Sunday, February 28, 2010

Grace's Baptism!

What a wonderful weekend! Grandma and Grandpa Hayes came into town from St. George to celebrate Grace's baptism this weekend! The baptism was Saturday afternoon and she was a little nervous about all the attention! She was so grateful to be able to share her baptism with her friend Lindsey Bateman. There were lots of church members, family and friends who supported and attended their baptisms! Grace felt so great after, she asked if she could do it all again! Then we went to celebrate at Freddy's, which is quickly becoming an after baptism tradition! Sunday morning, during sacrament meeting, Grace was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Her daddy gave her a beautiful blessing! How wonderful to have a worthy, caring father to be able to perform these saving ordinances for her! Although we missed many friends and family members who were unable to attend, we know there were lots of thoughts of Grace this special weekend and we are so grateful to have such great support! Now Derek and I are off to South Carolina for a Chem-Dry convention! Have a great time with the kids G-ma and G-pa!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!















Thursday, February 25, 2010

Wichita Eagle at Thunder Hockey Night!

We advertise in the Wichita Eagle newspaper and work with a really cool guy named Brad! He invited our family to the Wichita Thunder Hockey game last night! We got to go to the VIP lounge before and have dinner(hot dogs and chips)! The kids thought it was pretty cool! They also had drawings for prizes and we won 4 out of the 6 prizes! Ha Ha! The hi-light of the night was when Thunder Dog came in and played around with the kids! He even took Isabella's soda and pretended to drink it! They loved it! The game was fun for some of us, but others only liked in between periods when the music was cranked and Thunder Dog would ride around on the ice with his 4-wheeler! The Eagle took these pictures for us and sent them over! It was a fun family night! Nice to know you are appreciated as an advertiser!



Saturday, February 20, 2010

Bella looses her first tooth!

My sweet Bells had a tooth dangling for days! I finally bribed her with chocolate and was able to pull that tooth out(the new one is already coming in). So the next morning, we tried to take a picture and she was so sleepy(they catch the bus at 7:15am) that the poor thing could not get her eyes open! I was laughing so hard, so I had to post the pictures! We waited until she was more awake to get the last picture and she made sure her eyes were wide open!




Last Basketball Game!

Jaxson is playing on two teams this winter at the rec center! He loves basketball!!
His dad coaches the team which is his age group and he also plays with the older boys from church. Today his teacher from school came to see his last game, Spencer and Ryan from his class are also on the team! She's such a nice teacher! A few of his friends played on the opposing team, so they were happy to have this last victory!






Ryan, Jaxson, Mrs. Harrison and Spencer

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Valentine's gram!



Derek always makes a big deal that Valentine's Day should be no different than any other day of our life(yipee!;))..but I always want to do something extra to show him I love him. This year, I ordered him a singing telegram! Nothing amuses me more than seeing Derek in an uncomfortable situation, but deep down I know he wishes he could just enjoy the attention! He always can find a back or leg to rub when it gets really uncomfortable!! I thought about having them go to a basketball game that he coaches for Jaxson or show up at a carpet cleaning job, but I settled for home(he thanked me for that!) among his family and in privacy! I surprised the whole family and the kids were so stunned! They had been guessing all day what I was going to do, but everyone knew they had to be home by 5pm. I'm still figuring out my new camera and I can't find the sound button, so I'm so sorry you are not getting the true effect! Grace said, "I saw those old ladies and I didn't think it would be good, but they were awesome!" so...don't judge the voices by their age!


That evening, he gave me a new journal and a box of chocolates! Great gift Derek! I loved it and I love you! Here's to 10 more years of valentines day...everyday!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Another snow day!

I feel like we are living in Colorado again! We woke up to lots of wet, sticky snow and NO SCHOOL!!
Last snowfall was too dry to make anything so the kids excitedly built a snowman today with the wet snow!
I'm happy to go outside for a few pictures and then stay inside where it's warm and watch from the window! Grace told our new neighbor how I didn't like the cold and the snow and she said, "Oh really, where is your mom from?" .....Grace's reply, "Colorado!" Ha Ha...I look forward to the day we can move to a warmer climate YEAR ROUND!!! but until then...Enjoy the snow kids!!!
























































Friday, February 5, 2010


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Soles for Souls




Thanks to my friend Brigette ( whose husband is down in Haiti as a translator) she shared an organization that is collecting shoes and jeans for the people in Haiti. Our family decided to participate and do what little part we could do from Wichita. We did some great early spring cleaning in our closets and in addition to shoes and jeans for Haiti, we found lots of unused items to pass on to neighbors!
Many of the shoes stores have boxes to collect the items donated. Last night, we drove our overflowing laundry basket of items to New Balance and the kids took in our donation! It's a lot easier to give away clothing knowing it is going to good use. I even had to sneak a few pair of newer jeans back into the kids closet because they were so anxious and willing to share!
I've found it so easy to focus on the tragedy that strikes around us when I had a wake up call to focus on the good that is being done and that I can participate in as well. Helps you to see the bigger picture in our existence in this life and feel the love of god as we come together as humans to help take care of one another!
If you'd like to be a part of Soles for Shoes, check out this website:

http://www.soles4souls.org/

A new pair distributed every 9 seconds
# of distributed shoes to date:
7,233,485