Janika’s school is participating in a contest called "The English Quest," where they had to read a book chosen from a list of four and then
they had a list of options such as: do a photo essay, take a test... Janika claimed that
most everyone in her school was boring and picked to take the test. But she and
her friends picked the one that sounded the most fun, which was to make a movie trailer for the book. They did it on the book, “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner. They really put A LOT of time into it. I was actually pretty impressed by the result! There are quirks of course, but for a high school project they did remarkable well. And yes it DOES make me want to read the book! Here is the trailor (and they had better get an "A" after the many many hours they put into it!)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Josh Loves Puzzles
Josh has found a new love -- puzzles. He is really good at them too! Puzzles are such a nice quiet activity. They are also cheap, time-consuming, and intellectually stimulating. I wish the rest of my kids loved puzzles!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Happy Birthday, Liz!
We had Liz, Dave, and Elder Lee over for dinner and cake and ice-cream tonight to celebrate Liz's Birthday!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
New Beginnings
New Beginnings was beautifully done with a blessing dress, baptism dress, and wedding dress on display along with a dozen gorgeous wedding pictures from the young women leaders. The theme was "White Dress." Janika had been asked to sing a certain song about a white dress but neither of us liked the song. I remembered this gorgeous song from EFY a few years ago called "What Heaven Sees in You" or "Three White Dresses" (that always made me cry) about a little girl getting blessed and later baptized and later married in the temple. So Janika asked her leader if she could switch songs and her leader said it was absolutely perfect! She did a beautiful job singing the song. I also loved Karla Seamon's talk. She demonstrated a china doll in a gorgeous glass case that had a replica of the beautiful dress she had made for her wedding dress with some of the material. She compared the preparation and effort required to make such a wedding dress to the preparation and effort required to enter the temple. It was a lovely program!
Girl's Weekend Get-Away and Prom Dress Shopping
Janika and her friend, Kiara, had looked all over St. George looking for prom dresses and hadn't found anything that they liked that was also in our budget and modest. They also did a ton of on-line shopping. Jani suggested that since a three day weekend was coming up maybe they could go up North and do some shopping up in Salt Lake and Provo. After thinking about it for several days I thought it might be really fun to take the girls on a weekend shopping trip. Not only would they hopefully find some beautiful modest prom dresses, but it would be nice for me to have a break from my other six kids and the chaos and responsibilities of home. Rick wasn't sure at first because of traveling expenses but my mom called and encouraged me to come and stay with them and get a much needed vacation. Rick was supportive when I said I needed to get away and even rented me a car because we still haven't purchased a car and we were worried about the reliability of the older car we currently own.
The girls and I left Friday night to pick up the car and headed out. It was hard driving that many hours without being able to change positions. I was glad when we finally arrived at my mom and dad's house in Salt Lake (around 10:30 p.m.) The next morning we slept in (sooo nice!) and then my mom and I exercised in her indoor mini exercise pool. After the girls got up and ready we headed out shopping. We went to Macy's, Fashion Place Mall (where we went to another Macy's, Nordstrums, Dillards, Sears etc). Janika found a cute little shorter dress (for preference) at Dillards and we got a little black satin half jacket to go with it since it was sleeveless. But the girls still couldn't find any long prom dresses that they liked and everything was very expensive. We ate lunch and hit a couple more stores and even checked out a couple of DI's to see if they had anything. We went to "The Perfect Dress" and there were beautiful dresses there but they were way out of our price range. The girls took one look at the price tags and said, "Let's get out of here before we cry!" It was about 4:30 by this time and the girls were starting to get discouraged. They even said a prayer in the car to be able to find something. Well, their prayers were answered at the very next store!
We drove out to Sandy and there was a little store called Bridal Expressions in Union Park. (I tried to look up the website later to add it here but it just brings me to another site with the same name which is WAY more expensive.) So I guess they don't have a current working website -- at least not that I could find. But the address is: 9420 South Union Square (700 East). The downstairs was all wedding dresses and the upstairs was all prom dresses. The store wasn't fancy -- it had more of a warehouse feel. The dressing rooms were small with only a curtain to get in and out. But the dresses were gorgeous, and affordable, and even modest -- yeah!!
