Senator Harry Reid

The Mormon Business Association in Las Vegas holds its quarterly meetings at our school, and Harry Reid was the guest speaker at today's meeting.

I promise this is a picture of Harry Reid. It's the best I could get with my cheap camera.

Our principal asked all the teachers to be there, but I probably would've gone if she didn't. How often do you get the opportunity to see the Senate Majority Leader speak? I try not to talk politics with most people because 1. I get a little too heated about some things, and 2. I honestly don't like offending people, and getting into politics is a good way of figuring out how you are different from someone else. But I have a few thoughts about Harry Reid from the meeting that I would like to record, so please don't take offense to anything I have to say.

I can't say I agree with most of what Senator Reid had to say, but I will say that he is a brave man. After his short speech, he opened up the meeting to questions from the audience. He got some tough questions and a little bit of harsh criticism, but he answered all of the questions asked to him, and he graciously took the criticism. If I were a politician during a difficult economic time, I don't know if I could ask a room full of non-supporters to give me their best shot. I definitely respect him for the way he handled himself and for opening himself up to questions in the first place.

Am I going to vote for him in this upcoming election? Probably not.

She's Crafty

Yesterday I made a necklace AND a fake flower. Two crafts in one day is kind of a big deal for me. I read a few crafty blogs, and I spent some serious time and money at Michael's, and I really enjoyed it! Here are some pictures of my creations:

with flower added

We will be making these for Super Saturday in October, and I decided that if I can make them, everyone can make them. We (and by we I mean Holly) came up with these and some other amazing crafts that we'll be putting on display in a few weeks, so start getting excited!

Hidden Treasures

A few weeks ago I was looking at Kevin's phone, and he has a lot of fun pictures and videos he's been keeping from me and my beautiful blog. I finally got him to send them to me. Here are some of my favorites.

I knew about this one because this is the picture Kevin uses for his Wallpaper.

Lately I've been a little sad about how my baby isn't a baby anymore, so I am loving the baby pictures we have of him.

The boys love Opa's drums.

My kids seem so excited to meet Woody and Jessie. Just look at those faces.

First carousel ride on a horse instead of a bench.

This boy loves books.

I asked Kevin to take this picture, and as soon as he took out his camera, the baby said "Chee" just like his brother and sister do for pictures. He's learning the drill.

This picture is my most favorite. When Rebecca was 39 3/4 inches tall, we tried to sneak her on every 40 inch ride at Disneyland. The ONE ride we got her on was Tower of Terror. As you can see, she hated it. I love how Kevin and the lady next to her are just laughing at her.

And lastly, we went camping in Mammoth, CA for the 4th of July with Kevin's family. There was enough snow that they still had one lift open. We tried to get pictures of the people coming down the mountain on the 4th of July in shorts and bikini tops, but we didn't get a chance since they closed the lift before we got back from town. I took these pictures on July 5th, and that's when I noticed all of these great pictures that were being kept from me. I'm glad I finally got a hold of them.

The Good News?

The good news is that Kevin has a job. A guy in our ward got him a job as a Property Services Officer. He fills in for guys who go on vacation or call in sick who are bellman, valet parkers, and security officers for Park Towers condominiums. He started yesterday, he worked today, and he will work tomorrow through Tuesday. We didn't expect that much from just "filling in", so we are thrilled with how much they are having him work already. And they are willing to work around his school schedule, which is exactly the kind of job he was looking for.

The bad news?

The bad news is that he is not going to be home as much as he has been for the past four months. We've LOVED having Kevin/daddy around all the time. Last year Kevin worked in Sacramento five days a week, and people would say to me, "Well at least he has a job." And I would think in my mind, "I would rather he be unemployed then do this anymore." I got my wish, and I was right. Sure we have been really poor, but I've been so much happier in the past four months in poverty than I ever was when Kevin was in Sacramento during the week and we had money.

But bills must be paid, so he is doing this job AND going to school, and I am back to not having him around all the time again. I'm glad we at least got four months together, and I am grateful to better understand what is most important to me in this world.

Happy Father's Day To The Best Dad Ever

Lately around our house...

...we have a baby with a sock on his hand. When I saw Rushelle's baby at church with a sock on her hand, and Rushelle told me the sock was to help Cameron stop sucking her thumb, I knew that's what I had to do with Braden. It's working so well I think I might strap a sock to Rebecca's hand.

We also have a big brother who fell asleep on the toilet waiting to throw up. I swear my kids have had some kind of nasty stomach bug for TWO WEEKS! I am ready to be done with it already.

And we have a big sister who has done a lot of growing up in the past few months:

Rebecca graduated from preschool in May, and her teacher Mrs. Miki gave her the award for being quick to laugh. She was quite the giggler in her class.

She had her final dance recital with Mrs. Stephanie, and she had zero stage fright this year. Even Mrs. Stephanie was impressed with how she got on stage and performed without getting scared.

And she's been riding a two-wheeler since her training wheels finally fell off her three-and-a-half-year-old bike. It took some time to convince her that she could do it, but now that she has had some practice, she wants to ride her bike all the time.

And that's what's going on around here.

Looks Like I'm Being Two-Timed

Kevin didn't tell me he was a contestant on The Bachelorette this season. Thanks for pointing this out to me, Rachel. I've even watched both episodes, and I didn't notice. I guess all my attention was on the weatherman and Big Sexy Hair.