A Sacrifice that Pays Off!

Grammy Great says that one of her enjoyments in life is to listen to the girls play songs on the piano for her.  The piano that sits in our living room was handed down from Great herself! About sixty years ago Grammy Great purchased the piano for $500.00.  She was a working widow trying to make ends meet and raising three young children on her own.  She said it took her many months of saving to be able to purchase it. My grandmother is one of the most frugal women I have ever know.  She has never had a lot of material things.  She has told us that throughout her life she has always had to ask herself this question when it came to purchasing something: "Is it a want or a need?"  She said  99% of the time she had to pass on things that she wanted in order to get by every month.  This piano was something she thought would benefit her home. When she tells us about how she had to sacrifice for the piano It makes it even more special. My mom played the piano and it was eventually given to her.  A few years ago my mother passed it to me so the girls could learn to play.  I love watching the enjoyment grandma has as she hears the girls play.  Every time she comes the girls know that they have to play for her.  Grammy will sit in the chair for as long as the girls will play for her.  The other day I went down to her house and brought her back here for a few hours.  She sat and listened to the music they played.  As I was watching her I noticed tears running down her cheeks.  I asked her if she was okay or if she needed anything?  She said to me, "I'm fine. Listening to the girls makes the sacrifice that much more worth it."  She had me crying at that moment!  She always tells the girls to keep up with it and to practice hard. I am so grateful for our girls in working hard to develop their talents and then using their talents to bring joy to others!    

I love this picture!

The Evidence is on her face!

Oh my....this girl is so silly! I was out in the garage with Adam the other day when Makell walked out.  She looked at both of us and asked, "Do you notice anything different about me?" She had rubbed a white powered doughnut all over her face!  I then asked her if she had gotten into the doughnuts without asking?  She looked at me and said nothing. Lol!    

Trying something New!

Kourtney decided that she didn't want to do softball this year and try something new instead. She chose tennis and has really enjoyed it!  We played as a family one evening and had so much fun!  

Learning how to properly hit a tennis ball.

We told Kourtney to listen closely so she could come home and teach the rest of us how to play tennis the correct way!

I think this will be the beginning of a new sport for Kourt! 

Father's Day!

I love Father's Day!  I truly believe that my kids and myself have the best dad and grandpa's ever! :)  

Adam is such a great dad!  We love that he is silly and always making us laugh!  Can you tell where the girls get their goofiness from? Yep...their dad! ;)

 

I love this guy!  

Youth Conference

 

I was so fortunate to go with Kourt and our Young Women to Youth Conference this year!  Normally the Beehive's don't get to participate because they are not fourteen years of age.  This year was an exception!  Our ward challenged the youth to really get involved in genealogy work.  They wanted each youth to bring a family name that they had found on family search that needed ordinances done.  We had several activities centered around this, and it was amazing to see the success that came over a few months of hard work and dedication!  The beehives were invited to participate in the Manti Temple trip to do baptisms.  We had forty-four youth attend the temple and they brought 154 ancestor names with them!  Totally amazing!  Kourtney took seven names with her.  One of the females was a great aunt she had met seven or eight years prior at a family reunion.  She was not a member of the church.  Kourtney had a great experience and I was so blessed to be there to witness it!  I love my calling as a counselor in the YW! I get to see these young ladies do amazing things!   

Kourt's New Smile!

 June 13th has been circled on the calendar for months now!  She had the option of going to the Payson office instead of the SF office and having them off a week early.  She jumped all over the Payson idea!  

Starting the process!

After a little time in the chair... they were off!
 
She looks so grown up!  She is excited that she is completely done with the whole braces thing! She said her teeth are a little sore but she realizes it wont last long. She has such a beautiful smile! 
The girl can't stop smiling! 

This was one of the first things she wanted to do!  

Has this ever happend to you?

