Monday, May 31, 2010

Let's Not Forget


It is the
VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the
VETERAN who
salutes the Flag,

It is
the
VETERAN
who serves
under the Flag,


A friend of mine sent these to me and I just loved them!



Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and let's not forget what this day is truly about.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Hammerman Beach

It has been hot, hot, HOT the past few days so Xander, Noah, and I went with some friends of ours to a little beach about 20 minutes away. It's more a beach by the bay kind of thing but the boys still had a great time. Water and sand were all they needed to have some fun.


Xander spent quite a bit of time digging a big hole.

Noah spent his time rolling around in the sand as well as shoving his face right in it.

Thank goodness there was plenty of water to rinse off all that sand.

Noah really enjoyed playing with his little friends. His favorite thing to do was have his friend Stryker hit him with the noodle and then Noah would make this huge production of falling in the water. It was pretty funny.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I'm the Mom - I'm Allowed to Brag!

The first month of school Savannah's teacher selected her as the ABBY student of the month, an award given to the two students in each class that displayed exemplary behavior throughout the month. Well, for April the students in Savannah's class were allowed to vote for their classmates who they thought best deserved this award and guess who they picked? That's right! My cute Savannah! So yesterday the boys and I headed up to Savannah's school to see her receive her special award. I am so proud of her!

Receiving a hug from her teacher, Mrs. Bowers.


The other girl who won, Isabel, is a good friend of Savannah's.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Welcome to the Jungle


Friday night Xander and I headed down to the Stake Center for the Mother/Sons Stake Primary Activity. What a fun night! The gym was decked out jungle style and we enjoyed rhinoceros burgers, safari salad, and snake eggs for dinner. After eating, our evening was filled with games, a craft, and a visit by one of the Old Testament prophets.

Of course Xander's favorite activity of the night was the safari hunt.

His least favorite game? The elephant walk race. He had to wear this elephant hat and as you can tell from the picture, he wasn't too thrilled about it.


The boys got to make bracelets for their moms as the craft activity. Xander is not one for doing crafts unless he absolutely has to so this picture shows how he really felt about having to sit down and put beads on a string, even if it was for me.

A visit by Noah the prophet.

Having fun with his friends.

We had a great mommy/Xander date night. Next year Noah will get to join us - that should be fun!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Goodbye, Preschool!

After three years of preschool, Xander has finally graduated! Monday was the Preschool Graduation ceremony at his school - definitely a bittersweet moment.

The Processional - Xander is at the end.

As each child walked up to receive his or her diploma, Miss Kelly talked about that child and mentioned some special things about him or her. It was fun to hear about each student, especially Xander. According to his teacher, although Xander is very shy and quiet, in the last few weeks of school he started to show off his sense of humor. He's also a very good cuddler, especially with Miss Lori.
When Xander went up to receive his diploma, he was so embarrassed that he just grabbed it and took off back to his seat.

The little 2010 graduate with his diploma.

After watching a very sweet video of pictures from the past year's events, we all headed down to Xander's classroom for an art show. Displayed around the classroom were many works of art and crafts that the children had completed throughout the year. We also received an art book with drawings that Xander had done each month.





Xander's two fabulous teachers, Miss Lori and Miss Kelly.

My favorite shot of Xander and me.

Afterwards we took Xander out to lunch at a nearby restaurant. Several of the other families from preschool were there as well to celebrate this occasion together.

Congratulations, Xander!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Olympic Field Day


On Wednesday Xander's preschool had their Olympic Field Day for the 4 years old classes. Due to the massive amounts of rain we had received the 2 days prior, Field Day became Gym Day. The kids still enjoyed it, though.
Unfortunately my camera is on its last leg and none of my action pictures turned out! This was the best I got of one particular relay race.

Another race involved all the kids on the teams writing their names; I reminded Xander to just do Xander, not Alexander like they've been teaching him. This is a race, after all.

The goggles rocked this race!

Xander with his gold medal and a frozen treat!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Museum Day

"Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life and you shall make them known to your children and your children's children." Deuteronomy 4:9

Saturday I spent a somber day visiting the Holocaust Museum in DC. I don't think I can adequately describe the feelings I experienced as I made my way through the permanent exhibit. We were surrounded by quotes, images, videos, and memorabilia of this horrific event in world history and at times it was just too overwhelming. I would look into the faces in the many photos, some of these pictures taken just minutes before these people were put to death, and I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. No matter how many books I read, no matter how many theories or explanations are put forth as to how Hitler was able to do this and why the German people let it go on, I will never understand why more wasn't done to stop it.


The most satisfying moment of the day for me, and I know it shouldn't have been, was the video footage taken by our US military of the local people near the Buchenwald concentration camp. When our soldiers liberated the camp, they ordered the locals to come witness what went on in the camp. I stood there watching these people, most crying, one woman running through with her hands over her face, and wished that every German would have had to go through that. I do understand that not all Germans supported Hitler and that not all were completely aware of exactly what was going on (or so they continue to say) but most Germans stood by in the early years as the Jews began to be persecuted and lose their rights as citizens. There are too many pictures of ordinary German citizens mocking the Jews and laughing at them as they were made to scrub the street or had their beards cut off. And at the end of the war, when the death marches were taking place, as these poor Jewish people were forced to march miles upon miles, the local Germans didn't offer them any food, water, shelter, nothing. The war was lost and they still wouldn't help. It's just incomprehensible!

Although it was an emotionally draining day, I am so glad that I finally got to go to the Holocaust Museum, something I have wanted to do since we moved out here, and also so grateful that I was able to spend the day with two great friends.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!!!

Well, technically I guess I should say "insects" which just happened to be the subject for Keepers on Friday night. Bente did such a great job putting together a fun evening for the girls. First the girls got to examine all kinds of different bugs - dead, of course! Bente has quite the bug collection but the hit of the group was this huge dragonfly. Its wings were absolutely amazing!

Next they pored over some insect books to find the most beautiful insect, the most weird, and their favorite. They then had to draw a picture of their favorite as well as label the body parts of an ant.

The big surprise of the night? Bente had bought crickets for all the girls to have as pets. Yippee-yay!

Each girl got to decorate her own cricket home.

Here is Savannah with her 3 crickets - 2 boys and a girl. The life expectancy for crickets isn't too long so we'll see how this goes.

Another fun Keepers meeting, even if it did have to do with bugs!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mother's Day Tea

On Friday Xander and I got to get all dressed up to attend the Mother's Day Tea at his school. What a wonderful hour we got to spend together!

On Tuesday the kids had attended school with their dads in the evening to work on all the crafts that would be given to the mothers at this special event. David helped Xander make a little goodie bag, a corsage, a place mat, a flower pen and pot, and a silhouette of Xander.



All the moms shed a few tears as the kids sang several songs to us and then presented us with our special gifts. We then enjoyed some salad, desserts, and punch. What a fun afternoon with my special X-man.