Swimming and Piniata

Turtle Power!!!

 We decided to have a pool party at our neighborhood pool for Will's fourth birthday a couple weeks ago.

I love to be able to tell my children for their birthday, I will make them any kind of  a cake that they want. After making a cake that was six, eight inch round cakes stacked on top of each other, in order to make Rapunzel's tower, for Brooke when she turned six-years old...I am just not afraid of any request that might be thrown at me.

Of course Will said he wanted Spiderman again this year, but I reminded him that's what he had last year, and then I started giving him ideas with pictures on the internet. It was pretty quick that he was talking all about his Teenage Ninja Turtle swimming birthday...every single day....

I feel like it builds anticipation for the children's birthday to have them help mix the cake before the party.

It adds to the fun for them to watch me ice and decorate the cake too!

Will was just as excited for his birthday party as he was when he was watching me make the cake for his birthday! I left the mouth of the turtle off when it was super late at night and Will kept telling me that Daddy knew how to put the turtle mouth on if I didn't. It's so cute how much confidence that Will has in his Dad.

The next morning when the cake was finished and in my freezer Will probably opened the freezer to " check on the cake " probably fifty-times or so until I told him he had to stop. I was actually very lucky there wasn't a piece bitten out of the cake before the party...when I consider how often he " checked on the cake " before the party.

Will was excited to have pizza delivered to the pool for his party, until he realized that day was the day that he'd actually get to eat this very green frosting...and despite the Ninja Turtles loving pizza, and it  following the theme of this turtle party....Will would not eat pizza...he thought having a green stained mouth was radical enough for him and he'd pass on his dinner that night ;)

Grandma Turano came in for Will's party, and we were so thankful to have her there. We know it must have been so hot for her down at our pool and not in a bathing suit.

She tells Will, " Who loves you?" and someday he will look back at these pictures and know without a doubt, " Grandma loves Will. " 

Fabulous Four's

       If you ask him how old he is he will probably tell you that he is seven-years old. That's what he's been saying for the last year anyways...Just as soon as he caught onto how old Brooke was, three-years was out of the question for him...He was most definitely seven-years old!

                Of course, he might surprise you like he did the woman at the grocery store  register. A few weeks ago we were checking out at a cash register and the woman checking us out asked Will, " How old are you handsome boy?" He said with out any hesitation, " fifty-years old."  She said, " Wow, you look a lot better than I do at fifty years! What's your secret? "

He's finally past the terrible two's and tremendously terrible three's....It for sure has to be fabulous four's that we have to look forward to now....because the terrible times, although can have challenges, weren't terrible at all...

We love him so very much, and we are so thankful to have Will in our family!!!!!

Girls Camp Beavers Bend

Climbing a Mountain in Beavers Bend

 When Brooke and I were at Girls Camp, we went on three mile hike at the Beavers Bend State Park. The last time that I had seen Brooke hike was in Colorado, and she was scared because there were lots of rocks and steep drop offs. I was happy to see this trail was pretty wide, and I found out that steepness wasn't an issue for Brooke, so long as there weren't huge rocks to climb over.

Brooke wanted to run up the mountain even though most of the teenagers were complaining about having to do this hike at all. It was one of the rare times Brooke didn't want to be with the older girls, and it was because she was excited and they weren't. So Brooke, myself and one of the Doyle girls led the pack on this hike. We even went at  a full on sprint on and off at times... If you know me....you know I was loving that Brooke wanted to run up the mountain. ( The first time that Kevin and I were at a mountain together we were in SLC. Right away...at the base of the mountain, I took off my six inch high heels and said, " Kevin come on, lets have a race up the mountain."...We totally did it! I didn't even care that I was barefooted since we were on a closed road that was asphalt. ( It didn't hurt my feet). I can't remember who won, but it must have been him, otherwise I would not have forgotten!)

At Beavers Bend, with Brooke being so excited to go fast up the hill, I was reminded that going uphill running didn't mess with my neck so much, so Brooke and I really had a blast going on this hike speedily.

I don't know if it is my older age, but I did find myself trying to decide if we should slow down and take in some of the scenery? I did quickly brush that thought off and decided that the faster pace and uphill was worth not taking in deep relaxing breaths surrounded by scenery....the burn of uphill just feels to good, to worry about how something looks ;) even if its really pretty...I knew we would be coming back down the mountain slow, because that would hurt my neck to run down hill! So I thought we'd take our relaxation time on the way down ;)

I have always known Brooke has a great eye for details, but I didn't know she could multitask so well that she can notice details as she speeds up a mountain? While we were briskly climbing the mountain Brooke suddenly stopped right in her tracks because she wanted to dig a big rock out of the ground that she thought looked like it had a crystal in it? So she did...and we soon weren't leading the pack...but digging out a rock...No matter the weight of carrying this rock in her backpack, down a mountain...it was a treasure to her. Even today she was showing me the rock and asking if she could go outside and break it open with a hammer.

