THe habit

    In LA WE WENT TO THE HABBIT 2 TIMES .

Home School

Today I went to my home school class it was so much fun all of my friends well not all of my friends were their all of my home school friends were their it  was so much fun . I still miss all my friends at Elementary School it is still fun ,but their is no boring STUPID HOME WORK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I would love to have all of my non home school friends to be home schooled it would be so much fun!!!!!!!!

PLAYING CATCH-UP, AGAIN!!

I have been a very lame blogger lately! Thanks to gentle reminders from family and friends, I decide to do a post. This post will probably be long and boring for you--but one day my children will enjoy it!

COSETTE TURNS 2

It is hard to believe that my little baby that slept 22 hours a day for the first 6 months of her life, has turned 2! She must have slept all that time to save her energy for her 2's--- because boy is she active!! She is into anything and everything, has no fears, and loves to climb-- I am worn out! She loves going to the park, playing with her playgroup friends and singing. She is always happy and keeps us laughing!

DISNEYLAND TRIP
We snuck in another fun trip to Disneyland. We are very fortunate to have my brother and his family that live close by. They are always good to let us stay at their house and we are glad they were able to join us for one of the days. This time we spent 2 of the days at a hotel. The girls enjoyed this extra treat. Once again the crowds were slim, so we had little or no wait time. This was especially nice when we hit Splash Mountain 17 times in a row!


Olivia's favorite show is "The Incredibles" so she was extra excited when she was able to get Mr. Incredible's picture and autograph.


Cosette loved the Pooh Bear ride! She talked all day about how she got to hug Pooh Bear and Tigger---sure wish she would have smiled!


EASTER

CINCO DE MAYO

Because we are always looking for a good excuse to party, we started celebrating Cinco de Mayo last year (my sister's great idea), We have homemade enchiladas, arroz, and frijoles. We then learn the Mexican Hat Dance and sing Happy Birthday in Spanish. After that we decorate bags to use when we gather our pinata booty---and then we end the night with breaking the pinata!

My girls think I am amazing---so they are convinced I made the pinata---shhh--don't tell them any differently!

This was the first year blindfolding Olivia--it got dangerous a few times.

But not nearly as dangerous as when we blindfolded Cosette! We had to turn her blindfold into a turban!


MOTHER'S DAY

I had a great Mother's Day (as always). My girls were sick so Robert stayed home and I was able to enjoy all of Sacrament Meeting. When I came home, they made a delicious meal and gave me some great gifts. Olivia made the cute planter at a kid's workshop at Lowe's. It is adorable and she was quite proud of it. Thank you Robert, Olivia and Cosette for all of the great gifts and for making the day special!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Olivia: Mom, I can really tell that I am growing up
Me: Oh really, how?
Olivia: Because my breasts are starting to wiggle!


Olivia: Mom, how does Jesus go up and down everyday?
Me: (confused) Huh?
Olivia: How does Jesus go up and down everyday?
Me: (still confused) I have no idea what you are talking about.
Olivia: Mom! He is the sun, the sun, get it? Brother Goes told me Jesus is the "sun" of God so how does he go up and down everyday?

DANCING

When I was in college I went to a weekend dance with my roommates. While there a very, very good looking boy asked me to dance. After the dance was over he looked at my endowed chest and then looked at me and asked "How are you able to dance with those?" I gave a feeble laugh and then before I could say anything more he said " I predict that one day while you are dancing you are going to give yourself a black eye with those things" and then he walked away. (True Story)







Well.....Monday while I was dancing/exercising during my Zumba class---his prediciton came true!!














In my previous post, everybody was hoping for a good story about what happened to my eye. I think I hurt myself so badly that I suffered some amnesia and couldn't really remember what happened to me---but it all came back last night!

PAINFUL

Yesterday I was walking across the church parking lot holding Cosette's hand. Don't ask me what happened, but one second I was walking just fine and the next second I was going down fast! I fell forward hard and my face hit the pavement first. I let out a scream because I was hurt, but mostly because I had fallen directly behind a car and I did not know if the driver knew that Cosette and I were there. Several ward members quickly gathered round to assist me--to which I am very grateful! Needless to say last night and today I have had one incredible headache! When I landed, I must have skidded forward a little because I have a good scrape on my cheek and there is dirt stuck inside my skin. Today I am realizing that more parts of my body hit the ground, as basically the whole left side of my body aches.



Somebody suggested putting cover up on my eye---but basically it hurts to bad to put anything on it. Also, a nurse told me to not put any product on the open wound so that my skin will be able to flush out the dirt and debris.

I wish I had a more creative story to share--but basically my head hurts too hard to think up one!! I did have to laugh today as I was grilled by Olivia's dentist as he made sure that Olivia and I told the same story. He told me he was under obligation to call the police on anything suspicious! Lucky for me there were several witnesses! I guess that should me lucky for Robert!

We are still unsure if Cosette fell or not. She does have pavement marks on her tights and her fingers, but cried very little. However today she was found to be rubbing her legs saying "ow-hurt." I will definitely be watching her closely over the next few days.

