Primary talk

When I live the teachings of Jesus Christ it strengthens me and my family.

One teaching Jesus gives is to Pray. Prayer gives us many blessings. We learn to communicate with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They help us with things we need, like, sick people are healed, and we can be protected                                                                       

Fasting is another teaching of Jesus Christ. When we fast we give up something our body needs for something our spirit needs which strengthens me.

The 3^rd thing I want to talk about is attending our meetings.  As we attend our meetings at Church we learn more about the gospel. We also help teach others around us; just how I am now with this talk. The most important thing we do at Church is partake of the Sacrament.  When we partake of the bread and water it renews our baptismal covenants. I get to start over every week.

Family Home Evening is something we are told to do as a family. It strengthens our family by spending time together by praying, learning, and playing together.

Reading the scriptures is the last teaching of Jesus Christ I want to talk about.  When we read our scriptures we read the teachings of Jesus Christ so we can live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again.

I know that by living the teachings of Jesus Christ it strengthens me and my family and I know it can strengthen you too.

Elvis has left the building

Kiah recently had a school project.  She had to do a biographical report.  With the report she also had to make a bottle doll that depicted the person you were reporting on.  Kiah chose Elvis.

I was so impressed with her writing.  She thinks she can't write very well, but I think she does a great job for a 5th grader.  And her teachers always think she does a great job as well.

 Here is her report

One for the money,

Two for the show,

Three to get ready,

Now Go Cat Go!

     Elvis Presley is the King of Rock n’ Roll. It is no surprise with catchy beats and lyrics like those above. He is known around the world and is still loved today even though he died almost 40 years ago. Elvis Presley was and is a true “Hunka, hunka burnin’ love.”           

      Elvis was born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi in his two room house. He had a twin, but he died at birth. Elvis was born into a very poor family. Mrs. Presley was very protective of Elvis because she didn’t want to lose another son. That’s why for his 11^th birthday he got a guitar instead of a rifle. Elvis was a very shy, religious kid that loved music. Elvis was also the teacher’s pet. He liked to read too.

      His first hit song was That’s Alright (Mama). Elvis became known for his “black” music, wild dance moves, and unique style. This made him popular with the girls, not the parents. He won his first Grammy award in 1966. He had more than 100 platinum or gold records. He was in 31 movies and had multiple TV appearances.

       He died August 16, 1977 because of a heart attack. His legacy is he recorded more than 600 songs, but did not write any of them. Many of his songs are used in movies today. Every year for his birthday people come to Graceland to see his grave. People also take tours of Graceland. Thousands of people impersonate Elvis still, today.    

Thank you, thank you very much.

Elvis has left the building.

We were lucky enough to live so close to Memphis.  Just a few miles from Graceland.  And we went to church with one of the nicest ladies that happens to work there.  So we got a little bit of info from her.  And I was actually able to go to Tupelo, MS and see Elvis' house as a child.  (Annalise's allergist was in Tupelo) So I showed Kiah the pictures we took there. 

She and I worked on the doll together.  I think it turned out pretty cute. 

Football Carnival 2014

Cheer

Kiah wanted to do cheer this year.  This was taken after the Football Carnival.  They cheered half the day away.

Kiah's Election Speech

Kiah wanted to run for Hawk Weather Watch.  It is an elected office that is open to all 5th and 6th graders, but usually only 6th graders are elected. The main duties of the Hawk Weather Watcher is to deliver the weather report, including air quality, and a fun fact during morning announcements which are delivered over closed circuit TV or the loud speaker.

I went to watch the Election Speeches. Sorry the video is of poor quality, I had a restless (almost) 2 year old on my lap. Also, the speeches started so much quicker than I expected and Kiah was 1st.  I was caught off guard. But you get almost the entire thing.

There were 5 kids that ran for the office, and 2 were elected. Kiah did it!  We are so excited for her!

10!

I snapped these pictures the morning of Kiah's birthday. It is hard to believe how much she has grown. She impresses me with the number of things she balances, and her willingness to put herself out there. 

Music Man

This year Kiah decided to audition for The Music Man.  She was cast as one of the town kids.  It was a lot of fun seeing her perform.  The kids also did a preshow medley of Newsies songs. There were several kids from church in the show which made it more fun for the kids and nice for the parents when it came to carpooling.

