home with new recreational vehicles. It's not too much of a surprise because he talks to me before he buys anything, but I never realize that he is serious about it that day!

5- What's your favorite feature about him?
His eyes.

6- What's your favorite quality about him?
He is hard working and I know that the kids and I mean the world to him. Plus he has a sense of humor.

7- Does he have a nickname for you? What is it?
Just recently he has decided to call me Heath. I think it started out as a joke more than anything.

8- What's his favorite color?
Blue.

9- What's his favorite food?
Anything that's home cooking country comfort food.

10-What is his favorite sport?
UFC/MMA

11- Who said I love you first?
He did.

12- When and where was your fist kiss?
Our first date in his parents living room.

13-What's your favorite thing to do as a couple?
It has changed since we have had kids, but anything together is fun.

14-Do you have kids?
Yes. Asher, Hallie, and one on the way.

15- What's a hidden talent that he has?
He is a self-proclaimed professional singer. He sings to everything and knows almost every song!

16- How old is he?
30. He claims to be 29, but really, he's 30.

17- What's his favorite type of music?
Hard Rock, Rap, Country. Pretty much anything. For some weird reason, he has been listening to the oldies lately. Strange.

18- What do you admire most about him?
His willingness to help those in need. He is also very outgoing, it's as though he has never met a stranger!

19-What's his favorite past time?
Snowmobiling, 4 wheeling with Asher, anything to get away from every day life.

20- Do you think he is going to read this?
Eventually

HALLIE

Hallie is so funny! I think she always finds a way to make people laugh, even if she's being serious. The other day Mark had the kids and was in Rigby. He has an uncle Max who lives up there so he said, "Should we stop by and see Max?" Hallie replied, "Who? MAX-ican?" Mark told me what she said and I couldn't stop laughing! Those little comments of hers are just hilarious. Today she was riding her bike and got mad because she was having trouble with it. She jumped off, hit her seat, and said, "Bike, COME ON!" Her expression was just so funny. And she has to know everything. You can't give her fluffy little answers to her questions. The most recent question that won't go away is "Mom, how is your baby going to come out?" I tell her it will just be born, so she asks if I'm going to have a c-section. I tell her "No, it is just going to be born." and that answer is not good enough. How do you tell a 4 year old how babies are born? Mark told her the stork would bring it to us. Then she asks "How is the stork machine going to help get the baby out?" He had to explain it is not a machine, but a bird. He explained how storks deliver babies and Hallie said, "NO! The baby is in Mom's belly! How is it going to get out?". I still don't have an answer for her. I know everyone else has experienced those fun little moments with Hallie. Even though she was such a pain as a baby, we definitely couldn't live with out her!

KINDERGARTEN

Asher's first day of school was today. I can't believe it! It was only an hour and I got to go with him, but it is still sad. Tomorrow I'll probably cry after I drop him off at school. But Asher is so excited that it makes it hard to be sad! At least 1/4 of his class is hispanic and they don't speak English! I told Asher that if he talks to them enough he could learn Spanish. Ha ha! He said he doesn't want to learn Spanish. We know two kids in his class, so that might make it funner for him. He misses his preschool teacher, but he'll be just fine in Kindergarten.
Hallie starts preschool next week. She is looking forward to that! We are sad that summer is over, but I think my kids are ready for school.

BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Well, as most of you know, I had to get a blood transfusion for the baby last week in SLC. Thank you everyone who worried so much. I know there was no way for anyone to help at the time, but thank you for all of your prayers and concerns and offers of helping us out for these next few weeks, months, or however long it will end up being! Overall, it was a scary experience because the antigen M is a milder antigen and usually isn't a cause for concern. I have expected things to be fine this entire time, now I'm not so sure! Now I know that even if the doctors say "rarely" or "5 % chance" or anything else, I should be prepared to be that rare case! I know that everything will turn out fine, it is just a matter of getting to that point where everything is fine. I know that everyone's prayers for me were heard and answered. A prayer seems like a small way to help out, but I can't begin tell you how much it really did help. I've seen and experienced what a simple prayer can do, and once again, THANK YOU! Now I just have to get ready for this baby in case she decides to come early!

