2012 New Year Resolutions

Last year I don't really know if I even had many goals. I think I tried to send cards or presents to everyone in the family on birthdays and it didn't work out so well. I didn't do all the birthdays and Mom got tired of me asking to be taken to the post office to send packages and ask for stamps. It's a lovely thought, but I think I will stick to emails and phone calls this year. So, this year I really want to do better. I read Danielle's blog about how she had the work ATTITUDE for last year and the word HEALTHY for this year. I thought that was really cool and so I'm going to copy her and choose a theme for this year (next year technically). Have you all heard or read the Good, Better, Best talk? I don't know who gave it or if I have even read or heard it, but Mom has talked about it. He talked about how there's the good things like, oh, I don't know really...maybe decorating and painting your nails and there's the better things like schoolwork and practicing talents like writing or drawing and then there's the best things like reading your scriptures, doing Personal Progress and praying. I don't know if I have that right. Maybe schoolwork should be in the best catagory, but the point is to do the best things first, then the better, then good. Maybe you won't get to decorate as much, but doing the best first is the best. Do you get it? So, I think I want to make that my theme for this year. GOOD, BETTER, BEST.

This year I want to:
-Do better with sugar. I'm not watching my weight or anything, but whether you need to loose weight or not, sugar is bad for you and I don't want to put as much of it in my body. I'm not eliminating it, but I think I want to cut out candy. (I mean after I eat the store of it from Christmas. I know that's not the best attitude or the best way to start the year, but I have given the junky candy to Anna and Gracie and only saved the best for myself.) I think for as much sugar as candy has in it, it's not worth it. Now, when I say candy I mean nerds and whoppers. If I get good candy like a Hershey bar or fancy candy from a candy store I'll eat it. Otherwise I want to stick to home made treats that are worth the sugar. I know that's not a really specific goal and it's kind of all over the place, but that's what I want to do.
-Try to cook more. We've been watching Avonlea and watching Felicity cook is inspiring. And Mom could make a pie all by herself at my age, so I want to do better. To start I want to make dinner once a month and maybe help Mom make something every once in a while. Tonight I made biscuits for dinner. :)
-Do more Personal Progress. In almost two years I have finished one value. Which means I did 7 or 8 experiences and 1 project. I think that's pretty pathetic, even if I am proud that I finally finished it. So, I don't know exactly how much I want to finish this year, but I want to always be working on something.

Overall, I want to do Good, Better, and Best. I really want to try my best to meet these goals and not just decide to not do them. I really want to do this. Happy New Years, everybody!

Christmas This Year

I took some pictures of all us while we were making paper chains and planned to post about it and Christmas so far this year. Well.. we are at Lizzie's now, I forgot my camera so I can't post pictures or take any new ones. I just forgot to bring it. I'm sure that Lizzie will provide enough pictures, though. So, I guess I'll just write. It's been so weird to not have snow for Christmas. Last year we were at my dad's so we still had it, but this year in California we have obviously not gotten any snow. I know it sounds weird and you are totally thinking, "Snow shouldn't make a difference." But it seriously does. That's what we have always had (minus the few years in Oregon that I don't remember). So, suddenly to not have it is really strange. All month I've had to remind myself that it's Christmas. It just hasn't felt like it. It has also been kinda stressful for a few weeks because Mom was in charge of the ward Christmas party and when Mom's stressed out we all are (a bit) and that same week I was having a party with my friends from WISH and then the Sunday after the Friday of the ward party the choir was singing a bunch of songs and I was singing in a quartet that turned out to need an extra soprano because my voice isn't loud and strong enough to be heard over the other parts. It was me with four adults. I don't really think that my small voice made much of a difference, but it was fun. So, that was all last week. This week I have been concentrating on presents, writing a Christmas story that Mom assigned us to write for school and not to mention a lot of reading. There are a lot of books on my shelf that I have not read. Most of them are from Dad from Christmas last year and coincidently they are all except one rewritten fairytales. I liked them all but I especially loved two. One was called Palace of Mirrors and the other My Fair Godmother. Both of them were great stories and well written, but what I lioved more than anything was the characters. I need to connect with the characters in order to like a book. That is like the most important thing to me in a book. I've read books that are great, but I don't really like the characters so I don't really like the book. Do any of you feel that way? Am I weird? So, anyway, I've whizzed through five books this month all while waiting for a certain book to come to the library. Well now it came and I am sad to be done reading all of the fairytales. I liked it.

Well, I know it's not much, but I'm gonna go now. If I don't write before Christmas... Merry Christmas!!!!!

I am grateful that I am a Mormon

Okay, I've been waiting to post about this until I can post some pictures with other things, but I don't know if that's ever going to happen. So... the name of my blog is Little Miss LDS, but I have never talked about that much. Well, I invited a friend of mine from WISH to a ward breakfast a bit back so she invited me to a Christmas Tea that her church was having. She goes to the Eagle Rock Baptist church. I didn't hesitate to except and I don't regret going. In fact, it might have been good for me. Anyway, so, I went to this tea. The tables were all decorated goergously, the food was yummy. I even tried some caffine free tea. I've decided I'm not a big fan. Well, after we had eaten a while two women got up and sang 'Mary, did you know?' I love that song, but there was no music to accompany them. I thought that was really sad. Then another woman got up to 'say a few words.' Let me just let that sink in for a minute. I, a 13 year old Mormon who has never gone to any church but the LDS one, sat through a Baptist talk. So, she started with a prayer. It took a minute for me to realize she was praying because she said it so casually. In our church our prayers are reverent and grateful and inspiring for the most part. Her prayer was "I know who you are and you know who I am. When I talk make it so that it is not my words, but yours." Then she closed in the name of Jesus Christ. Then she turned to a perjecter behind her that had an artiicle selling houses. It said that Christmas is a wonderful time of year to buy a big house to entertain 2nd cousins. She just pounced on that. She said that of all the relatives that come over 2nd cousins aren't them. Then she said that she wouldn't want to pack up, move, unpack and then get decorated for Christmas. I don't know what that was about. She never talked about anything like that the rest of the talk. So, then she talked about the theme of the Tea. She said, "Last year it was 'The Recipe for Christmas.' This year it is 'Our family Christmas.' What is that about? Last year it made you think of pies and cookies cooking. And a warm kitchen. This year it's like... 'Our family Christmas.' What is that about?" So, she talked about how she didn't like the theme. After that I don't remember when she said what, but she talked about how we all have this perfect Christmas in our minds and how we're never going to have it. She told stories of awful Christmases her friends have had. She read a scripture in the Bible about how Jesus will take over the world or something like that and she said, "It didn't look like he was taking over the world to me. He was in a manger in this stinky barn with these stinky animals. God didn't even get him a nice place to sleep!" Then she talked about how God will adopt us as his children if we are righteous. She said it so beautifully. She said, "He wants me to be his girl. He wants me, this sinful human, to be his girl. He wants you to be his girl." But she ruined it when she said that he only wants that if we are righteous. She ended her talk by saying there is going to be a great party up in heaven and that she will be there and that she hopes that we all would be there with her. Then she prayed and ended. So, the way I would explain this talk is-you know how when someone tries to make a point and so they point out the negative and then they say "buuuuut"? Well, this entire talk was the negative part of that. The whole thing was getting to the but, but she never got there. It was awful. I was telling Mom all of this when I got home and she just laughed. I was still super shaken by it then and had no idea how she laugh. It was just so awful. I felt like Pollyanna. She was yelling with her arms spread wide and I half expected to look up to see a chandelier shaking. Part of the time I wanted to stand up and yell that all of that wasn't true. I wanted to tell everyone that Heavenly Father loves us no matter what and that there is always a way to return to him. That there is always hope, but most of the time I just wanted to get up and leave. It was just the craziest experience for me.

