Emily's Baptism

Emily got baptized on August 30th. Here she is two days before when she tried on her new dress. She loves her new dress and plans to wear it as long as she can on the day she is baptized. I told her she can wear it until it is time to eat, and then she needs to change. Jell-o is on the menu and it would be tragic to stain her new dress. (especially since I took time to make it myself.) She is is excited for her baptism, but she is nervous about all the people watching, and going under the water.



When we got to the church, Emily took a long time changing into her white clothes. She wasn't sure about the jumpsuit. We had to roll up the legs, and she thought the zipper was strange in the front. Finally, she was ready to leave the bathroom and greet her Dad in the hall. Emily doesn't like attention from lots of people at once, so it was nice we were alone for a while before going into the chapel. Emily felt a lot better about her jumpsuit when she saw her dad wearing one too. They look so happy! Here they are in front of the doors to the font.


Just Emily, Michael, and I walked together down the long hallway to the chapel. As we came to the end of the hall, Emily needed a moment to get ready to see everyone. She stopped in the hall until she made the decision to walk into the chapel.

I am so proud of Emily! All day, both her Dad and I just wanted to hug her and tell her how much we loved her. After she was confirmed, my Dad took pictures outside the church. The sun was bright, so her eyes were squinty.

Here we are with our wonderful Emily. She has grown up so fast! We are so proud of her for making the decision to get baptized.

Saturday night, after all the company left, and her siblings were in bed, we got to talk to her about her baptism. She said the best part was going under the water. She said she felt the Holy Ghost the whole time and she felt happy. This makes me excited because she han't been sure in the past how to recognize the Holy Ghost.

I need to send out a big thanks for all the wonderful family that came to support my Emily. She had both sets of her grandparents, both sets of my grandparents, plus many aunts, uncles, and cousins. I so appreciate everyone who helped with the rest of my kids so I could focus on Emily. Thanks again for being a part of Emily's special day. We love you!

where to buy bug vacuum

Wow!  I can't believe how many requests I have had to tell where to buy a bug vacuum.  Michael found it at Wal-mart for about $12.  

Here is a link to ToysRUs for the model we have:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2943523

You can also do a search on Amazon.com and find a whole bunch of different options.

Happy bug hunting!

Happy 8th Birthday to Emily!

It's Emily's Birthday and she is soooooo excited for gifts. It's late afternoon, after school, homework, and dinner is cooking. The presents are (finally) wrapped and it's time to open them.

Wow! Mom remembered I asked for a Hanna Montana doll! This one even sings - a whole song that lasts a long time - and it's really loud too. :)

Emily with her cake (and doll). Now before you look at the frosting and think "GROSS! look at all that sweet frosting stacked on that cake" I have to tell you how I make frosting now. No more powdered sugar frosting. No one likes it and everyone scrapes it off. No canned frosting either. Just mix one small box of instant pudding with 3/4 cups cold milk (yes, it's less than half the box calls for) and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Fold in 8 oz. of Cool Whip and you have the yummiest frosting you ever had. I love it with white chocolate pudding. Emily's birthday cake was made with a double recipe of Chocolate Fudge pudding. The cake was made in a 10" springform pan, and then sliced horizontally into three layers to hold even more of the yummy pudding frosting. Don't forget you have to store it in the fridge. The chocolate curls were made with a vegetable peeler and a bar of Dove milk chocolate at room temperature.

Now before you are convinced that Emily's favorite birthday gift was her Hanna Montana doll, I must admit it is NOT! It isn't her new wallet, or journal. It isn't her new books, or video games that plug into the TV either. It is the bug vacuum. It actually sucks up live bugs and traps them in a clear tube for examination. (I mean torture)

Once all her presents were opened, she raced outside to try out the bug vacuum. She was out there until dinner, and went right back out afterwards. That was yesterday. Today, as soon as she got home from school and finished her homework, she raced outside with the bug vacuum to find more bugs. She loves it! Adam and Miriam love it too. They follow her around dying for a turn. All I have to do is look at each and every bug she catches in the tube and praise her skills at vacuuming them up. :) So far I have witnessed the flies, potato bugs, lady bugs, moths, grasshoppers big and small, spiders, and even bugs I don't recognize. As long as they are let loose OUTSIDE and not in my house it's fine.

Here is Emily with her favorite toy of all! Look closely and see the huge grasshopper she has captured inside!

Well, Emily... it's a good thing you have a Dad to pick out a bug vacuum for you. I would never have thought of it, or even considered it. He just has a sense of what kind of things you like. (I have a sense of Miriam kind of things instead)

Happy Birthday Emily! We love you!

Colorado Trip

The week before school started we took a week-long trip to Colorado to visit Grandma and Grandpa Griffith.  Michael also taught some seminars for his brother, we saw the family dentist, the kids went swimming, we visited lots of cousins, and the week flew by so fast it was time to come home when it seemed like we barely got there.  The girls are now almost finished with the first week of school, and I wanted to get these few pictures I remembered to take up on the blog.