ABC TAG

* A - Attached or single: Attached

* B - Best Friend: Mark, Shannon, and of course my sisters!
* C - Cake or Pie: Hmm, depends on my mood. But I rarely eat pie, so when it's around, I eat it!
* D - Day: Saturday
* E - Essential Items: Sunglasses
* F - Favorite Color: Red
* G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears
* H - Hometown: Idaho Falls, ID
* I - Indulgences: ice cream and cookies
* J - January or July: Both are great, but there is more to do in July.
* K - Kids: Asher, Hallie, and one on the way!
* L - Life is incomplete without: Family
* M - Marriage Date: August 3rd, 2001
* N - Number of Siblings: 5 - 2 sisters and 3 brothers
* O - Oranges or Apples: Apples (Gala are the best!)
* P - Phobia or Fears: Spiders, especially hobos! Anything slimy or squirmy. I hate my blinds being open at night because you never know who could be looking in!!
* Q - Quote: Not a big quote person. However, one I tend to say a lot is "We'll see". My kids know that when I say that, it basically means "No"! Mark quotes me on that all the time.
* R - Reason to Smile: My happy family
* S - Season: Fall. I love the leaves changing colors and the smell in the air. It's also the beginning of the holiday season.
* T - Tag three: Jennifer, Kelsie, McKenzie (I'll tag them too so maybe they will do it!)
* U - Unknown fact about me: It takes a lot for me to consider someone a friend. I just don't let a lot of people close to me. I have a lot of sorta friends, but not too many I consider a real friend.
* V - Vegetarian or Not: NOT
* W - Worst habit: I like to stay up late.
* X - X-rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds. There is always something wrong with you if you have to get an x-ray. For me, ultrasounds have only been done when I'm having a baby, not to find out what is wrong with me.
* Y - Your favorite food: I really don't have a favorite food. I do have a lot of dislikes though!
* Z - Zodiac sign: Aquarius. Only the really cool people are an Aquarius!

REMEMBER WHEN?

Okay, so I read McKenzie's blog and read her "Remember" post. I left a memory, so maybe she'll leave one too! Anyone else is welcome to leave memories as well!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

HORRIBLE COLOR!

I started painting my bathroom and the color is so WRONG! These pictures actually look good compared to what it looks like in person. If it really looked that good in person, I might consider keeping the color! I was going for a teal/turquoise that was light and airy. That didn't happen. I started painting and felt very nervous, but I just kept going hoping it would darken when it dried. I was almost done and just felt like crying! So I took a break thinking that when I came back it wouldn't look so bad. Was I wrong! It looks like toothpaste smothered all over my walls. I had to avoid the bathroom the rest of the day because it made me sick. I know it's just paint, but when I'm in my bathroom it feels like a swimming pool! I don't know how it went so wrong. Anyway, I'm going to paint it brown now. I'll probably want to cry again when I see the results of brown paint, but at least it won't feel like a swimming pool!

PERINATOLOGIST VISIT

Yesterday I went to see the Perinatologist and I actually got some good news! The antigen M antibodies are very rarely bad enough to have to get a blood transfusion for the baby while still in the uterus. That is a relief to know the possibilities of that happening are very slim. However, they checked the amount of blood flow in the baby's brain and because of the results, they want to see me weekly. I had no idea how that worked, but they measure how fast or slow the blood flows in the brain and then put it on a graph to see if it's flowing normally. There are 4 different zones; A, B, C, & D. Zone C is normal blood flow while zone D is too slow. Zones A & B are too fast. If the baby's blood is flowing to fast, it means they are at risk for anemia. I'm not sure what it means if it's flowing too slow. The baby's blood flow landed in zone B, which is too fast, but not fast enough to take action. We just have to monitor. If it gets to zone A, then we will probably have to do an amniocentesis to see how anemic the baby is. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point. And as far as we know, we are still "possibly" going to have a girl. Who knows. The baby is about 1 lb 10 oz. This ultrasound was so cute. The baby was opening it's mouth and then closing it and sucking. I have never seen a baby move like that in an ultrasound. Very cute to see it's little mouth open and close! Overall, it was a good visit. Much better than I had expected!

4TH OF JULY

This year for the 4th we wanted to go 4 wheeling, but Asher's 4 wheeler broke down! So we went to the parade instead. Asher and Hallie got a ton of candy and got to see all of the fun floats. Mark actually admitted the parade is not that bad. That's a surprise! Afterwards we went to Jackson to ride the Alpine Slide. That was pretty fun. It also gave the kids a chance to sleep on the way there and back. Of course we had to celebrate Kelsie too. Her birthday is on the 5th so she gets fireworks for her birthday! Anyway, we had a BBQ at Jennifer's house before the fireworks. Honestly, I think the Idaho Falls fireworks are awesome and anyone who misses them because of all the people is crazy! The fireworks were a bit loud for Hallie, but I thought they were great! Overall, we had a fun 4th of July. Can't wait until next year.

FUN IN THE SUN

Today was so HOT! We pulled out our fun sprinkler and had some fun in the water. Mark has banned pools because I always buy one but it blows away, fills up with leaves, or kills our grass because I don't move it! That's okay because sprinklers and water guns have proven to be just as entertaining as a pool.
Everyday Hallie asks me if it is summer so she can play outside with the water guns. They have been anticipating the warm weather for so long!I actually got a smile out of Asher! He likes to make funny faces instead of smile. I actually catch him in front of the mirror making faces at himself. It's pretty funny.
July is almost here! Tomorrow will be the 1st. Before I know it, it will be time to send my kids back to school. At least we still have 2 months of summer to play in the water.

