Happy Birthday Jocy

Jocy turned five yesterday and we celebrated with a High School Musical party in her honor. She had a wonderful day and loved being the center of attention. There are so many things I LOVE about Jocy but here are the top five:

1. She is very generous- willingly shares with others.

2. She laughs easily and her happiness is contagious.

3. She is thoughtful and loves to look after her sister.

4. She is affectionate and loves to snuggle.

5. She is brave and tries her hardest to keep up with her older brother.

We love you Jocy and are so grateful you are part of our family!

Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween week. We decided to be a bug family - with Reed as the Bug catcher. I'm all about themes but I'm not sure I'll ever convince the rest of them to go along with it again. It took quite a bit of convincing with Nate and Reed wasn't too thrilled about dressing up. We'll keep our fingers crossed for next year!







Laynie our little LADYBUG






Jocy was a grasshopper, she loved the poofy bum.

Nate the spider

Funny thing

The other night at dinner, Jocy was asked to say the prayer. As she often says in her prayers she said "I love everyone in the world." (I think this saves her time rather than naming all the people she loves;))

When she was done Nate said, "You love everyone in the world?"
Jocy: "Yes, everyone."
Nate: "Even the bad people?"
Jocy: "No"
Nate: "Even Satan?"
Jocy: "No"
Nate: "I think I would have liked Satan if he had made right choices."

Really, what can I say to that???

Tossing Tradition

So we (well mostly I) decided to pass on carving pumpkins this year. If you don't remember, my experience last Halloween well- let's just say it was less than delightful. Me- three kids, four pumpkins, and one bowl of pumpkin seeds ALL over Jocy and the floor. So instead of carving this year- we decorated. The kids thought it was just as fun and actually they were able to be more involved then they are when we're carving and using a knife. At least until they get a little older, this tradition might be a keeper. :)

Nate: Bat
Jocy: Cat
Laynie: Spider

Mozart in the Making

After Sunday dinner, Grandma Bell was playing Primary songs for Jocy & Mikeyla. Laynie insisted (by quawking incessantly) that she sit on the piano bench with Grandma. It was so cute that she thought she was making all the pretty music coming out of the piano.

Crazy about Pumpkins

I saw these ADORABLE pumpkins on 30 handmade days blog- which is a blog that posts all these FABULOUS crafty ideas from a variety of places all over the internet. I fell head over heels in love with the pumpkins and searched all over for some velvet fabric to make some but couldn't find anything, anywhere. A lady at Joann's suggested this material and so I decided to try it out. And if I do say so myself, I think they turned out pretty darn cute. The best part was going around to grocery stores asking if I could have their broken off stems. I got some wierd looks at that request. :)

These are the next pumpkins on my to do list. I can hardly wait to start! Can you tell I'm a bit obsessed?!

P.S. Don't be too impressed-- they were SO VERY easy. Maybe the easiest craft I've ever done.

Lincoln City

We spent a couple days at Lincoln City this weekend. We went down with Reed's parents and Reed's grandparents. We had a wonderful time. I LOVE the beach. I LOVE the ocean. We had the best time together. While we were there we asked Grandma and Grandpa Bell how long they have been married- 63 years was what they told us! And here I was patting myself on the back for the 10 year milestone we reached this summer. What an accomplishment 63 years is and what an example they are to us of true and lasting love.