goodnight prayer

(after dance class, we visited the christus in salt lake. 

vivian must have felt the calmness because she said, 'mom, we need to lay down.")

"all over the world at the end of day

Heavenly Father's children kneel down and pray

each saying thank you in her own special way

saying thank you, thank you

in her own special way."

-primary song book

last night, i knelt down with vivian to listen to her prayers.

the conversation went something like this:

me- "let's tell Heavenly Father thank you for your new nightgown."

vivi- kneels down, smiles at me and begins- "meow, meow, meow, meow"

says the whole prayer like a cat.

me- "ok awesome, now lets do it in english, here i'll help.  dear heavenly father..."

vivi-using the same intonation as me says, "meow meow meow-meow"

this continues through the whole prayer:)

smiling, we jumped in bed to read books.

glad Heavenly Father understands ALL languages and ultimately knows our hearts.

finish strong

ten things i loved about the last day of school:

1. vivian sitting on max's lap and he was not one bit embarrassed (plus viv's outfit describes her phase in life...pink, flow-ey skirt, wants to comb her own hair, and no time to put on shoes)

2.  "oh, this backpack is so heavy....so much homework!"  

psych!!!  it's actually a HUGE container of cheesies that kai won!  

gross and exciting all at the same time.

3.  kai ringing the bell.  a right of passage for all 4th graders graduating from elementary school.

5.  watching how confident kai was on the last day of school.  when we first moved here, i gave him "brave assignments" everyday, like saying hi to the lunch lady.  he was so timid and nervous about it all.  he had me write notes to his teachers about anything concerning.  he came a long way!

6.  the amazing people that surround us.  some of my neighbors had this huge sign and popsicles at the bus stop for all the kids.  then, later that night, we had a neighborhood party.  talk about pinterest worthy!!  it was incredible with a snack bar for the outdoor movie and everything.  impressive, kind, capable people.

7.  our finish line--  just to celebrate finishing strong!

had to re-tape and run through a few times, just to get the full effect:)

8.  abe had a party at our house--then sadie decided to have a party at our house too.  they were both ok having it together.  fun to watch.

9.  breakfast at midnight to welcome in the first day of summer break!

10.  number ten would have to be that i did it!  dave was working all night and it was tricky balancing the little kids needs at the neighborhood party and the forty teenagers at my house...a little stressful, but i made it through....and they all had a great time.  

 the end of an exciting day.

there isn't anything better than watching my kids be happy.  

it is joyful.  

fourth grade highlights

kai is a math wiz!!

the fourth grade's big deal was a math wizard tournament with harry potter type incentives.  each time students reached a certain level they participated in a magical ceremony such as getting sorted by the sorting hat or receiving a magical wand.  kai was the first one in his class to reach the goals and sometimes had to repeat them twice or do them twice as fast before he could move on.   he was very excited to get sorted.  when he got his wand, it was the only green wand which meant he was the head boy:) all of it was a big deal in the fourth grade world.  

kai worked hard and took these goals seriously.  i enjoyed watching him reach each new level.

kai's quarterly projects were always an adventure.  we made this mountain environment out of salt dough.  haha!  it looked a little better before the trees all dried out and crumbled.  i wish i took a picture of his last project, an art project out stuff that you can recycle.  abe helped him and they made a big narwhal.  it was pretty creative.

kai's reflections project was selected to move on to the next level, which meant he participated in a fun pizza party and award ceremony...and painted his face like a soccer ball.

the science fair was required for the gifted class, so kai decided for his project, he wanted to test different types of shoes and see if they made a difference as to how high you jump or running speed....only problem was that it would definitely require a new pair of shoes:)  he totally knew what he was doing when he picked his topic and worked it to get some new pf flyers.  

we liked his strategy so we went with it.

kai likes shoes a lot! 

(side note- kai describes people to me by the shoes they wear.  haha!  most people describe people by their hair or some other descriptive.  kai always tells me their shoes...)

i really like viv in this photo.

(above-kai in the newspaper)

the fourth grade studies utah history and in prep for their program they went on a field trip to 'this is the place monument'.

the fourth grade program was so well done.  i teared up a few times. 

dancing with girls= a big deal.  

the elementary felt magical on the last day of school.  all the students line the halls and all the fourth graders go through the tunnel of hands and everyone wishes them well as they graduate from elementary school.  they were shooting water guns and silly string.  the kids LOVED it!  i felt emotional as i watched viv and max stand in the hall and give kai a big high five as he ran through.

i feel like kai breezed through fourth grade.  nothing really phased him.  he really wants to be responsible and hardworking and that was evident throughout everything he did this year.

i am proud of him!

tullis easter-2015

mimi invited the kids over to decorate easter eggs.

vivian LOVES pink-every shade:)

happy easter!

birthday baptism

MAX TURNED EIGHT

AND

GOT BAPTIZED ON HIS BIRTHDAY!!

he woke up to a birthday table and then headed over to the church.

he got baptized on the same day as three of his friends. 

the children being baptized sang together as part of the program.  

it was so pure and beautiful.

abe spoke on the gift of the Holy Ghost.

he was nervous and did it out of love for his brother.

a gal in our ward willingly took baptism pictures of the four of them.

max worried that he would be baptized before he was actually eight, and was relieved when i found his birth certificate and reassured him that he would be officially eight ten minutes before he got baptized!  PHEWF:)

 dave baptized max and i'm grateful that dave has a desire to do this for our children.

it really is one of my favorite "mom" days.

afterwords, we ate lunch at our house with our families.  nice of everyone to come and support max.

max, and his cousin jess, share a birthday, so they made birthday wishes as the same time.

this was a big day for max as he made special promises to Heavenly Father.  i hope he will continue to understand the covenants he made by choosing to be baptized and the great gift that he received to have the spirit with him always as long as he keeps his part of the bargain. 

i asked our extended family to write max a note and share a time they felt the spirit in their life and what if felt like and how it helped them.  it is so important to be able to recognize the spirit and realize the spirit helps our family all the time!  i am excited to share the letters of love with him during the next few weeks.

max has a compassionate spirit.  i think that is an amazing quality. 

 i'm so grateful for him.

inauguration day

it's official.

they leave for their student government retreat this monday.

(sniff, sniff)

abe getting sworn in as freshman rep.

 tempted to light the paper on fire...but resists:)

 sadie, finding out she has been selected to be the student body officer over clubs, haha, which she leaned over to me right before and said, "i'm ok with anything except clubs."

she knew clubs would be a huge responsibility.  the president took her aside and told her he selected her to do clubs because he wants someone totally approachable.  she is happy, kind and hardworking.  she realized it will be a perfect job for her and will stretch her a little.  

all good stuff!

i'm hopeful this will be a super good thing for these two.
 they will learn more about leadership, reaching out, following through, taking initiative, creativity, choosing good, being a team player but taking responsibly for oneself, and making a difference.

let's get this party started!