 

I love this picture!  How many times has this happened to the rest of us ? ;)  Makell  played so hard today.  She is my girl that can go go go and then crash when she finally decides to take a break.  Adam and I sent the girls down to bed and told them that we would be down shortly to tuck them in.  After walking into the bedroom, Adam tucked Kaitlyn in first, thinking Makell hadn't quite finished saying her prayers.  Then walking over to tuck her in, Adam realized she was sound asleep with her arms still folded!  The next morning I showed her the picture.  She smiled and said. "I was so tired. I couldn't even kneel down."  Is it possible to fall asleep while kneeling down?  Now that would have been a fun picture!

Zip Line!

 

Adam just celebrated his 40th birthday! He keeps saying that he is half dead now.  I told he him needs to be more optimistic and who knows...the next forty might be the best yet!  Adam's dad and step-mom sent a card that seemed to lift his spirits! It read:  Don't worry! You will get used to being forty and actually learn to like it...when your 50!

Several months ago I had asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday?  He told me that he didn't want a big party and absolutely no surprise parties!  He also made the comment that he better start being more cautious now that he is turning forty.  What he didn't know was that I had already planned and set up a fun adventure for him!  You hear about people having a mid-life crisis when these monumental birthdays come around.  After a little thinking, I decided I needed to plan something that would help him feel young again!  If not, I might be in trouble and find a new corvette parked in the garage.  I can totally hear him trying to convince me that that would keep him feeling young. :)  I had a plan in the works!  I booked a zip line run down Provo canyon for Adam and I.   It was soooo much fun!  There were four different couples that we were grouped with.  There were five different runs that took over two hours to complete.  They took us to the top of the mountain on an ATV, and dropped us off. Our tour guides got us all clipped in, set up, and we were ready to go!  We zip lined through pine trees and over the tops of trees( 130 + feet above the ground).  Along the route there were a few tree branches that had grown out into the path of the zip line. When Adam made it to the bottom he made the comment that he was sure glad he had his legs closed at that particular part of the course! :)  Made me laugh!  It's not very often that we get to do fun things like this with just the two of us.  It was fun spending the day together and feeling young again!  Even if it was only for a few hours! :)  Happy 40th birthday Adam! 

What would she do without her buddy?

This girl cracks me up! Is it hard to tell Makell loves Harley? She packs him around everywhere she goes!  Even when she is playing computer games or watching a short cartoon on the computer.  The crazy thing to me is that Harley has no problem with it! He looks as if he thoroughly enjoys it.

 

She was a little embarrassed when she realized we were watching her.  This makes me smile! :)

Us...

 

After having my camera for six months I finally realized it had a self timer! I don't know why I had not figured it out before now!  I decided to take a quick family picture! This is going to come in handy! 

Lordy Lordy look who's 40!

Adam celebrated the BIG 4-0!  He says he can't believe forty has planted itself on him already.  Sometimes he feels like an eighty year old man after a long day of working. He says he is grateful that you don't have to celebrate the age you feel.  :)

The first words out of the girls mouth that morning was: "Mom you have to take us to Macey's so we can buy black balloons!"  Like they had to talk me into that one! 

I came home from Girls Camp a day early to celebrate!  Actually I was worried he would have a mid-life crisis while I was gone and I would come home to something new parked in the garage. ;)  Kourtney stayed at camp and came home the following day.

 

Adam saved his cheesecake for when Kourt came home so we could celebrate again!  Nothing like rubbing the "40" in again! :)

School Ends...Summer Begins

School is over!  Makell and Kaitlyn were ready for the break!  Kourtney on the other hand, not so much!  She has loved Junior High School and didn't want the year to end!  She has always been like that! She has always loved school!  For the last night of school we decided to use our Pass of all Passes and went to Trafalga.  We drove the race cars, climbed the rock wall, played mini-golf, played laser tag, rode the bumper boats, and rode a few other rides.  The kids had a blast and it wasn't busy at all!  We stopped and had pizza on the way home and then watched a movie! I guess we will be doing a lot of that this summer since we have the passes to do it!