The doctor did say that the best way for me to get better is to rest and to receive decedent desserts from neighbors and friends!!! LOL/JK

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Playing Catch-up

Olivia turns 5!!

She chose to go to the mall and ride the escalators (of course)

and make a bear at Build-a-Bear.

A fish!?! You got me a fish!?! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!---you are the best!

A Vacation to Missouri

My sister lives in Missouri and my other sister lives about 6 hours away from her. So, we decided to have a little get together. We convinced my mom to fly out and all of us spent a wonderful week together!

If all of us had not been so busy having fun you would be able see some great pictures of us riding this water slide and about 10 others,

Standing underneath this bucket that drops 1000 gallons of water

At this waterpark that is inside the middle of The Great Wolf Lodge

This place was incredible! It was kid heaven. If you are ever in any of these areas, you should definitely stay here! My sister took all of us on a surprise get-away and boy did the kids (and grandma and aunts and uncle) have an incredible time! Thanks Michelle!!!!!!!

If we were not all thrill seekers--you would see pictures of us screaming while riding these and many more incredible rides at Worlds of Fun!!!

We also went shopping, got pedicures, went out to lunch, watched some great movies, made Christmas cards, went to the school carnival, played guitar hero (boy am I bad), and stayed up late talking and laughing! We had such a great time that we decided to make this an annual event. But next year we are inviting the husbands---and a photographer to capture all the fun---any takers?

Unemployed

After 5 1/2 years of serving as the Stake Primary President, I was released. I was not ready for this release and had hoped for one more year. I truly enjoyed this calling and loved all the people I served with. I had some awesome counselors that strengthened me and taught me so much. I am so appreciative of the opportunities I had to sit in Stake Council and be surrounded by so many spiritual giants. I treasure the mutual respect that came from these meetings as we learned from each other and worked hard to serve the fellow members of our stake. I thoroughly enjoyed the activities that we organized and participated in---with 11 year old day camp being my favorite. I loved being able to watch 11 Sacrament Meeting Presentations each year. There are so many amazing people in our stake and I am so grateful to have rubbed shoulders with them. I think most importantly, I will forever treasure the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father and for my children to see and know how important that is to me. I know I could not have served well if it had not been for a very supportive husband---he truly is the best for me and I heart him forever!!!

I have yet to receive another calling---I am pushing for ward bulletin board organizer!!

P.S. Robert was asked on Sunday how it has been being reintroduced to his wife. He said that the kids are much quieter in church when I am not there! I totally represent that comment

From one cute bumblebee


and one happy witch


HAPPY HALLOWEEN

TO YOU!!!!

May the weather be good to you and the chocolate be plentiful!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is my 42nd birthday---man that is OLD!!! Even though 42 is old--I will gladly take it!!!

About a week before Robert and I got married, my cardiologist called and said he would like to visit with Robert and I. At the appointment he said to Robert : "Sheri has a very unique heart condition. When open heart surgery was performed on her at the age of 5 we prayed she would live through it, (I think they told my parents I had about a 20% chance of surviving) we hoped for the miracle of a 10 year old, dreamed of 15 years, tried to imagine her living until she was 20, but never in our wildest dreams did we think she would live to be 27!"

That appointment was 15 years ago and I am still amazing the doctors! I know that I am on borrowed time and so that is why I look forward to getting older---each day and each year is a gift. I just hope that I am doing good things with the extra time that Heavenly Father has given me.

So I am grateful to be old----here's hoping for another 42!!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Olivia: Mom, I am so mad at my brain

Me: Why?

Olivia: I keep telling it to stop thinking all the time and to let me do some of the thinking ---but it won't listen!! See there it goes again----man!

MIRACLE

Upon arriving home from Disneyland and realizing I had lost our camera, I immediately called Disneyland. A week later, I got a phone call saying that my camera had been turned in and they would be mailing it to me!!! I was jumping up and down and so giddy the whole day! I guess miracles do happen!

We were lucky enough to see and get pictures with 17 characters. Olivia had fun getting their autographs and teasing with them.

I know this picture isn't that great (it is a photo of a photo posted on a screen) but how could I not keep it? Look at the sheer joy on Olivia's face. This was by far her favorite ride. We rode this ride 20 times in one day. There were no lines so we would just get off and run back in line. Many times the workers would just let us stay on. Several times we were in the log to ourselves.

I was the chosen adult to ride Mulholland Madness 10 times in a row. Don't tell anybody but I loved every minute of it!! My 2 neices now agree with all the other cousins that I am THE BEST AUNT EVER!!!!

Olivia with her cousins. This is the ride where my camera was lost---and found!!!

