"one of the perks"

A few Sundays ago, my husband called me (and a few others too) out of the congregation during Sacrament Meeting to share my testimony. Afterwards, a friend came up to me and said, "So, Lynetta, is that one of the perks of being married to the bishop?" I laughed and said, "I'm not sure if "perk" is the right word, but...yep...I guess it is." Well, here is another "one of the perks".



We opened up our curtains in our family room to find these beauties. This is at least the third time strange items have found their way into our yard. I'm pretty sure this is "one of the perks" too. Ahhh.......we feel the love!

One Tough Cookie

Sarah had her tonsils and adenoids taken out this morning, and tubes put in her ears. I'm so sad that I forgot to take my camera to the hospital because I would have loved to have some pictures of the awesome people who took care of her there. She really amazed us, and everyone else too, with how well she handled herself. She was quite the comic and had everyone laughing with her sweet personality. The nurse came in asked if she was nervous about her surgery, and she very sweetly and calmly said, "Yeah. I'm a little scared. Okay....terrified actually." But the funny thing was that she wasn't acting nervous. She was all laid back all comfy in her bed watching TV. Then the anesthesiologist came in and sad on her bed and started talking to her. He introduced himself and asked her, "Sarah, have you ever been put to sleep before?" She replied, "No...but I have been sent to bed before." Before long she had everyone wrapped around her finger. When the surgery was over, her doctor came in to tell us that everything went well and that Sarah did great and that she would be out of recovery in a few minutes. She then talked about how everyone was amazed with how well prepared she was for her surgery and how sweet and polite she was to everyone and how they all just couldn't get over her. She thanked us and told us that is makes their jobs so much easier when they have kids like her come in. Even the nurse who brought her back from recovery said she was "the sweetest and most polite girl." It wasn't long before she woke up and was looking around like she was confused about where she was and what was happening to her. It's times like this that make you wish you could take their place and their pain. She rested a little while, and eventually woke up and drank some juice. She was able to keep it down, and they finally let us come home. But, she didn't want the nurse to take off her hospital bracelets. They might as well have been fancy jewelry. And you should have seen the smile on her face when she got to ride in the wheel chair on the way out. It was as good as a limo ride to her.

We were really surprised how well she seemed to be doing. When Katie had her tonsils taken out, she threw up almost the entire first day. So we were thinking that Sarah would probably be the same way. Lucky for us, it wasn't the case.



We knew she was in pain, but we knew it was a good sign when she asked for some Orange Leaf before we even got out of Lake Charles.



She had all kinds of surprises waiting for her when she got home.



And Grandma sent Fancy Nancy's dog "Frenchy" to keep Sarah company during her recovery.



She spent most of the day looking like this, but she ate and drank pretty good, considering all that she has experienced today.



Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. The next few days are supposed to be the hardest. But...she'll be fine.....because she is one tough cookie!

My Sweet KK

It's still hard for me to believe that Katie is 10 years old. She is such a sweet and beautiful girl....inside and out.



I love that she still likes to snuggle with me.



I'm trying to enjoy the little moments like this before the next decade passes.....and she's really all grown up!

Celebrating Maggie

Rachel and Maggie have been visiting this week, and we all got together tonight to celebrate Maggie's upcoming birthday. I can't believe it's almost been a year already!



She wasn't quite sure what to think of the cake.



In fact, she didn't know what to think of all of the loud birthday singing either, and got a little startled.



But John David knew what to do with that cake, and he was getting pretty upset that only Maggie was getting to eat cake. He does love some cake.



Every girl needs a purse, so we got this cute little pink one for Maggie and she loved it.



And so did John. Maybe we'll have to get him one too. Ha! Just kidding.



Happy Birthday sweet little Maggie! We love you!

finally....some boys to play with

We met Maw Maw, Aunt Brenda, and Tiffany and her boys at the park this morning. We're still trying to get used to not having the girls with us all day, so John David was pretty excited to have someone to play with...and not just anyone....but four little boy cousins.



He followed Gavin around and tried to do everything Gavin did.



Even climbing on top of this thing, which makes me nervous.



But not him.



He was having a great time.



See.....all smiles.



Until he realized he needed help getting down. Thank goodness Maw Maw was there to help out.



Then Gavin, Owen, Dominic, and John had a time on this little slide. They pretty much owned it.



They even went down backwards. Little dare devils.



