Happy Father's Day-2010

To the father of my children:
Thank you for always knowing when to step in and take over.

Thank you for having a sense of humor-even when I don't.

Thank you for loving me and our kids unconditionally.

Thank you for being the best example to them.

Thank you for understanding that sometimes, I just need a break.

Here's to hoping that tomorrow, I can add another of these photos of you with our children when they are fresh from heaven.

You really are such an amazing daddy. And not only that, but an amazing husband. I don't know what I did to deserve you-but I love you! More than you know.....

With Parker-1 day old

With Pacie-About 3 days old

With Landon-About a week old.

With Presley-6 weeks old (In England....)

(All newborn pics are still on our other computer!)

You really are such a great dad-and your kids are so so blessed. I love you and am looking forward to adding another little Taft baby to our family!! :)

Dance Pictures, 2010

Well, I would love the title of this post to be something about the arrival of our little one. Hopefully that will come in a few days...we are (im)patiently waiting.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the girls in their costumes from the 2010 dance season. Every year I order a collage for them to hang in their rooms. They turned out adorable! I scanned them in pieces so some of them may have little additions...but you get the main idea.

Parker's Hip Hop-Hoe Down

It won SO many awards this year and was probably the crowd favorite of all of her dances.

Parker's Jazz Dance-Walk the Dinosaur

Her Ballet Costume this year.

She played "Scary Things" in Alice in Wonderland, which is why it is all black.

She is a beautiful ballerina. It comes really natural to her.

Her Lyrical dance was "Ordinary Day"

I personally loved this dance and so does Presley. She can sing the song and almost do the dance right along with Parker. (Landon does too-but I am not sure I should be posting that.)

And also for "Wonderland" she was a present in the Tea Party. Ashley choreographed her hip hop and it was so much fun. Loved the idea for the costumes too-it turned out really cute!

Pacie's Competitive Jazz dance was "Genie"

Set to "magic" songs-so so cute!

Here was her ballet costume for the year-super sparkly!

Her Hip Hop was "Ice Cream Freeze"

Another crowd/Landon/Presley favorite!!

In "Wonderland" she was a fishy-in fact the lead fishy!

And here she is in her warm-ups. I love the no teeth look!

Scott and I are both so proud of our girls and all of the hard work they put into their dancing. It is not something that we make them do. It is something that they LOVE to do. And when asked if they wanted to try out for competition teams again for next year, the answer was a resounding, "YES!!".

Parker will be on the Smalls teams again, and Pacie moved up to the Mini team. We are excited for them to keep progressing in their dance and will continue to support them in any way we can!

And watch out, world, because Presley will be old enough to start dancing in the fall as well!!

Another Year DOWN!!

Another school year has officially ended!! All I can say is:

HOORAY!!

Both of the girls had a great year. Learned a lot and grew leaps and bounds. We are ready for a break, however, and will look forward to a busy summer with a new baby girl!

Pacie-Jumpin' for JOY!

And Parker's Turn!

End of second grade year.

End of first grade year.

Pacie with Mrs. Gillman. She will loop into second grade with her. Mrs. Gillman is very task oriented and produces results!! Pacie read 210 books this year in first grade-second most in her class! (Only 5 short of reading the most! )

Parker with Mrs. Nukaya. She is very nurturing and creative. Parker was somewhat of a teacher's favorite this year, often helping her perform duties because she was the first one to finish her work. We will miss her next year!!

Some people thought we were crazy to have our kids so close together in age. P&P are just 17 months apart and just a year apart in school. I for one am glad that they will always have each other-in good times and in bad. We are so proud of our girls and the amazing students and learners that they are. They were always so good about completing their homework without complaining and working hard to get good grades. We love you, girls!! We'll do our best to make your summer super relaxing and fun.

The offering.

Yesterday was Memorial Day. A time to remember and reflect. To pay respect and be grateful for our knowledge of life after death. And also a time for parents to be taught by their children.

