Emma's Recital

Well, as usual I am quite the slacker.  I figured I could keep everyone up to date with a couple new posts.  Emma had her final recital a couple of months ago.  Her group did the best out of the recital, but that just might be the proud mom in me coming out.  She did have a rather larger singing part.  She is definitely a Shepherd.  She has such a beautiful voice.  She loves her dance class, and hopes to have a part in the school play this year.

How time flies.

So, do you ever just have those days, or weeks, or even months where you look back and realize just how much time has passed without you realizing it?  We've been here in Nevada for 8 months now, and on one hand, it seems like we've been here forever, but I can remember like yesterday, camping out in an empty house.

Just a recap over some of the things that we've been able to do since I last posted:

Christmas back in the states:

I can't tell you how fun it was to actually have Christmas during the winter where it belongs.  Last year at that time, we were sweltering in our house in Chile with the windows wide open, hoping for some kind of cool breeze.  (We didn't have any air conditioning.)  This year, we were able to have my parents with us and feel a little chill in the air, as much as can be expected in Las Vegas!  The kids got spoiled way more than we intended, but we had lots of fun.  We were even able to get my parents to rock out with us on the new Rock Band we got for the kids.

Emma turning 10:

My dear middle child Emma has left behind the single digits of her life.  Thankfully she didn't want much, just a webkinz party!  Unfortunately there is not really anything to be found that is "webkinz themed."  So we made do with what we had, and fun was had by all.  She is a blessing in our lives, and I can't imagine life without her.  She brings joy to all with her smile and gentle kindness.  We love you Emma!  We did, I must add, take her to Circus Circus to the Adventuredome (or Alamodome as Mike continues to call it) for her birthday.  It was just our family that went, but we had a blast.  Another thing happened here that made me realize that we have indeed turned a page in our lives.  Logan is now big enough to ride all the rides!  I don't think that there is anything scarier than getting on the rides with him and seeing that the shoulder harness doesn't quite fit his skinny little body.  If he minded his mom constantly grabbing onto him and trying to hold him in the seat, I don't think that he minded. (It wasn't really as bad as it sounds!)  

We've had lots of fun, and are so thankful to be here.  We know that the Lord has sent us here for a reason.  We're just glad to be back in the states, close to family and friends and have our health.

Logan's Day

Yesterday Logan had his first experience at organized sports (besides a game of Wii sports).  We gave the kids the choice of one activity that they could participate in, the girls choosing a dance/Musical Theater class, and Logan chose soccer.  He's had 2 practices and yesterday was his first game.

Now, my poor son has not had much experience with sports, much to the chagrin of Mike.  He desperately wants the kids to be involved in sports, and be good at them.  If any of you have ever watched little kids playing soccer, you know that it's pretty much a mob of kids following the ball around the field.  As they grow older, they learn the rules a little bit more.  Logan is still in the follow the ball around the field stage.  I have to give them credit, they did pretty well, and we have some pretty talented kids on the field.  Right now, Logan is pretty much in it for the social part, but we're working on that.  We just need to take a little time with him and show him the rules and how to actually kick the ball and dribble it.  At least they had fun, and as he told me later, "I made a friend today mom!"

I should have guessed that Logan had ulterior motives for getting involved in soccer as he asked me on the way to the game if he would get a trophy today after the game.  I think that he has glorified visions of winning a huge trophy to display in his room.  He has, after all, "never gotten a trophy ever in his life."

All in all, it was a good day.  He played and ran a lot and got tired and asked to be taken out, but I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing.  It was hot.

It was obvious we were amateur fans when all we show up with are lawn chairs and water bottles.  I was a terrible mom and didn't even think about the sunscreen that we would need, or shade.  We sweltered in the 90+ degree heat, and begged sunscreen off one of the moms sitting in the cool shade of the awning that they brought.  I sent Kaylea to the car to scrounge up an umbrella that we had, and the girls and I huddled under it out of the sun.  We learned our lesson and will be better prepared next week, and show up 30 minutes early to get ready to be spectators.