This was all awful and everything, but it reminded me of how lucky I am that I have the truth. That the whole time that woman was yelling at us, I knew that it wasn't true. I knew that Heavenly Father and Jesus loved me and wanted me to be his girl whether I was righteous or not. I knew that if you did wrong He will help me get back on the right track. And I am so grateful that I knew and know that.

Progress Dinner

I had a Progress dinner for mutual last Tuesday. It was super fun. We drove (Steve thought we should have rode bikes) to three different houses. In each house we sang one Christmas carol and Sister Boman read something from the New Era. At the last house we got to hear Dustin (something) who sings songs for EFY CDs sing a few of his songs. Then we all sang some Christmas carols with him. It was really awesome. When we left we each got a little glass dove with a peace of paper attached that said "Prince of Peace." The food was really good, too. We had lots of appetizers at the first house, rolls and tomato soup at the second house and hot chocolate and brownies at the last house. I always love mutual. I love being with all of my friends from church and just having fun.

Happy Windsday

Okay, I'm going to post about this on my newspaper blog with pictures later or tomorrow (yes, I still have that blog) but just for now... we had a windstorm and it was scary and crazy. Uprooted trees and everything and it's supposed to happen again tonight. Scary! I don't mean to put you on the edge of your seats like this, but I can't post on my other blog now and I wanted to post something about it. But we are all safe, in case you were wondering! :)

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Idaho. The actual Thanksgiving meal was nice and quiet. I have found a new love for pumpkin pie and my grandma's sweet potatoes. :) Mmmmmm. All morning before the early dinner we played charades. At first we just did what we thought of but then we thought of a theme. The theme was Christmas songs. It was super fun! Some were really hard and some were pretty easy. After dinner everyone (the adults) took naps, then the rest of the family started coming over. I was in a room in the back when everyone came and when I came out it was too crowded for me, so I took refuge in my room and read Harry Potter. Eventually I got dragged back out and I stayed out a bit, but then went right back to my room. So, I spent Thanksgiving with Harry, Ron and Hermione. It was very nice. I've never been a huge fan of the bug Leslie get-togethers. I always feel out of place. I don't remember what I did when we lived in the yellow house. Mom says she just went home a lot of the time, but since this time I had no where else to go my room with Harry party worked just fine.

Let's see, I'm more than half way through the 7th Harry Potter. It makes me sad. I have loved reading them again and am sad for it to end. I want to keep reading, but I don't want to finish it! It's the first time all over again. I'm making myself feel better by telling myself that it will not be the last time I read them and that I can watch the movies even after I finish the books. I forgot how depressing this book is. It's just so.... I don't know. They're looking for horcruxes and don't know where to go. And then it's just worse when Ron leaves and it's so sad that Ron was upset they didn't want him back when all along they wanted him so bad. Uhhhh. Sigh. Oh well. It will end good. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! Love you!

I love Harry Potter through and through.

A.k.a. as 'The Boy Who Lived' and 'The Chosen One.' Sigh. I just love him. I love Hermione and Ron and Luna and Ginny and Neville and Dumbledore and Sirius and Mrs. Weasley and Professor McGonagall. I love Snape too, but not as much because I have not gotten to the 7th book for the 2nd time yet, but I'm sure I will love him again. I just love them all. I love the magic. The love. The lessons. Just the thought of it all. I feel like I'm talking about Disneyland. I always say, "I just love the atmosphere of it." That's what it's like with Harry Potter. It's just the thought of it. Reading it all again has made me fall in love all over again (not all of them. I just finished the 6th one). I love all the details. How everything matters. How Harry ALWAYS puts himself before others (there are tears in my eyes). How Ron and Hermione are always on his side and with him and how he cares about them so much. How Ginny never gave up on him and how she always loved him even when he didn't like her at first. How Dumbledore trusts everyone and forgives everyone. He reminds of the Savior in a way. How Harry is so sad when he dies and how he always obeyed Dumbledore's orders. I love how he said he's "Dumbledore's man through and through." I love it all. I could just keep going and going and going. I love the books and stories and adventures, but I really love the characters. I know them. They are my best friends. I love books like that. Some books I just can't seem to get to know and love the characters so I don't really like the book, but with Harry Potter you really get to know the characters. I love that. My mom said that Des emailed her about something that the Snape actor said asking if she thought he really said it. He said that when he is old and gray sitting in a chair reading Harry Potter someone will ask him, "After all this time...." and he will say, "Always." Oh, I love that! I feel so sorry for those who don't read Harry Potter, either for religious reasons or just because. I just can't imagine my life without Harry Potter. Without watching the movies. Without seeing the books on the shelf (soon to be my shelf. I'm asking for the series for my birthday). I just can't imagine. I remember when everyone was into the Percy Jackson series and everyone was saying it's better than Harry Potter. For so long I refused to read the Percy Jackson series because I refused to be disloyal to Harry. I was not going to like Percy Jackson better or even read it. Eventually I broke down and read it, but it's not as good as Harry Potter. Nothing could ever be as good. Dakota (my cousin. You know that right?) didn't read Harry Potter for so long. I don't know why, but when we came to Idaho this time Kate told me that Dakota was on the 4th book. I asked Dakota about it and she said she was. I hugged her and told her how happy I was for her. As if she had won something great. I asked her if she thought Percy Jackson or Harry Potter was better and she said, "I love Percy Jackson-" I started to say, "I am so dis-" "But I think Harry Potter's better." I hugged her again. :)

Thank you family for being fans of Harry Potter with me. I love you all, Harry, too. ;)

Visiting Dad

Okay, so because Dad lives in Utah we have to set up times to visit him. We were with him for Christmas last year and Thanksgiving with Mom so this year we are spending Thanksgiving with him and Christmas with Mom. We are coming to visit Dad next for Spring Break in March, I think.

We went to Utah last Sunday and came to Idaho Wednesday night. Grandma Leslie was in Arizona, but she took a plane here on Thursday just to see us! We are spending Thanksgiving here and going back to Utah on Friday or Saturday. Then going back to California that week sometime in the middle. I can't believe we are spending Christmas in California! No snow! Of course there's no snow here yet, either which has been dissapointing. I say that if it's going to be cold it might as well be pretty. Danielle didn't agree when I told her this. We went to their house for dinner on Friday. It was really fun. We made our own little pizzas. Clay informed us while we were flattening out the dough that we were doing it wrong. :) We also played the games Would You Rather, Pass the Pigs (Danielle was at 0 and then won in one turn), and Set. They were each really fun.

Uhhhh! I'm so bored because Dakota is taking a nap or doing homework (not sure which) instead of coming to hang out with me! But I don't have anything else to write so, bye!

Meeting Maddie

We went to Amy's a while back and we met Maddie! Let me say, she is beyond words. Seriously. I was going to say she was cute, sweet or precious but those words aren't enough. She is those, amazing, beautiful, funny, perfect, pretty, heavenly, and more. We spent all day at Amy's and I got to hold her for a decent amount of time. She was asleep for most of it so I just held her and stared at her make her funny faces. When we had to leave I was surprised at how hard it was to leave her. It was hard to say good-bye to Amy, too. :) But it was amazing how attached I had become to this perfect little person with such a sweet spirit. I've heard that having a baby in a family really brings the family together. I can totally see why! I can imagine everyone taking turns holding the baby and cheering on her first time crawling and walking. I don't remember any of that with Gracie. I don't ever remember her being a baby. I can't wait for Mom to have a baby. And though I would be happy if it was a boy, I hope it's a girl. ;)

Shaver Lake

Okay, I am at my dad's and will be going to my grandma's tomorrow and they both have the internet so I will be able to post some more.

