My Last Post Was All About The #4. How About the #5 Now?

My friend Kristen tagged me, and here is how it goes:

List 5 joys, 5 fears, 5 obsessions/collections, and 5 surprising facts, and tag 5 people.


5 Joys
1. The laughter of my beautiful girls
2. The way I feel every time I am at the temple
3. Singing
4. Seeing or talking to old friends.
5. A hike, walk along the beach, basically anything out in nature.


5 Fears
1. Something terrible, painful or sad happening to my girls or husband.
2. Falling into the Grand Canyon.
3. Spiders
4. Swimming in the ocean. Having to dive down into deep water where I would have to hold my breath.
5. Not being able to help someone when my help is needed.


5 Obsessions/ Collections
1. Rules. I know the rules and I enforce the rules. My girls know our rules and Miki is slowly understanding the rules.
2. Reading. I am obsessed with reading. I would love to have a magnificent book collection someday.
3. Cleanliness and organization.
4. I can’t have too much stuff. It stresses me out. If I haven’t used it in a year, I would rather get rid of it than have to worry about storing it, cleaning it, packing it, putting it away, or fixing it. I just don’t hold on to things.
5. I have a collection of cards, letters, notes and emails from high school until the present. I love reading them every now and then and seeing how much family and friends have supported, helped, and experienced life with me. (This is the only collection that I can think of, well besides the toothpick holder collection I have from when I was 12 and traveling across the US with my family.)


5 Surprising Facts
1. I have run down the very steep uneven steps of the Great Wall of China.
2. I have eaten cow tongue on an airplane flight. Air Mongolia considers that appropriate food to serve while flying.
3. I have a horrible memory and even when I see a video of myself have a difficult time remembering that I actually did the things that I am watching. I only remember things in great detail when they are tied to strong emotions.
4. My grandparents served a mission for our church in Tahiti about 40 years ago. My mom got to go with them for about 3 months. I always dreamed about the exotic island of Tahiti while I was growing up because of the stories and souvenirs that they brought back with them. When I was at BYU, I hung a picture of Tahiti and Bora Bora on my wall to help me envision my goal of going their someday. I ended up marrying this extremely handsome Tahitian! After we were married and our families got talking, we realized that Miki’s grandfather, Mata Anihia, and his family were some of the people that my grandparents and mother knew well in Tahiti so long ago.
5. I have had horse milk, fresh from the horse.

I tag Farrah Albright, Karyn Tripp, Cami Giacchino, Jen Allen, and Christine Cain.

4th File, 4th Picture

Go to your picture files, pick the 4th file, and the fourth picture in it and then tell a little bit about the picture.

I saw this on a friends blog and thought I would check my own picture files.

Here is my 4th picture from my 4th file! What a great story this is too! This picture was taken on May 31, 2004. We lived in Kirksville, MO for two years and this was the only time that a tornado came anywhere near us. Of course, being poor students, we lived in basically a double wide trailer type duplex. No protection from the elements. When the sky got green, dark, and spooky, we decided that we should not head to church for our Sunday meetings, but instead turn on the tv and hunker down. We padded up some of our posessions, including Kylie and I. We had nowhere to go but the bathtub. Miki put pillows around us and even thought it would be funny/beneficial for me to wear his anatomy goggles. Miki was enjoying the view as he was standing right next to the window. Kylie was only three weeks old and very hungry at the time of this picture. The tornado did touched down in our town, but we were left unschathed.

Now, I tag Leah Bangert, Leah Young, Danae, and Megan. I want to see your old memories!

Kylie's Thoughts

I love the things that my girls say! A couple of weeks ago, we were planning on visiting with our friends the Tripps. I told Kylie this plan and she was very excited to play with Lucy. She said."I love the way Lucy looks on the outside and the way she looks on the inside." "I think Lucy is beautiful!"
Lucy is beautiful and we are very lucky and blessed to have the Tripps as our friends. I am glad that Kylie has learned (somehow, somewhere) to appreciate how people look on the inside! Maybe all of this is from her doctor dad and his anatomy lectures. I would hope that she really means their personality and not their innards!