AND...for those of you who are wondering....we won, 4-3.

Summer is finally winding down

Well, here we are, finally finding some respite from the heat.  When I say respite, I mean that it hasn't been in  the hundreds for the last few days.  We are slowly getting settled into our house, and enjoying every minute of it.  We have everything cleared out except my craft/spare room, a corner of a room that magically is full of boxes that no one wants anymore, and lastly our garage.  Unfortunately for me, our Excursion is parked outside due to the amount of clutter that has managed to invade our garage as well.  For a few wonderful days, we were able to park it in the garage, but I willingly gave up my parking space for the boxes that we had been waiting 2 months for.

We went out and bought bicycles for the whole family, with the exception of Emma.  Her bike was practically brand new, but try explaining that to a 9 year old middle child.  She was very gracious and didn't complain....much.  Mike and I are determined to get into better shape, and thanks to the example of our wonderful friends Mike and Melinda, we bought the bikes.  My biggest deterrent has been the heat, and well, okay, lack of motivation.  BUT, I can gladly say that I have been pretty consistent about going out.  There have been the occasional appointments that have happened in the morning.  If I didn't get out in the morning right after the kids got off to school, it wasn't happening.  The weather is a little hot here if you haven't heard.

We just had our big Stake Relief Society Retreat this weekend.  It was lots of fun, and a great success.  They estimated that probably 400 women participated.  I was asked to be the ward rep shortly after we got here, and was given more congratulations that I deserved.  The R.S. Presidency really deserved all the credit for our ward's part.  It was lots of fun, and I've been able to make lots of friends already.  They have certainly kept me busy here, quite opposite to how it normally is with Mike usually the more active one.  They've called me to help with music in Relief Society, but I've been spending most of my time in the Primary lately helping on the piano.  They have their program at the end of the month.  Let's see...we've both talked in sacrament, I've taught R.S, Mike's subbed in Gospel Doctrine, I did a little 5 minute talk during Enrichment, helped as Rep for the stake activity.  Lots of stuff to do in just 2 1/2 months.  Mike, unfortunately, has yet to get a calling.  But, we love our ward, and feel like we are fitting in nicely.

The kids are doing great in school.  Kaylea loves it because I finally let out the apron strings a bit and let her bike to school with a couple of girls from church.  I finally relented after one of the moms told me what an absolute madhouse it is around there if you try to drive.  Emma and Logan are going on track break this next week.  With us getting here so late, we didn't have a lot of choice when it came to choosing which track the kids got, so we ended up with one of the lesser desirable ones.  They have been in school for 3 weeks, and now will be on break for 3.  Hopefully we will get Logan experienced enough on his bike that I can ride them to school each morning.

Feeling like such a bad parent, Logan just recently learned to ride a 2 wheel bicycle.  I will admit that he was on it for 5 minutes and was already riding around like a pro.  It's just that living where we did in Chile didn't allow much for riding and he never had the opportunity to learn.  He loves it, and begs his sisters every day to ride with him around the neighborhood.  We'll work on getting him a little more stable before I get him out on the busier streets.  There are a couple of steep hills around our house, so I don't want him getting away from me.  

Family Picture (sort of)

So for right now, this is the latest family picture that we have (minus our Chilean housekeeper/friend)  We took this photo just before the kids and I left Chile.

First time for Everything

Here goes...I figured that so many of our friends were signing up to do this blog thing that it's about time that we joined the world of blogging.  We've just recently moved to Las Vegas, NV from Chile.  The kids are growing like weeds, and Kaylea (11) will be starting 6th grade this year.  Emma is 9 and Logan is now 7.  Mike is working at Nellis AFB with the Aggressors and Jen is trying to keep the house together at home. We've bought a house in the North Las Vegas area and are excited to get settled in.  We've been "camping out" in our house for the past month and a half as we wait for our things to arrive from Chile.  It's been a fun experience since we packed up the house in April.