Walk the Dogs

Meet Max:

In Ella's words, "This is a dream come true."  The best part for me is that he's not OUR dog!!!
Ella decided that she would like to start earning her own money.  We don't do allowance and so she feels ready to earn something of her own.  This is how WALK THE DOGS was born.  We made up fliers and Ella went door to door around our block to everyone that owns a dog. That is so brave.  I would have just taped the flyer to the door and ran.  But she talked face to face to every person.  She was so scared and practiced for days on what to say.

She got a call back from her first client, Max's owner.  She will be walking Max twice a week and earns 2 dollars for every 20 minutes.  6 dollars an hour is not bad for a beginner!  She picks up poop and provides a treat.

She adores dogs and this helps her get her doggy time in.

We are so impressed with her as we have watched her do this.  She is very grown up with the adults and responsible with her first job.  She records her walks, payments, and tithing. All great life skills.

January

I haven't been the best piano teacher.  Things get so busy and sometimes piano gets neglected.  Ella started getting really frustrated that she is not advancing as fast as she would like.  So we kicked it into high gear again.  Her face says how thrilled she was when she finally passed off a book!  She has done really well and picks things up quickly, so I hope we can keep moving on.

Snow!!

We gutted out our playroom.  Its going to be Ella's future new room

Ella sometimes feels like she is not good at sports.  I think it is because some of her friends are on really good soccer and basketball teams and she is not.  We had a family home evening on "confidence" and then Dustin worked with her on serving volleyballs (which was a HUGE stress for her in PE this last month) and shooting and dribbling a basketball.  I love that he takes the time to do these things so that she can build up her confidence.  They had to work around the tables and chairs at the church, lol.

I finally got a picture of all 7 playgroup friends

Ella trying out her dance moves and her popeye pancake making skills

Happy birthday!!

Happy Happy Birthday Ella!!  Today you are 11 years old!

You still love to dance.  You were put on a dance team this year that exceeded our expectations and you have proven that you belong there.  We have watched you work, work, work so hard to be an amazing dancer.  Its been a hard year- lots of tears and pain, you even get scared of you teacher sometimes but you have done amazing.

You rock at school!  You are so close to earning your Great American Award which has not been easy.  We are so proud of you that you work so hard to reach your goals.

You are no longer a little girl, but a young lady.  Your heart and smile show just how beautiful you are.

You tell me everything.  I love that so much.  I love answering your questions, staying up late giggling about crazy things and listening to what you have to say.

I found some fun facts about you from when you turned 6.  I thought you were old then!
Here are your anwers as a 6 year old vs 11 years old.

Favorite Color.              Gold and silver, Pink and purple 
Favorite Animal.             Puppy
Favorite Movie.              Little Mermaid
Funnest thing to do.      Color
Biggest Fear.                 When dad scares her
Favorite Food.               Mac n cheese
Worst food.                    Tomoto soup
Favorite snack.              Gum
Favorite place.               Charlies and St George
Favorite song.                Scripture power
Favorite book.               Anamalia
Hero.                                Mommy :)

Favorite Color.            Turquoise and Purple
Favorite Animal.           Husky Dog
Favorite Movie.             Cokeville Miracle
Funnest thing to do.      Dance
Biggest Fear.                 Spiders
Favorite Food.               Tacos
Worst food.                     Tomato Soup
Favorite snack.               Gum 
Favorite place.                DisneyWorld
Favorite song.                 See you Again (Charlie Puth)
Favorite book.                The incredible journey
Hero.                                 Dad :) 

A week before her birthday we went to Ella's favorite: Pizza Pie cafe

What Ella wanted more than anything for her birthday was Princess Lea cinammon Buns and Yoda Soda.  (You can see the kids are obssessed with star wars)

Presents include: boots, teenager coloring books, fluffy body pillow, money and a new bike!

Ella and I spent the evening at Skyview for the Vistaun drill team review.  Jr Elites performed Hip Hip and Lyrical.  It was my first time seeing the lyrical.  Loved it!  Ella ran into her old dance studio teachers and friends which she loved.  Her new studio sang Happy Birthday to her.

Happy Birthday Ella!!

Smile because it happened

I get really sentimental on Feb 17 and Oct 26.  The day our babies were born.  I like to go back and reminisce about the pregnancy, labor and delivery.  I love looking at those pictures and reading in my journal about their birth story.

Today is Ella's 11th birthday.  I went back on our older blog and looked at some pictures.  Wow, Dustin and I were so young!

 Looking at this picture I felt a bit of a pang in my heart.  My one hour old first baby.  How tiny.  How sweet.  How precious.  This time is long gone.  Forever.   We know that this stage of our life is over.

And so this is a good, humble reminder, one of my very favorite quotes:

"Dont cry because it is over, Smile because it happened"

I have been truly blessed to be able to have experienced this not only once, but twice.   Both times have been an incredible blessing from a loving Heavenly Father.  I cherish both pregnancies, both labors, both births, both chances to raise these kids of ours.

Knowing this time is over- I don't cry because it's over.  There are parts I miss, obviously.  But it doesnt make me sad.  It makes me smile; because it happened.  I understand what a miracle it was to get these kids here.  So I smile.