Thoroughly Modern Millie

Talbie has been working hard for the past 6 weeks or so in the play

Thoroughly Modern Millie.

This is the first production she has done in high school and she had so much fun!

Marjorie Pay Hinckley and Donny Osmond

Did the title of this post intrigue you?

 It's that time of year again for the 4th grade program!

They do the Wax Museum every year and the students all pick a famous person

from Utah to represent.  Emmie chose Marjorie Pay Hinckley :)

 Emmie and Logan before the program tonight.

Logan was Donny Osmond

 Here they are walking in to the gym...

 The entire 4th grade participated.  Before we walked around the halls and

who each student was representing, they performed a couple of musical numbers.

 They also learn the Virginia Reel every year.  I remember so vividly

when Maddie, Talbie, and Bronson have each done this.  The worry of the entire

year is who you are going to be paired with.  After all, you were actually going to have

to "touch" this person!

 It worked out so great because each class chose partners.  They had the boys and girls

all line out according to height and Emmie and Logan were lined up exactly to be partners!

The pressure was off!

 Here the are "dosey doing"

 "Swing your partner!"

 So much fun to watch!

 After the dance we walked the halls to see the kids.  Here are Emmie's friends...

Taft, Logan, and Jake

 Emmie by her poster. 

 Maddie, Emmie, and "big" Logan

 Me and my baby.

 Boston :)

 Waiting for the kids at the end, Boston realized that he and "Bub" were matching!

I love how he calls Bronson, "Bub."

The best is when Bronson is passing the Sacrament at church and Boston will yell

"Hi Bub!"

I was glad I got to go with Brittany tonight because our families were all split up.  Jared was

at Brock's championship basketball game, Dave was working in the temple, and it was

opening night for Talbie's play, "Thoroughly Modern Millie!"

More on that tomorrow...

Check out Bronson's wax museum HERE (3 years ago)

Talbie's Campaign

It's that time of year...

Election Season!

Talbie has loved every second of her Sophomore year on 

Student Council.  This week is the critical week where she will run again

for her Jr. year.  She's been working hard on her campaign.  There's a lot to it.  She had

to get 50-100 signatures on a petition from her peers before she could run.  She also

had to write a platform speech, get a recommendation from each of her teachers,

maintain a good GPA (which is easy because she never stops studying!),

make posters, and come up with a campaign.  

She's such a go-getter.  She did every bit of the campaign herself.

The only thing I helped her with was her posters.  We finished it all up tonight because

she has to hang to posters on Monday morning and then the voting is next Friday

for the Primary Elections.  Then there will be 2 people picked for each position -

2 for Jr. Class President (which Talbie is running for)

and 2 for Jr. Class Vice President.

After the final election, there will be 2 winners and then they will choose 2

cabinet members from the candidates who ran.  That's a total of 4 positions for the 

entire Jr. class.  It's stiff competition!

Talbie has been one of 4 Sophomores on the council this year.  It's so nerve-wracking

for a parent when your child tries out for something.  I think we get more nervous than they do!

I remember Maddie's 9th grade year when she tried out for the
Orem High School Dance Company!  I was a nervous wreck during

her entire 4 hour audition.  I was on the verge of throwing up the entire time!

I think I was more excited when she made it, than she was!

Here are the posters and campaign we came up with...

For the hand out - she's giving out sticky, furry mustaches...

 The slogan is "Make the Mature Choice - Vote Talbie Knowles for Jr. Class President!"

Here are the posters...

 

Isn't this a funny picture?  This really represents Talbie's personality.

She is not embarrassed to perform or be silly.  I think that is such a unique quality!

 

Another great poster...

  

This one she will hang over the drinking fountain...

 She can make buttons at school and these are the ones she will make...

Neither Talbie nor I are very artistic - especially when it comes to making posters!
We did out best :)
We'll keep you posted on how it turns out...

Worry Dolls

Talbie made "worry dolls" tonight for a fund raiser that our neighbor

is having the end of this month.  She just kind of made up this pattern and we had fun seeing

what we could come up with.  My mom would always buy "worry dolls" for

Maddie and Talbie when they would travel to Mexico.  My girls

always loved them.  The idea is that you tell your "worry doll" your

worries and then you don't have to worry about it anymore!  They do all the

worrying for you!

