Flower power....pucker up!!!

We had a good week...some how everyone around us is sick but we have been really healthy and well!

Tuesday I had my Esther Bible Study class. I'm taking this 10 week Bible study class at my friends house with a group of ladies in our subdivision. It has been really nice to study more from the Bible and talk among ladies that are not members of our church. I really enjoy it! This week we read the 2nd Chapter of Esther. I really liked in our workbook the session about having good manners. Esther had to have good manners and was liked by all that she came in contact with. She was respected and gained favor by everyone. I love this quote, "Those who respect authority, who aren't insulted by instruction, who practice the art of truly listening, and who follow through by doing what they're asked to win it." (talking about gaining respect) I made a list of good qualities that were mentioned in the reading this week...

-good people skills

-good manners

-follow through

-compliance

-modesty

-follow instructions

-truly listen

List of bad qualities (that we should not have)...

-being impatient

-being self promoting

I'm really grateful for the story of Esther and the good example she is for me.

One of Makenna's friends spent the night this week...her mom and dad went out of town for an early Valentine weekend and so they needed someone to watch her. We had a fun time, she is a bundle of energy and just loves coming to our house! They played barbie, house, school and dress up.

The girls all had a dance party at night before bed...

Elaina and Suzanna love to dance together and they have all sorts of tricks and dance moves they do together!

Jake and I were able to go to our Ward Temple Night this last Friday. I was a little worried about leaving the kids on a Friday night, because we didn't know how long we would be, but everything went really well. Elaina is a good babysitter and the kids all worked together to get along.

Elaina saw an add in the paper about the different things to do with Pringles.....pucker up was one of them!!!

Elaina and I made a bunch of flower clips the other day....Travis thought it was pretty funny to try them on.

I came running to Suzanna's call for help and found her stuck down by the couch. I have no idea why or how she was down there but she was stuck and needed help!

The kids love to play and jump rope. Suzanna tied 2 scarves together and everyone joined in on the fun!

We had an early Valentine treat today after church. Elaina is quit the cook these days...she found a new sugar cookie recipe in one of my cookbooks and then made them and everyone frosted them. It was yummy and fun!

Yesterday we had a World Wide leadership training meeting at the Stake Center. I was more training on the new handbook that we received from the church in November 2010. It was really nice and I came away uplifted and full of ideas. I wrote down so many things, here are a few....

-we need to make the handbook a treasure (that can enlighten us, help us lead others, and receive revelation)

-don't be overwhelmed, treasure up the word's of God

-as we read the handbook (or any scripture) we need to ask, "How might these words help others?

-the new handbook requires more work on our part because we need to seek more personal revelation for our ward

-Priesthood holders need to give more blessings to others!

-How can we best prepare the children?

-this work is a spiritual work-we have to find His way and act on it!

-act on every prompting!

-How do we watch over our youth?

-love those who are not active

-ministering is everyone's job

-do simple things

-the Savior loves all of us and so we need to love everyone

-never give up!

Homemade bread, self-discipline, and Fast Sunday hunger pains!

We had a good week....everyone was safe and healthy!

I've made a goal to make homemade bread this year. I buy a loaf for sandwiches some times but for the most part we are just eating homemade bread. I love the smell of homemade bread (you can even smell it before you come in the house!), I love how easy it is to make and I love how excited the kids get when I make it! I've been making 8 loaves each week....we really love bread around here.....the other day I put one of the mini loaves on a plate and the next thing I knew was John had grabbed it and started eating the whole thing! It was really funny!!!

Elaina loves to play the piano!!! Whenever she gets a spare minute she is playing....right now she loves to play Count Your Blessings, If the Savior Stood Beside Me, and Choose the Right.

John LOVES to play on the computer! He probably likes it as much as watching T.V.! Right now he really likes playing on Starfall and PBSkids. He can navigate through anything and can drag and click and has lots of fun.

Makenna really enjoys playing with others! We have her friend come over every Tuesday in the morning and then we take them both to afternoon kindergarten after lunch. They get out every dress up and love to play barbies. Makenna is so lucky to have good friends!

Suzanna was recognized at an assembly for self-discipline. Every month the whole school focuses on a good quality trait and then a child from every class is choosen who has that quality. Suzanna was very surprised and very excited!!!


I love John and Makenna...I sat down to have a bowl of cereal (in between John and Makenna so they would BOTH be happy that I was sitting by them!) and before I knew it they had moved their chairs so they could sit REALLY close to me. I love that they love me and that we have lots of fun together. Cereal and milk are John's favorite thing to eat right now! (when he wants a bowl of cereal he says "soy and milk" or at least that's what it sounds like)


Today was Fast Sunday and Scout Sunday and Travis was really having a hard time with the hunger pains! Our Bishop gave the Cub Scouts permission to wear their scout shirts today and I was trying to take a good picture of Travis but it was really hard to get past the pains.

Travis does love Scouts and is really excited every week to go! Right now he is a Bear and is in a big group of boys!

