Carlos family 8/9/08. For time and all eternity!

I know everyone has been wondering why we haven't posted anything about the sealing of our family. Especially since this is such a HUGE milestone for us.... I have been waiting for my BFF Melissa to send me a CD of the pictures. As you can see I finally have some! They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so these 15,000 words (15 pics) ought to sum it up! It was a great experience for us, and in one of our favorite places on earth...San Diego. Our families and friends on both sides were there to support us. It's nice to have such a great support network to encourage us and set such great examples. Thanks to everyone who came and those who were there in spirit.

Back to school....

This will be Mayah's third week of school, but because I lost our camera for a while I am kinda playing catch up with the blogs!


The first day of school is always exciting, with the butterflies of starting something new, not knowing if you are going to know anyone in your class or have someone to sit with at lunch and play with at recess. Fun because you finally get to wear the new clothes that you bought weeks before and have been dying to show off. You can finally put the Hannah Montana backpack, folders, pencils, lunch box and thermos you have been looking at in the corner of your room to good use. It was the same anticipation as knowing your clothes would be the envy of every girl in school! It's about the only day of the entire school year where you wake up alert and ready to hop out of bed at the first call from Mom, thrilled to be getting ready for school. You never doubt that you are absolutely going to LOVE your day!

That was Mayah! All smiles as we walked out the door heading to the new school that she's been anxiously awaiting since last February. She was accepted into a visual/preforming arts and mathematics/engineering school that she couldn't wait to be a part of. I dropped her off at her classroom door and said goodbye to a cute new second grader! I couldn't wait for the end of the day to hear all about how much fun she had.

I only wish that I had the camera to capture the expression on Mayah's face as she exited the doors of the school at the end of her first day. It was so shocking to me! There were no more smiles akin to the little girl I dropped off, instead was the look of pure disappointment. I hugged her and asked "How was it?!" as excited as I could. Her reply.... "Second grade stinks!" She continued, " Remember how when we met my teacher she was all bubbly, well she is not that way at all! When we went to art class we didn't even do art! We only got one recess, and the one that we got was only like 10 minutes!!!" The more she talked about it, the madder she became. It was not the Mayah that I know. She is usually so upbeat and optimistic about this kind of thing. I felt so bad that she didn't enjoy her day and that she was not looking forward to going back. I tried explaining to her that things are sometimes hectic on the fist day and that things would get better. I think one of the problems was that she just expected that she was going to an arts school, so she should be doing art and fun things all day! As I said at the top, this is the start of her third week and I am happy to report that things have gotten much better with each day! Mayah is back to loving school!

Our summer camping trip

It was the last summer weekend before school and we'd promised Mayah all year that we would go camping, fishing and the whole shebang! We figured we better not break that promise. We didn't really have any camping gear other than two sleeping bags and a lantern, so we went out the night before and bought a tent, another sleeping bag for Mayah, cooking pans and the food needed to make s'mores, pancakes, tin foil dinners, and all the camp-friendly snacks we could think of. We also got online, so Clint could get a fishing license and find a good campground.We decided to stay close to the city and ended up at a place called Two Rivers. After a 30 minute drive, we came to our destination, which was surprisingly clean, green and looked like fun. There were lakes for fishing, sandy beaches for swimming, playgrounds, and plenty of campgrounds. They also have this group of cabooses that have been decommissioned from the Union Pacific Railroad that people can rent and camp in. We found a spot close to the sandy beach and playground and got started setting up the tent.While it was really Mayah's camping trip, Ava had a blast. Both girls made friends on the playground and enjoyed the swings. They each got to eat a hot dog and make a s'more before bed. Mayah gave fishing a shot for one of her first times. Didn't catch any fish, but she got better at loading the bait (night crawlers) and casting.It was hilarious watching Ava roll around as we finally laid down for sleep. She was giggling and climbing all over us. It's the first time we've let her sleep right between us. After a while, she settled down and went right to sleep.In the morning, we made a pancake and egg breakfast and relaxed a bit on our lawn chairs before breaking down camp and hitting the road back home. It was a fun time that I'm sure we'll all remember.

