Treasures

Had a great weekend! LOVED having my parents visit us.

Loved getting to spend Mother's Day w/ my mom.

The first one in a long time we were together.

Chase spoke in church yesterday.

Mom + 5 = Mothers Day 2010

Megan sang w/ the YW. Very special.  This morning when I turned on my computer...Chase had left his talk open. I couldn't resist copying and pasting it here. I cried yesterday, I cried this morning reading it again and I want the opportunity to read it over and over again, definately a treasure to hold onto, so here it is...Thank You Chase...I am so proud of the Young Man you are!
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Good morning,

My name is Chase Mayo, and I was asked to tell you about how wonderful mothers are.

My mother is the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing person I know. I should know this because she has always been in my life. She’s always taught me how to make the right decision. In the Saturday morning session of this latest General Conference in April, Elder M. Russell Ballard tells us (begin quote) “Love your mother…Respect her. Listen to her. Trust her. She has your best interests at heart. She cares about your eternal safety and happiness. So be kind to her. Be patient with her imperfections, for she has them. We all do.” (End quote). I know my mom isn’t perfect but who is. My mom tries her hardest to make sure I’m safe, sheltered, and comfortable. She makes sure I’m well fed and fully clothed. She makes sure that I am as happy as can be and when I’m not, I know she’s there for me to talk to. My dad has taught me to be a man. But my beautiful mother has taught me the ways of life. I am grateful for a mother who loves for me and cares for me as much as she does.

A few times in my life where my mom has helped me is with my homework. I ask quite often for her help in my homework and she always does and helps me understand it better. Another thing is she gets us to where we need to be. With school, sports, and other activities we are going in a lot of different directions and my mother helps us all get there when we want to be.
I know that my mother tries very hard to make us all happy and I love her very much and in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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Megan's YW group sang a couple songs. One of them was "I Often Go Walking" the other was their own rendition of "I'm So Glad When Mommy Is Home"  this is what I can remember:

I'm so glad when Mommy is home, glad as I can be
Clap my hands and shoult for joy and help with laundry.
Pat her cheeks and ask for what? 10 big bucks!

I think there was another line...I"ll have to ask Megan.

Steve and the kids went way overboard and gave my mom and I matching bracelets. They are charm bracelets and mine has a charm with each of my 5 kids birthstones! It's so beautiful! Thank You!

Dallee turned 7 months old! 7 months...can't even believe it!

She's still just a tiny birdie!

Also Friday evening we went to a banquet at Megan's HS. It was An Academic Banquet. Megan got an award for 4.0 GPA. Good Job Megan!!!

Guess you can't really see her getting her certificate. It was cute, Charlee took off and followed her up there. Everyone laughed. Poor Megan always has a sibling in tow! Thanks Megan for being such a great big sister!

Sweet Charlee

Grandad and Baby D

Grandma and Charlee

Megan and Grandma

Chase and Grandma

Trace and Grandma

Fun Weekend!

Megan, our wonder daughter!

So last month I helped Megan complete a huge school project. She did essentially a memory book/scrapbook/autobiography. It is quite the project and she took it to the next level (as she does all of her tasks) she got a 119% on the project! But as we were looking through pictures I couldn't believe how fast everyone is growing up. I was simply amazed at how big my kids are now. Particularly Megan, she is growing up into such a wonderful young lady. Today I'm going to brag on my Megan :-)

Megan 3 wks old

This is her favorite teddy bear. Steve brought it to the hospital the day after she was born. Hard to believe she was once smaller than that bear. Especially now that she is 3 inches taller than her mom! Megan has always been an easy child. She is very independent, she does her own thing and has since she was a little baby. She'd rather be put in her crib and left alone than rocked. Megan has a great bond with her daddy. Steve wanted a little boy first so bad, but he has said since the minute Megan was born, that having a little girl first made him a better dad. (He is a great dad)

Megan 8mos bonding w/ her daddy

Megan is so talented. Her activities keep us very busy:) She is a swimmer, she has swam on the summer swim league for 5 summers now. Every summer she places better than the previous. Last summer she placed 3rd overall out of 60 11-12 year old girls! She was amazing, (1st is her goal this summer). She loves to play soccer and has one amazing corner kick! She's not playing spring soccer because the jr high doesn't have a soccer team so she is running track instead of playing in the city soccer league. This is the first year in years we aren't on the soccer field! She started taking piano lessons when she was 8 and her talent shines through there. She is so amazing...I feel bad, she only has a keyboard to practice on and she still keeps at it and keeps improving. I have never once had to get onto her to practice, she does it all on her own! She participated in a National Federation Junior Festival last month and received a "Superior" Rating! Our goal is to get her a piano as soon as possible! She has a love for basketball. She made the 7th grade team this year and played on a traveling league through the winter (they just had their last tournament las wknd) She is continually improving her skills with that game. Hopefully she will practice all summer and get even better if she wants to continue down that road. As I said before, she is running track, she has been placed as both a sprinter and distance runner and high jump. I'm excited for her first track meet to see how she does. Megan is an excellent student and works hard to maintain her 4.0. She does hours of homework every night.

Megan 1st day of Kindergarten Aug '01

Megan sets high goals for herself, both temporally and spiritually. Megan's goal is to become a Dr. She has stated this for years. Recently she has narrowed the field to Radiologist. I know Megan has the drive and the ability to accomplish anything she puts her mind to. Megan is very loyal and has a great personality. She makes life fun. She definately has her dad's sense of humor. I could go on and on about Megan but I will stop now and post a few of my favorite pics of Megan's school years that I came across on my trip down memory lane. Megs, I love you and I am very proud of all you do. I love being on the sidelines cheering you on, whether it be by the pool, soccer field, basketball court, track, piano, church, school or life. Good job, sweetie! You add the sparkle to my golden thread of life :)

Megan 7th grade

The following pics are first days of school pics. Its fun to see the changes year to year. Cheers to the first days of school and the hope and anticipation each one brings ;)

Megan pre-K (We lived in OK and they start 4 yr olds in public school in pre-k)

Kindergarten '00-'01

1st grade '01-'02

'02-'03 Chase pre-k Megan 2nd grade (this was 3 mos before we moved from Stillwater, OK to Idaho) I was amazed how little they were when we moved to Idaho!

'03-'04 3rd grade we had just moved to Twin Falls

'04-'05 Megan 4th grade, Chase 1st grade

'05-'06 Megan 5th grade. This was the day before her little sister Charlee was born. Megan wanted a little sister so bad. I remember her saying I will share a room with her! She sometimes wants to recant on that statement but she is a great big sister and her and Charlee are best friends! Charlee is one lucky gal to have a big sister like Megan.

'06-'07 Megan 6th grade, Chase 3rd grade (Trace 3 and Charlee 1yr)

And that brings us to this year...I don't know what happened but I did not get 1st day of school pictures last fall. I was so upset. I love those pics! But here's a cute one on her birthday!

Megan's 13th birthday!

Thanks for joining me on my walk down memory lane...time flies enjoy every second! Elder Ballards Sunday afternoon conference talk rang so true to me. I have to start enjoying the moment and stop worrying about getting the next task done!