We had our annual VT Conference in Relief Society today. We had the Elder's cover all of the classes in primary so all of the sisters could attend RS the third hour. It was really nice and I'm glad we all could be reminded of the importance of Visiting Teaching. VT really is a calling from our Heavenly Father and we need to think of it that way. I'm glad that we have a ward with small boundries that make it really easy to visit others in the ward. Some of the thoughts that I came away with were....

-Visiting Teaching is a relationship NOT an assignment!

-Steps to be a good VT

1.make a standing appointment (ex. schedule the first Friday of every month)

2.prepare your thoughts

3. be flexible

4.be a friend

5.add some flavor!

6.report!

-You are not done for the month until you have reported!

2011 is here!

Wow, I can't believe it's 2011!!! The year started out pretty busy with getting primary classes figured out and getting the kids back into the routine of school.

We celebrated Elaina's birthday on Jan. 3rd. She wanted to make her own cake and decorated it so cute! She didn't do any school work that day...she has the nicest teacher ;) !!! (There are some benefits of homeschooling!)

John was really upset that it wasn't HIS birthday and would not except the fact that he wasn't getting any presents.

We did sing to him and that satisfied him for a moment!

Elaina went shopping for her birthday present with Grandma and had a great time!

Here are some things about our 11 year old Elaina...

-favorite color: hot pink/black and white or zebra prints

-favorite hobbies: play the piano, riding the ripstick, playing the wii, knitting scarves and hats

-favorite food: Hawaiian haystacks and soup in homemade bread bowls

-favorite subject in school: math

Elaina is such a joy to have in our family! I love to spend time with her and have really enjoyed homeschooling her this year! She is a really good babysitter and is always willing to watch the kids for me and loves to go babysitting other kids!

Travis loves to make things out of legos. He was really proud of this creation that he made!

He is really enjoying reading right now and is in the middle of "The Guardians of Ga'hoole" series. He loves to play tether ball at recess but lately has been playing football with other kids at school. He loves being in 3rd grade and his teacher Miss Ekegren!

Suzanna is such a fun girl! She is a really good friend and everyone loves to be around her and play with her. The girls love to play "really people", barbies and play school. Suzanna can't wait until she turns 8 this year! The primary had our "Baptism preview" last Sunday to get the kids excited about getting baptized this year and help them learn more about the importance of getting baptized. Suzanna got to recite the 4th article of faith in front of everyone and she did such a great job! I love Suzanna's giggle and how contagious it is!!!

Makenna is enjoying kindergarten so much this year! She is doing so well and loves to learn new sight words and loves to draw and color and tape and staple and glue....I have to ban her from things some days because she would use up our whole supply of things if I didn't! She really loves to play with friends and has lots of fun with John in the morning before kindergarten. We had her off of milk and eggs for a whole year because she had a tummy ache and was losing a lot of weight but the last couple of months we introduced them back into her diet. She has been pretty good but last night she had a pretty bad stomach ache so we may need to take her off of something again.

John is.....well, John! He really keeps things interesting and very lively around here. He loves to play with the kids and is really sad when they have to go to school. He had tubes put in his ears in December and since then his speech has really improved!

He loves to watch shows, especially "Cat in the Hat" on PBS and any movie with a dragon or dinosaur in it. He is really picky about what he eats and usually asks for "cereal and milk".

In primary this year our theme is "I know the scriptures are true"! I just love that theme...we are encouraging the kids to read the scriptures daily. Our kids love to read the scriptures and have been reading them on their own each night before bed. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and I know that when we read from them everyday and keep the commandments we are truely blessed!

Bikes, bikes and more bikes

Wow, we finally got everyone a bike and they are loving it! Now we just need to keep up on the flat tires!!!!

This is one of John's favorite things to do.....

The 3rd of July!

We had a great 4th of July celebration this year! It started the 3rd (Elaina's half birthday, she would want me to add that!) with our "first annual Farris race!" Hopefully this will be a yearly event, everyone loved it. We, of course, trained for weeks, maybe months, to get ready for it (ok, not really!). Anyway, it was held out in Kuna at the high school and started with the pledge of allegiance.....

and some much needed stretching (nice Jake!).....

First was the cousin race (Grumpy started off with some advice).......

And then they were off (all 13 of them, with a few little ones watching on the side)....

Anna was so fast and took 1st place!

John didn't want to be in the race but loved talking to his new cousin!

Here is Jake getting ready for the brother race. All 6 brothers and 2 brother-in-laws were there to compete. Jake did awesome coming in 3rd place (not bad for an old guy!).

We also had an adult relay race and a cousin relay race! It felt good to run but even better to watch! My favorite parts of the race were watching Suzanna in the relay part.....she was running so fast and at the same time pulling up her pants that can NEVER stay on her waist! Also, when I looked out at Blake across the football field I thought he was wearing white tights with his lovely tight spandex shorts, but Amber informed me that it was just his white legs, oops!

It was amazing that EVERYONE was there! If my math is right we had Grammy and Grumpy....15 aunts and uncles......21 cousins (with 1 on the way!). We are so lucky to have a great family!

The Snake River Stampede!

We went to the Snake River Stampede with some of Jake's family. It was really fun for the kids! They all love to dress up as cowboys and cowgirls!

We are so glad our cousins are our best buds!!! The kids all loved the girls on the horses with lights! Very good show!