Art Show

A few weeks ago we went to the Arizona State Elementary Art Show where Savannah had a piece of artwork entered. She was so dang proud of herself. Isn't she cute? She must have gotten some of those artistic genes from Grandma Cyndee and Aunt Megan and Aunt Amy (who I know has those talents, but doesn't do it).

I thought she did great. The teacher spray-painted their hands and then they got to choose an animal to trace over their hands. After that they were on their own - she chose how to segment it and the coloring. Do you see the peace signs on all four corners? She is super-obsessed with peace signs lately, must be a 1st-grade thing!

Friday with the Waldies

I spent seven months of my mission in a small Chilean town called Peumo -- no doubt you have eaten fruit from the region as most of the townspeople worked in the fields harvesting fruit to send to the U.S. But I am telling you right now that what you get in the store from Chile looks nothing like the amazing fruit I saw and ate there in Peumo. Huge, juicy, and absolutely amazing avocados, grapes, peaches, and the list goes on and on! I was blessed to be there not only for seven months, but also to be with these people: Gary and Joanne Waldie.


They lived in town and helped us with our work and we had to attempt to teach them Spanish for our weekly service. I say attempt because no matter how many time you taught him, Gary would NEVER conjugate. He'd just say a pronoun followed by the verb and the Chileans understood -- "yo hablar" "ella comer" Gotta love him! Joanne did a little better - she at least attempted to conjugate. (Sara I know you're laughing as you read this and remember the frustration...)

Anyway, I am lucky enough to live in the same city as the Waldies. We haven't seen them for a while so last Friday Nate was home from work and we decided to call and drop in on them. We ended up going to lunch and then spending the whole afternoon over there.

I must say that I think they love Nate as much as me (and they really like me -- hee! hee!). In fact, standing in their kitchen talking, I noticed they have a picture of Nate with his bobcat on the wall! It cracked me up that they had a picture of Nate in their kitchen.

I left for a few minutes to get the girls from school because they haven't seen our girls in a while. They were amazed at how much they've grown (as am I).

Reagan would not come to me when we were ready to go which is amazing because anyone who knows Reags knows she's an absolute and total momma's girl. She just held on to Joanne and shook her head no to me. She also calls them grandma and grandpa, as do Savy and London.

What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Have YOU ever worn a zucchini?

Saturday the girls went to a birthday party and oh the stories I heard after the party! Stories about how Savannah nearly had to wear a zucchini swimming! I quickly figured out that she meant "bikini" and had a good laugh. Just try to imagine the drama that a seven year old puts into a story about how she had to wear her friend's swimsuit and she got stuck with the bikini . . . a.k.a. the most immodest thing in the world! She told me how she convinced one of the girls to trade with her - oh the relief of not having to wear a zucchini!!! I was just beaming with pride inside that she was freaking out about the modestly rather than relishing the fact that mom would never know that she wore a bikini (and believe me, I could see my Savs doing just that). My girls definitely have modesty ingrained in their little brains and I hope it's there to stay.

On another note, I was thinking about how mother/daughter relationships erode as young girls grow older and was trying to figure out how to keep them telling me things and realized that often I am listening as I'm doing something else. So I recently started asking each of them to tell me one good thing and one bad thing about their day. I sit at the kitchen table and totally focus and look at them. They love it. London's eyes get so big with each story. And to tell you the truth, I love it. I love all the things they think are so darn important and there have been good conversations that have ensued - some funny and some just good teaching opportunities.