The Beginning of February 2014

Tim is 15.  I can't believe he can start driving in 6 months.  I am sure he will do great, but it is still scary!  Tim is my buddy.  We love to garden together, play the piano, cook, clean (well, I don't like cleaning, but Tim does and I like working with him.)  He is hilarious and super smart.  He is kind and always tries to choose the right.  He makes me smile.  I love his curly hair and freckles. 

I finally painted our family room and kitchen.  It feels like home now, even though we have been here for 3 1/2 years.  I love the colors.  They are golden and warm neutrals.  It just feels fresh and clean, no more dirty flat paint that doesn't clean!  Hooray!!!

Richard got me a beautiful bouquet for my birthday.  (That is one of my newly painted walls behind me!)

He took me shopping and we took my wedding ring to Shane Co. to get it cleaned and polished up.  Nothing like a gleaming wedding ring to make a girl smile!  Then we had lunch at Oregano's, super YUM!  I love tomatoes and fresh basil.

Not the best pics, but it was a cool breezy lunch with warm sunshine.  Delightful!

 Some of my cuties on my b-day.

Daniel, Susanna and Laney spent a couple of hours making a Valentine's Day banner for Grandma and Grandpa Alger.  They did an amazing job.  We went to visit Grandma at the care center, she is recovering from surgery, and hung the banner for her.  They were so excited to give it to them and the cards they made for them too.

Our Visit to the New Gilbert Temple

We went for a tour of the New Gilbert Temple on my birthday.  It was a fun, but long drive out to Gilbert.  We had all our kiddos plus Victor as well as Sara's friend Anna.  We had been looking forward to seeing inside the temple and were not disappointed.  It was absolutely breathtaking!

ABC 15 did a 1/2 hour special on the temple.  It was great.  They have photos from inside the temple and a nice article about it here.  The pictures are pretty, but are far from doing it justice.  

The chandeliers are incredible.  It is as close to being like heaven as I can imagine.  The art work throughout the temple was gorgeous.  It was fun to see the murals in the baptistry especially.  We know the family of the artist and were able to see some familiar faces in the paintings.   

The kiddos

Our family, plus 3 photo bombers on the right.

The temple is a place of peace and love.  It is a place where families become forever and where we can learn more about God's plan for us.  It is a house of prayer and inspiration.  We are so grateful to have a 2nd temple in the valley and look forward to the Phoenix temple which will open in the next year.  

Here is a  picture of what the Phoenix Temple will look like.

January 2014

The little girls wanted to make the Family Home Evening treat early in January.  They decided on doughnuts.  They got frosting all over me, but had a great time frosting and putting on the sprinkles.  They turned out great and everyone was happy to have leftovers to put in their school lunches the next day.

Laney had a frenectomy .  Her frenulum connecting her lower lip to her gums was connected rather high and was causing her to have receding gums so the dentist removed it.  It healed really quickly and didn't end up being a very big deal, even though it looked painful.

Josh turned 17!!!  I can't believe it.  He is a delight.  He has to be one of the easiest teenagers ever.  He is sweet, thoughtful, very obedient, Christlike, and has an incredible intellect.  He's a cutie too.  I love him bunches!

Papa took Josh birthday shopping.  They got matching ties and also got Josh a cool shirt.

 

 Because Josh and Tim's birthdays are only 8 days apart, if they want to go out to the same restaurant, we all go out and celebrate together.  This year they both wanted to try the Macaroni Grill.  It was yummy and their birthday desserts were beautiful. 

 

That evening Josh wanted to go see Frozen with me, as his birthday date.  It was sweet that he wanted to go with me.  

Tim and I bought a bunch of seed and plants for the garden.  It was such a warm winter, we decided to plant a couple of weeks earlier than usual.  Luckily, we really were done with any freezing for the season and everything is growing and looking good.  We are trying strawberries this year.  Tim has already had a couple ripen and they were super sweet!

Our clementines are doing well and have great flavor. 

