Father Son Conversation

Jeff: Why are Tessa's legs so long?
Ryan: Her feet wouldn't reach the ground if they weren't. It would look sort of awkward for her to be just floating around, eh?
Jeff: You're weird Dad.

Tessa's Song

Here is some video our our Tessa singing the song she sang in RS yesterday for Machelle Zufelt's lesson. She did a lovely job. Arnon [aka Grandma Livingstone] accompanied her and Aunt Jessie sat in the front row grinning like a monkey. I stood at the back to watch so that I could go away quickly to get to Young Women's to teach the Mia Maids. Tess gave me a big hug when she was done and wasn't at all surprised that I was crying, but in my defense, the Relief Society room was filled with lots of misty eyed ladies.



She is singing for Aunt Katie in Utah on the phone. Thank you for asking her Machelle, she loves to sing.

Great Day for Roofing

We are finally putting new shingles on our roof. Our roof has been leaking for about forever. I used to love rainstorms here in the desert but now I'm trained to dash outside when it's raining and climb up on the roof to adjust the tarps.

So we bought shingles with tax refund money, woo-hoo. Now we're roofers. Ryan's Dad came over and helped like a super trooper. And we had all the kids helping in shifts. Tessa was the most helpfullest, then Leah, then Jeff, then Alana. Well, actually Alana might have been more helpful than Jeff. . . Oliver helped too and got much more helpful as the day progressed.

We finished the front part of the house, now we just have the long back section to do and the caps. Ryan and Terry are so handy and talented. It is fun to get to do these projects and get our hands dirty and backs sore.

Boys

Jeff had Field Day at school yesterday and Peter and I went to watch. There sure were a lot of fourth graders running around. They ran a 4 x 100 meter relay and had a tug of war. Jeff seemed to enjoy the competition and was thrilled that Peter and I were there to watch.

Last night Ryan and Jeff went to a Coyotes Hockey game, they had lots of fun even though the Coyotes did not win. They were a bit late getting home especially considering that Jeff is a historically "early to bed, early to rise" type of guy. He collapsed right into bed when they got home at nine. However the little darling got up sometime in the middle of the night because when I came out at 5am he was sprawled on the couch with the PS3 controller clutched in his little hand, unconscious. I turned off the TV and left the little monster laying there. If he is going to wake up in the night to play video games he can sleep on the couch and see how good he feels when he wakes up. He woke up as grumpy as a bear and was none too happy to find out that yes he would be going to school no matter how much his eyes hurt. Poor dear. I called his teacher to warn her about the beast. I hope he learns his lesson. He looked exhausted.

And here is our other little man. We recently got a new toilet for the hall bathroom - Can I get a Hallelujah? And for a couple of hours the new toilet sat on the floor in the family room. Peter decided he liked sitting in the bowl. He hasn't sat in it since its been installed though, which is nice.

Teeth

So the kids had dental appointments recently and Jeff and Tessa both had to have baby teeth extracted since the adult teeth were growing in under and around them and yet those silly baby teeth remained firmly in place. Tessa looked like a shark for a while there. Anyways, both were feeling delicate yesterday due to their lack of teeth so we had soup for dinner. But this morning they learned that the tooth fairy had NOT come last night, they weren't especially surprised though. Our tooth fairy is notoriously lax in her duties, it usually takes several days or so for her to come depending on the weather and other reasonable excuses. It's pretty sad. But Tessa is scheduled to go back to the dentist again on Tuesday for yet another tooth extraction, who knows why he didn't just jerk the thing out yesterday when he pulled the other one, maybe he wants to give her a break. When I was a kid Dr Brimley sure didn't feel any such qualms, he yanked out my four bottom teeth roots and all and I'm still alive :)

The tooth fairy will probably wait until Tuesday night to come though so she can get all the teeth in one fell swoop. She doesn't want to have to make more than one trip, eh?

Leah's Poem

Clouds
Such a peaceful thing
floating in the sky so high
just so very white.

Photo courtesy Whitny Shields, photographer extraordinaire.

Happy Day

Yesterday was Leah's 9th birthday and it was such a busy and good day. And today is David's birthday so we celebrated him as well since he has to work all day today. We like Uncle D. So Leah asked for a turtle cake, partly I think because her cake last year that was a "watermelon with ladybugs" looked kind of like a turtle cake and it got her thinking. . .

So I made fondant which was a lot easier and funner than I thought it would be, all it took was marshmallows and powdered sugar and crisco. Super healthy for you. . . Leah helped decorate it, she liked playing with the fondant which is kind of like play-doh and "accidentally" popping it in her mouth which you shouldn't do with real play-doh, but we all did anyway.

We had a turkey dinner with all the family we could muster on kind of short notice. There were nineteen of us, Leah made place cards for everyone and we all managed to fit around two tables. It reminded me of when we were kids and had people over for dinner, we always made place cards and we'd set the table all "fancy". It makes me smile.

The food was yummy.

Thankfully we've got Aunt Jessi to take care of the kids and make sure they are fed.

And that they get birthday presents, Aunt Jessi and Uncle Mitch gave Leah this new fancy bike which she took for a spin in the darkness and came back in one piece. Bonus.

We also got her presents, she got the guitar Jeff is playing in the picture so now we've got a full band - woo hoo. They've had fun playing and, yes, the drumstick Leah is holding has been taped together because Ringo Starr aka Ryan got a little too enthusiastic during one of our jam sessions.

And now to make this post extra long I will share some thoughts. Yesterday was a big growing day for not just our Leah Bug, I had an assignment to speak in Sacrament Meeting about "Being Temperate in All Things". Speaking in church terrifies me, seriously. But I knew it would be "good for me" so I wrote my little talk and I practiced and I prayed and my stomach turned over and over just thinking about it. Sunday morning I practiced and prayed more and my stomach turned, it even did it just now thinking about it and it is all over - yikes. But I stood up there shaking knees and all and I made it thru and only got a little bit choked up once or twice. I did it. And doggone it, I did kind of a good job. President Miller spoke after me and he was fantastic as always but when he sat back down his hands were shaking too which made me feel better but also a little trepidatious because he's been doing it for like thirty years and if he still gets nervous. . .

But anyways, I did it. And then I went home and fixed a turkey dinner and homemade rolls for many people and everything turned out nicely. Even though I'm 32 and should be a grown-up and be used to days like this and take it all in stride, it still kind of surprises me that I can do this stuff, I feel like I'm still 15 and awkward. But I've watched my Mom do that kind of stuff my whole life and her example gives me confidence to try things that I'm not completely comfy with. And that makes it a Happy frightening Day.