Vampire

 

 

 

9 year old Interview

Color: Pink

Song: Child's Prayer

Animal: Cat

Letter: K

Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Her scratching my back


Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Him Tickling me

Favorite thing to do with Eli: watch TV

Favorite thing to do with Annalise:  play 

Favorite thing to do with Paxton: make him laugh

Food: pizza

Toy: barbie dolls

Movie: Barbie Movies

Snack: cookies

What do you want to do when you grow-up: teach Ballet

Do you want to be a mommy? yes

Favorite Cereal: Lucky Charms

Favorite Vegetable: carrots

Favorite TV Show: Fairly Odd Parents

Favorite game: Game of Life

Favorite Restaurant: Chuck E. Cheese

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Diamond Princess


What do you love about each person in our family?
Mommy: Her Hugs and Kisses
Daddy: His Tickles
Eli: His Playfulness
Annalise: I love giving her piggy-back Rides
Paxton: His drooliness

What are some of your wishes for this year? To get a Nintendo 3Ds, to have a fun teacher, to get into GATE.

4th Grade

 

 

 

Another Talk in Church

When we live Gospel Princeiples we choose the right. A gospel principle is something heavenly father wants us to do or to not do.  Some examples of gospel principles are praying, going to church, paying tithing, reading the scriptures, being nice to others, serving each other, not saying bad things about others, and trying to not fighting with our brothers, sisters, or parents.

One gospel principle I am trying to live is to read the scriptures. I am trying to read the Book of Mormon and its Scripture reader before I get baptized after my birthday next month.  I have learned about many people in the Book of Mormon. People like Lehi, Nephi, Lamen, Lemual, Ishmael’s daughters, Nephites, Lamenites, King Benjamin, Zorem, Mormon, Joseph Smith, and many others.

I learned a lot from King Benjamin and Zorem.  Zorem led a group of Nephites to live near the Lamenites.  Living near the Lamenites was hard. The Lamenites attacked the nephrites a lot. They had to always defend themselves and were made slaves by the Lamenites. From Zorem I learned that we shouldn’t surround ourselves with meanness or people that would try to convince us to do bad things. They could make us do bad things or be mean. When we do bad Satan makes us HIS slaves. Just like the Zoremites.

King Benjamin was a different kind of leader. He didn’t lead his people to live near trouble. King Benjamin served his people. He worked just like his people did. He tried to teach them to love and help each other by being a good example. He built a tower and taught his people to love and follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Even now I can try to follow what King Benjamin taught. I can try to be an example and a leader by serving other people.

So by living the gospel principle of reading the scriptures I have learned more about what heavenly father wants me to do. It helps me to be a good example and to not be around mean or bad people. It also helps me to get ready to be baptized, even though I am still scared. We can all Choose the Right and live gospel principles.

talk in church

Jesus Christ taught us to choose the right.  One thing he taught is in Matthew chapter 24 verse 40.  “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me.”  There are lots of ways we can serve Jesus by serving other people.

Yesterday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for my brother, Eli’s, birthday.  I saw a little girl drop her tokens and I helped her pick it up.  That was an easy way for me to choose the right like Jesus taught me.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Unicorn Tooth

Kiah has had a few loose teeth.  I though for sure we would be singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"  and mean it.  But Kiah DOES NOT wiggle her loose teeth.  I am not sure if it freaks her out or what... but it is a huge no-no in her book.  She waits for them to naturally make their departure.  Because of this, her teeth began to shift and move to the side.  So when the first one fell out it created the picture below.  It looked like she had one pointy tooth right in the middle.  Then in reality it was one of two in the middle and was now hanging funny.  

I am not sure who coined the term unicorn tooth, but I am glad it cam around because snaggle tooth seemed too mean!  I wish I had gotten a picture of her with her mouth shut because that is when she looked like Nanny McPhee!

Allergy Testing

We decided to take Kiah in to have some allergy testing done.  She has been having a problem with a runny nose, no matter how much allergy medicine we give her.

The test showed she had allergies to cats and dust... and there wasn't much more (than what we were already doing) to solve the problem.  Of course she could have allergy shots, but seeing as how I have to pin her to the table with the help of 1-2 other people in order to get her flu shot..... or even the scratch test above I opted out of that.  Maybe someday when she gets a grip in her fear of needles we can pursue that route..... but right now my nerves can't handle it!