Susanna was sick for a few days.  She spent a lot of time drawing and writing on our white board.  She had some pretty exciting stories with tornadoes and portals.  So cute!

It was a great month.

Our Gardener

Tim LOVES gardening.  He has been busy inside and out.  Our home is full of his beautiful tropical plants and the yard is sprouting and blossoming all sorts of wonderful things.

Eggplant

An Eggplant Blossom

Basil

Lemon Grass

Crepe Myrtles

Clementine Tangerines

Jalapenos and Wax Peppers

Petunias, Snap Dragons, Lobelia and Pansies

Vinca 

Marigolds

Celery

I cannot believe all the hours he spends trimming, weeding and caring for plants.  I love working outside with him.  It is fun to have one of my kiddos so interested in something that I love too.  We spent this last weekend outside preparing and planting a new flower bed in the front yard, and trimming and pruning our trees.  We are both so eager for spring!

Trick or Treating with Aunt Kathy

Some how I didn't document Aunt Kathy's Visit here with photos. I am not sure what happened. It was a wonderful visit. There was lots of shopping and talking and eating and laughing. It was great to have her go trick or treating with us. Here are a few pictures from Halloween night. 

A cartwheeling Elvis

Lots of fun crazy kiddos

Some of my favorite beauties!

My pretty momma with Peter

Our little detective Zanna

It was lots of fun with only one scary moment.  (Susanna ran out in front of a car.  I just about had a heart attack!)

Christmas 2013

Papa and Gram gave the little girls Christmas dresses. They LOVED them!!!  They had both been asking for new Sunday dresses. 

They also got the family a Foosball table.  It has been well used.  Susanna and Laney play it too.  They bring over a stool to kneel on so they can see.  It has been a lot of fun!

I always love to take a picture before the kids see everything.  I love the glow of the tree with the stockings and presents.

And here is our traditional photo on the stairs before going around the corner to see what Santa brought.  It will be sad to not have Sam in it next year, since he will be most likely off on his mission somewhere in the world serving the Lord.

We don't have cereal in our house except for on special occasions, and our home teachers from church knew this, so for their gift they gave the kids these yummy treats.  (We really have the best home teachers!)

My favorite part of Christmas morning is always watching the kids give each other gifts.  They draw names, so it is a surprise to find out who has you that year.  They overwhelm me every year with their thoughtfulness and generosity.  They also are so attentive to each others likes and wants. They are pretty amazing kids.

Sara had Laney this year and gave her a bunch of fancy Barbie clothes.  This is a real treat since most of their clothes are from my childhood Barbie collection and they are way out of style and well used.

Drew got Susanna a Barbie and a car for her to drive around in.

Nate got Daniel a long wished for Nerf like bow and arrow set.

Susanna knew that Tim always has cold feet and steels other peoples slippers, so she got him a nice pair of his own.

Josh got Nate an awesome Lego ship.

Daniel got Drew some cool Legos too.

Laney got Josh a cute shirt and some new flip flops.

Tim got Sam a cool shirt and a bag of Takis (which he managed to eat just fine even though he had had his wisdom teeth pulled only 2 days before Christmas.) 

Sam hadn't said anything, but he had thought he was going to get a Sonic Screwdriver (from Doctor Who) and was sweet about it but a bit sad as we finished opening the rest of the gifts.   Then Tim told him to open his bag of Takis to eat a few.  When he did he found the Sonic Screwdriver inside.  The bag had no signs of being previously opened so he was amazed to find out Tim had made a slit on the side of the barcode, slipped in the screwdriver and then taped it shut.  It was pretty awesome and Sam was really excited.

Happy silly kids with Daddy

Sammy and his Mommy 

We went for a simple Christmas with the gifts and surprised the kids with a coupon for a family trip to Disneyland in February.  Grandmas and Grandpa Alger and Aunt Kathy helped with funding the trip.  They were elated!  We are so grateful.

It was a wonderful Christmas with lots of family and snuggles.  Just the way it should be.