I can't remember when it was, but we went to Shaver Lake a while back. Steve went there as a kid and it is his favorite place on earth. It was beautiful and really fun. They were draining the lake and we could really see a difference from when we got there to when we left, so that was kind of a bummer, but it was still fun. We went real camping. We slept in a tent, didn't take any showers and cooked and ate all of our meals outside. I like camping as long as it is no longer than 5 days. That's how long we went. I don't think I could stand not showering or being fully warm for more than that.

The first day it was warm and it was really sunny, but the rest of the days were a bit gloomy. So, the first day we went down to the lake and spent the day there. We swam in the lake and jumped off rocks. To tell you how much the lake drained, th rocks we jumped off of were completely surounded by water and we couldn't touch in that water, but when we left they were completely out of the water. All around the lake were giant rocks and boulders of what looks like some kind of marble. There were small rocks too and some that were even smaller. We would pick up the smallish rocks, throw it against a big rock to break it and find the pieces. A side that broke is really sparkily so that is why we broke them. Does that make sense? Anyway, so we did that and I brought home 3 different kinds of rock for my souvineers.

We did some science while we were there. We took our science notebooks that have pages that are half lined and half blank for pictures. We observed animals and plants, drew pictures of them and wrote about them. Sometimes we would read about the animal in a book we brought before we wrote about it. We discovered that crows are abnoxious, but smart and that squirrels sing. They really do. When we first heard them we thought they were birds, but then I saw a squirrel in a tree and noticed that it's tail and throat twitched with each chirp. It was really interesting.

We sang around the campfire, roasted marshmallows, played Rook, played with the neighbors kids, each ate our favorite meals and took baths in our swimming suits in the lake so we would be almost presentable for church. We each almost froze and Mom was in a bad mood the rest of the day.

I feel like I'm forgetting something important, but that's all I can remember. :)

WISH

My mom found this really awesome co-op group for home schoolers. It's called WISH. It stands for like, something something Socializing Homeschoolers or something like that. It's five minutes away which is also awesome because we are usually either late or barely on time. Mostly barely on time. There are five hours of classes. It starts at 9, we have lunch from 12-1, and it ends at 3. I take Tutor Time, which is basically just sitting in a room and doing whatever as long as it's quiet. Embroidery is next. That is one of my favorite classes. We started by making a bundle for our embroidery stuff. It's basically a peice of fabric that we fold around the stuff. Heather, my teacher, said we can basically do whatever we want. I'm going to do some kitchen towels next. Then I have Writing Mechanics. We are currently reading Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and writing persuasive essays APA style. I like it more and more every week. After lunch I have Drawing. Heather, the same teacher, is a good artist herself, but uses a book to teach us. It is called Learn to Draw in 30 Days. It's really cool. We've learned about tricks to make the things we draw look more 3D. Like shading and such. We learned how to shade spheres and cubes and last week we turned our cubes into treasure chests. Last I have Life Skills. This is the hardest class to explain. We are basically learning life skills. We've learned about the brain and how to get the best of our brain and we've learned about how everything we do is a strategy to meet some of our needs. I really like it. It's kind of like science but it's not. It's taught by a really cool teacher, too. Even though all of my teachers are good teachers.

I have to go. Love you all!

Girls Camp

Okay, I know I said I would start posting regularly again, but then Mom told us we aren't going to have the internet until next year. We have a library within walking distance that I can go to to use their computer for an hour a day or bring my own computer to use for as long a I want, but it just seems so hard to get up and walk there. I don't know why, but it's just so much harder than just sitting down at the computer at home. So, while we are at Lizzie's I am taking advantage of it.

I don't remember much of the details that I should post so I'll just post the major points. I last posted about crocheting and that was at my dad's so, we got back to California and went to live in Pasadena. First of all, it is easier to say where you live. No one knows where Redlands is and Pasadena is pretty well known. If I do meet someone who doesn't know where it is, though I can just say that it's in LA County. It's really beautiful in Pasadena and everything (Except Joanns! arg!) is really close. We can get to Macy's in like 5 minutes. The library is within walking distance. The 99cents store is really close, too. And more. It's really nice. Diane just emailed me to ask me to send a postcard to my step brothers kindergarten class. They started a map unit and they talk about thier "gingerbread man," who is obviously pretend, running around the world. I felt very special to live in a place that is interesting to someone else. I love Idaho and have nothing against it, but no one really cares about it.

So anyway, 4 days after I got back from my dad's I went to Girls Camp. Those 4 days were probably some of the worst of my life. I am such a worry wart. I get scared and anxious about everything. I was anxious that I would forget something or that I would arrive with something I wasn't supposed to bring and everyone would look at me funny. I was scared becasue my last Girls Camp had been a ward one and this one was a stake one. I didn't know the girls in my ward let alone the stake! I didn't want to leave my books on the shelf (I used anything as an excuse). I was freaked out. One day especially after church. After church the bishops wife ended up talking to me and my mom and giving me advice for Girls Camp. She would say things like, "Oh, you've never been to a stake camp before? Okay, you are hanging out with Carrie." Carrie is her daughter. She is the best. Why is it that the bishops kids are always the best? Anyway, she would say things like that and, "Don't put your elbows on the table they'll make you sing. Don't leave your towel at the pool they'll make you sing." "Okay, who is there that you can hang out with. There's Megean and Cloe. Carrie, will you introduce her to some girls? Otherwise she won't know anyone." "I'm trying to help and I'm just making it worse." Which was true. I know she was trying to help, though. She said this all really fast along with a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. She always talks really fast. Mom thinks she might have ADHD. I love her now, but at the time I was sick of her. Finally, Carrie said, "Mom, Mom, be quiet," then turning to me she said, "Okay, here's what you need to do. Don't listen to her. Okay, just go with the flow, you'll do great." Again, Carrie is the best. I love her. Anyway, when we got home I burst into tears. Mom had to come up and lie in my bed with me and that is bad. My loft is tiny and she doesn't go up there if she can help it. She talked to me forever and all I remember her saying was to just do what Carrie said. She said her mom didn't know what she was talking about and that I would be fine. She told me about my last Girls Camp, too. Apparently I was a mess before that, too. I even said I wasn't going, but Mom made me and I'm glad because I loved it. That was all that kept me going. That I loved it last time.

Enough of before, Girls Camp itself was great. I loved it. I don't remember exactly what I did each day or how everything went. I haven't written anything about it down until now. I'll do better next time. But eveything was really laid back. My last Girls Camp we never stopped doing things. This one we were pretty much free except for meals and certain activities. At the meals we would line up for role call. Role call is this thing where each year rewrites a song and whoever has the best goes in first. It was always something cheesy asking for food. One I remember was, "There's a hunger starting in my stomache. Don't underestimate the amount of food we'll eat." Have you heard that song? It's the one that goes "You had my heart inside o' your hand!" I love that song. That's what we did for meals. The meals all seemed to be Mexican. I swear. I got tired of it and that is saying something because I love Mexican food.

Other stuff I did was just hanging out and the craft cabin. That was my favorite part. I made magnets, fabric flowers for my hair and put a picture of a temple on a marble slab. It was really pretty. It was all on different days and times so that took up a lot of my free time. But I don't remember the details of eveything. But I'll write the highlights. First, I hung out with two girls that were cousins. They didn't get along too well. Danni was at least part mexican and was always threatening to slap Katie who was short with freckles. They weren't the sort of girls I would usually hang out with. Danni was new to the church and wasn't really big on it. Katie loved to burp and they were both just really different from me. Once Katie even pulled me aside and said, "Can you tell Danni to stop saying Bradon in front of me. We were going out and he dumped me for another girl so it really breaks my heart every time I think about him. I know she's just doing it to annoy me." I was kind of thrown off by that. For one thing I had never hear Danni ever say that name and for another Katie seemed awfully young to have her heart broken. To me at least. I know I'm out of it. Anyway, one day we had extra activities to choose from. There were three shifts and we signed up for certain classes during certain shifts. I was really proud of myself because I was brave enough not to just follow Danni and Katie as I normally would have done. I signed up for book binding (which they thought was lame), cake decorating (they signed up for it, too but at a different shift) and tie dye. I loved all three and ended up with Carrie in my shift for two of them so it was great. The book binding was really cool. Someone from my ward actually taught it. She's really cool. We made our own little journals! Cake decorating was old news. My mom has already told me how to hold the frosting bag and how to do stars, but it was still fun. For anyone else it was probably new, but I'm special. :) For tie dying I tie dyed a pillow case. I was boring and made it just purple and pink, but it turned out to look really cool and now I sleep with it every night.