Our long over due post of our trip to San Diego

Since Mayah spent most of the summer with her Dad in Utah, Ava hadn't seen her in almost 5 weeks. She was so happy to have her back that she didn't want to leave her side for one second! It was so cute to watch our two girls reunite in San Diego.

Trip to the beach

Clint and Mayah wave jumping

Ava and Grandma Darcy
We all thought that Ava might be a little timid around the waves, but we should have known better. Ava has little fear of anything. She just went charging right out there as excited as possible!

Mom and Mayah posing as usual! Our suits match, cute huh...

Clint and I just before I went out and tore those waves up

We tried to get Ava free of sand for the drive back to the hotel. This required removing her swimsuit completely..... would you look at those cheeks?

We all had a really good time while we were there, it almost didn't last long enough. It was nice to spend time with both sides of the family all at once, and of course to see some old friends as well.

Our girls trip to Vegas!

Farewell my old friend!

As I take a big step in my life toward eternal happiness I am forced to say goodbye to my favorite article of clothing. This week I'll be going into the Temple for the first time, which means I will be wearing a garment after that. For anyone who reads this and is not familiar with the LDS garment... it is a type of modest under clothing that is worn to remind us of promises we've made to God, and is symbolic of Adam and Eve covering up in the garden of Eden. We believe they'll help protect us from temptation, and be an outward symbol of an inward commitment. The downside is that it does limit certain clothing choices available to the rest of the world.

Tank tops in the summer were always essential for me....especially since I have never thought much of wearing shorts. I have been trying to slowly work them out of my wardrobe for the last year, but still wear them on occasion. As of this coming Thursday I will have to say good bye to tank tops forever...I will be a garment wearing LDS girl!! As my good friend Serenity says "it is a small sacrifice for heavenly blessings," but in the heat and mugginess of summer, as I feel multiple layers of clothing sticking to my body it may be hard to think of it as a small sacrifice! I will do my best to stay positive about it and try to remind myself that I am setting an example for my girls to follow, and in the end it will all be worth it! So at this time I will have a moment of silence as I say farewell to my old friend--you will be missed!

Ava's First Birthday

For Ava's first birthday we just had a simple get together with Clint's best friend Justin and his wife Brianna, Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Rudy and of course her best friend /sister Mayah, Mom and Dad. She was completely unaware of the fact that it was her birthday but very excited when a GIANT cupcake (seemingly twice the size of her) was placed in front of her and no one stopped her when she slowly dug her little fingers into the frosting! She didn't really eat any of it, just played for awhile and then wiped the remaining frosting where she could. After singing Happy Birthday, she finished destroying the cake then went in for a bath before opening presents... I think she thoroughly enjoyed each gift. As Ava is always looking up to big sister, she wanted a piano...simply because Mayah got one from Grandma Brenda for her birthday! So of course Grandma Brenda also got one for Ava and she plays it everyday! Her favorite note is "yellow". She got her very own cell phone which was a huge hit when we visited Grandma Darcy and Grandpa Mike in Utah. All of the older girls, including Mayah, were fighting over whose turn it was to play with Ava's cell phone. She also received a magnet set and a slew of clothes...all in all, I'd say she had a good day!

I thought it would be fun the add some of the tricks Ava can do at her year mark...

• She can wave (a pageant wave) hello and good bye
• The itsy bitsy spider
• Head shoulders knees and toes
• Paddy cake
• blow kisses
• give high five
• play peekaboo
• tell you what a fishy says
• Ava loves to play games and is pretty much always in the mood to laugh. She will let you know she wants to laugh by doing this forced laugh out of no where and will keep doing it until you start playing with her.

• My personal favorite at this moment is this funny face that she makes and does pretty often now because she knows that we find it hilarious. It's kind of like the wide eyed, open mouth look when McCaulley Caulkin screams into the mirror on Home Alone.
  

Kitty Lee Dance Recital

After 6 months of hard work and early Saturday mornings we finally got to see the fruits of Mayah's labors. We went to Burke High School in Omaha to watch Mayah and at least 100 other dancers from the Kitty Lee Dance Company perform. Upon arrival, the whole school was rigged to extract every last penny from would-be spectators. They had carnations, roses, purses, ribbons, hair bows, and miscellaneous other souvenirs that deserving little girls just couldn't resist. What better way to show support and recognition for their efforts than to spoil them with armfuls of the stuff when they finished?


