Faye turns 9

Faye turned 9 last week. She had some friends over for a birthday party. We played some fun games, had dinner and fondue for dessert, and we played karaoke. She got a new wii game called Disney Sing It! The girls had a blast. It was fun meeting all of Faye's friends, everyone was polite and fun to hang around with. Of course there was alot of girlie screaming and running around....but that was just me! Ha ha! Here are some photos. Not of me running around, but of Faye and her friends.

Andrew looses a tooth

I've been enjoying everyone's new posts on their blogs, I thought I'd take a minute and update my own. Check out Andrew's new look. He lost his bottom tooth a couple of weeks ago. It was wiggly and became totally loose after he knawed on some corn on the cob. He happily pulled it out in the car one night, and showed everyone his tooth. He is very pleased with his new image. He can wait to loose another.

card making is fun and relaxing

Our home has four bedrooms. Two bedrooms in each wing of the house. The kids bedrooms are in the opposite wing of our bedroom and the fourth room. Originally, the fourth room was to be my craft/sewing room, but at the last moment we converted it into a bedroom for visitors and or as a homework area for Faye. It has a queen size bed, end tables, a desk and a large walk-in closet. You're probably wondering why I'm mentioning this and how it is relavent to card making, but it is precisely because of this closet that this story begins.

This closet has become the multi-purpose storage area for our junk. It is where I have stashed all of our storage items including, seasonal clothing, decorations, tax files, water jugs, crafts, kids papers and of course my scrapbooking supplies. I can barely walk into this closet as it is so full of stuff. Last week Iwas in need of a card for a baby shower and as my cards are in this this closet, I began to rummage through baskets, boxes, and storage bins. I couldn't find anything anywhere in that closet! Finally I pulled out my scrabooking box from the shelf with some difficulty and started to go through it. Since our move from Wisconsin, my scrapbooking box has become a jumbled mess, with every thing out of order and papers all mixed up. So I took some time last week to go through my box, and finding matching paper and putting everything back in the right place. The bed was covered in papers for days. It was during this organizing project that I came across some paper that my sister-in-law had made for Provo Craft.

Tina is a very talented and creative artist, and she has been a professional scrapbooker for the last decade or so. I came across this paper and wanted to use it to make some cards. It is so funky and fun, it was really great making these cards with paper she designed! What do you think of them?

Organizing my paper really got my creative juices flowing and inspired my recent ideas. Tina has also inspired me to look at things in a new way and be as unique as only I can be. Thanks Tina!

I used Tina's paper in the "Oh Baby!" and "Cute as Can Be" cards and in the "Thanks" card in the second photo. Card making is lots of fun and can be very relaxing. You should try it some time.

Next post will be about Andrew and his new gear for the Karate class he takes on Tuesdays at school. He is a Karate Kid! Sonia XXOO

first day of school was two months ago

I'm only now posting "first day of school" photos. I took these pictures of the kids back in August on the first day of school. The second photo displayed was taken in our front yard as we were walking to the bus stop. As you can see from the photo, it was still dark when we left . We had to wake up at 6am to catch a 7 am bus. What you see covering the grass in the background is not frost, but dew from a very humid 80 degree morning. Can you imagine it being 80 degrees BEFORE the sun rises? The first photo is of the kids getting on the the bus for the first time. It was a monumental moment for the kids so I thought I should honor it by taking a photo.

The kids were very anxious about taking the bus, especially Faye. But all nerves were settled when they saw that several of their friends from church and the neighborhood rode the bus too. So now that makes riding the bus fun and exciting.

One disastrous thing that occured that first week is that Faye left her brand new glasses on the bus on a Friday. When they were returned Monday morning, the bus driver sadly told me that some kids got to them and completely destroyed them. I was so upset about it, not only because cost us money to replace her brand new glasses, but that school kids could be that destructive. I would post a photo of them, but I'm so over it now and Faye has a better pair of glasses, the ones she is wearing in the previous photo.

So that is the sad story of the lost broken glasses and first day of riding the bus.

The next post I want to show you some cards I have made recently. I wanted to display them because the paper I used in some of them was made by my talented and beautiful sister-in-law Tina. She is so creative!

the girls

Faye hasn't let me take a photo of her with her new glasses on, but as I was downloading photos from the camera onto the computer this evening, I saw a picture she took of herself with her glasses on. I thought I'd share it with you all. She is absolutely adorable with them on, don't you agree?

We drove to the little town of Williston last weekend, to get haircuts for Andrew, Devon and Grace. It was Grace's first haircut at a real salon, and she loved it! Here is a photo of her new bob.

We are all learning to love Florida, and we are busy with homework, and playing with new friends, and getting to visit some new places here in Gainesville.

We are also getting to meet new people from church and are enjoying our calling as Primary teachers. We teach the 5 year-olds. Now, we are getting ready for the Primary Sacrament Program. Faye, Grace and Andrew have speaking parts, and are learning their parts quickly.

This month Devon is busy working in the trauma department. It is very busy for him and for the first two weeks they have scheduled him for nights. He is also studying for the Step 3 Board exams which he will take in November.

I have been looking for an online job to supplement our income, as well as volunteering at the kid's school, and becoming a Girl Scout Leader for Grace's Daisy Troop. I have also volunteered to manage the cookie fundraiser in March again (what was I thinking?) for both Faye's troop and for Grace's. We'll see how that goes.

