1) My friends- Teresa and Cori, who I had the privilege of serving with in the Primary. Cori was moving away, so we went out to breakfast, for old time's sake.
2 & 3) Riana and Sariah at one of their best friend's "Queen for the Day" birthday party! They loved being pampered!! :)
4) We finally found a piano bench for our extremely tall piano, well actually it is a keyboard bench, but we got it for free through Grant's work points and it definitely makes playing the piano more inviting.
5) Tierra lucked out, as the only girl home (who was awake), the first time the ice cream man came by this summer. So we took the opportunity and spoiled her a bit. The other girls were a bit mad, when they found out, but we explained that we would've done the same, no matter who it was. I guess she is just being blessed for always sharing with everyone.
6) Aurora loving on her baby sister, Calyssa- best buds already! :)7) We have new neighbors, who are renting a home in our development, who happen to be in our ward. Well, I was having a really bad day and coincidentally Jenny showed up with 2 loaves of homemade french bread! It was so yummy!! I could totally get used to this! ;) (Our girls love having good neighbor friends to play with. And I love that I don't have to worry about them picking up any bad habits, as they are really good kids.)
8 & 9) Calyssa and Aurora sleeping away
10) Karina finished learning to ride a 2 wheeler- she just needed to learn how to start. Way to go, Nina!
10) Karina finished learning to ride a 2 wheeler- she just needed to learn how to start. Way to go, Nina!
11) Riana made herself some earrings out of fruit snacks. Silly girl!
12) Riana took this picture at Caleb's Graduation Party (while I was at my brother's graduation.) So cute! (Talmadge, Hailey, Karina, Tierra, Lincoln, Peyton, and Avery)
13) I got a french tips pedicure- my girls were a bit disappointed, as they were excited to see what color I picked this time. So funny! I thought it was pretty, until Grant and I accidently kicked each other, and split my big toe nail, at play practice, while dancing in bare feet, and ruined it! It was so cliche, when I said, "You ruined my pedicure!" Even though it hurt, I couldn't help but laugh at myself for saying that- so unlike me. LOL!
12) Riana took this picture at Caleb's Graduation Party (while I was at my brother's graduation.) So cute! (Talmadge, Hailey, Karina, Tierra, Lincoln, Peyton, and Avery)
13) I got a french tips pedicure- my girls were a bit disappointed, as they were excited to see what color I picked this time. So funny! I thought it was pretty, until Grant and I accidently kicked each other, and split my big toe nail, at play practice, while dancing in bare feet, and ruined it! It was so cliche, when I said, "You ruined my pedicure!" Even though it hurt, I couldn't help but laugh at myself for saying that- so unlike me. LOL!
14) I don't know why this picture won't turn the right way, but it is a picture Tierra made before Calyssa was born. She even chose the right hair color for Calyssa. (Karina made one too but chose blonde hair for Calyssa.)
15) A picture I took of one of our roses. I love multi-colored roses!!! Beautiful!
16) Riana took this picture of a little baby hanging on a cherry- pretty cute!
15) A picture I took of one of our roses. I love multi-colored roses!!! Beautiful!
16) Riana took this picture of a little baby hanging on a cherry- pretty cute!
18 & 19) I took Karina and Tierra to get their pictures together, before our trip, because Karina was way overdue and I knew Tierra's teeth would be growing back by the time we got home.
20) Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Man for everyone!! :) Happy girls!
We went and watched my little brother play a villian, in his drama class play. It was hilarious! And he did an amazing job, and even scared some kids, including Aurora! (A few kids wouldn't give him a high five at the end. It was so funny!) But what was even more hilarious, was when I saw my high school drama teacher, and she took one look at my kids and said, "Is this your daycare?" LOL!! So funny!!
Afterwards, Riana and Tierra received some late birthday presents, that they absolutely loved!! :)
Our grass, in the backyard, got pretty long. So we bought a helper, Jared, at our ward auction, and with a bit of hard work by Grant, Jared, and I, it was looking great again!
Riana and Sariah participated in a little intermission (halftime type) performance. They sang, "The Candy Man" from "Willy Wonka" with Austin as the candy man, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from "Song of the South," and "How Does She Know" from "Enchanted" with our friend, Vanessa, who was putting on the concert with Marvin Goldstein. They all did a fabulous job! My favorite part of the concert was when she sang "Goodnight, My Angel" and showed a slide show of her two girls. She became choked up and it was very touching. I couldn't help but cry. I imagine that it must be hard to be away from her little family. Also, I especially enjoyed talking to Vanessa afterwards. She is such a sweetheart and very talented.
Riana, Sariah, and Tierra had their first piano recital ever. (They have taken piano before but just never had a recital.) Their teacher this year was Mark M. (My parents and two youngest brothers were able to come, which was nice.) I was very nervous for them because this was such a tough year for me and I wasn't so good at getting them to practice. But they actually practiced really hard and did great! They did well presenting themselves and playing their songs. (Riana played, "I've Got Music," Sariah played, "FireFly," and Tierra played, "Alouette," and "Wind in the Trees.") I was so proud of all three of them! :)