Then we entered the auditorium to learn that all video taping and photography was banned. Of course they had their own "professional" version of the tape that you could buy for a mere $45, which of course wouldn't zoom in on your kid, and would include all of the other performances in the very lengthy recital. Needless to say, and as evidenced by the videos in this post, we are not the type to passively follow those kind of rules. The first video was a pretty shaky and the angle was a little too wide to see much of Mayah. At that point, Clint was still trying to hide the fact that he was video taping and didn't spend much time actually looking through the viewfinder... but we got braver on the second song, and ended up zooming in and following Mayah a little closer. If you can't tell, Mayah is the front girl on the far right for the tap dance, and the middle girl in the right column for the ballet number. Once again she was the shortest in the group...but living up to the award they gave her, she was by far the "most adorable dancer."


She said she was feeling some butterflies before the performance, and wasn't so sure about performing in front of about 500 people...but in the end she LOVED it, and said she didn't want to get off that stage. She loved having fancy hair and make-up, and I have a suspicion she'll be anxious to do it all over again in the fall.


We were sure proud of our little Mayah, and I couldn't help the tears from streaming as I watched her. How cute is my kid?

Happy Father's Day Clint!

Today Mayah, Ava and I woke up at 7:00 am, made cinnamon rolls & scrambled eggs, poured a glass of milk and went upstairs to surprise dad with breakfast in bed. Mayah and Ava also presented him with their Father's Day gifts. Ava colored a wonderful masterpiece for him and Mayah wanted to spend some of her birthday money to buy him a pair of swim trunks that she had overheard him say he liked. Here is a picture of the three of them this morning.


I just wanted to take a minute and express my appreciation for Clint and the kind father he has been to our girls, and the wonderful husband and friend he has been to me. He loves to play with both the girls and is good at spending quality time with them. He has a way of taking an every day thing and making it seem like something extremely exciting and out of the ordinary. For example one night Mayah was saying she was bored and wanted to go some where and do something. Clint told her that he had something planned for all of us... We were going to have a big sleep over in the living room with blankets and pillows on the floor, popcorn and a movie. Mayah was so excited and we weren't really doing anything different other than the fact that we had blankets and pillows on the floor. Clint is always willing to change a diaper, and get up with Ava in the middle of the night even though he has to be up early for work. I don't know too many guys that are willing to do those things, and he does it without complaint! He is generous and a hard worker. He sacrifices a lot and works hard just so that I can stay home with the girls, and that means more to me than I can ever express to him. Clint is so patient with me and that (I hate to admit) is not an easy thing to do. I can tend to have a short fuse. He is always there to rationalize and help me (in a nice way) see how ridiculous I really am! Clint is a good example and great leader in our home. I love you babe! Happy Fathers Day!!!

Clint the first time he met Ava

Clint the first time he met Mayah

Lemonade Stand

Today was the perfect day for an ice cold lemonade! Who better to get it from than my cute girls! You would think with those two girls sitting out at the edge of the driveway, business would be booming right....? I mean how could you resist!? Ava was so excited to just be a part of this with Mayah. She was all smiles, sitting in her chair like a big girl ready to sell.


Sadly, not all of us thought lemonade sounded ideal. Ava got a little restless and couldn't sit still any longer. She wasn't done being a part of it completely, but had to get a few wiggles out. Between her and Rhet we couldn't keep the dang lemonade sign up long enough to let people know how much it cost. Things got a little hectic for me. Cups were blowing over, Rhet was eating the sign, Ava was trying to climb on and off her chair, and if she wasn't doing that, she was busy trying to get some of the lemonade! I was ready to call it a day before we even had our first customer.

Luckily, Mayah has patience and was not going to give up. She sat out there with high hopes of earning a buck. She recently got a new iPod shuffle for her birthday and was content sitting out there with some tunes and her dog. She smiled and waved at every car that went by. 2 hours later Mayah was finally ready to come in. Not to worry... she'd earned $7.50! I admire Mayah's willingness to put the time in to get a few dollars. Ava, on the other hand, went in for a nap after about 25 min. In the end, Mayah was happy with how much she earned and I was proud of her for not giving up ... because if you wait, they will come... I'd say those girls did pretty good for their first time!