Most everyone did certification with their ward before camp and I missed mine becasue I was at my dad's. I could have done it there, but I was a baby and didn't want to do it. Bummer, so I didn't get mine done, but I can do it anytime and get passed off for 2nd and 3rd year next year. We only hiked one mile up to a lake where we got to canoe. I canoed down a river last year and loved it, too. And we did one game where we did some certification, but that wasn't that cool so I'll go on. Almost every night we sat on benches somewhat close to a campfire and sang songs. The last night each year got up and did a longer version of role call and it wasn't about food. Although. now that I think of it I think testimony meeting was the last night. We might have sung our songs at a different time. I know we sang them when we got a talk from a leader in the lodge. When that happened we each got a cute journal and a letter. We were supposed to open the letter alone after we left and pray outloud. The letter was from Jesus. I cried. I can write part of it our when we get home, but for now I'll just say it was from Jesus and I cried. Whenever testimony meeting was I bore my testimony. At first no one got up, then there was a line and a whole bunch of first years got up and cried about not praying enough and about this boy they knew that killed himself. It was the same boy and it was sad, but got old after a while. After testimonies were over several people thanked me for my testimony. I think they liked that mine was a testimony and not a therapy thing. But, anyway, it was all great. I loved it. I loved girls camp and came back with a huge smile on my face. Writing about it now is getting me all excited for next year again. And next year I might not be as nervous. :)

Crocheting

I can't believe I'm actually doing this! I've wanted to post for so long and just haven't done it! I don't know if it's possible to catch up, but I'll try. Let's start from the beginning.

My Grandma Leslie has been crocheting afghans for as long as I can remember. I have tried to learn before, but have not wanted it enough to keep it up. Well, this summer I was at their house a lot. Mom told me I should learn and I did! I made an American girl doll afghan! You can crochet so many things! I know how to make afghans, washcloths, toy snakes, hot pads and I could learn so much more! I have a book from the library, but I was hungry for more so Mom ordered a crocheting teddy bears book that I was so excited about, but it turned out to be just patterns and I couldn't understand it. She ordered a kit that comes with more yarn and a book that will definitely work. I can't wait for it to come! Anyway, I've made so many things and Amy has already asked for as many washcloths as I can make. I made a snake for Ruby for her birthday. I don't know how she liked it, but I thought it looked cool. I love crocheting. I can make so many things by just learning one stitch and then it's easy to learn more! I can take it anywhere. I just need a hook and yarn and I'm good to go. Sewing is awesome, but you have to have the machine (hand sewing is just too much work). So, there you have it. I can crochet!

My First Movie with Contacts

Okay, time for a new post. I could have had a lot to post about this summer, but because there was a lot going on and a lot to post I didn't have time to post it. So, when I'm not doing anything and I do have time to post I don't have anything to post. But today we are going home to California and we have to leave two hours after Mom and she hasn't left, yet. She was having problems with the car and then she got a rental. So, now I don't know what she's doing. But anyway, yesterday was pretty exciting.

I got CONTACTS! I never posted that I was going to get them, but I talked to Amy about doing it with long nails and Lizzie said she thought I should get them, too, so I got them. I don't know if you all know that I tried contacts before when I was only nine. You can imagine how that turned out. Plus when I tried to take them out my mom wasn't even there. Some old lady was with me and started yelling at me. Afterward Mom felt so bad that she had left. Overall, it was just an awful experience. So, I was super scared when I went to try them out again. I knew three years had passed, but I was still super scared and nervous. I think the main reason the last time went so awful was because I was under a lot of pressure. This time everything was so much better. I watched a video where they showed me a new way to take out my contacts out and Diane's brother, Ryan, (he's the eye doctor. It helped having my step uncle as the doctor) talked to me and told me about when he got contacts. He told me I could take as long as I needed to put them in and take them out. So, then I washed my hands and sat down at a glass table with Ashley, a woman who works there. She was super nice and calm and gave me some tips. The video told me to take my index finger and slide the contact down as I looked up and then without moving my finger taking my thumb and taking it out. That way is so much easier than grabbing the center of my eye. It took me two or three times to put them in and then take them out and then when I put them in the second time I did it on the first try. I took them out before dinner when we got home. Ryan said to wear them for five hours. I got both contacts out by myself on the first try. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I'm going to wear them for seven or eight hours today.

Then, yesterday afternoon we saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2! I loved it. I was crying off and on the whole time. I can't really remember the book very well, so I don't know how close they did it to the book, but I still liked it. My step brothers weren't so easily pleased. They said, "It wasn't bad" or "It was nothing like the book!" They judge the movies way to harshly. They only really like movies that weren't based off of books at all or that are exactly like the book (and when is that ever going to happen?). But anyway, I loved it. It was hard crying with my contacts since it was my first day with them and I didn't know if they were still in or if I was crying them out. But it was great. I hope you all liked it. I love you all! :)

Room Deocrating Ideas

Okay, I am going to do it this time. I am still at the dining room table listening to Nathan, Seth and Luke babble to themselves, but I am really going to post this time.

I'm trying to think of what's happened since I posted last. I don't even know when that was. But if I say, we are at our dad's, we've gone to Idaho several times and seen Danielle for dinner once, that pretty much sums it up. For Anna's birthday she had a Glitter Toes party. It's this really big thing in Utah. It's sort of like acrylic nails for your toes and it's glitter. Yes, there is real glitter on them. I still have mine on. It was really fun. For Father's Day we were going to get together with Diane's family and welcome home Grandpa Orgill from the hospital (he had a stroke in March), but for several different reasons it got postponed and then canceled all together. Diane was going to make homemade Oreos for that and she said she would make them anyway, but she still hasn't made them! Hopefully, she will soon. We are going to Seven Peaks tomorrow. It's a water park. I've never been, but the boys say it's really fun, so we'll see.

I've been thinking a lot about decorating mine and Anna and Gracie's rooms when we get back to California. I get the small loft. If you put two twin mattresses on the floor it pretty much takes up the whole space. Anna and Gracie get the one room to share. Mom agreed to let me decorate the rooms a while ago, but I have to pay for it. I'm obviously paying for my room and I'll probably have Anna pay for half of her room. Gracie hardly has any money and I'm not making her pay for decorating. Mom said she would pay for paint and carpet. She said she would also buy new bed spreads for us. Yea! Mine is worn out and Anna and Gracie's just don't match the theme. Which is, beach... ocean. You get it. The carpet is going to be blue and about two feet up the wall is also going to be blue, also. Then the rest of the wall is going to be kind of peachy pink for a sunset look. We have three surf board rugs that will help tie together the look and I will also cut out some fish with my Cricut to put on the blue part of the wall. Maybe some flowers on the pink part, I'm not sure. I've got lots of ideas and I can't wait to actually decorate. I am worried about organization, though. Our room in Redlands was pretty much always a mess. The room won't look cute if it's a mess! Hopefully, we will be able to keep this one clean. Or at least be able to see the floor. :)

My room isn't coming along as well. The theme is personal progress or Young Women. The walls are going to be pale pink to match the color of the personal progress book. I just can't think or ideas. Especially since I have so little space. The walls go up probably almost four feet tall and then there isn't much of a ceiling. I mean of course there's a roof, but the ceiling is basically rafters. I think that's what they're called. I can stand up in between them, but other than that I will be kneeling up there. So, I won't be able to fit too much. Oh well, I'll make it work. But if any of you have any ideas for Anna and Gracie's room or for mine feel free to comment. My mind is wide open for ideas. Thanks! I love you!