TV Poll

Do you ever wonder if your kids watch too much TV? I have read article after article about this very question. I know that I should fill my girls' days with activities, crafts, and learning experiences, but sometimes I just need a break. Sometimes I need to shower, and sometimes they just love to watch TV. Actually, it doesn't help that Miki and I love to watch TV as well. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't leave the TV on all day long. I have actually been really good about limiting our TV viewing pleasure (at least I think so). The girls get about 1 hour of TV a day on average. Some days it is more, some days less. But I usually will let them watch a show while I shower and/or make dinner.
Lately, all Sadie asks for is TV, from morning til night. She LOVES Ariel. She has Ariel shirts, pj's, toys, wall stickers, books, and movies. Yesterday she watched Ariel's Beginning twice, once with me and then once later with Miki (this was a little over two hours of TV viewing)!!! So, when this happens I wonder what goes on behind the closed doors of other homes. Do other mothers cave as often as I do?
So, here are some guestions, and be honest now. You aren't helping me by trying to make yourself look perfect (I know you all are anyway.)
How much TV do you let your kids watch? Am I letting my kids watch too much? Now I want honest answers! There are days where the girls watch hours of TV. Am I all alone? Do I need to tone it down a bit? I would love to hear your opinions! Bring on the constructive criticism! And bring on the fun stories and personal experiences!

Bunk Beds

We had planned on getting the girls bunk beds when we move next summer. Well, it happened a little sooner than that. I was at our neighborhood yard sale, which is quite the event, and found a great deal on this bunk bed set. $380 for the frame, which included two bookcases, three drawers, and a desk, and two pillow top twin mattresses. They also delivered and hauled every thing up my stairs and showed me how to assemble it. Great deal, right? The mattresses didn't end up working out, so I had to go buy some cheap ones at Billy Bob's Beds (only in Texas!). This is the end result though. I love how excited the girls are to be sharing a room. Sadie is still temporarily in her crib/toddler bed, but that will be taken down soon and she will be in the bottom big girl bed. The girls talk and talk and talk, sometimes for hours, before being able to fall asleep. It is fun to hear them giggling, telling each other stories, and telling each other that they love each other. They are more tired, but they have actually been arguing less in the mornings than before. What a fun adventure!

Paint Job

I finally got around to painting our master bedroom last month. It has been the room that we have put off the most, but the one that I have planned, plotted, and dreamed about making over. I had gone through a number of paint options, but finally found one that I thought would fit my plan. It is called "going gray". I don't know if I like that title. It seems to fit me too well. It was a little harder to paint and redesign this room because I didn't really have Miki's thoughts on it. I love to get his opinion (which I really trust when it comes to decorating!), but this time, I just went for it. I had a little advice from my friend Kimberli to give me the confidence. I think it has turned out nice. I love how relaxing the room feels now. I will have to post some pictures of Miki's gardening accomplishments soon!

First Day of Pre-K

Kylie started her first day of Pre-K on Tuesday. This is the Mother's Day Out program that she went to last year, and we loved it! So, I decided to keep her there for this year. She loved that she already knew her teacher, where to go, and what to do. I still think she was a little nervous, but definitely nothing like last year.
Here is a picture of her with her teacher Ms. Sherry. She is in the blue dolphin class with 11 other kids.
I think dropping her off for her first day was just as hard this year as it was last year. I was kind of lingering in the door way, and Ms. Sherry was kindly giving me cues to leave. I finally complied and pulled myself away. I just wish more than anything that I could be a fly on the wall. Does it get any easier?
After school, I was attempting to interrogate Kylie, but she wasn't having it. She told me that she just didn't want to talk. I stopped pestering her for a little while, but later at home, she opened up a little more and told me that she talked to a girl named Ellie. She also said that they looked into a mirror and got to tell their teacher their favorite thing about themselves. Kylie said that it was her eyes because they help her to see. I love that she still likes her eyes, glasses and all.