We went as a family to visit the grave of my grandpa, who passed away about two months ago. He was the grandpa who lived next door, who my children knew well and loved dearly. As we arrived we looked at the grave, at his temporary head-plate and talked for a moment about him. Shortly after, my dad and grandma arrived.

Pacie had a bottle of bubbles and had been blowing them into the wind all day. And likewise, Landon had brought along one of his little red racecars and had been playing with it at a previous cemetery that we visited. Pacie decided to leave her bottle of bubbles for grandpa knowing that he might like that. I was touched by her gesture and thoughtfulness. Little did I know, someone else had watched her and was learning by example.

As we were gathered around, Landon quietly went up to Scott, took his little car out of his pocket where it had been placed for safe keeping, and went and laid it next to Pacie's bubbles and the flowers that Parker had picked and placed there. Scott, my dad and I were all watching as he then walked away, not once looking back at his little treasure that was now an offering for a great-grandpa that he loves.

It was such a touching moment for all who witnessed his little sacrifice and a great lesson to me that actions often do speak louder than words and also that children learn by example.

We were also able to go to Ucon to see a few family members who had passed on. My grandma and grandpa Andrus were here for a couple of days and it was their posterity that is buried there. Their daughter Peggy who passed away at age three as well as my great grandparents. An uncle from Utah happened to be there with his family at the same time and it was a wonderful little reunion for the cousins to be there and celebrate the life of their ancestors. The girls were so cute to go and find little things to decorate Peggy's grave with. Pinecones and purple flowers were their tribute to this sweet little girl who has been our guardian angel throughout our lives.

As I thought about the meaning and reason for Memorial day, my thoughts kept drifting back to the plan of salvation and the knowledge that we have of the resurrection and life after death. This knowledge is so precious to me and I am grateful for the lessons taught to me yesterday by my children.

And now, on a lighter note, here are a few irresistible pictures of Presley. Yes, she has ketchup on her face, but I love how she looks.

The Little Graduate

Wednesday night was a special one for Landon. He graduated from Smart Start Preschool. Well, kind of graduated. He's not yet old enough to go to Kindergarten, so technically he'll be coming again in the fall. (Scott's been calling him a "super preschooler" kind of like a "super senior" because he has to repeat classes.)

It was a fun night and a great year having him in my class! I wish I would've had someone take more pictures during the actual presentation-but I know Scott got it all on video, and I was busy leading it all!

Here are a few pictures of my cute 2010 graduate and some of his supporters.

Self-proclaimed Best Friends, Landon and Presley

The proud little graduate.

With teacher and (a very pregnant) mama.

Never to be outdone by her brother, Presley steals the hat and strikes a pose.

Say a big Cheese!! Daddy with his two little ones.

And the twins, I mean Scott and Landon. Proud daddy with his boy.

The spelling test....

Pacie is in this "advanced" reading group. Because of this, she has two spelling lists every week. The regular ones that the whole class does and then the hard words just for that select group. So, every week we go through the cycle of studying those words and figuring out ways to remember how to spell them. A few favorites...absolutely, ancestor, demonstration, rejoice, voyage, (that was one of her favorites.) Anyway, you get the idea. Pretty hard for a 6 year old.

Needless to say, it can be a time consuming effort to study especially when we usually do it in one night. (Sorry Mrs. G. We are pretty busy at our house.)

This past week, Landon really wanted to get in on the action. He went to the office and got his little piece of paper and asked me what his words were. I wasn't sure what to expect and started saying three letter words for him to "spell". Here are a few of his words:

rip, pot, bed, dad, mom, sat, rat sit, can

Can you find them on his paper?

Needless to say I was a little more than surprised. This kid has learned more in preschool this year than I thought! And he still has another whole year of it before he even starts Kindergarten.....

He proudly placed his test on the fridge for further praise and skipped off to bed.

(I do love how low he placed it on the fridge. I do not love how dirty the bottom of my fridge is and as a side note it has since been scrubbed clean.)

Sometimes....

you just have to sleep.

PS This is also how I'm feeling today.