What to post?

What to post, what to post. I am typing on my dad's computer in our dining room in Utah trying to think of something to post while Nathan and Anna are randomly talking. I am randomly getting into the random conversation. I started this post like... ten minutes ago and I haven't gotten very far. Oh, and now Seth is in here wearing his skeleton gloves while playing on his DSIXL. I think we are going to eat lunch, now. I'm sorry. I promise I will post soon, though. But honestly, my brothers are very distracting. Sigh. Anyway, I love you all!

I Still Love You

Just a little post to show that I still love you all and to show that I am going to do better with blogging, but honestly, I barely have time to do it. We are so busy. We had an LR meeting today. It was our last one for the year. When we were looking for work samples to give, other people were coming in and out, buying Mom's bed set and tables. Coincidentally, the mom and daughter that came to buy the bed set were LDS. The daughter was getting married in the Redlands temple. She had nothing, so, Mom offered our ugly table that she was going to give to a thrift store. She also took a lamp for $20.

We are moving tomorrow. The wedding is Saturday. We are going to our dad's on Monday for six weeks! It's crazy. I feel overwhelmed. I can't imagine what Mom feels like. I am trying to help. I did the dishes and picked up by myself before our ES came. I'm going to pack when I'm done with this. I better do that so I need to go. But I love you all and am so excited to see you! :)

Very Eventful Weekend

So, as I said in my last post, Tanner, Kate, and Elle were with us this weekend. When I posted nothing had really happened, yet. Since then a lot has happened.

Kate refused to eat lunch yesterday. She just didn't eat anything, and then about an hour after she started complaining that her stomach hurt. So, of course Mom said, "Kate, it's because you didn't eat any lunch." and then Kate said, "No! I not hungry!" We went to the park because we all had a case of cabin fever. Kate just stayed in the shade, and sat the whole time. When we came back she complained again, and then she laid down and cried. Eventually, she fell asleep and was out for at least and hour. Then, right when Mom went in her bedroom to take a nap Kate threw up. I won't dwell on that. I'll just say she threw up a few more times during the day and once in the middle of the night. One time Mom had gone to the store really fast and I was babysitting. I handled it well I am proud to say.

Elle wasn't too good either. She refused to sleep. She took a morning nap and woke up with scratches all over her legs, but after that she wouldn't sleep. Her diaper was fresh, we tried to feed her, we even gave her some melatonin last night. She just wouldn't sleep. She was fine if she was up and we were with her. She wouldn't cry, but she was still tired and needed to sleep. Mom says that she didn't sleep at all last night. I felt so bad for Mom. Today, she slept a bit this morning. This afternoon she got hives. She had shots on Thursday and Mom says that's why she got hives. Mom managed to give her some allergy medicine, and then she took a long nap. I'm so glad. Lizzie and Shad came back right after that. Kate didn't throw up today and I think she's mostly better. Maybe still a little weak, but she ate some and kept it down.

Oh yeah, on top of Elle and Kate, the microwave broke this morning. I don't know why, I don't know how, but it did. So, there you go. It was still very fun, but I must ask... are you jealous?

Tanner (6), Kate (4), and Elle (about 16 months)

Okay, Mom just took out some banana chocolate muffins, and they are really smellin' good, but I will try to stay focused. They taste better cold, anyway. Anyway, Tanner, Kate, and Elle are here for the weekend, while Lizzie and Shad are out on their own for a bit. So far, it has been so fun. Don't get me wrong at all, I love Tanner and Kate and I have gotten several kicks out of them, but Elle is just the funniest and most precious thing ever. Since Lizzie can't do it, I might as well write a list about them for you all. Let's see if I'm as good at it as Lizzie.

~ Tanner really likes to say, "I don't know." He is very intelligent, and I'm sure that a lot of the time he says that he really does know. It's really cute, though.

~ He is so good. He has been very good about eating the fruits and vegetables at meals, cleaning up, and playing with everyone.

~ He is very creative. He loves loves to do art. He says he wants to be an artist when he grows up.

~ He gets so hyper when he's excited. We had donuts for breakfast this morning, and when he found out he was jumping around the room. When we finally got the donuts and he settled down Gracie was crying because he had bumped into her.

~ Kate loves our barbies. She will just sit in her own little world and play and sing. She sings so softly that all of the other sounds in the room always drown out her voice, but she doesn't care.

~ She likes to wear make-up. She's not allowed, but she wants to be. I was putting on some lip smackers and Kate looked at me and said, "I want to wear make-up." So, I put some on her. It looked very pretty.

~ She loves her stuffed dog, Stew, and her dog purse, Dog Purse. I remember a long time ago we were at her house, and we were playing doctor. She brought in Stew and Dog Purse as patients and when we asked for the names of them she said, "Uh, Dog Purse." It sounded so funny. She even brought them in her suitcase here. I don't think she's touched them, though.

~ She likes to have her back scratched. She's smart.

Now, Elle seems to do a lot more that I can write about. So, there's probably going to be more than four for her. :)

~ Elle likes to do what Tanner does. He snorts all the time and at a meal yesterday she was sitting in my mom's lap and she started making these gagging sounds. There was no food in her mouth. You could tell she was trying to snort. It was so funny. Even she started laughing. They have played with dominoes several times and Elle started gently tapping them together. She was trying to stack them like Tanner! It was so cute.

~ It's funny that we say that babies don't talk. Elle talks all the time! Sure, it's not real words so we can't understand, but in a way, it's a language. She talks just as much as we do. She likes saying, "Baaa! Yeah, yeah, yuh." And stuff like that. She really likes the sound "aaaa." She says it more than anything else.

~ When she's excited she starts panting and she sticks her tongue out. It's kinda like a dog.

~ Her smile with her teeth is adorable. She laughs all the time, too. I guess saying it's cute doesn't give you an image, but it's true.

~ She's very dainty. She has very small and dainty hands and for the most part, uses them really daintily. Unless, of course, she gets really excited and bangs them on the table.

~ She is the saddest sight when she is really truly crying. Like any other kid, she sometimes just whines, but when she is really sad about something it is so sad. It makes you want to scoop her in your arms and just comfort her.

~ She is now down for a nap and just talking to herself. She's just making these sounds. Sometimes she shrieks them even though she doesn't sound upset.

~ She is getting pretty. Not just cute, but pretty. Her hair is getting longer and lighter. Now, you can put her bangs in a little ponytail and have it droop like most ponytails do instead of have it stick straight out. Lizzie put it in a little bun for a while to prevent that from happening.

~ When she waves, she waves backwards. She waves at herself. It is so cute. She can also blow kisses. She'll smash her hand up against her lips and then shoot her whole arm out. It is also, very cute. :)

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any right now.

I'm great. I'm tired, but great. I'm excited to move, I'm excited for school to be over, I'm excited to see everyone. Aside from this particular weekend, nothing is really happening right now and I am just looking forward to the future. I know that's no way to live a life. Don't worry. I still get up every morning, do school and live. I'm just excited for the future. I can't wait to see you all! Love ya!

Like It?