This first picture is the day we left to come home.  :)  Yes, I forgot to take pictures of my kids playing with all their cousins (they are 5 of 46 grandkids on griffith side!).  Here are my cute kids with their Grandma and Grandpa Griffith.  Joshua was exhausted and already fell asleep for a nap.  We put him on Grandpa's lap for the picture, and then strait into the van for the LONG ride.

On our way home from Colorado, we stopped at my parent's house to visit.  It is a long way to get there and with nothing else to do, I took pictures of the kids in the backseat - bored.  Adam had a long nap, but the girls were just like any kid strapped in a tight place for hours.  Wiggly and restless.  Thank goodness for snacks, backpacks full of things to do, and our stop for ice cream cones.

The second we pulled up at my parent's house, my Mom came out to greet us.  She is so excited to see her grandkids.  On my side, my kids are 5 out of 6 grandkids.

Again, I got distracted visiting, chasing kids, and not taking pictures until time to leave.  So here is the last picture, of my youngest sister Michele, and my Mother with me and the kids right before we left to come home to our house.  My Dad was at girls camp as the priesthood leader.  And Michael?  he took the picture.  :)

In my mouth, Momma?

3-year olds say the cutest things.  Adam did it again.  This time we were at my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house for a family party.  Adam came up to me as I was holding Olivia and feeding her a bottle.  He held out his hand with something pinched between his thumb and index finger and said, "From my nose, Momma."  

"Is that a booger Adam?" I asked - afraid it was.  Since I was holding the baby in one arm and the bottle with the opposite hand, I really couldn't do a thing about it.

"Yes, Momma."  he answered, grinning ear to ear. "In my mouth?" he questioned as he moved his hand towards his mouth until his thumb and index finger were inside his mouth that was open as wide as possible.

"NO!" I reacted discusted with the idea of eating boogers.  "Adam you need a tissue." Adam actually took his fingers holding the booger OUT of his mouth! 

Michael was standing by us and took Adam to find an acceptable place to put his booger.

Now think about this... what kind of kid ASKS his mother if he can eat his boogers?

Now to add a little to the last post.  Adam didn't convince me to let him bring a potato bug home, but in the store, he got me to buy him a toy plus strawberry marshmallows.  How long before the rest of the kids realize that if they want something, they send Adam to ask me.  :)

Take it home Momma?

For those of you reading this that know my son, Adam, you know how sweet he is.  He has a soft voice and of all my children, Adam could talk me into anything.  Michael thinks it's cute that all of Adam's sentences end in "momma."

This is a conversation I had with 3-year old Adam in the parking lot on our grocery shopping trip today:

Adam: Look Momma, potato bug!

Me: Yes Adam, potato bug.  Please don't touch it.

Adam: Take it home Momma?

Me: No Adam, we aren't taking the bug home.

Adam: Take bug in van, Momma?

Me: No Adam.  No bugs in the van.  Please don't pick the bug up. (he's touching it now as he squats next to the van while I am putting Joshua and Olivia in their carseats.)

Adam picks up the potato bug and it rolls around in his hand.

Me again: Adam, please put the bug down and get in your seat.

Adam: (a little disappointed) O.K. Momma.  

Popcorn and Summer Squash

This first picture is for my Mom. As kids, we would have popcorn every Sunday night in the living room. We had to sit on a tablecloth to eat it and keep the popcorn on the tablecloth. My kids thought it was a treat to eat popcorn for the first time in the living room and watch a show. Usually, they are in big trouble when they bring food in here.


Now a word about tonight's dinner. It didn't go over very well. It started with the two acorn squash plants my husband planted in our garden. When they started to make fruit, we discovered they weren't acorn squash. They are yellow summer squash - or in other words, yellow zuccini. Michael brings me at least 2-3 a day and I just can't seem to find enough recipes to make with them. Tonight's meal was bad. It was a casserole with squash, onions, carrots, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and mozzarella cheese. It sounded really good, and didn't taste too bad. The problem is that my girls have decided they do not like summer squash in anything. Emily kept forcing herself to throw up at the dinner table between bites. I had to stay positive during dinner, but I have to admit, it even looked like throw up before it was eaten.

So if anyone has some GOOD summer squash or zuccini recipes, please please help!

We like it fried with onions, but we really need more options we can stand. :)

Olivia's Haircut

Olivia had great hair when she was born.  It was dark in the back, and lighter around her face.  It even appeared to be the same length.  Now at 2 months and 3 weeks old, her hair doesn't look so great.  She has a long section around her ears and neck, and another long sections perched on top of her head like a toupe.  The rest of her hair has fallen out, and grown in only a few milimeters.

See the back view?  Not so attractive.

Here is another before her haircut picture.  It looks like she has a mohawk.  She wasn't thrilled about taking pictures, but she calmed right down when I started cutting her hair.

I have some clippers I use on the boys hair.  I just used them on Olivia too and buzzed her hair down to all the same length.  Now her head feels like soft peach fuzz.  It's great fun to touch.  She looks a million times better too.  Here is Olivia with Michael right after the haircut.  No more toupe!

Here is the back view after the haircut.  The little irritation she had didn't last more than a few minutes.  I'm sure it feels better for her too.  Now it can all grow in the same length!  (That's Miriam's arm on the left trying to touch Olivia's head.)