Primary Talk on Missionary Work

She wrote this talk mostly on her own.  I gave her a few scripture stories to read out of the scripture reader, then we talked about them.  I asked her a few questions along the way and helped reword a few sentences.  


Missionary Work Blesses Everyone

Missionaries work to preach the gospel and it blesses everyone.  They teach about Jesus and Heavenly Father.  They also teach us that Heavenly Father will bless us when we obey His commandments.  Some blessings everyone likes to have are love and peace. 

Alma was a missionary that taught people not to fight, to share, to serve, and to love others.  He also taught them about baptism.  Alma still teaches us today.  Everyone who reads the Book of Mormon can still learn from Alma and receive the blessings of Alma’s missionary work.

Proud to be Me!

Kiah brought this home from school.  I love seeing what she has to say about herself!  I love seeing the fun spelling and the backwards letters.  It is perfect!

First day of 2nd Grade

I don't know what is up with Kiah's funny face in this picture!?  Maybe it had to do with getting the morning routine worked out.  The first day wasn't as smooth as I would have liked.  The plan was for Eli to be picked-up by his bus at 7:30 and then I would take Kiah to school at 8.  Well, somehow we missed Eli's bus.  The neighbor across the street was kind enough to let me know it had come and gone.... and give me some in sight into why we missed it.  It is a different driver, and different bus this year.  So the bus stopped in a different spot.  And the horn honk was barely a toot!  But I think we have that kink worked out now.

It is had to believe she is in 2nd grade!

So I was trying to snap this picture of Kiah so I could get Kiah to school and then take Eli to school, before the day was over for him!  He did ride the bus home that day.

7 year old interview

Color: Pink

Song: I Love to see the Temple

Animal: Cat

Letter: K

Favorite thing to do with Mommy: spending time with her, like watching TV

Favorite thing to do with Daddy: play with him

Favorite thing to do with Eli: play with toys with him

Favorite thing to do with Annalise:  play with her

Food: noodles

Toy: Barbie

Movie: Tinkerbell

Snack: carrots or granola bars

What do you want to do when you grow-up: be a ballerina

Do you want to be a mommy? yah

What do you want to do for work? ballet

Favorite Cereal: Special K

Favorite Vegetable: carrots

Favorite TV Show: Fishtronaut

Favorite game: Uno Spin

Favorite Restaurant: McDonald's 

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Flower Sparkle
What do you love about each person in our family?
Mommy:she always likes to spend time with us and play games with us.
Daddy: I love when he acts silly.
Eli: That's going to be really tough. I love how he watches TV with me.
Anna: I love how she was so cute when she was a baby.

Do you want to have any more brothers and sisters? Yes

How many?  1 boy and 1 girl.
What are some of your wishes for this year? I wish we were rich, and I had a pony that was real , and I could do whatever I wanted to.

Kiah's Eyes

Kiah had an eye exam yesterday! Her eyes look great. Although, she does seem to have aome indication of allergies!

Happy 7th Birthday!

It is hard to believe that Kiah is 7!  She had an amazing year.  She did so well as a first grader.  We absolutely loved her teacher.  We were sad to see her move at the end of the year.  But Kiah recently wrote her a letter, and I am pretty sure we will hear back from her soon.  Kiah got great grades. She was Star Student one month. We are so excited that she loves school so much.  And we cannot believe how great a memory she has!  Truly impressive!

She grew to be just over 4 ft tall.... which allowed her to go on her first grown-up roller coaster back in November.

She lost her second tooth.  She has 3 more that are loose now!

She Sprained her ankle for the first time.

She spent lots of time making her brother and sister laugh!  And she makes us laugh, too!

 She gave a talk in Primary on Service

She had her first speaking part in a school play.

 She still LOVES mints

Was was a little more daring... but only a little.  She only made it about 6 feet up.  But that is huge for her!

She was a lot more daring in the water.  She went on rides by herself.  

She took swim lessons and can now swim unassisted.  

We celebrated her birthday with friends earlier in the year.  But We still wanted to do something for and with her on her birthday.  So she got her hair cut

and some cute little face painting

and...

then...

her ears pierced!