1st Day of School

Look at that Beautiful, NO braces, Smile!

First Day of School...Bitter sweet.  I wish every morning for the next 9 months to go as nicely!  Scriptures at 5:50, make lunches at 6:10, drive 2 minutes to high school (that's right, 2 minutes!) for A-hour at 6:20, then home to make pancakes, bacon, (toast for the one that hates pancakes), and orange juice, oh yeah, no cold cereal here! (well, ok, for the one that was up at 5!)  Watch 2 kids play a board game (with NO arguing) since they were so excited they were ready for school 40 minutes before the bus!  Then walked 5th grader to bus stop- seriously 5th grade???  Now home in a very quiet house waiting for 3 year old to WAKE UP!!  COME ON! - she never slept past 7 ALL SUMMER LONG, now it is after 8:30 and STILL SLEEPING!!!  I don't know if I am mad at her or happy it is still peaceful?  Good 1st day!

Fave Color Green

I LOVE SUMMER!

Today is the last day of school for all my kids _ YAY!  I LOVE SUMMER.  Though this summer is a little bitter sweet.  We have some great trips planned...camping, Utah, LA, San Diego beach...  but we are also moving somewhere in there as well.  I am sad.  So I am not going to talk about it yet.  Right now it is YAY for SUMMER time!  Swimming every day, friends over late at night, no schedule, popsicles, movies during the day!  Play, play, play!  Can't wait!

Chicken Pox Girl!

Isn't she just the cutest thing you ever saw?!  I just love those eyes, wild hair,  and sweet dimples!

She didn't want me to take pictures of her "yucky owies".  Oh that hair!

She didn't actually get them too bad, but that big one right there really hurts!

Everytime her head started to itch and I caught her scratching she would say, "I'm not scratching, I am just fixing my hair!"  Like that ever really happens :)

Ok, no more pictures of the POX!  Oh, but look at that one right in the center of your right hand.  Weird!

So sorry you have to experience this pain and misery, baby.  But trust me, you will be glad you did at three and not at thirty!  Love ya.

Oh, btw, thanks McGhan's for sharing!  I am glad I only had one to go through, and not 4 at the same time.   :)

Disneyland Birthday

Rachel and I have birthdays three days apart.  This year she is a decade old!  Wow!  So we had to do something special.  I planned a surprise trip for just her and I to go to Disneyland for 3 days.  She got to fly for the first time (and get braggin' rights for being the first Lewis child to fly).  I thought she would be super excited but when we got the airport and told her, she almost threw up because she was so nervous.  She did great though and had fun, too.  This is us outside of LA waiting for our shuttle.

This is Rachel's favorite ride in all of Disneyland - mine too I think.  The first day was insane crazy lines, but we finally made it to the front!  Rachel got to wear a button saying "It's my Birthday" and everyone we passed said "happy birthday" to her for three days.  It was great!

R is for RIGHT ON! or RACHEL! or RIDE!  She wanted to sit inside the top but I am too whimpy to get her up there!  

Besides the California Screamin' roller coaster I love this one the best - the Mali-boomer. That gut in your throat feeling of being rubber-banded into the air then dropped again - ahh!  My feet are the ones on the left side group last one on the right.  I couldn't get Rachel to go on it.  I tried to tell her it was just like the Jelly Fish ride that she loved so much!  She didn't buy it.  Smart girl!

I don't remember what ride we are on in this picture, but you can see we are having a great time!

This turned out to be the ride Rachel loved the most in California Adventures.  Mulholland Madness roller coaster.  It was the only ride that was fast enough but not too scary and she could cut in line as a single rider.  She road it 10 times in about 2 hours while I rested my aching feet on the bench out front.  She had so much fun, I couldn't move on to something else.  

Finally we had to go though.  As we were walking through the park for at least the 10th time that day, (I tried to teach how to map the park and hit rides as we come to them, but she would have nothing of that we ride at her wimsy and too bad if we were just there an hour ago, we are going back!)  we ran into the Toy Story green army men and she got to play the tambourine with their cadence.  It was super cool. I got it on video too, but not sure how to put it on here, so you just get the still pic.

I am so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter.  And to share a birthday month with her too.  I had a great time getting to know her,  her quirks, her laugh, all of her.  She is so special to me.  I hope she cherishes our three days together as much as I am already.  Love you Rachel.  Happy Decade birthday!

