Diamonds in the Rough

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

8th Birthday Princess Party!

We carried on the tradition of the 8th Birthday Princess party. Started by Grandma Bevell who created a club for all her granddaughters called the Princess Club. She wrote a poem that reminds the girls who they are and their great potential. I just love it when things can be fun and meaningful. We celebrated being a princess...a daughter of royal birth. Baylee invited her girlfriends and we did fun princess games and gave everyone copies of the poem.

Cake made by Aunty Amy

Princess tea time, practicing princess manners...

playing princess and the pea...who can figure out which pillow has the marble under it...

princess' in training...caring royal crowns while walking in high heel glass slippers...

that would be Lacey..the pink poofy princess.

Cake time...

and a little princess bella dancerella.

Baylee's Baptism

It was so special to finally have a child being baptized. Baylee loved getting her pictures taken by Aunty Amy for her baptism announcement. Baylee was hilarious to watch come up with poses and tell Aunt Amy what picture to take. She felt so beautiful. She loved getting baptized with her friend Kyriann and on the same day as her cousin, Elyza's birthday and she loved all the sweet gifts that family gave her. But mostly she just glowed the day of her baptism and had so many friends and family there to celebrate the special day. Baylee has always had a strong conscience and desire to do right. I can tell she wants to follow the Spirit and stay clean and pure. I just love the way Baylee is such a good friend to others and is such a responsible helper to me. I don't know what I would do without her! My cute little Baylee Bugs is growing up so fast.

Pink and Purple Beans!

So the last of our garden harvest before winter was these awesome pink/purple beans. The girls loved harvesting them because the were so big and bright. I am documenting these gourmet beans (I think they are called Scarlet Beans), incase I can't get them to grow next year.

Rainbows!

We saw the most amazing double rainbows during the fall rains. It was a complete arch... this picture doesn't do it justice. It was so fun to see all the colors so vibrant and bright.

Lydia, first day at Montessori

This was Lydia's first day getting to go to Montessori school. Boy, was she excited! What a cutie pie! and she even got to bring snack the first day. I love that Lydi Bug!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

I love the Fall!

I love the Fall season. It seems to be the best time of year, at least in weather, in Snowflake. School is well underway and all the kids love their teachers. I am so proud of Baylee, Kami, and Lydia who are all doing exceptionally well at their school work and responsibilities. Lydia was bursting at the seems waiting for her first day of school at Montessori with Mrs. Merrill and Mrs. Brimhall. I had the hardest time getting her potting trained for Montessori and on the first day of school is when she decided she could go potty without being told to. I guess she needed the right motivation. then that same day I found her sitting in the living room cutting her hair. When I asked her what she was doing she said "oh, just cutting my hair, mom". Like no big deal, "I can do this, I'm big now".
Caleb now has regular play time with Canyon, since I babysit him 3 days a week. There favorite thing to do is ride plasma cars in the back yard or wrestle Tippy dog.

Kami is the soccer player this year and runs hard to keep up with all the fast boys. She is fun to watch because she is not afraid to get after the ball.

Good ol' George!

This was just too funny...definitely worthy of a photo. Dave got called last minute to help out with a constitution fair in Showlow. He was asked to play the part of George Washington in a dialogue. The costume was awesome.. I 'd say he looks the part.

Interestingly, what started out to be a favor for someone, ended up being a great blessing. He met someone at the fair that turned out to be a great connection for his work. Dave is currently writing a patriotic book for teens and has found a great resource for promoting it.

Our Adventure

Our adventure together started when a city boy met a country girl at heart (even though she grew up in the city). We are so glad that our paths crossed and that our destination was the same. Now after almost 8 years of marriage we continue to enjoy the adventure of our lives together. While I try to keep up the pace along the path, he makes sure I don't miss any of the scenery along the way. We want to appreciate each stage of our family journey together, by treasuring the moments that matter. With so much to be grateful for through ups and downs we like to carry on the phrase "never has life been better than this".

Describing Myself

So, I have always thought it challenging to describe myself. Maybe it’s a second child syndrome or maybe its because I am a melting pot of quircky traits. Luckily I am not alone in that, its genetic, haha!

So, here is my attempt at describing myself.
An Arizona native, though I was actually born in CA. I love Arizona and its diversity. The desert can be so beautiful. I come from a family of 4 kids. I am #2. I loved taking care of my sister Chelsey, who was 8 yrs younger than me and growing up I always loved babysitting, because I could just play with the kids. I have a lot of self-motivation and a challenge never stops me from trying. This trait was acquired at a young age when I wouldn’t let being the smallest and shortest be a disadvantage. I have always loved horses, since I can remember. It’s in my Randall blood, though I have never actually owned one. I love the outdoors and sometimes its hard to be doing the mundane house jobs when I would rather be outside. I really enjoy figuring out solutions to problems. I like gadgets (a trait from my father). Thus, when my Sunday School teacher hired me as his secretary, when I was a Junior in Highschool, I was in my element and thoroughly enjoyed getting his company out of the old and in to the new computer world. This job supported me through college. I truly love learning. School wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed what I learned and was able to go to BYU. In college I had a hard time deciding on a major because their was so many subjects I wanted to learn about. I took classes in Engineering, science, business, dance, recreation, and music. - so, I probably could be labeled as knowing a little bit about a lot of things. An experience I’ll never forget was living in Jerusalem and Egypt for 4 months doing a BYU study abroad. It gave me a bigger perspective. I am more of a listener than a talker. I love hearing about peoples experiences and I am good at keeping confindences. I remember as a youth sitting amongst my adult relatives, just listening to them talk. I am so grateful for a close extended family that loves to share ideas. I am a detail person and a planner, I am working on being more spontaneous. I am learning to appreciate the different stages in my life, and now that I am 32 I really wish time would slow down. I am so grateful to be married to Dave, a super wonderful husband and father. Above all, I love being a wife and a mom to 3 beautiful daughters, it gives purpose and meaning to my busy days. I enjoy music in my home - playing the piano, singing songs, and dancing with my kids. I especially love to dance with Dave, even though we don’t get to very often. I love doing projects with my kids and reading to them. I enjoy cooking healthy nummy foods and I have way too many cook books. Cleaning the bathrooms is my least favorite house chore and sweeping the floors (since they need it so often) is therapeutic. I will sweep and sweep with a million thoughts going through my head. I have always loved giving hugs (the big bear hugs), when I was young it was my pets, now it is my kids. So big hugs have become a tradition in our family. I love it when I can use my talents to serve others. I love the Gospel. I love that the Lord makes up the difference for our imperfections. I am so grateful to have a forever family.