Window To Our World

Cassidy, Kyle, Aly

I can't wait till class starts!


Today was a big day for Cassidy and her friends Kyle & Aly. It was their first day of swimming lessons. She completed the Water Waddles 2 class, last April and now she graduated to the Water Waddles 3 class. We're so proud of her! We've been telling her she was going to start swimming lessons again, even last night we told her tomorrow you're going to swim. When Cassidy woke up this morning I asked her, "What are we going to do today?" She shouted, "SWIMMING!" And then I asked "With who?" she said "FRIENDS and MOMMY!" I guess she dreamt about it all night long.

When we finally were able to get into the water it was like she remembered how much she missed the pool, she screamed with excitment. And of course splashed water at everyone, even at her swimming teacher. Her swimming teacher, Miss Jan, splashed her right back. It was so cute! Nothing can be better than the excitement I saw in my little girls face today! It was so much fun! Luckily we have 9 more classes to enjoy!

Our little buddy, was baptized yesterday. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go to Texas to be there for his special day, but we are definitely proud of you McKay! We had a chance to talk with him on the phone and he told us his older brother Nic was the one who baptized him. That was pretty cool. Also McKay shared with us how he hasn't sinned at all since he was baptized. He's such a cute boy! He also shared that he's one of the newest members of the church but his younger brothers and younger cousins are just visitors until they turn eight of course. :)

Well Mac, we're so glad you had such a wonderful experience and hope you will never forget it! We love you!

Cassidy is such an example to her mommy and daddy in many ways. First of all we didn't use to say our prayers at restaurants, but now we do. She is very aware of our feelings and our safety. When we walk on snow she says, "Careful Mama,ice,fall down." Or if I need to grab something in the cupboards and I'm not tall enough, I use a chair (I know where does she get it from)and she will say "Careful Mama, don't hurt." When she can tell her daddy or mommy is sad, she jumps and says "Be Happy, Happy Face." She always finds time for us to get up and dance and live life to it's fullest. She has the best attitude when she's sick, and doesn't let it get her down. Cassie is a big helper around the house, with handing me the dishes in the dishwasher, or taking laundry to my bed from the dryer. I know she would be a great big helper to her baby brother or sister. When we get ready to go somewhere she will automatically bring us our shoes and jackets so we stay warm. I can go on and on...but one of our favorite things that our little girl does is SHARE. If mommy is giving her something to eat, of course the first thing she says is "And Daddy" or the other way around. It could be food, airplane rides, hugs & kisses, toys, whatever. She's always including us and making sure we're taken care of.

On Easter morning while getting ready for early church I gave Cassidy a whole banana for breakfast (she likes to peel it herself and eat it like a big girl). The next thing I know she walks into our bedroom and gives both daddy and I part of her banana. She broke it up into 3 pieces all by herself and with a big smile handed us our piece. What could we do??? But take our piece of banana with gratitude. It really started our Easter Sunday with the right spirit. Even with small and simple things she is such an example to her parents!

No wonder why we're taught to... Be like unto a child (Mosiah 3:19)

So we woke up to a cloudy day and snow on Easter Sunday. The outside picture above was taken last year on Easter morning, but it didn't look much different this year.

We had a great Easter! Even though church starts at 8:30 in the morning, it's always nice to go so we could feel uplifted, and learn about all the important lessons in life. When we got home from church, we ate lunch then cuddled up on the couch and listened to a story called He Lives. It's a sing along with music from Hillary Weeks and the pictures in the book are painted by Simon Dewey. It's one of my favorite books. I was impressed because Cassidy sat through most of it and enjoyed the pictures with the music. She would always point out Jesus. Then all 3 of us took a nice nap. After our naps I started cooking our Easter dinner. I was brave and wanted to try some new recipes. We had Pork Tenderloin with Catalina dressing and honey, seasoned red potatoes with bacon, ranch, and cheese, and green beans. For dessert, I made a Chocolate shortcake with strawberries, and chocolate pudding. My family was so impressed! It made me feel pretty good, and they ate it all! I'm digging this cooking thing more and more.

After dinner, Cassidy and I had fun hiding Easter eggs for daddy with one of his favorite candies, Mounds candy bars. Cassidy chose some good hiding places like inside Mr. Potato Head's belly, in her bucket of balls, and in her push-car. I also hid some. Luckily, because when it was time for Derek to come look for his eggs Cassidy quickly helped daddy find the eggs she hid. By the time she brought one to him, she was off to the other eggs. It was hilarious! Both Derek and I couldn't stop laughing. It was so cute! She was so excited, and would say "Here daddy, here's your eggs." So her eggs went pretty quick. The ones I hid were pretty tricky so Cassidy and I would sing louder and louder as Derek would get closer and closer. It was fun. Then it was Cassidy's turn and she had to find her Easter basket full of goodies. It was cute to watch her pick up blankets and toys to look under them, and then say "I dunno" expressing with her arms too. She finally found it and couldn't wait to look at what was in her basket. She got an ABC Book of Mormon book, Little Mermaid magic coloring book, a chocolate Easter bunny (of course), a Nemo bath toy, and some racing cars to race with daddy.

Then it was ni-night time with reading her new ABC book, hugs and kisses and off to sleep.

I think Cassidy got her full share of Easter Egg Hunts. She went to 3 this year, and had fun finding eggs as well as watch all the other kids find their eggs.

Thomas the Train
Dora Backpack
1st Good Book
2nd Good Book
What are you reading Daddy?
Big Comfy Chair

This week for our Family Home Evening activity we took a trip to Barnes and Noble. It's like heaven, to Derek and Cassidy. Books, books, and more books. I've never been a big reader but both Derek and Cassidy have helped me become a bookworm little by little. It's fun to sit in comfy chairs, lay on the floor, or sit on a bench to read a good book at this wonderful place.

Our visit starts as soon as we walk through the doors. Cassidy tries to skip her way towards the Children's section and heads straight toward the train set to play with Thomas the train. When she gets her fill with the trains she moves on to the backpacks and picks out Dora from the bunch. She insists mom to help her put it on. When the task is done, she wastes no time into finding a good book.

On this particular night it was nice because as a family we had three comfy chairs for each of us in the same section. Derek read about puzzles, I read the books Cassidy brought me, and Cassidy read Elmo. Then we enjoyed our tradition, whenever we go to Barnes and Noble, we share a slice of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from their cafe. If you have never tried this, you should! Delicious!

We have good days and we have bad days. It's happy times like this together that help me through the days that seem to fall apart.

So a friend of mine was moving and decided she didn't want to take a lot of things with her. One of those many things was this little doll house. I surprised Cassidy with this gift, and it was like celebrating Christmas all over again! Her excitment was so huge she couldn't stop smiling and giggling. The little doll house was also perfect for all her princess figures that she got from her friend Matteah, for her birthday.

Every night before she goes to bed we have to make sure to put her princess friends in their house and say goodnight. Then as soon as she wakes up in the morning, she peeks in the windows and says "Good mornin...Aril, Seepin Booty, Cinrella, ... It's amazing how she knows them all. I can only picture her excitment when someday we go to Disneyland.