Do you like my new template? I needed a change and this is really cute. Believe it or not I liked this one and the one that looked like a library. It's hard to believe considering how different the two are. Haha! Love you all! :)

Just Drained

I know I haven't posted in a long time and I'm sorry, but we've been busy. The week before last week we went to Disneyland and the beach in the same week and also, Mom and Steve have been making decisions about getting married. They decided on June and them just this last week they said, "We're getting married next Tuesday." It's crazy. Everyone at church was so surprised. I saw a lot of eye brows go up. :) But it's true, they are probably going to remember us as the "Fickle Family" because we can't make up our minds. Or, really, MOM can't make up her mind. Anyway, it has been so busy and it isn't about to slow down. After Mom gets married Anna, Gracie, and I are staying at Lizzie's for a week which will be fun. Then we will live in Redlands during the week and Pasedina during the weekends. We'll do that until we go to our dad's for six weeks this summer and all the while pack and move things to Pasedina. I am so tired! Just DRAINED. I get enough sleep at night. I haven't gotten less than nine ours of sleep, but the work and the action doesn't stop. It seems like any time we come to a set schedule and know what's happening it just changes and it gets confusing.

I want to post more, but everyone else is watching Tangled and I want to watch it, too. I love that movie. I LOVE the music. I have the first song memorized. And as awful as it is, I love the "Mother Knows Best" song. It is so fun and funny. Even though what she's saying isn't true. Anyway, I love you all! I'm sorry we won't get to see each other at the wedding. :)

Happy Easter Everybody!

Well, it's been exactly a week since I posted last so I guess I should post again. Happy Easter! I love Easter. Not just the candy, but I love just everything about it. Not like Christmas. Nothing is like Christmas, but I love the happiness and the bright colors. It's just so fun! Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about the true meaning of Easter. I watched The Lamb of God in Young Women and it really reminded me of how Jesus died for us. I mean, he did more than died for us. In a way dying was the best part because he was relieved of all the pain he was suffering. But all of the pain he went through before he died. Being whipped, a crown of thorns pressed onto his head, nails through his hands and feet. I just can't imagine it. My face is screwing up just thinking about it. I liked the movie until the end when he went through all that pain. I wanted to run out of the room. I am so sensitive to anything that has to do with the body. Diane's home teacher came last week and got to talking about his knee and how something popped off of it and he felt a little dip in the knee. I wanted to run out of the room even more that time! Anyway, I just am so amazed that Jesus would go through all of that for us, for me. It's so amazing. Then he was resurrected! He came out of the tomb and walked again. After all of that pain that killed him he lived and breathed again! I loved that poem that President Monson read at conference. It said at one point, "A tomb cannot hold him. Linen cannot hold him." It had a lot more, but I don't remember anymore. It's just so amazing. He's so amazing and I'm so grateful for him.

Everyone's watching the Little Mermaid in the other room and I can't concentrate. You know the part where Ariel signs the agreement with Ursula and there's a bunch of music in the background. Yeah, that was playing when I was trying to remember the words to that poem. Anyway, I love you all. Happy Easter!

Thank you!

I know, I know that I should post more. It just seems like every time I have spare time I end up doing something else. Last night I planned on posting, but I read and commented on everyone's blogs and read and replied to my emails, first. So, by the time I finished all that my eyes hurt from looking at the screen so long and it was late, but I'm posting now and I'm so proud of myself for it!

We are in Utah now and we just got back from church. Well, I ate lunch right after I got home from church and then got on the computer, but anyway, we got here at 2:30 in the morning on Friday. We originally planned to meet my Dad in St. George at 9:00 to 9:30 at night and we would get to Lehi around 1:00 in the morning, but mom miscalculated the time and we didn't get to St. George until about 10:00 to 10:30. So, we were driving in the middle of the night. It's not like it would have been better before anyways, but dad had to stay up and drive all night. The drive for us wasn't that bad. We basically just slept the whole time. I even slept most of the time with mom during the day because I took some Dramamine and it knocked me out! That stuff makes me so tired! But I get so carsick if I don't take it. I'm so glad that we found it because these long trips we take every few months would be so miserable for everyone because of me. Thank you Dramamine!

I love Young Women so much! It is so amazing and such an inspired program. The Young Women girls are always so nice and because you see them twice a week you can become pretty good friends with them. Like me, if it weren't for Young Women I wouldn't really have any good friends at all. I do have a few home school friends, but I get along better with my Young Women friends. I love Personal Progress. By Thanksgiving last year I had done one value experience and that was it. Since then I have done nine and am still working on more. I am almost completely done with Faith. I just need to do the value project and one more value experience. One of the ideas for the Faith value project says to "Describe the blessing of faith by writing an original story, poem, or song or by completing a visual arts project that illustrates your faith in Jesus Christ." What does that mean? I would obviously write a story, but what about? If I did it fictional how would I show that I, the author, have faith in Christ? I don't get it. I guess I will study it more and think about it. I think it's fun to do Personal Progress and encouraging to pass off something and get something done. It's better than getting the dishes done because you know that in a few hours the kitchen will get messy again. Nothing can mess up what you have done in Personal Progress or take away the blessings that it gives. Thank you Young Women and Personal Progress!

I am so thankful for my family and for my ward family and the lessons that they teach me. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love knowing that I do my best and that I am righteous. It just feels good to know that. It feels good to have someone tell me, "You are such a good girl." or "You have such a strong testimony." I do! I have a very strong testimony of this church, of Joseph Smith, of Christ and of so many things. Last May, I think it was, I read The Work and the Glory A Pillar of Light and I loved it! For some reason I stopped at the second one, but I know that even just the first one really strengthened my testimony. I wrote in my journal about it all the time. I talked about Joseph Smith and Nathan (one of the main characters) and all that they went through for this church. Even if Nathan really didn't do anything because he's a fictional character I still love him. I just finished Little Women and started the second the Work and the Glory book. I am already wondering why I stopped. Anyway, I am just so thankful for all that I have and for the strong testimony that I have. I am so thankful for all of you and all that you do for me. I love you all so much. Thank you everybody. :)

Improving Aliese

For those who know me know that I am a pretty picky eater. Well, I'm not sure that I am anymore. I mean I still don't like grapefruit, but neither does my Dad and he is not considered a picky eater. There are other things I still don't like, but I am not going to bother to write them all down. Anyway, so, last night I had Young Men Young Women mutual together and it was really fun. The young men made dinner and dessert for the young women! So, in turn I had to try things I would not otherwise try. I tried guacamole and deviled eggs. I kinda liked the deviled eggs, but I really liked the guacamole. It was kinda spicy and I didn't really like that, but it was so creamy and yummy! It is amazing that I like it. Then today I tried some humus with some carrots and I liked that, to! I remember at Lizzie's for Kate's birthday we had sandwiches with mustard and apples and meat on it and a while ago I would have been totally grossed out by that! But it was really good! Mom says I am officially becoming a grown up.

I think I am getting better at 'housekeeping.' I do the dishes really well (that doesn't mean fast), most other chores including laundry and I am getting better at cooking. I went to those cooking classes and Mom and I decided that maybe once a week I get to make dinner. I did that a bit back. I made a pasta with a yummy red sauce, garlic bread and salad. For the sauce I basically just sauteed tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and some herb in a bit of oil then pureed it in the blender. It was so yummy! Mom said she could almost drink it. Believe it or not I got it out of a Strawberry Shortcake cook book that I have had for a long time. It is Strawberry Shortcake, but it has some really good recipes. Especially dessert. I love that cook book. I remember in the yellow house I would have 'restaurant' days when I would pick two meals to make for the family. I would invite my Grandma and Grandpa Leslie and serve them, too. I think I made several choices per meal like a real restaurant, took orders, made and served the food. Once I did it with my cousin Sayer and we made brownies. We were licking the little bits of dough left out of the bowl until the brownies came out of the oven! I think I put the food on styrafoam plates and then put them in the warmer. Now I know why the edges seemed to droop a bit more than they did when I put them in. Haha! It is funny that I would never do that now. I love to cook and serving does sound fun, but a bit of a hastle. Especially because I also had to clean up the mess afterward.

