Friday, May 22, 2015

Happy Mother's Day



Grandma Brenda

Grandma Brenda left for Utah on Mother's Day. She came the first of February. While she was here she played countless card and board games with Rhett and brownies with Caramel. Myles and Camellia got use to staying with Grandma making some activities easier, grocery shopping, skating, VT, and school volunteering. Caramel and Rhett enjoyed swimming lessons and I enjoyed watching them without entertaining Myles and Camellia. So grateful she could stay with us.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Caramel's Baptism

Caramel was baptized on May 9th, 2015 at the Renton Stake Center.
She turned the age of accountability, 8 years old, in April.
She was baptized by immersion like Jesus.
Her father was able to baptize her.
She is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
At the beginning of the baptism, Caramel and 3 other children were introduced.
Then the Stake Primary Presidency talked about Baptism and the Holy Ghost.
Sister Becky Wright talked about the Holy Ghost.
She was Caramel's Primary teacher for a couple years in the Tiffany Park ward.
Then Caramel was the first to be baptized.

Caramel received a towel with her baptism date on it from the Primary.
Caramel selected her own scriptures and bag with her name on them.
She received a pink CTR ring.
Caramel felt a little nervous about getting baptized before leaving the house.
After Caramel was baptized, Brother Gilman conducted and Anthony confirmed Caramel.
Blessing her on her journey through life having the Holy Ghost guide her to make correct choices.
Brian Gilman from the bishopric, Dan Kidd, Tom Andelin, Brian Ellis, and Joe Davidson were in the circle for the confirmation.
Rhett and Myles tried to sing, "I am a Child of God."
But were too nervous and silly so everybody sang.
Tom Andelin shared some remarks to Caramel about being the oldest in her family and setting the example and always having the Holy Ghost with her.
Anthony baptized her once, no mistakes, nice job.
The two witnesses were my Dad and Tom Andelin.
The Stake Primary gave Caramel a journal that Dad and Mom wrote their testimonies in.
Caramel is creative, social, and silly.
Family friends- Andelin, Burke, Ellis, Epperson, Davidson, and Hanes attended.
Grandpa Neil was able to fly up from California to see Caramel's baptism.
Grandma Brenda was able to attend too.
She left the next day to return to Utah after staying for 3 and a half months.
The two Grandpas and Caramel.
At the very end, we had brownies (Caramel's favorite), cookies, oranges, and grapes.
We went to Red Robin for lunch to celebrate with the two Grandpas.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Drive in Movie

Caramel and Rhett were looking for some boxes so they could decorate the inside like a car and sit inside and watch a movie.

Early Birthday Celebration with Gandpa Neil

Anthony got an early birthday visit from Grandpa Neil.
We had a nice big ice cream cake that took a week to eat.
Anthony's Rocky Road ice cream only took a day to finish off.
Camellia and her oranges and her sister.
Grandpa Neil and the two youngest.
Grandpa and little Camellia.
 



Bella the Hamster

After Caramel's baptism, we went to the pet store and Caramel picked out a hamster.
Of course a girl and named her Bella.
Caramel loves putting Bella in her ball and taking her in the backyard.
 

Baby Bunny Time

We play in the backyard whenever we can. Love having a fenced backyard! There is lots of nature in the yard too. Rhett spotted this cute baby bunny in the bushes. Surprisingly, I was able to catch him and put him in a cage. I had gloves on, conveniently doing yard work. The kids loved looking at him. We were excited to show Caramel once she got home from school.
Myles and Camellia couldn't stopping watching the bunny.
Later in the evening we set the bunny free.
The next morning, I saw 3 big rabbits hopping around eating.
Didn't think they were so cute watching them eat things we want to eat.
 
There are snakes in the backyard still. When I am pulling out wisteria and surprisingly see one, I always scream. Camellia has even copied me screaming. Just don't like to surprisingly see a snake when my face and hands are close to it.
 
Two hummingbirds fly around a lot. Myles likes to spot them and ask where they are. And there are tons of bees around the raspberries, strawberries, rhodes, and wisteria. When I fixed the stones in the landscaping, the kids love to collect the worms, black beetles, and rolly pullies.
 
Camellia loves to go outside. She will cry by the door if the older kids escape without her. She loves to stomp around the desk in her shoes.

Visiting GP

When we changed church building, after a couples weeks, we realized we drove right pass Grandpa Melvin Miller's cemetery site. We tried to find his spot without knowing where but failed. So once we figured out the row, we visited again before church. It was been 5 years. Rhett was a couple months old when GP passed away.
  
 
Myles walking around with his hands in his pockets. Saying cheese doesn't really work for him,
guess we need to think of a different word.

Helmets

When Myles sees Rhett wear his helmet, he always wants a turn.
Anthony had his helmet out too. So the boys were walking around the house with helmets on.
Would have been cute to get them both looking and smiling but I didn't have an extra hour to kill.
When Camellia saw the helmet in the garage, she was totally ready for her turn.
Grunting and getting excited to have it on.

Caramel's Frog and Toad Concert

Caramel, the one in the yellow jacket that she wears to school almost everyday, was in a school 1st and 2nd grade concert. The kids sang about the book "Frog and Toad" while the teachers acted out little parts of the book. It was a fun story and all types of songs.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Hip Hop Recital

 Caramel and Rhett were in the same dance class. They did hip hop. Rhett's first dance class. Caramel's first hip hop class. They enjoy the teacher and up beat songs. They weren't too excited about the outfits. Caramel was glad it wasn't anything like ballet class outfits - itchy.