A NEW ADDITION

As everyone knows, we are having a baby. Unfortunately, I have no idea if we should expect a little boy or a little girl. That's frustrating because I want to go shopping! If it's a girl the seasons are off from when Hallie was born and I'll have to buy all new girl clothes. If it's a boy, I'll think we'll be okay for awhile. I have an appointment in 2 weeks to see a Perinatologist to check the baby's blood flow to see if it's getting too many antibodies from me. Hopefully everything will be fine, but I'm not sure how serious things will get so it's a little scary. On the plus side, maybe the Perinatologist will check the other end of the baby during the ultrasound to see if we've got a boy or a girl coming! I think Asher needs a brother more than Hallie's needs a sister, so a boy would be nice, but I'm sure it's a girl. I don't think I'm ready for that! There's such a big gap between this baby and Hallie I feel like I've forgotten how to take care of a newborn! My counselor in Primary just had her baby. 9 lbs 9 oz. Can you imagine? I thought Asher was big at 8lbs 5 oz. She has a small frame too and she is short so they had to do a c-section. Looking back, I was a huge baby too. My feet were bigger than Asher's when I was born, if you can imagine that! I guess the nickname Chewbacca does fit me well!

HALLIE'S DANCE ROUTINE

This year in dance, Hallie was the only one in her class. There wasn't a recital, which is a little disappointing, but I recorded her routine on the last day. It was with my digital camera, not a video camera so the quality isn't spectacular but it's not too bad either. It is shaky in spots because Asher kept bumping me! Anyway, I thought Hallie was too cute and had to share the video with everybody. I think she was nervous that I recorded her because she skipped parts of her dance and did other things twice. Once in a while you'll see her pause briefly, look at the camera, and smile a really cheesy smile! She has really gotten better at some techniques in dance, so hopefully she will remember all of it when next year comes around!

HALLIE'S BIRTHDAY

Hallie's birthday was yesterday. It rained so much we couldn't do anything she wanted to do. But she had a fun weekend so I don't think it mattered too much. Her party was Friday night. She definitely got spoiled. Thank you everyone who spoiled her! She hasn't stopped playing with her toys yet.

She of course loved the barbie things. She has had to eat every meal at the Dora table. And the Dora tent is all over the house. Once I took out the portable CD player, it was with her all the time. Asher fights over it with Hallie. Now he needs his own.

She wears her charm bracelet all the time and wants to take it every where. I just don't want her to lose it. She keeps telling me she is a big girl and responsible, but I still think she should only wear it at home!

Hallie is very excited that she has Polly Pockets just like McKenzie and Kelsie. I think she'll lose the shoes and small parts, so for now all she gets are the dolls and the horses. And with what Mark and I bought her, she can be a real cowgirl, rope and all!

PRESCHOOL PROGRAM

Hallie's preschool program was last Thursday. She was pretty cute. I think she was the best singer there. As I said before, Asher and Hallie's preschool teacher is the best!

Hallie is in one of Onda K.'s worst classes. Next year I'm putting her in the afternoon class which is one of her best classes. Hopefully she can make better friends. Right now she is friends with the brattiest girls and most annoying boys! I've tried to encourage her to be friends with other kids, but I think they are too quiet and shy so it is hard for Hallie to get to know them.

Now that it is summer break, I'm not quite sure what to do with all my time. I always hear moms say they don't know what to do with their kids during summer and I never understood until now!

Anyway, here is a picture of Hallie doing the waltz with Nathaniel. He is about the only one of Hallie's friends that I actually like! It was really cute to see her dance with a boy. I'm really sad about Asher not being in the same class as all of his preschool friends, but with Hallie I'm so excited to put her with other kids. I think next year will be a good year.

PRESCHOOL GRADUATION

Asher's preschool graduation was tonight. His last day was today. He has been so excited for Kindergarten that he didn't even care about preschool anymore. Today after we got home he was in his room for awhile and he came out bawling. He said he missed Onda K. (his teacher). It almost made me cry too! Asher was so sad! Anyway, I told him it was okay because we would still see her next year when we took Hallie to school and with a baby on the way, we might see her a few years down the road. It made him feel a little better, but not much. So I told him he would get a great new teacher for Kindergarten and he could learn to love her like he did Onda K. It is so hard when good things change, but we can't be the same forever! I think just knowing it's not goodbye forever made him feel better. He was so cute doing the graduation march! Kids are funny no matter what they are doing. The girl he is with in the picture is named Abby. She is Asher's best friend at school and cried all week long because Asher will be going to school in Idaho Falls and not Ririe! They are a funny pair. Abby cut her own hair super short and her mom told her she would have to look like a boy for awhile. That made her upset and she was afraid that Asher wouldn't think she was cute anymore! They were inseparable at school. Too funny. Once in awhile you meet those people who really affect your life, and I know that Onda K. will be one of those people for my children. She wasn't just any preschool teacher. She truly loves and cares for each child and their well being. People think I'm crazy to drive to Ririe every day for preschool, but with a teacher like her, it's worth it.