The Leg Song

So, all day today Tera kept saying she wanted me to sing "the leg song".  I sang "Child's Prayer", "Popcorn",  "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes", "Happy Family", and none of them were right.  I gave up and she took a nap.  Tonight for FHE she got to pick the opening song.  She asked for the leg song again and so I finally said, "I don't know that song, so you will have to sing it for me if you want me to sing it".  So she starts to sing and says,  "the leg song, you know... and so my knees are great!"  to the tune of "I Am a Child of God".  I busted up laughing and she got embarrassed, but we sang the 2nd verse to I am a Child of God and she was happy as a three year old thinking the word NEEDS is KNEES!  Love that sweet thing!  And will be calling that verse the Leg song from now on!

Time Out For Women

I just had a great weekend!  I was able to go to Time Out For Women with my best friends - my mom, and three of my sisters.  We went Friday evening and then most of Saturday.  We listened to incredible musical talent - singing, violin, and piano, and some very uplifting speakers.  The message was simple, humorous, and poignant!  I laughed and cried.  The spirit was strong, yet it was a very casual atmosphere.  I loved it!
Here are some of the great things I came away with from the experience:

Happiness is a City in the State of MIND!  I can choose happiness.  Humor helps us keep a good perspective.  I can have problems AND still by HAPPY.  If you can Laugh at it you can LIVE with it.
A sense of humor can be DEVELOPED!  Jesus was happy!  His purpose was for us to find JOY therein.

We need to find joy in the success of others - NO competing!  Find what is important and move along toward it at a comfortable pace.  (from "Small and Simple Things" by Sister Hinkley

As an experiment everyday:  Pray for the Holy Ghost to be with me.  When temptation or a trial come upon me I am to pray again for the Spirit to help me and picture the Spirit right there with me.

Have you noticed that the Sacrament table is anchored to the floor and that it is not wheeled in on a cart - it is permanent because we are going to need it over and over again!

How would you thank someone for saving your life?  You would ALWAYS remember them!  Do we always remember our SAVIOR?

What is it like being married to ME?  Am I delightful to be around?  Am I trying to be someone he wants to hang around?  Or am I worrying more about how un-delightful he is being?  I think I will be DELIGHTFUL today!

Send a LOVE note!  Appreciate, don't expect or demand!

Children are like slow ripening fruit.  Be patient with the process.  Don't base it on appearances - 3 year old at the grocery store, one minute an angel, next minute Devil Spawn!  Same child, different perspective.  I trust that He COULD, but do I trust that He WOULD?  Psalms 27:14  Wait on Lord.
You plant it, water it, take care of it.  But the sun (SON) does the rest!  Psalms 9:10 Put trust in Lord

What if the fruit of MY parenting is ME?  How did I turn out for raising these Children?  (instead of how my children turned out?  They still have their agency, but did I do my best to teach them and what did I learn and grow from those teachings and love for them?)

To have a more abundant life:  Story of the loaves and fishes - Everything was in place but abundance will only come through the Savior.
1.  Make the most of what I have to offer.
2.  Giving my All is when the miracle comes
3.  Learning to be content (barley is the lowest class bread)

BE THERE!!
Abundance can come from the most simple of offerings.  Making our foundation the Savior then building upon and adding to it.

Faith in God means having faith in HIS timing!

Weakness is NOT sin!  Ponder that for a while then read Sister Wendy Ulrich's book. 


We are saved only through the Grace of God.  Our Savior paid the price for our SALVATION.  We do good to prove our love to GOD and our Savior, NOT to earn our Salvation!

When something unfair or bad happens in our life I can choose to be angry, bitter, etc.  OR I can take it to the LORD.
1.  His power is MORE than my power - Rely on that GRACE and power!
2.  HOPE in Jesus Christ and the Resurrection.
3.  Laugh!  Finding humor makes it easier to bear!

There is a lot here to ponder and use for my benefit.  What will I do with it?

Toddler Talk

I just don't want to forget this so it will be quick.

Tera hit her chin on the stairs this morning - minor redness, but caused tears.  She came into my room and I was still covered up in bed.  Her hands were freezing -yay to cooler nights and windows open!  Anyway, I told her her hands were freezing and so was her nose and she should climb in bed with me, and then I wiped one of her tears away.  She then wiped the other one and said." yeah, but my crying waters is warm".  

I love toddler talk!