We have all enjoyed the weather here in Florida, and I feel that the best is yet to come. Everyone who lives here says that the winter months are very pleasant, and I am looking forward to it!

Butterflies!

I've noticed on several occasions that there are lots of butterflies here in Florida. I would look out the kitchen window and see monarch butterflies as big as my hand fluttering around the flowers. It is truly remarkable. There is an exhibit at the UF Museum of Natural History about butterflies. I took the kids and one of Faye's new friend to the museum on Monday. There we learned alot about the life cycle of a butterfly and had alot of fun, too. Here are some photos from that day. Sonia XXOO

Fun in Florida

We finally got internet and phone set up at our new house in Florida. Since Devon has been so busy, we still haven't put up pictures on the walls yet. When he isn't on such a time-consuming rotation like PICU, then we'll work on decorating the inside. So that's why I haven't posted any new photos. The kids and I have been able to explore our new area, though. My sister came to visit and we went to the I-75 Flea Market in Ocala, Florida. We went on Friday so it wasn't as busy as it usually is on the weekends. I found a retro-style pattern for a nurse's uniform for $.50. So I want to make it for my halloween costume. Then we took a trip to Itchitucknee Springs located 20 minutes to the Northwest of us. We went tubing down the river three times. The kids had so much fun, and so did my sister and I! Then, last weekend we drove down to Orlando to attend the Orlando Temple. It is a beautiful temple! Another couple in our ward watched our kids at a local park while we went and then we switched so that they could go. Then, I went to see a friend from high school, I hadn't seen in 12 years! It was so great to visit. She and her husband were so much fun to hang out with, along with their four kids. I can't believe we didn't take a photo of us all, but we did have a great time. I will make sure to bring our camera for our next visit.
There is lots of shopping close by. There is this great store next to Target called Rack Room Shoes, and I found a pair of Clarks sandals on sale for $20! I was so excited about my find. I got another pair of strappy sandals for my brother's wedding in September. Can't wait to wear them!
I am busy putting together my kids school registration forms. I can't believe they start August 24th. Summer has gone by fast. We have spent most of our days sleeping in, hanging out at home and swimming. We are all enjoying the hot weather here in Gainesville, Florida. Well, until next time, Sonia XXOO

Facebook

I have learned to share photos on Facebook recently and I just posted several albums that I know my family in Utah would really enjoy seeing. The photos include our visit to Mantua Lake, the Tree House Museum, Fran's Birthday Party, The Dinosaur Park, the Smart Family Reunion, Swimming with the Gregory's, and our visit to Preston, Idaho. I have yet to organize and put titles into each photo, but its a work in progress. There are about 120 pictures that I took over a month's time! Looking back, the kids look so young and that was less than a year ago!

So now that I into Facebook, I'm less likely to post on this blog. I know-how rude of me right? But if you haven't already set yourself up an account on Facebook, there's no time like the present to do so.

I'm looking forward to keeping in touch. See you around! Sonia XXOO

Family Tree Project Finished:Wall-Worthy?

So, several days ago, before the rush of Girl Scout Orders were due (I'm Faye's Girl Scout Cookie Leader) and before my first-ever Beauty Control Party (Yes, I am a new Consultant), I went to my friend's house to finish a project that has been unfinished since June. I had all the materials I needed, but couldn't get the creative juices flowing. I worked on getting my family' names neatly penciled in the leaves while enjoying my friends' company. I didn't finish it for another few days. Still, after everything I am unsure if I like it or not. My friends like it. I really think it looks too home-made for my taste. I'm wondering if it's still wall-worthy. What is your opinion? Take the poll now. Sonia XXOO

Glass House Mountains, Nutworks and Brisbane, Australia

Well, there were so many more photos I wanted to show that I decided to break them up into a series. Last week I showed you photos of the Koala Sanctuary. This time, I have photos from the hinterland, a place up in the mountains that separate the Gold Coast from the Western Australia (the bush). It is beautiful and where you'll find dairies, quaint little shops and a rainforest. Pretty amazing.

We are with Lynn and LuAnn Cole, Devon's parents and they are the couple who made this trip to Australia possible for us for two reasons. One, they were serving a mission in Australia for the LDS Church at the time, and second because they wanted us to come see them. We missed each other and it was wonderful to experience the best of Queensland. They took us around to see the sights.

One of our favorite places to visit was Nutworks, a macadamia factory. We tried so many kinds of flavors of macadamias there and I bought a recipe book too. One thing that caught my attention was the cool way they recycled the outer macadamia shell. They used it as mulch in their landscaping. I thought it was really creative! There is also a photo of the city of Brisbane. It is just beautiful. It was taken at the top of Kangaroo point where the LDS Temple and Institute is situated. What a wonderful place to gaze upon the city, don't you think? If I ever figure out how to get a video up and running, I would show you the "flight of the fruit bats." At twilight we got to see them up in the air, getting ready for their nightly feast. Very cool. I do love bats.

Sonia XXOO

It may not be the best video of a bat, but check out how huge he was!!!

Some Photos of Australia

So I thought while we're in the thick of winter, I'd show some photos of our trip to Brisbane, Australia from last year where it was hot, sticky and absolutely fabulous!!!! When I look out of the window here in Wisconsin and see four feet of piled up snow, I just close my eyes and imagine myself in the thick of the rainforest again and smelling the gum trees and holding Orien, my koala. I hope you can imagine it too with these photos. There was so much more that I did there that I can show you, but here is just a "taste"

Love Sonia XXOO