1 year ago I was 36

One year ago I turned 36 and I started a post on doing 36 random act of kindness for my birthday.  I am following up as I just cleaned off my desk and found the sheet listing all the things that my family and I did to celebrate my birthday:

1.  Wrote Nana

2.  Wrote Aunt Marge and Uncle Bob

3.  Wrote Grandma and Grandpa

4.  Got up early to play Legos with Ethan instead of doing yoga

5.  Put a gift out for the trash man, put it on top of the trash can...he got it!

6.  Put a chocolate bar and a note in the mailbox for our mail lady

7.  Paid for the order behind us in the drive through line a McDonalds.

8.  Gave a chocolate bar to the bank teller.

9.  Bought lunch and a drink for the guy with a hurt leg and talked story for awhile.

10.  Quarters

11.  Quarters

12.  Went to the laundermat and filled the machines with quarters and left notes encouraging them to do a random act of kindness.

13.  Quarters

14.  Quarters

15.  Took Apple Strudel to the life guards.

16.  Delivered groceries to awesome friends

17.  Tipped the Ice Cream girls at Gelato

18.  Picked up trash at the beach

19.  Took the kids surfing and gave lots of positive encouragement to Sydney

20.  Signed Carolina up of the Kids Club

21.  Read Stories to all the kids in the Barns and Noble kids section

22.  Gave a random lady a $5 Starbucks gift card

23.  Bought 8 Cake sticks and shared them with my friends

24.  Took the kids to buy Fathers Day cards

25.  Took time to listen and encourage a friend that was upset.

26.  Took a letter that Sophie dictated to me.

27.  Read to the Kids.

28.  Babysat the neighbors

29.  Took the kids paddle boarding

30.  Picked up trash at another beach

31.  Babysat Eden 

32.  Made a new friend at ballet and sat arm to arm enjoying each others closeness

33.  Gave the lady at the store my pen 

34.  Picked up trash around our neighborhood

35.  Took some visitors surfing and taught them to standup

36.  Massaged Troys Legs

It took me one week but it was the Best Birthday ever!!!  Share the love....

Rose Buds

My Mom just send a package containing some old reports that I had written in my early school years.  I really enjoyed reading them and I loved this one:

When a rose grows it starts as a tiny bud protected by a green thorny covering.  As it grows the protective covering starts to open and the color of the tiny rose appears.  Slowly one by one the tiny petals grow and open up to give light to the other petals.  This goes on until every velvet petal is in full bloom and a masterpiece has taken place.

For this to take place the rose needs water, soil, fertilizer and sunlight.  These aren't anything special, but they are vital to the flowers life.

Just as the bud of a rose blooming into a beautiful flower is in its own way a miracle; so is the beginning of a friendship.  In the first stages of friendship the green thorny protective covering has to open up and allow communication to take place by sharing feelings and letting a little bit of your colors to show thorough.  Then slowly as time goes by and trust comes into play, it acts as the fertilizer in the soil.  One by one another part of you opens up and your true colors shine out.  Under each petal there is something new to be found, and the water that keeps them growing strong is just like the bond that is growing between you and your new friend.

Time is all that is left to secure your friendship.  Time is what proves loyalty, honesty and dependability.  Sunlight is the time, because the sun is always sure to rise in the morning and set in the night.  Always there proving its loyalty, honesty and dependability.

Friendship, just like a rose, is a masterpiece, but takes time, and patients and special ingredients.  The biggest difference between them is that a rose is seasonal, and withers away shortly after it has reached full bloom.  A friendship can last a lifetime, if it doesn't get taken advantage of, or destroyed by jealousy.

Friends are worth more than any amount of money, and should be treated as they are priceless.  Without friends our world would be lonely and empty of roses.

I don't know when I wrote this, but it was typed on a typewriter and my mom must have typed it, because there are not any mistakes.

May all of your lives have a full bouquet of friends and roses!  Thank you for making my vase full.

Ember's Baptism Cake

Ember Rose Anderson

Jerrilee always makes the most beautiful cakes.  When you were baptized she and Papa Rick came to your baptism and after your special day we celebrated with a beautiful cake creation.  Here are the meanings behind the cake decorating.

The Story of your Cake:

White Cake:  For Purity and a Clean Heart

8 Roses: for the Age you were Baptized

Yellow Flowers and Butterfly:  God gave you a love for growing things and a love for his creations.

White Pearls: Stand for God's Seeds or "pearls" of wisdom he will give you, when you trust in him and ask him for guidance.

Proverbs

 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

West Side

Ward Camp.  Flemmings Beach Park.  Taking the long way around.  Blow hole, heart windows, silly kids, happy dog, lots of stuff.  Too much sun.  Summer Fun!

 

 Uhhh, Mom there is a hole over here!

 I want to see!

I love Exploring.

We Love Maui.

Thank goodness for nice big sisters to carry Sophie back up the hill.

What a view.

Rock Surfing.

Getting into the Barrel!

Even Numbers

Siblings are a wonderful thing.  I have always been an advocate of even numbers of children just because there is no one left out.  I know that this is not always the case, even in my house, but lately the harmony of 4 has been so sweet.

Ethan and Ember love to play legos and today they have worked on circus tricks.  I need to video their trick, but basically Ember launches Ethan off the end of our high king size bed and he does an ariel flip landing on the massive pile of pillows that they have collected from around the house.  The funniest landing was when they put Sophie's toddler mattress on the top and when Ethan landed on one end of the mattress, the other end popped up and hit him in the face.

Sydney loves to play dress up with Sophie.  This morning Sydney did her hair, dressed her up and took her out side for a photo shoot.  These are some of my favorites.  She is out for hire!

The other craze in our van is the game Nash Bridges and Jinks.  If you don't yet play Nash Bridges, here are our rules:  When ever there is a yellow vehicle without any logo's on it, be the first to yell Nash Bridges.  If two people get it at the same time, then the first to say Jinks gets the point.  

( I guess it is from the Nash Bridges TV show )

Like most silly kids games there is no real point, but it is fun and adds some variety to the "punch buggy" or "slug a bug" game.

On the rental car bus the other day, the kids were playing and some people from Australia said they play the same game, but call it some thing different.

Summer Skirts

Ember loves to make things.  The first week of Summer she would not rest until we went to the fabric store to pick out some material for a ruffle skirt.  Sophie and Ember's best friend, Eden also picked out some material to make a skirt with.

Today Ember made her skirt, and wore it to church.  She has amazing focus and concentration, not to mention budding sewing skills!

Sophie is a very persistent kid, so she managed to get me to make her skirt in the first week after getting the material.  We made it while my other kids were off on adventures with the neighbor kids.  She was so patient while I made her skirt, and then decided that it was more fun as a dress.



Sophie is also the prettiest tom boy I have ever met.  After finishing the skirt, she walked up to Ethan's friends house with Ethan and then proceeded to skateboard in her new skirt until all the seams needed reinforcing and repairing.  She wears it all the time and trades between skirt and dress options!

Next...Eden's Skirt.

Peter Pan

We have the most wonderful ballet studio that we are a part of.  It is run by a wonderful woman in a rustic old county building that is full of character and history.  My girls and even Ethan have taken part in its productions.  The studio is the Alexander Academy in Kula and it is just our speed; donation based, trade for chores, honor system and lots of community love.   

 Ember the fairy and Sophie the Star were cast members of this years Peter Pan production.

Sophie was so happy to finely be on stage!

 Ember was beautiful and very graceful!

 The driver and the paycheck.

 The full costume.