A's

Today, I found out that I got A's in both my classes. I think I only got a few A's in high school.

In my Skills For Learning in the Info Age, I had to write a Survival Guide for my final project. After I had all my notes done, that paper only took me a day to write. I enjoyed writing it too. Who would have known that I like to write papers, grammar free,and in APA format. I received an A on this paper.

In my Contemporary Business Communication class, I had to make a PowerPoint presentation. I have never done a presentation before so this was kind of new. Thank goodness Dan knows PowerPoint and Excell. He guided me through my presentation. I also received an A. This took me a week to come up with my slides. Then in one day, I wrote my script out and I corrected my grammar, spelling and font sizes. After it was completed, I was very proud of myself.

So, for getting A's in my first two classes, I am going to see Twilight and New Moon tonight. Lea, Chayanne, and I are going to stand in line until they let us in. Twilight will be starting at 9pm and at midnight, New Moon will start. I am soooo excited. It will be nice to hang with my girls to see two great movies. Whoo Hoo.

My girls are going to be tired Friday. They are still wanting to go to school after being up all night with me. I think we will be coming home around 3am unless we are stuck in traffic maybe 3:30. The girls catch the bus at 7am. I think they will want me to drive them to school. If I am awake :p My mom will be coming over to help Daniel with the kids. Dan asked my mom if she would spend the night and help. I am still trying to figure that one out. But in the mean time, my mom will be here. My younger kids are excited.

Tomorrow I will let you know my feelings on New Moon. Stay tune to find out if I am still team Edward or if I turned to the dark side, team Jacob.

Daniel

I could not help myself, I had to post a picture of my wonderful, handsome husband.

Walking every morning

Dan and I have been walking every morning around 5am until 6am. Dan has been doing this for about 3 or 4 weeks now and is loosing weight like crazy. He walks about a mile and a half. He will be going for 2 miles this week. He has also cut back on his diabetic meds and asthma meds. It is great to see him so dedicated to his health.

I have been walking for a week now. I walk a mile everyday. I feel so good afterwards and have more energy. I like that I don't have my kids around and I can have some alone time. I don't mind having Dan with me. We stay out of each others way.

We wake up one of the girls to come lay by Elijah in our bed. That will keep him asleep a little longer while I am gone.

Last week we came home and found Lea and Elijah holding each other fast asleep.

Papa's Visit

My dad came to visit over General Conference. We love it when he comes to visit. We wish we lived closer to him. Someday.

I don't know why I didn't get a picture with the older girls. But than again, these are not the best pictures. I am sorry for that.

When I told my dad to look at me he looked down. In the middle picture, Nathaniel is holding up his Wolverine claws and Ella is just posing. In the last picture, Elijah was wearing my dad's boots. He would not leave them alone.

All my kids loved my dad's boots. They think he is a real cowboy for wearing them. When my dad wears his cowboy hat, my kids are asking him about cowboy things. It is so funny. One question they ask him is if he always wears his boots. I don't think my kids have seen him wear anything else but his cowboy boots.

Fall

You know Fall is here when you can sleep with the air conditioner off and windows open. You know Fall is here when you can leave your air conditioner off until around noon. You know Fall is here when you drive the kids to school with all the windows open. You know Fall is here when you here little voices in the van (with all the windows down) saying,"I'm cold, roll the windows up. You know Fall is here when you wake up and go to bed with beautiful cool weather. I wish it would stay like this all year round. You know Fall is here when the air is nice and crisp in the morning.
YES!!! There is Fall in the city of Mesa. We may not have the beautiful fall leaves, but the nice cool breeze is such a welcome to all that live in this city. Remember it is usually around 110 degrees all summer long.

University of Phoenix ( really long post, sorry)

