BYU Theater Ballet Came to Mesa

Here is our little Hailey with some beautiful ballerinas.

Yes, this is old news but I had lost all of my photos of this great event and just found them this weekend so I am so excited to post these on our blog!  Back on March 10, 2011, the BYU Theatre Ballet came to the Mesa Arts Center.  We threw a fun pre-show Prince and Princess Party where we had over 100 children with their parents show up dressed in costume to meet the dancers.  We had finger desserts for them and it was a very special time for the kids to feel like they were meeting "superstars!"

Kelsey and Hailey posing with a lovely dancer!

A view of our Prince and Princess Party!

During the intermission, the children were invited up on the stage to dance with the ballerinas.  It was their chance to feel "famous!"  Hailey kept asking me, "Mom, is it my turn to dance yet?  When?  When???"

Saturday Service Project

Our Phoenix BYU Alumni Chapter joined with the City of Mesa Parks and Recreation to help build a playground for a park in Northeast Mesa on Saturday.  We were the largest volunteer group there, besides Fry's Grocery Store which supplied all of the delicious food for the event.  I was really proud of all of the BYU Alumni who showed up to give several hours of their time on a busy Saturday.

 Here is Spencer and his friend Zach, brushing dirt off of a wall to get it ready to be painted.

 We also had kids activities that BYU provided.  The children were able to help tie fleece blankets that we are donating to the victims of the tornadoes in Alabama.  But Hailey and Spencer, after tying a few knots on the blankets decided that they wanted to "build" and do what the grown-ups were doing!  They really worked hard!

 Tom, Tamara, Kelsey, and Hailey---all wearing size XL t-shirts.  (I need to know how to tie mine in the back so it doesn't look like a tent! ha ha!) We gave over 4 hours of service each.  That's 20 hours of service (including little Spencer!)

 Spencer really helped with the digging!

We stuck by the motto from BYU--"Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve!"

Spencer's 9th Birthday Party

Spencer turned 9 years old on April 19th.  For his party, he invited 4 friends over for a "late night."  They ate pizza, played night games like "murder at midnight" and "cops and robbers."  They also went to the park and threw around a lighted-up frisbee. 

(left to right) Conner Prusse, Zach Everton, Spencer, Mason Romney, Grayson Kennedy.  He has known these boys for a very long time and they are best buddies!

Kelsey decided to get crazy with a plate of whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  Look out Spence!!!

Aren't sisters the best?  Spencer, you've never looked better!  ha ha!  Happy Birthday Dude!

Kelsey's Cinderella Scholarship Pageant

Kelsey was in a pageant two weekends ago called the "Cinderella Scholarship Pageant."  It was held in Mesa and was for all girls in the East Valley of Phoenix ages ranging from little toddlers to teens.  Kelsey really wanted to try the pageant this year as her dance director has been begging Kelsey to enter!  She worked very hard attending workshops and learning how to walk with her shoulders poised, do slow turns, and speak into a microphone slowly and clearly.  She had three competitions:  an evening gown, casual wear, and talent.  For her talent, Kelsey did a clogging solo that stole the show.  She wore a bright pink sequin jacket with a turquoise tutu skirt and clogged to the song, "Vacation" by the Go Go's.  She nailed it!  She took second place in her age division but also won the overall talent award for the teens.  We are so proud of her!



Here is Kelsey winning the overall talent award for her age group.  Yea Kelsey!




The proud parents :)  Her daddy bought her some roses . . . Awww!




Grandma and Grandpa Marshall just happened to be in town so they were able to come!




This is a tired, but smiling group of cousins with Aunt Melanie.  They were at the pageant for over four hours!




Wow - Kelsey is so pretty in this dress!!




Hailey just couldn't make it to the end.  Kelsey and I were there from 3:30-11:00 p.m. but Hailey, only staying for half that time, still couldn't help falling asleep.  It was an extremely LONG day!!!





Easter Fun!

Our children LOVE to find Easter eggs early on Easter morning.  The Easter Bunny was very clever this year and hid them in some unique places!  We are so thankful that we live in a country where we can celebrate Easter freely.  Because of Christ's resurrection is a gift to us, we likewise give gifts to our children.  They each get a new Easter dress or necktie, a new movie, some fun games, and of course, CANDY!

Here is Hailey's new Easter Dress.  She looks so pretty in that color!

Wow - what a doll!  Kelsey chose this outfit herself and she looked so beautiful!



