The Kids and I read a story on cowboys and cowgirls then Heather came over and we just had to act it out. The cowboy theme did not last long for the girls so they ended up as princesses and was invited to a royal tea party at Annas. ("That was the best tea party ever" Dansi) We are so grateful for friends!

Our new piano!

On Saturday the 10th of Jan. we gratefully received a piano from our wonderful friends Sidonna and I met in Ross. Thank you sooooo much Linda and Kenny.
We all play it. There is not a day that goes by that the piano is not played.

I love digital cameras!

Lately digital cameras have been a huge hit in our home.
The other day we were cleaning rooms and Michael took the camera into his room and took a few pictures and then came to show me what it looked like. I made some funny faces and commented on the photos as we talked about them. Then Michael went to make the changes and took more photos until it looked good and was done. It made cleaning fun and put the responsibility into their own hands.

Then the other day my children were fighting over toys and I just so happened to have my camera on me so I said " Oh, lets take a picture of you sharing". My it worked. They willingly shared their new possesions happily. Dan & I looked at eachother and chuckled. We were amazed. It was one of those instances where it was so easy yet did so much. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass."

Thank you Grampa and Grammie for our cozy pj's.
We love you!

Arizona in two days!

We could travel forever!

Oh, When is this going to end?

My sister and I escaped with her little one and two of my little ones to the AZ. Well we almost escaped it all. We got to be with family! The things we do for family togetherness. Sicily and I left on Sat. morning and came back Sun. evening. Wow, how fast. It was awesome! Good quality time together. I love spontaneous activities! (most of the time). This one was sooooo much fun. Thanks Sicily for this wonderful time together! Thank you Donna for housing us all and entertaining us! (Also, Thanks to Dan for watching the other children so I could go.) All the siblings were there except our Idaho Queen Soni. We missed you!

It is always good to see Grandma!

Yes, these beautiful ladies are my sisters! And we could not have asked for a better brother.

I guess being the only boy in the family amongst 4 girls at times could make you go crazy. Or is it just a good excuse? Ha Ha we love you Jake!

It felt so good to be together!

Serving the Missionaries!

Look at our little missionary!

I know this is old news but had to include this occasion.Back in November Michael, Dansi, Sidonna, Alina and I had the opportunity to serve all the Missionaries at a Zone Conference here in Banning. (Micoll and Daddy had their special time together.) Wow what an experience! They were so well behaved. We all thought it was such a privilege to do this. Michael was the water boy and Dansi had the serving table duty making sure that there was always enough food. Sidonna was mommy's right hand:). The spirit was so strong especially when the missionaries sang to us. We definitely will do it again!

We had the opportunity to party with good friends till the new year then woke up early to follow some other friends on an unknown mountain trail in our toyota sienna minivan "Blueberry." Little did we anticipate the adventure that lay ahead. Just so happened there was a good deal of snow, mud, rocks, bumps, ruts, and terrain otherwise best-suited for heavy-duty four-wheel drive vehicles. Blueberry did really well thanks to Dan's fine driving maneuvers and all that Utah winter driving experience.