I have decided to go back to school. I have been talking to Dan a lot lately about furthering my education. Next year Ella will be in kindergarten and I will have Elijah home. It has been so long since I have had only one child home with me all day. Dan said that he has a friend (Janice) that worked for the University of Phoenix. Janice used to work with Dan at the cardiovascular Dr's office.
Before I called Janice, I got on the website a few times and decided to put my info in and have someone call me. Well, as you all know, as soon as I pushed send my phone rang. I was so nervous when I was talking to some guy. When he called me, Elijah was screaming and Ella needed to get ready for school. I told the guy to call me back at 1pm when I got Elijah to sleep and Ella off to school. He never called me. Oh well, his lose.
Another day past and Dan asked me if I called Janice. He said that if I was serious about going back to school I better call. I called Janice that afternoon and she wasn't in. I was so relived.
You have to understand, I haven't been to school since 1994. I got my associates degree in applied science in Cosmetology. That was in 1994. I didn't want to be a hair dresser so I never got my license. Just talking about school was very uncomfortable for me. I have decided my life to my husband and 5 kids and I was okay with that. Until now.
I started thinking that in 5 years I will have all my kids in school and I will be left all alone trying to decided what I want to do. I was again getting scared because I will have no one to care for during the day.
With all that said, I got a phone call. My heart was beating so hard because I thought it might be Janice. I answered the phone and a very nice voice was on the other end of the phone. Janice talked to me like old friends. She was excited about me thinking about going back to school. We talked for awhile and than she said, "I am not an enrollment counselor, but I have a good friend Tanya who is and I will give you her number."
So Tanya called me right away. We talked about why I wanted to attend the UofP. Tanya also worked with Dan. That made a difference because I knew if Dan liked her so will I. I told Tanya that I wanted to go into Elementary Education. Tanya asked me why and I said that I have 5 kids and I feel comfortable around little kids. I know how to work with them. Tanya pointed out that I would be limiting myself to just education. I wasn't sure if I wanted that. So, we both decided that Human Resources would be more rewarding for me.
Tanya and I did my admission and loan all online. Yeap you heard me, ONLINE. When I got accepted and approved for my loan my heart stopped. I have not been accepted for anything in a LONG time. This was huge. I now had a commitment I had to make. No backing out. NONE!!!! It was now or never. I am happy to say I am ready NOW to focus on me (for a few hours a day) and it feels great.
I am proud to announce that I am going to get my associates degree in Human Resource Management. I am going to AXIA through UofP. AXIA is an online college. WooHoo!!! That is just what I wanted. The flexibility of attending my classes any time of the day.Tanya has helped me
all the way. Tanya has walked with me all the way and has helped me with my fear of school. She is a great admission counselor.
I have finished my first week of classes. I attend 2 classes every 9 weeks. It will take me 3 years to get my degree. I have really enjoyed this first week. I know that it will get better. I already learned a lot this first week. A little over whelming but I think I got the hang of it.
Tanya is still by my side and I am so grateful for that. Dan is also happy to see that I am furthering my education and it has but him to ease. My kids are awesome too. I think my 2 older kids are proud of me. I am one lucky wife, mother,daughter, daughter-in-law, and grand daughter because I have a huge support group. They all know I am doing this for ME!!! and also so my family.
Thank you Tanya for all your help and comfort. I will miss hearing from you every day. I know I will be okay. I look forward to getting my degree in 3 years and I owe some of that to you.
I thank my Father in heaven because he has giving me the courage to get out of my comfort zone. He also has blessed to already by opening my mind up to knew ideas that I have had while attending my first week of school. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
So now I will be sharing a little with you each week of what I am doing in my classes. I could also use your insight on the different topic I am learning.

Elijah's Party in the USA

Mother Nature

My visiting teacher came over this week. She always brings me something and my kids something. One visit she brought me vegtables from her garden and she brought some books for my kids so look at while we visit. So is such a sweet lady and I love her so much.

Well this week she brought me some more yummy veggies from her garden and she brought a birds nest that had dropped from the bish it was in by her house. Now this nest is so cool looking. It is very interesting to see what this mommy bird used to make this nest.The kids and I found an old sock and a shoe lace all wound up in this nest. And it had a small leaf on top to hide 3 little eggs. It is sad to say that I don't think the eggs made it.

Chayanne took the nest to school to show her class and it is still there.

13th Anniversary

Today was our 13th wedding anniversary. We really don't do much. It just seems to be just another day. But this year I told Dan I wanted to do something. I didn't care but something. Dan came home early becasue he had a DR. appointment. On his way home he called my girls and talked with them. I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner when Dan came home with a dozen roses. I think this is the 3rd time in all of 13 years he has given me flowers. I am not much of a flower person so I didn't expect this. It was a great surprise. Dan had asked to girls to babysit while we went out to dinner. Another surprise. I didn't have to make dinner. I told the girls to just make Top Ramon or Mac and Cheese. Whe went to dinner at Chili's. After that we went to Famous Footwear and than to Walmart for grocery shopping. When we got home, the house was so clean, all the little kids were nice and calm and the kids made us a Banner that saud "HAPPY ANNIVERSAY MOM AND DAD,"and each of the kids signed their name. That was a great ending for a great Anniversary Dinner.Thanks Dan and Lea, Chay, Nano, Ella, & Elijah for a wonderful evening.