Praying for the Children

Last Sunday I was asked to substitute in primary---and boy am I glad I did. Our humble Bishop gave an excellent sharing time on prayer. He taught the children the important things a prayer should include and helped them to learn these "ingredients." At the end of the sharing time he told all of the children that he wanted to have a prayer with them. Pretty soon, gathered around our Bishop, were all the sweet children in junior primary. They all knelt and got ready for the prayer. Our Bishop looked at those beautiful faces and began to cry. He told the children about how Jesus gathered the children around Him and then He wept. Our Bishop said "now I know how Jesus felt." Following Jesus' example our Bishop wept and then he gave a beautiful prayer in which he blessed these young children. Among many things, the Bishop asked Heavenly Father to protect them from the adversary and to help them walk uprightly. When the prayer was over, many of the children lingered closely to him and hugged him. I am sure they could feel of his spirit and knew of his love for them. What a neat experience for these children and what an insightful Bishop.

CRYING

If I were not ADD and therefore unable to keep track of my extra fast, extra busy toddler and my camera at that same time I would not be crying right now. If I would have let Robert be in charge of the camera, like he had been doing for the past 3 days, I would not be crying right now. If I would have given into my worry wart inclinations and just double checked before getting on the tram, I would not be crying right now. But alas, I am crying because we just spent 3 glorious days at Disneyland and I lost my camera the last hour of the last day we were there. We did not realize it was lost until we got home---and now I have a big knot in the middle of my stomach.

This was our first ever trip to Disneyland and I had great pictures of the girls with princesses, Disney characters, laughing while on rides, etc. I walked around pouting about it most of yesterday. Last night Olivia put her arms around me and said "Mom it is ok because we can just go back again and take new pictures!" We had such a great time that we bought season passes, so she is right.

So now I am in need of a new camera----any suggestions on a camera that is reasonably priced (can't afford to lose another one), easy to use (after all I am ADD) and takes great pictures(I need one that can make up for my lack of photography skills) would be greatly appreciated.

With much sorrow,
Sheri


P.S. So now I have seasons passes and NEED to take new pictures---if anybody ever wants to caravan or carpool to Disneyland--give me a call! I promise I won't be in charge of your camera!

FOREVER FAMILY

Please forgive me if I have had too many posts regarding Cosette and her adoption. It is difficult to explain the feeling of uneasiness and incompleteness that comes with foster care and adoption. When everything falls into place and they are finally yours, all of those feeling melt away and are replaced with great happiness! It has been beyond my ability to stop talking about it---thank you for allowing me to do so.

Memories of this perfect day:

*being in the Idaho Falls Temple---a temple that has great sentimental value to me. It is where we were married and Olivia was also sealed to us here. In fact, all of my important temple work took place here.

*being surrounded by my family. This was the start of a week long family reunion and what a great way to begin!

*Being waited on hand and foot by the temple workers and escorts. I felt like a new bride all over again.

*sitting underneath a beautiful picture of Christ who is surrounded by children--- and all the while holding hands with my sweet eternal companion

*Seeing my girls dressed all in white. I was overcome with emotion as I looked at those two sweet girls. They looked so angelic and perfect. How was I ever lucky enough to be entrusted with them?

*Olivia having the unique and very rare opportunity to hold Cosette up to the altar. Usually the siblings are invited as witnesses only---but because she was dressed all in white and because the women temple workers left the room, the sealer asked Olivia if she would like to do it. What a special treat!

*being filled with the happiness that comes when we are in the right place doing the right thing. This happiness will be forever etched in my heart.

Thanks again to all of you for your thoughts and prayers and for sharing in our joy and excitement.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Olivia: Mom does Heavenly Father love everybody
Me: Yes He does
Olivia: If He does then why didn't He make EVERYBODY brown?




Olivia: Mom look at that lady---she is going to have a baby
Me: Cool
Olivia: She is so lucky
Me: Yep, she is. You sure do want another baby in our house don't you.
Olivia: Yes---mom you should grow one in your tummy
Me: Oh sweetie remember mommy can't grow babies in my tummy
Olivia: You CAN'T!!!!
Me: No remember mommy told you that you and Cosette grew in another ladies tummy but that she couldn't take care of you so she asked me to be your mommy.
Olivia: Cool
Me: So you didn't grow in my tummy but you grew in my heart.
Olivia: And mom your breasts are big enough for your heart to love me FOREVER!

ADOPTION DAY

Hi--it's me Cosette! Monday morning I was officially adopted!!!! Our family has waited 17 months for this day to finally arrive--and boy, what a terrific day it was!!!! There is usually so much sadness inside these courtrooms, but there was alot of happiness in the waiting area and courtroom of Dept. 134! Now we know why the judges and clerks love Monday mornings!



Sitting in the courtroom. I am a little unsure about everything.




All in favor of this adoption please raise your right hand.



Make sure you sign those documents right daddy!



Our family with the judge and social worker. The judge
pronounced me "Free and Clear"




I love my big sister!







We are grateful for the friends that came to help us celebrate this day! And for my mom's friend Claralynn for taking all of the pictures


After the ceremony we headed to breakfast with everybody. I crashed the second my head touched the carseat---it sure is tiring being the center of attention!



UP NEXT---THE TEMPLE!!!!