Tell us what you think...

(front)

 (back)

 These dolls don't usually have faces and we didn't want to ruin them

by trying to put faces on them.  They really are cute in real life!

Maddie's Reward Dinner

Remember the scripture charts from HERE

Well, Maddie finally finished hers this week.  In fact, I got a 

text on my phone at 1:00am with this picture attached...

on the text it said, "Sumo tonight?"

Which meant - she wanted to go to Happy Sumo for her reward dinner.

Bronson is the only one left to be taken out for his reward dinner.

He has actually read the Book of Mormon already but keeps

starting over or he will spend weeks on the same chapter, pondering what he reads.

He should probably get to go on more than one reward dinner :)

We had a good time with Maddie.  I wish we would have brought a camera

or had the waitress take a picture with all of us - Dave took this one with his phone.

Well done Maddie!  Keep reading :)

A Great Helper

Bronson is so much like his dad.  He can do and fix anything!

For Christmas Bronson got a big tool box filled with his own tools.  He loves to use it anytime he can.  

He's heard me complain about the holes and chipped paint on his bedroom wall

and I came home one day to find he had patched all the holes and made

his wall ready to paint!   Luckily we still have the same paint left over in the garage :)

He's such a good boy and it always searching for ways to help his mom...

Blast From the Past

I love coming across old pictures of my kids.

It makes me realize how much they are growing up :(

I think this was taken Easter 2006

What I remember about this day...

*Bronson wore his missionary name tag for about 5 years in a row.  Never missing a Sunday :)

*Bronson loves his little sister - he still does!

*This was the last year I bought Easter dresses without my kid's being with me

Maddie hated this dress (surprise, surprise!)

*Talbie started wearing contacts a couple of months after this picture.

 

Happy Birthday Emmie and Valentine's Day

My baby was born on Valentine's Day and yesterday she turned 10!

Emmie is such a joy to our family. We wouldn't be complete without her.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of her when she was 5

 Another all time favorite...

We started the birthday/Valentine's day by giving the kids their

Valentine gifts before school.

I love this tradition.  My dad always gave me a box of chocolates for Valentine's day

and it always made my day.  If I didn't get a gift from a boyfriend it didn't matter

because my dad never forgot me ;)

Bronson re-gifted his box of chocolates this year and gave them to a girl he likes!

 

 I decorated Emmie's door before she woke up.

I know it may be hard sharing your day with everyone else

 We opened gifts before school - at the crack of dawn.  Bronson and Talbie leave 

for school just after 7:00...

 Yes, Maddie dyed her hair red!  We'll see how long she keeps it.

That's what happens when you're in hair school I guess.

 Emmie got a Barbie from Maddie

 A tea set for her American Girl dolls from Talbie

 And a homemade catapult from Bronson :)

 I don't have a picture of her main gift for some reason...

Dave and I gave her a cell phone!

I know many of you may think we're crazy but we don't have a home phone because

it never gets used and we'd rather put that money towards our monthly cell phone bill.

With 3 teenagers and Dave and I having phones, if no one is home with Emmie, it leaves her home a lot of times without a way of getting a hold of anyone.  So she got her own phone :)

Then later in the day I got the surprise of my life when Dave had a gift basket

delivered to my work.  I have a strict policy that I don't like flowers sent to me

because I'm a miser and I feel like it's a waste of money.

This was filled with yummy chocolates so it was ok.

Also something pretty embarrassing that everyone at work got a great kick out of!

I won't put it here but email me if you want details :)

 To end our day, our young women's group did a "heart attack" on our Bishop's office door.

It was a great day!

 Emmie's class Valentine's box...

Braces Off!

Talbie got her braces off on Tuesday

After 3 very long years!!

Here is a before shot...

 And after...

She came by my work to show me and Dr. Myers her new smile :)

Grandma was a sport to take her and bought her a Jamba Juice.

This isn't the best picture of the "pearly whites" but they are so pretty!

It was well worth the pain and torture!