Dan's Surprise Party, Sort of...

I didn't get any pictures and I feel so bad. I had my camera but I forgot pictures.This party was a spur of the moment thing. My nephew needed help with his car and asked my husband if he could help. So Dan had planned for all of us to go to my brother-in-laws house for dinner (fish tacos) and he would help Austen fix his car. So I called all of dan's bros and sis's that live here in Mesa and had a surprise party. Well, when we were leaving to go Dan asked me why I made a cake. DUH!!! I was so busy getting kids in the car and make sure I didn't spill the cake so I wasn't thinking and I said it was for him and Chayanne. I don't remember saying that but Lea and Dan both said I did. So he wasn't really that surprised. It was fun. Dan's sister Sariah and her son came over as well as Dan's parents and Dan's other brother David and his family. It was a nice evening of visiting. The kids were behaving really well.
Dan turned 35 on the 8th of Aug. He shares that birthday with his Aunt Susan who lives in Long Beach CA. We went and visited my Dad on that day. That is one of the things I love about Dan. He is always thinking of others even if it was his birthday. He is the greatest husband and I love him for who he is.
Happy Birthday sweetie.

Chayanne's Slumber Party

Chayanne doesn't like birthday cakes so she and her friends made this brownie cake.It was so yummy.

Josie, she was the last to fall asleep.

Makena and Chayanne fell asleep during a movie.

Here is the birthday girl fast asleep.

Chayanne Danielle

Chayanne turned 10 today. I can't believe it. It just seemed like yesterday I had her in the hospital in Phoenix. Wow double digits!! When she woke up this morning I asked her how she felt being 10. She just looked at me and said she didn't feel any different. Here are 10 things I love about her. There are more but I am only doing the amount they turned.

I love the way she comes and gives me a kiss after school and asks how my day has been.

I love the way she laughs.

I love the way she helps out with her younger brothers and sister.

I love how she draws and colors. Chayanne wants to be an artist.

I love how smart she is.

I love her sweet spirit

I love how one of her eyes is two colors. One side is hazel (her dad's eye color) and the other side is brown (my eye color)

I love to hear her sing.

I love her brownies

And I love how confident she is in her self. She doesn't seem to get nervous about things. She knows she tried to be the best she can in anything she does.

Chayanne your dad and I love you so much. You bring so much happiness to our family and I really appreciate that.

First Day of Preschool

Ella, Preschool, Ms. Oliver

First Day of School

Nathaniel, Kindergarten, Ms. Teater

Lealynn, 7th grade, lots of teachers

Chayanne, 5th grade, Ms. Driggers

Sunday Talks

This Sunday both Lea and Chayanne had to give talks. Lea was asked by our bishop to talk about an experience she had at girls camp. This talk was to be given in SACRAMENT. She was so nervous. I asked her if I could post her talk on my blog but she said no. I think she did a very good job. i am so proud of her. I couldn't really help her prepare because I didn't go to girls camp. So that was frustrating for me. Later if she lets me, I will post it.
At the beginning of sacrament we told her she needed to sit up where the bishop and his counselors sat. She was trying to stall sitting up there until the bishop saw her. He got her to sit up there. Our bishop is great. He has a calming spirit about him and he seems to know how to handle anything.
Lea you did a fantastic job on your first talk. We love you so much girly.

Chayanne gave a talk in Primary. This is also Chayanne's first talk in our ward. She also did a great job. I asked Chayanne if I could post her talk and she said yes. So here is her talk:
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou salt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:and whatsoever thou salt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19)
This is a true story. There was an old woman and she dies at a very old age. One day her daughter and her granddaughter went to go visit gramma at the cemetery. The girl said,Mom, at the funeral auntie said that gramma's favorite song was Families can be Together Forever. But why did she pick a primary song? Her mom said that gramma should answer that question. On their way home they stopped at grammas. Her mom dug in the closet and pulled out some not books. She looked through then a while than she grabbed the right one. She gave it to the girl and said, "Read this".The next day the girl finished all her chores very fast and skipped cartoons so that she can have more time to read. Her mom asked her if she had got the answer at dinner. She told her mom that the song reminded gramma of the day her family got sealed. She asked her mom if she sand that song in primary when she was a kid. Her mom said the song wasn't even made when she was in Primary. She said, your gramma heard the primary sing in sacrament and thought Jesus was talking directly to her. She loved that song ever since that Sunday.
Chayanne than bore her testimony that she is glad her family was sealed in the temple so we can be Together Forever.
Chayanne you also did a fantastic job on your talk. We are so proud of you.