Beavers Bend - Young Womens Girls Camp

 Brooke and I had a great privilege of being invited to go to the Young Women's Ward Girls Camp this summer. We both had the time of our lives! When we pulled up Brooke to the camp site and Brooke was really surprised that the cabins looked like what she called regular houses. She said, " I wanted to go real camping." I think she got the adventure she was seeking on our canoe trip. ( I will explain that in a moment.)

So after we pulled up, parked the car and  we got our bags into the cabin all my hopes of having some " Brooke and me time" came crashing into reality as I realized she had suddenly disappeared. She was the girls little camp mascot that they all wanted to have sitting next to them. This is probably every eight-year olds dream to be surrounded by teenagers and getting all the attention! ( Girls Camp is for girls twelve and older )

Brooke let me know she was going on a canoe with Molly Scholl and Suzanne Dyer as soon as life jackets for the canoeing trip began to be dispersed. I basically had to let them know that I was going on the canoe with them, and boy am I glad that I did! It was all of our first time actually having to really steer and paddle in  a canoe. I didn't know how hard this was, or what I was doing! Kevin always just did the job whenever we went on a canoe in the past.

There was a faster part of the river and some pretty big rocks that we did not do a good job of avoiding. We actually went half way up a rock and were sitting tilted on the rock, and Brooke had real tears and real fear screaming she didn't want to fall in. The older girls were scared too...I felt really bad I didn't get us to avoid this rock. The water was freezing. I had two girls that weren't mine, my daughter, my phone and my camera and I did not want this to be a bad experience for everyone either! I thought quick and said a prayer in my mind. A min. later another canoe started catching up to us and I called them to Brooke's rescue. I asked them to come right up next to us, so that Brooke could transfer into their boat. I knew fully well that her getting out of an already tilted up a rock canoe brought huge chances of us all falling, but Brooke was hysterical. It worked! Brooke got in their canoe just fine, but I had to get  out of the canoe at the same time and stand on a very little portion of the rock slippery wet, and I knew there was a good chance the canoe would be set loose and I would be left standing on a rock boatless...the canoe did start floating away, but I was able to jump into is as it was set free of the rock...

Then my first agenda was to get Brooke back into my boat, because she had transferred into a boat with all first year girls!

I did get Brooke back into my canoe, I learned to steer better, and it ended up being a nice little workout, with a good view, and a good adventurous memory for Brooke!

My Great Father - Allen Pack

                                                         
                                                                Fathers Day 2014

I  am forever thankful to have had a father growing up whom reminded me that I had an even more important father than him...A Heavenly Father. It is forever a blessing in my life to just know that my father prays daily for me. To know he turns to God for divine inspiration on how he can help his wife and all his children. When I see my father now as an adult, I recognize the great man that he is...I don't just see his amazing work that he does in this life by providing for my family, praying, serving in church callings, working in the temple every weekend, doing family history each night after long hours of work, and not to mention the great accomplishments he has made in his work he does for 7-11 the corporation..but, I see a servant of God in the eternities, serving our Father in Heaven, with great authority given by God. I see a man whom wont just have blessed my earthly life, but a man who will bless numerous peoples in eternity because of his devotion to serving the Lord, because of his faith, obedience, and most of all his charitable love...because he is one of the most charitable and forgiving peoples I have ever know.

I love you Dad....I am so glad that I was able to spend Father's Day with you...and even on Father's Day you served us all dinner, helped clean up and even gave me a Priesthood blessing.....

Mothers Day 2014

Mothers Day 2014

 It was a crazy busy time, but my birthday and Mothers Day, were great this year! Brooke had the idea to make me pancakes and bring them to me in bed that morning. It was so sweet especially because her and Will made the batter with Daddy's help and they made the pancakes in the shapes of flowers! Brooke insisted on buying me Bath And Body works lotion with the money she earned this year! She would not take money from her Dad. She said, "But I want to pay for it myself. Can I do a chore to earn money to buy Mommy's present? " Kevin let her clean his office while he worked the Sat. before my birthday. It was so sweet of Brooke and meant a lot to me! I enjoyed teaching the Gospel Principles lesson on my birthday and Mothers Day, and it is always a treat to have Kevin come listen to my lesson. After church we celebrated Grandma as well as her birthday is May 13th, and it being her Mother's Day too! I felt badly that they cooked for us, and not us for them...but Grandma and Grandpa Pack are always so kind to cook for us on many Sundays.