I love piano. I am getting much better at it, too. I don't argue with Mom during lessons (most of the time :) and I feel better about myself when I'm playing.

Well, I gotta go. Steve just went to Stater Bros., came back and realized we don't have milk so I am going to go get it. We can't have dinner without milk. Haha! :)

Not Much to Say

Well, not much to say, but I suppose I should probably say something.

Last evening I had New Beginnings. We did a Candyland skit where each character from the board game got a value that was taught to the kids going along the colorful path. We turned Lord Licorice into Lady Licorice and we had her tempt the kids like Satan tempts us. It went really well.

Today was a beautiful day, but we didn't really get to enjoy it because both Anna and Gracie are sick. Gracie has thrown up several times and Anna has a bad cold and headache. It is really sad. I hate being sick. It's awful. That is one of the things I am most looking forward to at the second coming. There won't be any sickness or disease. That sounds pretty good to me.

School has been good. I have made myself a rough schedule that helps me know when to do what. I try not to have time schedule so that I don't feel rushed, though. Piano is good. I have been doing better on my pieces and using the metronome. I have been using it a lot lately. I really like piano now that I have finished my flash cards and it is easier to read the music. Before I hated practicing because I had to practice flash cards, too, but now all I have to do is play. I like playing music better than just playing scales and stuff like that. I'm glad that it is easier for me so I like it better. Now I can actually like playing the piano since I'm going to have to do it whether I like it or not.

I hope that everyone is feeling better than we are. Haha! I love you!

So Random

I don't know what's happened. I used to post a lot more, but I sorta stopped. I think that if I just keep posting regularly (doesn't matter what it's about) I will get back into the habit. So, here's a bunch of random things.

I am not very good at volleyball. I am taking a volleyball class with Anna and Gracie. We should be practicing, but we haven't, so I haven't improved much. I can't set and can barely pass and serve. It makes me feel so weak, like I'm not strong enough to hit the ball hard enough. My Dad says that I am not less strong than an average girl my age, but I have a hard time using it, like I don't know how to get my strength out or something. I don't know. This week I am going to practice and hopefully it will help.

Gracie had a small bike perfect for her size. It was light pink with training wheels. She went out and rode it everyday and usually brought it up to put it under the stairs. One day she didn't. The next day it was gone. My first thought was that it was stolen, but Mom thought that the maintenance people took it somewhere until someone claimed it. So, she called them. They said that the maintenance people weren't supposed to take things. So, that meant it was lost somewhere. Gracie was very sad so Mom and Dad ordered a new one. It was rainbow with training wheels. Although it was a bit bigger than her old bike she loves it. Today she saw something and came in running. We all went outside and saw it. Her old bike was sitting outside a shed the maintenance people use. Mom rushed up and asked, "Was this just in here?" a guy came out and said, "Yeah, is it yours?" "Yes. I called the office and they said that you weren't supposed to take anything." "Well, here it is. It's just been in here." On the way back to the apartment Mom kept muttering things like, "Unbelievable. I can't believe it. I asked." It was pretty funny.

Is that random enough for you all? Haha! I love you!

February

I haven't posted for a while and I figured that I better catch up.

My birthday was on the fifth. I had a friend over the night before for a late night and we played with my cricut. She gave me some stickers and scarpbooking paper. It was so fun. I had crepes and hot chocolate for breakfast, nochos for lunch and Olive Garden for dinner. I don't know when I opend what, but total I got lots of books, cricut stuff and some jewelry. Just what I asked for. I also got a hot pink phone case. We went out to dinner with Lizzie's family and Steve and came back and had the ice cream cake that Lizzie makes for Shad all the time. The same one Tanner picked for his birthday. I'm sorry if I don't sound very excited. It feels like it was a long time a ago. Overall it was a great day. Thanks everyone for making me feel so special.

On Thursdays starting last week I have a cooking class. A chocolate cooking class. :) Last week we made chocolate chip cookies and brownies with a caramel chocolate sauce and toffee. Yesterday we made Taco Chocos with homemade chocolate ice cream. It was so yummy. And not to brag or anything, but I won presentation both times. They did look really good. I love the classes. They are so fun and educational.

This week we have a four day weekend and so does Tanner. Shad went out of town so we all came down for the weekend. We just got back from a really great picnic. It was a really nice day before and now it's raining. Bummer. We wanted to ride bikes later. Oh, well. Gracie, Tanner and Kate are playing hide and seek. They are like three peas in a pod. So cute playing together.

I thought that I had more to write, but I can't think of anything. Oh well. Haha!

DI Service Project

So, just so we are clear, I love to sleep in. I don't like to wake up early and I am not good at it. Since the new year our church has been at 9:00 a.m. For school we have a scheduele so I have to wake up early on school days, too. That leaves only Saturday to sleep in. Well, guess what I did on Saturday. I had to wake up early and be at the church at 8:30 in the morning. They had breakfast for us there (donuts!) so I didn't have to worry about that, but I still didn't get to sleep in. We left to go to DI (we do have one :) to volunteer. It was really fun. I was put in the knick-knack section with a leader and another beehive. Each thing had a sticker with a number on it. If the sticker had the numbers 3, 4 or 5 on it it stayed. If it had the numbers 1, 2 or 50 than it got put in the cart and later thrown away. When the cart was full we took it to the ginormous garbage bin and threw them away. We had to throw them in so they broke. It was so sad to just throw away so many nice things. But that's how they do it. After that we went back and put all of the new stuff on the same shelves. Then we were called to help with lunch. I broke apart the lettuce. All though, I wasted a lot because a lot of it fell on the floor because the bowl was too small. When we did all we could with lunch we went back and hung clothes. Finally when lunch was ready we ate and went home. When I got home my whole family was still lazing around and waking up and it was 12:30! Oh, well, I guess I probably wouldn't have been up and around anyway if I didn't do that project. :)

I must again say...

I'm growin' up. I just went to Danielle's blog to look for a picture of me from my last birthday. I knew she posted some because she was there for my birthday and she took pictures of me. I was scrolling down through everything because since she doesn't have a blog archive I couldn't just click and be there. As I was scrolling down I saw a lot of old posts that I had already seen. When I looked at the dates I was like, "It was that long ago?" It feels like it wasn't very long ago. Everyone says that as you get older time goes by faster. I have never really realized the truth of that until now. When I finally got to what I was looking for my mouth fell open. I looked really little! My hair was short! I wasn't wearing makeup and unless Danielle edited my skin, my face wasn't covered in zyts like it is now! It is really crazy how much I've grown and how much you can see it!

I am sorry to say that that is it for now. I felt like I should post. (And in case anyone was wondering, I still have not decided exactly what to do for my birthday:)

I'm Growin' Up

At the reunion everyone kept saying, "Aliese, you are so old!" I am not OLD, but I am OLDER. I mean, I am turning 13 year old next week! I can't believe that it is really that soon. Never has my birthday crept up on me like that. Usually I like, count down, but this year I haven't done anything. I can't believe it.

So, the rule in our home for parties is that we can either have a party with friends or we can go out to dinner with the family and bring a friend. We can always have a family party. Last year I had a sledding party with friends and had Danielle and Clay over for dinner and cake. So, this year I thought I would take my good friend Chelsie out to dinner and have a family party with Lizzie (maybe). Then my Mom says, "Well, you could have a character breakfast at Disneyland for your birthday." Great, Mom. Another choice. I know I sound really selfish having such a hard time choosing what to do for my birthday, but this is once a year and I am going to be a teenager this year. I think I want a chocolate moose pie or the ice cream cake that Shad really likes. The one that Tanner had for his birthday.