After the park, we all went to the new Chick-fila for lunch. It was delicious, but ridiculously overcrowded, but the boys still had a great time playing together in their indoor playground. In fact, when I was trying to get John David to leave, he kept saying, "Bye Mommy! Go...Maw Maw!" He wanted to go with Maw Maw because he knew that all the boys were going to be with her. And I thought I had a few more years before he picked his friends over me!

Our Little Gymnast

We finally got Sarah into gymnastics a few weeks ago, and she is lovin' every minute of it! Seriously....at any given time she can be found practicing her walk-overs....



....cartwheels.......



.....and handstands.



And guess what she has finally figured out how to do?



How to kick back over from her back bend.



Yep...she's pretty excited about it. And we are sure proud of her!



We can tell she has already learned a lot and gotten so much stronger in just a few weeks. I think she has finally found "her thing".

First Day, Hooray!

Today was the first day of school. I always get sad to see them go back to school, but I am glad to report that they were both excited to go to school today. So excited, in fact, that they couldn't sleep last night. It was almost 10PM before they went to sleep. I thought I would have a hard time getting them up this morning, but that wasn't the case. Even my sleepy head Sarah got up easily and even got dressed in a timely fashion. And since we had so much time, we went outside and took some pictures.



Our sweet second grader.



Since the girls have to wear uniforms, the shoes are always the most exciting part of shopping for school stuff. This year they both wanted Converse. I love these plaid ones that Sarah picked out.



Our fabulous fifth grader.





She actually wanted the plaid converse too, but they didn't come in her size. So she picked out these super cute pink hi-tops. Love them too! What I don't love is that she is now wearing a size 6 in women's shoes. How crazy is that?! My baby wearing women's size shoes!?! I told her she is not allowed to grow anymore.



Love, love, love these sweet girls!







My sweet babies. John David is so going to miss his sisters being home all day.



So after our little photo session, we went to school. I always walk the girls to their classes on the first day. John David loves this part.



We dropped off Sarah first. He was still fine at this point.



Then we walked Katie to her class. It melts my heart that she actually really wanted me to walk her to her class this year. I had thought that she would decline my offer. But she didn't. I am quite sure this will be the last year though.



When we got to her class she sat down outside her classroom to wait for the bell.....and so did John David.



And he had no intentions of getting up. He wanted to stay with her, and was not very happy when I picked him up and walked away.



It took him a little while to get happy again. We went to the "first day of school breakfast" at Cracker Barrel with our friends. Then we came home and cleaned and made cookies for the girls. He said to me several times, "Girls? Girls?" He wanted to go pick them up. And before long, it was time to go pick them up. They both got in the car so happy and both said that they had a great first day.





We're looking forward to a great year!

Sweet Summer

I can't believe that summer is already over. It went by way too fast. And since I have not posted very much about our summer activities, here are some of the things that we've been up too.

*Lots and lots of art projects. This is my most favorite piece from John David this summer. What a cutie....even with marker all over his face!



*We wrote and illustrated stories. We are going to get them made into books....hopefully soon.



*We spent as much time as possible soaking up our fair share of vitamin D at the water park.



John David decided that he loved the water park this summer.





He finally conquered the slides.



And he pretty much thought he owned those water slides.



And the girls finally conquered the green water slide. They have been avoiding it for years, but they finally tried it out and they LOVED it. Katie also fell in love with the yellow slide too.







*We tried to stay cool and soaked up lots of A/C in the afternoons when it got really hot.



*We did swim lessons at Center Circle Pool with the Gibson girls.





They learned a lot, and had a great time.





John David was a good sport and hung out with me and Heidi while the girls were swimming everyday.



And almost everyday after swimming, the kids would go play on the playground.



*Did I mention that we spent lots of time in the water?



With our friends....which makes it even more fun.









*We made lots of cute bows.



*We completed the summer reading program......



......and were proclaimed "Library Champions", and spent the last few weeks trying to use up as many coupons as possible.



*We discovered Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, and we are completely hooked.





*We squeezed in naps whenever and wherever we got the chance.



*We made paper beads and then made bracelets out of them.



They turned out pretty cute.....but not as cute as the model.



*We pretended to be butterflies.



And although we did not do everything we had planned to................or accomplish all of the goals we had hoped to...................such as getting John David off of his binky..............

.........I consider this summer a success. Why? Because as we were getting the girls into bed tonight, Sarah hugged me and said, "Thanks for the best summer ever Mom!" Success indeed! So long sweet summer! Thanks for all the fun memories!