Thank You Notes

Dear Aunt Erica, Uncle Jed, Owen, Davis, & Kate:

Thank you for the Cords activity game. I have been playing with it a lot and love making pictures of faces. I also love the purple shirt with the ruffles. I wish Mommy washed it more often. Love, Brina

Dear Auntie J, Uncle Dan, & La La:

Thank you for the pretty pink dress.  It is nice and puffy for when I twirl around. Thumbelina has been with me all the time and I like to get her wings on just right. Love, Sabrina

Dear Nana & Papa:

Thank you for letting me pick out this princess bracelet. My favorite part is how it has every princess on it and it is purple. Love, Sabrina

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Sabrina Turns 3

Happy Birthday to Sabrina! Now it’s been almost a week, but we had so much fun celebrating Sabrina’s birthday last Saturday. We made hoe cakes at her request for breakfast, spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney and had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Then we came home to have pizza for dinner, and piggie cake with chocolate ice cream (mud) for dessert. We all adore Sabrina and smile every time she comes into a room. She is beautiful and a sweet cutie pie.

Some of Sabrina’s favorites:

princess: Belle and Ariel

cereal bowl: yellow, because it’s Belle’s color

hairstyle: ponytail or twisties

friends: her princess playgroup- She wishes it was every day.

fruit: strawberries

board game: Simpsons Clue- She and Hannah love to play house with the little people

clothing: skirts and tutus

animal: piggies and panda bears

pajamas: piggie shirt and piggie pants with a tutu (I finally was able to find a replacement for her beloved snail shirt)

thing to do at Disneyland: eat ice cream cones

talent: singing and dancing with her sisters, and then pushing them aside so she can have a turn by herself.

We recently replaced our TV and it’s too big for the entertainment center (another story). Hunter, Emma and Hannah decorated it and turned it into a princess float for Sabrina’s birthday parade. Here she and Hannah are waving as Emma sings the birthday song.

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California Water Crisis

I grew up in California’s central valley, and I know that the agriculture industry there is really hurting. The California farmers can’t water, so they won’t plant their fields. That means our produce prices will only get higher, and we will have to rely more on food imported from other countries or grown ourselves. (Go here to learn about food storage and gardening.) It may be time to plant a garden in containers or our yard. Scary when we have an economic crisis and a food crisis too. Is there any way to help these farmers get some water? I hope so.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YWbXzm8Nd0

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Hi-cup

Have you ever tried to get your kids to take you seriously when you have the hiccups?

“Come on guys it’s time for ch-u-ores.” No movement. “Hunter, get u-i-up and clear the kitchen coun-huh-ter. Emma, do you think I’m kid-up-ing? Go empty the dishwa-a-sher now-hu-ow.” I can’t help but smile at how ridiculous I sound.

So then they were laughing at me. But they were also doing chores so I guess it worked out all right.

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Well it’s official.  Our ward boundaries were changed.  The whole stake was realigned because we had two giant wards, and three little ones. I wasn’t too worried about it until last night when we had the big meeting. They began by showing a sense of humor and also their faith in God’s will for our stake by having us sing, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.” When the hymn was announced, there was a nervous rumble of laughter throughout the congregation as we all sat in anticipation of what was to follow. It was a great meeting with our stake leaders who were inspired in their decisions. They explained the process, and it is pretty complex, involving matching up the numbers of women, men, youth, children, and infants so that every ward is about equal. That is followed by paperwork and various approvals etc., so it was not an easy process for anyone. On the ride home we went through the names of friends in each of our kids’ primary classes. A large majority of them are in another ward now. Since we don’t live near family members, the church ward becomes like surrogate family, filling in the gaps that are left open between visits to and from family. So we are all sad to know that we won’t get to spend as much time with most of this “family,” but we’re trying to be optimistic about the new friends we will make and how our circle of life experiences will continue to grow.

It seems that no matter how hard we try to get our family in a stable situation, change always catches up with us.  For us it seems to come in two year waves. To brainstorm our history I wrote up a timeline:

1996- Married – Moved into our first apartment in Provo

1998- Moved to a fourplex in Provo – Hunter was born

2000- Moved to a house in Provo – Emma was born

2002- Rob accepted to Law School – Moved to North Carolina

2004- Hannah was born – Accepted a job and moved to Los Angeles

2006- Sabrina was born – Moved 6 houses down the street

2008- Accepted a new job and moved to Orange County – Hunter & Emma started at a new elementary school

Now- Just when we were starting to feel permanent someplace, our ward boundaries were changed, we don’t know our new leaders yet, and we feel like we’re starting over again in many ways. (I’m not complaining, but still am mourning the “loss.”)

If this is what happens on our down year, I’m pretty nervous about what might be coming for 2010…

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