Slumber Party

Morning after the party

Lealynn blowing out her candles

Dinner time. They made their own pizza.

Lealynn's Pineapple cake I made.

This was Lealynn's birthday party. She invited some friends and they stay up til 5am and we woke them up around 8ish. It went really well. All the other kids went to my mom for a sleep over. Well, all but one, Nathaniel. He was good and didn't bother the girls.

Monsoon 2009

This is the first major mosoon storm we have had this year. In the picture is a big sand storm coming towards my apartment. Do you remember the scene in the Mummy where a face appears in the sand wall trying to eat the airplane Brandon Frazier was on. That is how the sand storms here in Mesa AZ look. I am not kidding you. I think it is so cool.

If I have my facts right there are only 2 places in the world with a sand storm like that. Here in AZ and in the Sahara Desert. Because of the intense heat we have. When the heat rises to cool off very quickly at night, it causes high pressure. The low pressure coming from the south, Mexico, it causes this type sand storm.

Lealynn Rayna

Lea turned 12 on July 6. You do know what that means right! Young Women's & Girls Camp!!!! She is so excited. And she thinks its great she isn't in Elementary School. She will be in Junior High. I was 12 yrs old when I got to wear makeup so I went out and bought her a few. That is also exciting for her.My little girl is now a young lady. Here are 12 things I love about Lea.

1:I love that she quietly does service for others. She is kinda sneaky like that.

2:I love that she reads her scriptures every night to Nathaniel.

3:I love that she tries to be a good example to her younger brothers and sisters.

4:I love that she likes to watch chick flicks with me and eat popcorn with me.

5:I love the way she dances and makes up silly rap songs.

6:I love that she is very technology savvy.She can usually figure things out for me when it comes to cell phone and computers

6:I love that when she is happy, she glows like an angel.

7:I love that she had become a very beautiful daughter of god both inside and out.

8:I love that she is a good friend to all her friends at school.

9:I love that she looks good in short hair.

10:I love that she can now babysit while mom and dad go on dates or if mom just needs to get away for a bit.

11:I love that she very helpful.

12:I love that she is all mine. Our family is so blessed to have Lea in our family. She was able to attend the Mesa AZ Temple with both my husband and me so we can be sealed as a family. Lea started the way for her brothers and sisters to be sealed to us for eternity.Thank You Lea. I love you so much.

Nathaniel Darrell

Nathaniel Darrell Working joined our family on July 7, 2004. We were so happy he joined our family. He is an awesome boy. When he was "little" his older sister loved to dress him up. For awhile I thought he was going to grow up thinking he is a girl. But he has proved me wrong. He is currently my secret agent spy boy. He is also a super hero. He loves to save the day and make sure mommy is safe. He is learning to be brave. Today he went to the Dentist and was a very good boy. He didn't cry and was so brave. He thought that the bright light above was going to tear his body apart but was glad he was still my big boy.

Since he turned 5 last week I want to tell 5 things I love about Nathaniel.

1: He tries to be the best boy every day. He also is a great "BIG" brother to Ella and Elijah. I can truly see in his eyes that he loves all his sisters and brother.Even when they make him angry, I can still see the love in his eyes.

2:I love that when he smiles, his eye close and he has that "David Archuletta" smile. His happiness just shows me what a great spirit he has.

3:I love that he can't wait till he is 12 so he can pass the sacrament. He thinks that having the Priesthood is way cool because its like having special powers.

4:I love that he owns all the spy gadgets that Walmart sells and he keeps them in his spy bag for emergencies.If I am in any trouble or danger, my secret spy will protect me and save the day.

5:I love that he still loves his mommy and his daddy. I will ask him when I get really old and can't walk very well, if he will still set on my lap. He smiles and says yes. Than I will ask him when he becomes a daddy and has a lot of kids if he will still sit on my lap. He smiles and says yes.Happy Birthday Nanno. I love you so much.

HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY !!!!!

WOW!!!! I can't believe it. I have been a member of the Blogging world for 1 year. Another amazing thing is that I have had 2, 257 awesome people visit my blog. That is so GREAT!!!! I was going to post something on here later tonight because I have a few more items to blog about, but than I received my first comment today wishing me a HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!!!! Thank you so much Teena in Toronto for that simple comment.
I am not sure what I am suppose to do for my Anniversary. I guess I have to give something away. So I am going to have a giveaway.I have a lucky number. Whoever leaves me a comment on this blog and is the number I pick, or closest to it, will win a SPA BASKET. I will give you until Friday the 17Th, to leave a comment.Oh yeah, the number is between 1 and 10.
Good Luck and may the best person win.

