My Baptism day. . .

Claire had her special day yesterday and we as parents couldn't hide the emotion of having our first born be baptized. It was incredible.
We wanted to thank the many family and friends that came to support Claire in her decision to be baptized. Jimmy's brother, Gared, and neice, Larissa, flew in from Dallas, Texas. We wanted to say thank you so much. Jimmy's mother, father and other brother, Joel and his family were also able to make it. Leia's mom came from Brazil. We also had really good friends who drove in from Salem, Utah. We really appreciate the sacrifice all of you made to be here with us. We also wanted to thank all our good friends from here!( Jonhson Family, Jones Family, Heaps Family,Williams Family,Kai Family, McGuire Family,Storheim Family and our Bishop)

What a beautiful and memorable day it was for her and everyone involved. Thanks again!

Happy Halloween!!!

Trick or treat...so sad it's over now...we really enjoy all the decor for HALLOWEEN.

Miss Claire is 8 years old!

OCTOBER is our FAVORITE month...

It has been 3 long months since we last update our blog. This means that we been really busy and have had the greatest time with our little FAMILY.

I think I'll try to be quick and just make a list of things we been doing the last 3 months:

• Canning pears, peaches, and salsa
• Ballet, piano, and swimming lessons
• Traveling and more traveling to SLC, Moab, Durango, Ouray, and Denver
• Visiting the Denver Mint, Denver Aquarium, and Invesco Field, which is the Broncos stadium (Jimmy thinks that was the highlight of the trip)
• Hiking: Dinosaur Hill, Arches, the Monument (do you count the mall as hiking???)
• Carving pumpkins and going to corn maze
• Eating like pigs and I mean it, we ate like pigs!
• Ice skating
• Sky Diving -- sort of, in a tube of air, it was like flying really!
• Enjoying spending time with my cousin who is visiting from Brazil. We'll miss him, he's going home tomorrow

We are so happy that we could spend time doing all these fun activities with my cousin, we hope he can come and visit soon again...

Now, let me tell you the real reason we love OCTOBER... we just celebrated our 10th wedding aniversary together, it's just incredible to think that we been together for that long, 10 years. . . wow. . .now let's just see what awaits our next 10 years!

The other reason we love OCTOBER is because we had our precious first daughter at the end of OCTOBER, and next week she'll be turning 8 years old, that's right! She is getting baptized and we are all so excited. We can't wait!

OCTOBER is our month of fun and excitement. With small kids, we have a ball decorating the house for Halloween. We love to see others who go out of their way to decorate their houses. Claire calls them "spooky houses."

THE 5 BROWNS

Today was an incredible day! We went to see The 5 Browns, they were amazing! Holy cow, even Hannah had a great time. . .

DUCKLINGS. . .

This is Claire's duck Sparkles.

She is so sweet just like her owner!

This is sparkles & Figaro; Figaro is Hannah's duck and is feisty just like HER owner.


Just weeks old

just a couple days old!

when they got home on April 12

We took the girls to visit the pet store and Hannah just couldn't come home empty handed.

She said: DADDY PLEASE!!! and you know the rest, here we are with the 2 cutest ducklings ever!

First Day of School !!! Almost a month later!!!

This is first day of school 2009
2nd Grade

This is the last day of 1st Grade

Claire is not to happy to go back to school, we spent all summer in Brazil ( it was winter there), but here she is smiling at 7 in the morning and ready to go. . .We love Claire she is the sweetest girl in the world! I'm so thankful to have her as my daughter and sometimes as my teacher. She is starting 2nd grade with Mrs. Gray.

Claire, we hope you enjoy this year, make many new friends and be the BEST you can. . .

We Love You,

Mommy & Papi

“In the Strength of the Lord, I Can Do All Things.”

I decided to accompany Jimmy to a course he had to attend for work in Salt Lake City. The real reason I went was to stay in the hotel that they booked for him and the doctor he went with. Let's just say we wouldn't normally stay at this hotel . . . ever . . . it is the Grand America Hotel. Look it up and you'll see what I mean. But it is a good thing I went.

While Jimmy was attending the course, I decided to do what I do best - shop. And for the first time it paid off. I was at Pottery Barn looking at some things and my eye caught a glance of a familiar face. I am in the young women over the Beehives and have seen this person talk at General Conference. It was Elaine Dalton, the new Young Women General President! When I saw her, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to thank her for her inspirational leadership. Jimmy had commented the day before that he had just listened to her conference talk and loved it.

After spending about 30 minutes with her, she asked, "do you have a cell phone with a camera to take our picture?" I said, "No, but I have a digital camera!" The result is shown below. I can't describe the feelings I had while being with her. She truly is an example of how a woman should be. She is a woman of God and lives what she teaches. I feel very grateful for my children and me to have this opportunity to spend some time with such a special person. This is a memory that we will never forget. A reference to her conference talk in October of 2008 is Elaine S. Dalton, “A Return to Virtue,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 78–80. It is an incredible talk. You can read it at http://www.lds.org/.

Elaine S. Dalton, “A Return to Virtue,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 78–80

JUST GOT BACK FROM BRAZIL!!!

I have a lot to catch up on over the last 3 months. The girls and I just got back from Brazil 2 weeks ago. Jimmy was able to go for 10 days, which was nice since he hasn't been to Brazil for 6 years. We had a great time, but it was nice to come home. Jimmy did another remodel project while I was gone. I guess he wanted to keep himself busy for those 2 months! Here are some pictures of the before and after of the remodel.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER

Mother, mom, mommy. . .

WOW. . . This weekend has been one of the best weekends of my life! We left the kids with my sister-in-law (THANK YOU LISA!!!) and Jimmy took me to Denver for a "Romantic Weekend Out". We went to a very nice restaurant called Gabriel's. It is an authentic Italian restaurant in Sedalia, Colorado. It was a 2 1/2 hour fine dining experience! After our 4-course meal and dessert (we got two by the way), he took me to watch Star Trek.

I can't forget to mention that before dinner we went shopping. Weird huh! (I had to check to see if that was my husband or somebody else in his body. . .) I felt like we were dating again, we talked about so many things, made so many plans for the future, and gave thanks for the many blessings in our lives.

Having two wonderful adorable little girls is one of the best blessings a "MOTHER" can ask for. I love being a mom because of all the little things that I learn from my girls. They show me so much love and compassion. Also, they are so loving and happy. They are so grateful for what I do for them and I am grateful that they are so healthy. I love to spend time with my girls. I love to watch Hannah doing ballet and Claire practice piano. I love to read books with them and do their hair and nails. These are special moments for me.