My mother is here visiting until Mother's Day.  It is SO awesome having her here! 



Me and my two daughters.  How lucky am I?

If you are wondering why there aren't any pictures of the boys, well . . . they weren't quite in the "photogenic" mood after church.  So, in order to keep the Spirit in the home, I didn't push the issue.  :)  But they all looked dashing in their pink and purple ties (even Tom! - but then again, he ALWAYS looks dashing!)

All of our family that lives here came over for dinner.  We had 19 people!  The LaDukes, Fuhrimans, and my mom were here with us.  My dad is coming this Thursday and we can't wait to see him.  The kids colored Easter Eggs outside while the adults (the moms :) got dinner ready.  It was a wonderful day and I am so thankful for all of the blessings we share as a family!

Butterfly Field Trip

Last week Hailey and I visited the Butterfly Pavillion at the Desert Botanical  Garden in Phoenix.  It was actually a very educational field trip.  The best part was the butterfly Pavillion.  I have never been in one space with so many different butterflies.  The colors were so vibrant and unique.  Hailey was going nuts!

My last little pre-schooler.  I live for these days - they are so much fun to me! 

The butterflies would congregate around the fruit and drink the nectar.

Look carefully--there is a butterfly by her feet!

After the fieldtrip, we headed over to a park with her classmates and had a picnic.  Since we were so close to the zoo, I ran Hailey over to see the new Orangutan Exhibit.  It is HUGE!  We loved watching the mama and baby orangutan interact with each other.  They looked like they really liked their new home.

March-April Catch Up!

So sorry I haven't blogged anything in such a long time.  I feel like March breezed on by and April is whizzing by just as fast.  The kids only have a few weeks left of school and I just can't believe I am staring summer in the face.  Didn't we just put down our Christmas Tree??  It feels like yesterday.  Wow!

Well, my sweetie turned 41 on March 7th.  It was fun having his birthday on a FHE night so we made our family night all about him!

Tom got a lot of fun presents too.  I think his favorite was a new guitar book filled with fun songs he knows.  Tom is trying to squeeze 10 minutes into his busy schedule to practice guitar before he goes to bed.  He is actually getting pretty good!  What a talented guy, huh!!

Yeah, I spoiled Tom with his all-time favorite dinner---SEAFOOD!  There were shrimp and king crab legs galore!

Drawings from the kids are truly the best gifts ever!

Kelsey painted this for her daddy.  She wrote a saying on the front of the painting that says:
The greatest blessing I ever had
Came from God
I call him . . . Dad. 

Kohler and Tom were in heaven.  Kelsey was trying hard not to throw up!  (she's not a fish lover!)

The other day, I took Hailey to a farm.  She wasn't able to go to this farm with her pre-K class because we were in Disneyland with Kelsey's dance group.  So, she and I had a field trip of our own!

Hailey was braver than I was to hold this chicken!

This calf drank the entire bottle in about 30 seconds.  He sucked so hard that he pulled the rubber top off!

My little "Hailey Girl!"

They called this goat,"Uni-goat" because he only had one horn, like a Unicorn!  Ha!

Tom and I went to Southern  California this past weekend to have a quick weekend getaway and to hear my Uncle Robert Tall give an organ concert in a beautiful cathedral in Arcadia.  We stayed on the coast and fell in love with the Malibu coastline.  We figured we only need about 10 million dollars to get a nice place with a beach view!  Ha ha!  It was just so nice to have Tom all to myself for 48 hours.  No church calls to make, no children to attend to, no patient calls, NOTHING.  We just talked our heads off, listened to great music, took a fun bike ride through Venice Beach and watched all of the freaky people, ate a fabulous dinner at Duke's in Malibu, and laughed like crazy.  This was a much needed getaway for us.  We just LOVE being together! 

Check out that full moon in the background!

My uncle did an incredible job at his concert.  He is so artistic and plays masterfully.  I got emotional listening to him play and I felt my Grandmother's presence so strongly.  She was such an incredible musician and loved her children so much.  I can only imagine how proud she must be of him and what he has accomplished during his lifetime.  It was so great to have all of his siblings there:  my mother, her sister, Karen, and their brother John and his wife Marjorie, and their daughter Malinda.  I loved visiting with them--it's been way too long since we have all seen each other.  Family is everything and we need to keep those ties strong and alive!

Sunset in Malibu--what a sight!