This is like the first year that I really haven't asked for any toys or something silly. Last year my big "want" was for a dress in the style from the time of Anne of Green Gables. My Mom couldn't find one and had to make one. It didn't last very long. I tried to put it on the other day and it almost choked me to the death! Thanks Mom. I loved it while it lasted. This year I have asked for clothes, jewelry, books, cricut stuff (if you would use that much money on me) and whatever anyone can think of. I don't have a big "want" like I usually do for birthdays and Christmas. This Christmas I asked for the same things minus the cricut stuff. All though I did get a big thing that I didn't even think about asking for. Face it, I'm growin' up. For my Dad's wedding I got a pair of high heels to wear. My Dad said, "Aliese, I am going to have to tell you that you have to stop growing." I replied, "I'm sorry, Dad. I am going to have to break a commandment because I cannot obey that." I can't.

But really, I will always be a little girl. I remind myself of an old babysitter. She also played barbies into her teenage years. :)

"Thanks, Mom."

I can now say in all seriousness and truthfulness that I love Joanns. I went the other day because I had talked to Amy and she said that there were some paper sales. I went because I needed more colors of paper. I went prepared to buy black, skin color and brown. When I got there I wanted to stop and stare at the stuff that they had on every single isle. Not going to happen. We were in a hurry so we ran to the back corner to see all of the many many many papers they have. I am not kidding. I felt like I could stay there all day. Again, not going to happen. So, I went to where the Martin Luther King sale was. 6 pieces of paper for 96 cents. Yeah, sounds like a pretty good deal and it was. Then my mom called out, "Look. There are packs of 50 pieces of paper for $3.99 that are 40% off." I was like, that sounds really good, but I don't need all that paper. I came for black and brown and skin color. I figured I could get 2 pieces of each, use it to make my dad's birthday card and save the rest. I was tempted, but turned back to the other sale. "This is a better deal if you actually use the paper," My mom said. So, I turn back then turn around again. When I look at all of the millions of paper, kinda taking my time my mom says, "Look there are big packets of paper in primary colors. You don't have primary colors!" No, mom, I am looking at these. Eventually mom goes to a different isle and leaves me to the many temptations. I had a lot of money. It was all divided up into the different sections of my budget and I was staying in the limit. But they are sales. Sales don't stay 24/7. I looked at the paper that was 40% off. At $3.99 they go down to $2.30 something a packet for 50 sheets of cardstock. There is a packet of 30 sheets of black and white, primary colors, naturals, brights. Really cool. So, I decided to get the black and white, naturals and primary colors. I felt good and I had enough money.

Anna needed to go to Barnes and Noble and get a Harry Potter book mark for my dad for his birthday. We got in the car and my mom says, "You should probably get some files to keep those in like Amy has." Thanks. Are you trying to make me spend all of my money? "Amy did say that she saw some in the dollar section at Target." I said. "A few stores down from Barnes and Noble there's a Target." my mom said. Well... I guess. I do need something to keep my papers in. "What size?" I asked. "You should probably get a few different sizes." Really? So, she dropped me off at Target and they left. I went inside to the dollar section and saw the folders. There were small, medium and large sizes. I have little paper scraps at home that are loose. I just bought some 8" by 11". So, I looked at the different colors and sections and bought a medium and large.

I went to Joanns to buy 2 pieces each of black, brown and skin color paper and leave with primary colors, black and white, naturals paper and two files from to store them in. Thanks to you, mom. Thanks a lot. If it weren't for you I would only have spent like, a buck, but I wouldn't have so many colors or a place to put them. Thank you. Really.

"No Playing Ball in the House!"

Today we had our second volleyball lesson at the park. We practiced passing, setting, under hand serving and over hand serving. It is pretty fun, but pretty tiring and a little over whelming. Sometimes the coach will come over and throw it to me and tell me to bump it or set it back to him. When I miss or hit it wrong I have to go get it and he says, "Hustle, Hustle, I'm not wasting time here." I felt pressured. Plus setting is my hardest. But we were a little better than when we started. He told us all to do each thing 20 times. Ridiculous. So, mom told us to only do 10 each. He said Gracie and Grace (there is another 5 year old girl named Grace) should just practice throwing the ball back and forth and up and down. Not very long ago Gracie was throwing the ball up and down and she asked if I would throw it back and forth with her. I said I would. So, naughtily we played ball in the house. When I stopped Gracie through a big fit and she is now in a box and is saying, "I am being punished for my life." It may sound funny, but it wasn't when she was hitting everyone. Good luck to me.

My Holiday

Whew! We are back to California and we are done with all of that traveling for a while. I won't bother to bore you all with the schedule that we had over our break. I will just say the after I went to Grandma Leslie's house the first time we went back to Utah for Christmas and went back again. Then went back to Utah for three days, then came to California.

As far as Christmas Eve went, the exciting stuff started at 10 a.m. My instinct to that time is ,early, because I take a long time to get out of bed, eat and get ready. It's just me and everybody knows that. So, anyway, we went to the Orgill (Diane's family) family Christmas Eve party at an ice skating rank. We rented out the whole rank and a few party rooms close by. The rank was not that big. It was actually kinda small. At first the sister who set everything up wanted to have it there. Then it was closed, then it opened. So, when everyone said, "Yay! We're going there!" I said, "Oh no! We're going there!" I didn't want to skate! I was so scared. In the past I've skated once and it was a horrible experience all together because it was at a birthday party. So, I had no parents to help me and everyone knew how to skate except for me. But this time was totally different! I had a great time! Dad and Diane went around with me a couple times, barely moving. Then I went around by myself. At first I moved an inch at a time (not exaggerating). By the end I was moving pretty fast and I didn't want to leave! I had such a great time! The whole time all the cousins were joking around together and throwing ice shavings. One of the kids made a tiny snowman in the middle of the rank out of ice shavings. It was pretty funny. Also, the cousins all acted out the nativity. So, we had Samuel, angels (notice it's plural), people who attacked Samuel, wise men, shepherds and sheep! Plus Mary, Joseph and the baby doll who was Jesus. We rehearsed and put on our costumes. By the end all the little kids dropped out but two. So, there was one sheep and one little angel. I was an angel so I was able to hold her hand the whole time, luckily. Otherwise, I don't know if she would have stayed up. And guess why all the little kids dropped out? Because they wanted to go skating! I thought it was so funny cause they couldn't even really skate. By the end I was just smiling.

That night we made truffles that weren't really like truffles at all. They were oreo crumbs and cream cheese dipped in almond bark. When we were dipping them Caleb (the twelve year-old as of Dec. 23) and I got into a thing about what to call the almond bark. I kept calling it chocolate because it looked like white chocolate. Then he would say, "It's not chocolate, It's white... stuff." Then I would say, "You can't call anything you want to stuff." It was really funny. Later, when Caleb had left I almost said chocolate again and said white stuff instead. That made Diane bust out laughing. After that we opened one present each. The boys got slippers and we, of course, got pajamas. After that we had truffle or two and watched A Christmas Story. Then we all went and tried to go to sleep. It was a fun day.

On Christmas we opened presents (DUH). I got two necklaces, some fuzy socks, $82 total, a photo album, clothes, five new books, candy, a book light, a weekly calender, and a big Taylor Swift calender and CD that is mine, Anna's and Gracie's. I got a few more little things, but it would take too long to name them all. Thank you for the presents everybody!

New Years Eve we went to one of Diane's sisters house and played games and hung out till midnight when we turned on the TV and watched the big ball drop. After that we went to Diane's mom's house and stayed the night there because Diane's house was an hour away.

So, there is my holiday. I hope you all had a good one, too!