The "Mormon Prom"

 I love that the church has a more modest and appropriate version of Prom. They go all out- lots of decorations, (007 theme this year) a dinner, (spaghetti may not have been the best choice for a formal dance :) ) and professional pictures. All for free. (Maren's school prom is $130 per couple)  And you don't even have to have a date to attend. The dresses are modest and so is the dancing. Maren and some of her friends from church went together in a group, and although she complained that there wasn't enough dancing, I think they had a great time. She especially enjoyed primping and getting ready for the dance with her buddies. I'm so glad she has such nice friends. And I'm grateful for all the adults that work so hard to give our kids these special experiences.

Her dress wasn't fancy, but she looked very pretty.

She ordered a dress for the school prom, but it still hasn't come.

   

 

 

   

 

I love this! She's looking like Aunt Jenn.

Conference time at the Barney's

I love General Conference weekend. It's so nice to have the family gathered around listening to the inspiring messages from the prophet and apostles. It feels so relaxing and there are generally good feelings among the children. I make cinnamon rolls as one of our newer conference traditions. I try to have things to keep their hands busy so they don't mind as much listening to the hours of conference. Hopefully someday they will grow up to love it as much as Geoff and I do. 

We pulled out a new puzzle as soon as the first one was finished.

Lately there is always a puzzle in the formal dining room. We don't do much formal dining.

Popcorn munching Annalisa

Like how she uses Maren as her comfy spot?

Calli did what she usually does- sleep on her couch perch.

Landon joined us for conference time.

My famous cinnamon rolls

Sister picture

Maren was invited to prom last weekend. Her date set up these candles while I distracted Maren in the basement. (braiding the sisters' hair and taking those pictures above) Then he texted me when he was ready. I told Maren to come up to my room and see the storm damage on the balcony. She was easy to trick. She had been the one who showed me the storm damage (broken gutters) on the back of the house. Then she saw her friend Yi standing there among the candles holding a bouquet of tulips. 

Good one, Yi! It was pretty awesome.

Yi's friend awkwardly standing in all of the pictures...

Baby Smiles

 I got some cute smiles from Max yesterday when I was watching him. Here are some of them.

You would think this is Tawny's blog with how many Max pictures are posted. Oh well, I'm just a proud aunt, I guess. And I love babies.

 

 

 

 

Good Times with the Family

Mitchell had his 3rd birthday last week. He is such a sweet guy! Everyone is the family is quite taken with him, even Annalisa. (She's the toughest to win over) He is pleasant, cheerful, happy, and always amazed at the world around him. Maren told me she wishes she could be his godmother or something, if only Mormons did that sort of thing. 

He loves monkeys, and he is also afraid of monkeys, This may have to something to do with big brother Chase's nighttime stories. Anyway, Mariah is following in her Aunt April's footsteps and made him a special cake. She even ran to the neighbors at the last minute to get a banana for a finishing touch. (Too many people thought the cake was a teddy bear)

Cousins from Arkansas were there for the occasion and their for their Spring Break.

Mariah was on top of everything for this birthday. She even hung the streamers. 

She loves her little brother. She was so excited to see the look of surprise on Mitchell's face when he walked into the room and saw his birthday decorations. Mitchell's expressions of surprise are very gratifying. Seeing Mitchell experience Halloween was awesome.

Elena holding little Max

The Burdge girls were loving having a baby in the house.

There's that stinky ferret. 

Poor guy. I mean- look at him...

Geoff offered up a caption for the ferret picture-

"Keep playing dead. Someday your dream will come true."

Everyone wanted a turn holding the baby.

There was a bit of chaos in the opening of the presents. 

Too many willing participants, I think. Mitchell looked slightly terrified at times.

Like right here.

"London Bridges"

Aren't they adorable?

 

Angelina came to my preschool last week. She got to make some new friends and play with all her old toys and things that Tally donated.

I heard her saying, "Hey, we have this at our house too!" 

Uh, no... you don't.

Trampolining

For Tally's belated birthday celebration, we got pedicures. 

After seeing April's amazing Japanese pedicures, this is on the boring side.

You never know exactly what you're going to get when you ask for nail art. Some times are better than others. Still, it felt really good to be pampered for a while.