RELIEF

I've always dreaded the day that I would turn on the TV and see that there was an earthquake in Japan.

WHY?

Because my dear friends, The Iinuma Family who live in Japan, have been through many earthquakes including the Kobe earthquake in the 1990's. In fact, Sotaro was just a baby when the Kobe quake occurred. Toshiya grabbed him from his crib and shielded his body against Sotaro's tiny body the way only a father would do.

As I was going to bed last night and heard of the 8.9 quake in Japan, my heart sunk with worry about my dear friends. I immediately picked up the phone and called Sachiko. It was music to my ears to hear her answer the telephone and know they were safe.

What impressed me the most was to hear Sachiko tell me that she is prepared for an earthquake. She has stored extra food and water for her family in case of a major earthquake. It warmed my heart to hear of her preparations because my church teaches us to be prepared for such disasters. I am so happy to know that they are as prepared as they can be for an earthquake.

We love you, Iinuma Family. SO happy that you are all safe!

JIMMER FEVER

We totally have JIMMER FEVER around here! BYU Basketball has been so much fun to watch, especially Jimmer Fredette. I have had March Madness Fever since last month! We have so much fun watching every BYU basketball game.

Recently we went to a home game at The Marriott Center and Abby made this sign:

GO COUGARS!!

PROUD MAMA

It's been a while since I've blogged. I hate when I get out of the habit of blogging because I miss so many little things to write about.

In February, each of the 3 kids had really exciting things happen to them!

Tanner was inducted into the National Honor Society for the 2nd year in a row. To qualify, the student must have a 3.7 or higher gpa. He is a smart student and we are so proud of him earning this award 2 years in a row!

The girls started taking piano lessons last August. Their teacher is classically trained and is amazing. Expensive and amazing. The girls were able to compete in a piano festival in February.

As you can see, Camille was less than thrilled about this opportunity.

Abby was a little more excited. They were both very nervous to play in front of a judge and get a score. But then the next day. their teacher called and said Camille won in her age division. We are all shocked! Camille was the only one who placed at the festival out of all her teacher's students. She was VERY excited to learn that she won $10! She wanted to know if that would be a check or cash. I think she was thinking it would be one of those really big checks, like the ones they give to the Publisher's Clearing House winners. She was happy to get cash.

My dilemma came in telling the girls that one of them placed and the other didn't. From the time they were babies, I have always tried to teach them that sometimes one of them will win and the other will lose. Sometimes one of them will get invited to do something and the other won't. And, that's okay. That doesn't mean that one is better than the other. So, I said a prayer that I would know what to tell them. We all sat down at the kitchen table and I told them that one had placed and the other didn't. I told them that we need to be happy for the one who did well and be a good sport and not cry if we didn't place. They both agreed and when I told them that Camille had won, Abby gave Camille a HUGE hug and told her CONGRATULATIONS! It melted my heart to see her be a good sport. Abby did great at the festival too.

Abby was able to be baptized in February. She is such a sweet, tender-hearted little girl. I am so proud of her decision to be baptized.

I am so proud of all my children!

A WONDERFUL DAY

Today was Abby's Baptism!! She has waited a long time for this day. She watched with jealousy when Camille was baptized a year ago.

Unlike her HIGH-MAINTENANCE sister who wanted a pink limo to drive her to the baptism and an ice sculpture of herself, Abby's only request was a cake with her picture on it.

It was a wonderful day. Congratulations Abby! We are so proud of you!

THE DISEASE

Today the girls had me bring Jack into their school class for Show-N-Tell. They were VERY excited to show Jack off to their class.
After being mauled by 30 3rd graders, we went to Abby's class. While in Abby's class, the discussion went like this:

Abby: Does anyone have any questions?

Classmate: How much bigger will Jack get? Is he fully grown?

Abby: Well, he won't grow anymore because he has a disease.

Classmate: A disease? What kind?

Abby: It's called Short-Man Syndrome. He would grow bigger but since he has this syndrome, this is as big as he will get.

Me & The Teacher: DYING laughing!

CAN'T FORGET THIS...

One of the main reasons why I blog is to remember the small, everyday occurrences in our family's life.

Like Camille pretending she is in a photo shoot while I was taking her picture in her Christmas dress.

Seriously, where does she come up with this stuff????

Abby is so creatively mischievous. Just today, she bit her sister's bottom. Then, tonight Camille came downstairs crying because she went to brush her teeth and discovered Abby had put a BIG, HUGE BOOGER on her toothbrush!

Don't let her sweet face and big, brown eyes fool you! Last year, while Camille slept she wrote boys names on Camille's face. Luckily for Camille, a Sharpie wasn't involved!!

SPECIAL DAY

This week 2 VERY SPECIAL people have a birthday. In fact, they share the same birthday. I love these 2 people SO much and I especially love that they share the same birthday!!

The First Birthday Girl Is....
CAMILLE. She woke up this morning and was excited to open her first present which was a new outfit to wear to school.

Then, she wanted to have her hair like this:

After a day of her daddy bringing her birthday balloons to school, her parents taking her out to lunch to her favorite place, The Olive Garden, treats for her school class of Kit-Kat's and rootbeer, she planned her special birthday dinner menu. It included much of the same favorites as last year. Salmon, shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad and Shirley Temples to drink. Unfortunately for Camille, Costco was out of Sushi.

I still can't believe how fast the time has gone by! I know it sounds so cliche, but it seems like just yesterday Camille was the happy, bald baby that LOVED her daddy to hold her. Not much has changed, except the bald part.

She is turning into a wonderful young lady. She is definitely the life of our family and is constantly making all of us laugh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMILLE!!

We all love you and hope you have had a wonderful day!

The Second Birthday Girl Is....

My dear friend, Sachiko. I adore this lady. She is so cute, so fun and a terrific wife and mother. I still can't get over how blessed I am to have met her. About 2 and 1/2 years ago, her son was one of about 200 students who came to Utah for a week from Japan. We were so blessed to have her son, Sotaro stay with us. And very quickly, I became fast friends with his mother, Sachiko. For the past 2 1/2 years, we communicate frequently via e-mail and talk occasionally on the telephone. Daren always tells me that he can't believe how much alike Sachiko and I are. It is almost freaky how much we like and enjoy the same things. When she tells me about how she spends her day, it is almost identical to how I spend my days. She loves to cook, she is very involved with her children and their education, she loves being a housewife, she spends a lot of time doing wash, cleaning and going to the grocery store. She finds joy in being a wife and mother. She called Camille tonight to wish her a happy birthday and I could talk to her for hours and hours. She is such a neat lady and I admire her dedication to her family, her husband and children. She is a great example to me and wish she lived closer. It is a dream of mine to one day visit her in Japan. She asked me what I'd like to do when we go to Japan. What I want to do the most is just sit in her home and talk and laugh and be around her.

Happy Birthday, my friend! I love that you share your birthday with my daughter.

I'm glad you enjoyed your birthday with NO HOUSEWORK!! I guess us women are all the same no matter where in the world we live. We all would love a birthday filled with NO HOUSEWORK.