Johnny Lingo

This past Saturday, we went to a party at a friends house. The theme was Celebrating 40Th yrs of Johnny Lingo. It was like a luau. We had leis and we had Hawaiian hay stacks for dinner. All the was invited needed to bring a desert to share. I brought these yummy cupcakes.After dinner, we sat on the grass and watch the old version of Johnny Lingo on a white sheet. We had to pay attention because there was also a quiz afterwards. We had a lot of fun. I think my kids had fun too.
I have been a lot of cupcakes these past few months. I found that if you frost them with a big tip, it is much easier and faster.

The Crawley's

My husband Dan was born in California. He spent about 12 years in a town named Potrero California. Potrero is just right by the Ticate Mexican border. While my husband was growing up there he had a best friend named William Crawley. William lived right by Dan house and they spend every minutes of the day with each other. One day William and Dan went on a go-cart ride. William was driving and of course Dan was the passenger. Who knows (but them) what all happened but Dan fell out of the go-cart. Dan broke his leg and was down for awhile. Nothing happened to William, but William being a good friend still visited my husband and they still did wacky things.Than my husband moved to Indiana. Dan said that was one of the sades times in his life, leaving his best friend.

They have kept in touch with each other over the years. In fact William came to our wedding 13 yrs ago. We have visited with him a few times since. William had a hard life after my husband left. His dad died about 4 yrs ago. William grew up living with just his dad. I am sure that alone was really hard.We had no idea and Dan was so sad he didn't let us know.

Well about 2 yrs ago, William changed his life and started going back to church. That is were he met his wife of 1 week.

William and Christine came to visit us the day after their wedding. We didn't make it to the wedding because we moved and they didn't have our new address and we think it go lost in the mail. Anyways, they were flying to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They said it was cheaper to fly from Phoenix than it was from LA. SO they decided to call us and we went out to dinner. It was lot of fun.

Christine is such a nice lady. She was amazed at all my kids. The funny thing about this whole marriage thing is that Dan and William teased the heck out of Christine when they were little. Well Dan says he never did but we know he probably did but not as much as William. But you know, when they would look at each other, with all that aside, they were truly in love with each other. It was great for my kids to see that, besides seeing that with their own parents.

We are so glad that Christine and William found each other. Congrats to the both of you.

New Church Calling

I have a new calling. I am the new ward librarian. I have never had this calling. I really like it. I can't believe what the library has. Oh my gosh. It is kind of over whelming. I get to go to the church building on Wednesday and work in the library. I was told that the library hasn't been open on weds for awhile. I seem to be busy on that night. I find joy in organizing things, & helping people, especially preparing things that the teachers need for their lessons. I kind of also find this time on Weds to have time to myself. I get a break from home for a few hours and I come back home happy and full of the spirit. Who knew that you could feel the spirit in the library. I sure do.

Isabella's 4th B-day Party

Ella's birthday was on the 10Th of June. That was the day we went to the Mercury game. I usually make cupcakes on my kids birth day because it is usually during the week. We will put a candle in the cupcake and sing happy birthday. And than we open presents from parents, and the birthday kids siblings. Since Ella's favorite color is pink I made pink cupcakes. And since she wants a horse so bad, she got a horse on a broom stick and it is also pink.

When I bought the butterfly cake pan (i thought she liked butterflies)I was excited and i showed it to her. She looked at it a minute and than she told me is didn't want a butterfly cake, she wanted a moth cake. Yes a moth cake. she is so funny. She said she thought moth were really pretty too. So on the day of her party, I told her I was making a pink moth and she was okay with that. Now with the tattoos. My mother in law bought her some tattoos and she wanted to wear them all. So there you have my tattooed daughter.

Lea's dance preformance part 2

After the group danced the people that work for the WNBA asked for 12 girls that wanted an autograph from the players. Lea and her friends got to go down to the side of the court while the Mercury's were warming up. After the warm up the players gave each girl a warm up ball with their signature on it. That was so cool. Lea was freaking out and almost fainted. She was so excited to have an official WNBA warm up ball. And of coarse I had to have a picture with Elijah. He was a great kid during the game. When anyone clapped, he clapped. It was a fun night. Our friend's the Bigelow's were watching Nathaniel and Ella for us while we wen to this game. Thank You Julie.