As soon as we started looking at the dresses (and the price tags) we knew we had hit the jackpot! The girls were giddy with excitement trying on dress after dress and modeling them. It was really fun. Janika got two beautiful long formals for $99.00 a piece. My goal had been to find something for $100.00 or under but I was starting to think that my budget was unrealistic and I might have to go higher, but we did it! Kiara purchased two beautiful long dresses as well. I had brought Janika's little camera and took pictures of the girls with their dresses, but on our way to the car when we left for St. George on Monday, the camera must have accidentally fell out of her pocket and my Dad found it in the ditch by their house (it was wet). So that was a total bummer because I really wanted to post the pictures! The camera was in a little case so hopefully it wasn't damaged.
We went back to my mom's happy. We ate dinner and relaxed and watched a movie on Netflix. Sunday we went to church at their ward. Janika and Kiara said that the girls in the ward were SO friendly and nice. The girls took a nap (for like three hours)! I went through tons of my mom and dad's pictures so that I could bring them home for my current project of scanning and digitizing all of their pictures (retrieving the photos was another reason I wanted to come up to Salt Lake). We watched another movie that night.
Monday my mom and I exercised and then met my sister, Jeni, at a restaurant for breakfast. It was fun to visit. Too bad we didn't have more time to gab. It was snowing and I was nervous driving on the slippery roads because I am not used to driving in snow any more! After breakfast we packed up and headed back home. We ran into some traffic for awhile in one area due to an accident and the roads were slushy for the first little while but the roads were good most of the way home. I was stressing a little because I had to have the rent-a-car back by a certain time but barely made it right on time. It was so fun to get away and spend time with my daughter. Of course they spent most of the time giggling (and texting) and being silly!
It was a little difficult to come home to the full blown noise and chaos again. Rick did a wonderful job and even had a delicious dinner waiting for us, but within minutes Josh was in a full blown tantrum over something and screaming and the kids were all trying to out do each other in volume. Kind of made me want to turn right around and leave again! We had family scripture study and then I brought Janika over to her friend's house because her mom is an excellent seamstress and was willing to alter the dresses. Both need to be shortened for our 5'2 Janika and one needs to be altered so that it is modest. The first turquoise blue dress already has sleeves and is good to go other than the length but Janika fell in love with a light green heavily beaded strapless gown that laces up the back. Luckily the dress store also sold back pieces and wide strap pieces to go over the shoulders that match the dress. So both dresses are at her friend's house being altered. They are very pretty! I will post pictures either when I get the other camera back or when I get the dresses back!
The girls and I left Friday night to pick up the car and headed out. It was hard driving that many hours without being able to change positions. I was glad when we finally arrived at my mom and dad's house in Salt Lake (around 10:30 p.m.) The next morning we slept in (sooo nice!) and then my mom and I exercised in her indoor mini exercise pool. After the girls got up and ready we headed out shopping. We went to Macy's, Fashion Place Mall (where we went to another Macy's, Nordstrums, Dillards, Sears etc). Janika found a cute little shorter dress (for preference) at Dillards and we got a little black satin half jacket to go with it since it was sleeveless. But the girls still couldn't find any long prom dresses that they liked and everything was very expensive. We ate lunch and hit a couple more stores and even checked out a couple of DI's to see if they had anything. We went to "The Perfect Dress" and there were beautiful dresses there but they were way out of our price range. The girls took one look at the price tags and said, "Let's get out of here before we cry!" It was about 4:30 by this time and the girls were starting to get discouraged. They even said a prayer in the car to be able to find something. Well, their prayers were answered at the very next store!
We drove out to Sandy and there was a little store called Bridal Expressions in Union Park. (I tried to look up the website later to add it here but it just brings me to another site with the same name which is WAY more expensive.) So I guess they don't have a current working website -- at least not that I could find. But the address is: 9420 South Union Square (700 East). The downstairs was all wedding dresses and the upstairs was all prom dresses. The store wasn't fancy -- it had more of a warehouse feel. The dressing rooms were small with only a curtain to get in and out. But the dresses were gorgeous, and affordable, and even modest -- yeah!!