One of my favorite things about my birthday/ Mothers Day was getting to hear what my kids thought of me.
There is nothing as important to me as my family. I pray everyday to be the mother that I need to be in order to raise my children into individuals that can serve God at a high capacity, and love him with all their hearts, the way that I do...seeking first the kingdom of God among all other life goals....

Here is what my amazingly sweet children said about me:

Brooke said about me:

 "My favorite memories of my Mom are when we read scriptures together, and once she was reading the kingdom of heaven, but she actually said the kingdom of Kevin! We laughed about that, and my Dad liked that scripture when I told it to him! "

" If I could give my Mom any present in the world I would give her love, and make her happy by being nice."

" The thing that my Mom is best at is loving me."

" Special things that my Mom does for me are when she sings to me, reads to me, and cares for me."

Here is what Will had to say about me:

My Mom's name is ___Mommy____, but my Dad calls her ___Emily____.
She is _____7_____years old, and is as pretty as ____cotton candy _____.
My Mom is the best at making ____chocolate____.  She really loves____Will_____.
If I had a ton of money,  I would buy her ____more of Daddy's shirts______.
If my Mom were an animal, she would be a _____snake_____. Something that my Mom says to me is___
____clean up_____. I wouldn't trade her for all the ____toys___ in the world.

                                                                                                    Love,
                                                                                                         Will Turano

Sweet Song From Will

I don't think Kevin is as thrilled about dandelions suddenly popping up all over the place in our yard, as Will has been. For the past few days every single time that we pull into our garage and get out of the car, Will runs into the grass super excited and very fast. He gathers as many of these weed flowers that he can before I tell him, " Will, we have to go in the house, " and with excitement in his voice he hands me a couple flowers and says, " Mommy! I got you some flowers!" It's so cute that he wants to be so chivalrous towards me that I exclaim excited back that they are beautiful! I guess I made him think this was more important than helping Daddy, because as Kevin, Brooke and Will were in the front yard for some time, Will ended up running back into the house over and over, and over again with more flowers for me. He felt so good about collecting flowers for me. When I went to join everyone outside I realized that Kevin and Brooke had been pulling weeds with gloves and a bucket, in the proper way, as Will was doing what he thought was his job, to bring Mommy flowers ;)

  Will was teasing the bird a couple afternoons ago and it got to the point that it was about to really not be nice. I explained to Will that the birds feathers aren't clipped, so since she can fly, if he keeps teasing her she might just decide not to live here anymore, and she will just fly out the door next time we leave the house. Will quickly said, " The bird isn't going to fly away Mommy. I already said a prayer that she wouldn't."

Will has become extra sweet lately. He's always been sweet, but lately he is just handing out the hugs and kisses left and right. Will tells Brooke at least twice a day randomly that he loves her, and gives her a hug.
Will has been telling me probably six times a day that he loves me, as well he includes statements like," You smell just like flowers Mommy." Or , " Your hair is silky Mommy, as combs my hair with his little hands, while I read to Brooke."

Maybe Will has been extra sweet due to me finding him in situations like this after I leave him for five min. while I take a shower? Although, these chocolate chips are only semi-sweet...and he has been mega sweet ;)

I have never seen Will agree to clean up a mess so fast in his whole life when I told him if he didn't clean those up right away he'd be grounded from chocolate. Of course he continued sneaking them into his mouth as he picked them up....

A couple nights ago Will did one of the cutest things that I have ever seen or heard in my life!
When I asked Will to say his own personal prayer after our family had said one together, and after I read with him, he explained, " I have to sing a prayer tonight." I did not disagree, if that's what he wants that's good with me because a song is like a prayer as it says in the scriptures. Well this was his song. He changed the notes just like a song and he sounded pretty good :) he sang, " Dear God, you love me, and I love you. You love us all, and you love Grandpa. You gave us Jesus, and Jesus is nice. He loves us. He loves us. You are nice. You love everyone. We love you. " then I interjected and said, " can you say thank you? " So he added in his singing voice, with his eyes closed by the way, " thank you for Jesus, thank you for everyone." Then he ended in a normal voice not singing anymore, " in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. "