As soon as we started looking at the dresses (and the price tags) we knew we had hit the jackpot! The girls were giddy with excitement trying on dress after dress and modeling them. It was really fun. Janika got two beautiful long formals for $99.00 a piece. My goal had been to find something for $100.00 or under but I was starting to think that my budget was unrealistic and I might have to go higher, but we did it! Kiara purchased two beautiful long dresses as well. I had brought Janika's little camera and took pictures of the girls with their dresses, but on our way to the car when we left for St. George on Monday, the camera must have accidentally fell out of her pocket and my Dad found it in the ditch by their house (it was wet). So that was a total bummer because I really wanted to post the pictures! The camera was in a little case so hopefully it wasn't damaged.
We went back to my mom's happy. We ate dinner and relaxed and watched a movie on Netflix. Sunday we went to church at their ward. Janika and Kiara said that the girls in the ward were SO friendly and nice. The girls took a nap (for like three hours)! I went through tons of my mom and dad's pictures so that I could bring them home for my current project of scanning and digitizing all of their pictures (retrieving the photos was another reason I wanted to come up to Salt Lake). We watched another movie that night.
Monday my mom and I exercised and then met my sister, Jeni, at a restaurant for breakfast. It was fun to visit. Too bad we didn't have more time to gab. It was snowing and I was nervous driving on the slippery roads because I am not used to driving in snow any more! After breakfast we packed up and headed back home. We ran into some traffic for awhile in one area due to an accident and the roads were slushy for the first little while but the roads were good most of the way home. I was stressing a little because I had to have the rent-a-car back by a certain time but barely made it right on time. It was so fun to get away and spend time with my daughter. Of course they spent most of the time giggling (and texting) and being silly!
It was a little difficult to come home to the full blown noise and chaos again. Rick did a wonderful job and even had a delicious dinner waiting for us, but within minutes Josh was in a full blown tantrum over something and screaming and the kids were all trying to out do each other in volume. Kind of made me want to turn right around and leave again! We had family scripture study and then I brought Janika over to her friend's house because her mom is an excellent seamstress and was willing to alter the dresses. Both need to be shortened for our 5'2 Janika and one needs to be altered so that it is modest. The first turquoise blue dress already has sleeves and is good to go other than the length but Janika fell in love with a light green heavily beaded strapless gown that laces up the back. Luckily the dress store also sold back pieces and wide strap pieces to go over the shoulders that match the dress. So both dresses are at her friend's house being altered. They are very pretty! I will post pictures either when I get the other camera back or when I get the dresses back!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Double Date and New Year's Eve
Friday night Janika and I went on a double date with her friend, Kiara Christensen, and her mom, Heather, to go see the movie, "Breaking Dawn." The girls dutifully kept their hands clamped over their eyes for the steamy honeymoon scenes. We enjoyed the movie even if we couldn't help laughing during certain parts of the movie that weren't meant to be funny. Then we all went to Krave and pigged out on frozen yogurt with a half dozen toppings heaped on top. Having a teenage daughter is so much fun. It was also nice to have some adult company. We will have to do it again!
For New Year's Eve we had the Williams family over for dinner (barbecued chicken, cheesy potatoes, cocktail sausages and sauce, shrimp, jello salads, and peas.) They brought over delicious homemade mini pumpkin cheesecake pies -- so good! We had the traditional dance party in the basement (hopefully we didn't scare them away by that) and then played the game "Dominion" while the kids watched a movie in the basement. Jared had his friends, AJ and Boots over, Jase's friend Ky came over for drinks and games, and Janika and her friends even left their party to come make a brief showing. The boys played the Wii and had a Nerf Gun war. I was in bed by midnight but still awake to hear the fireworks and cheering. The big kids were awake until around 12:30 when their friends finally left. It was a fun evening!
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