OH ELLIE!!

Ron and I came home from the Temple Saturday morning to find all our kids in our bathroom scrubbing Ellie and our floor. Apparently while Porter was watching her, he got side tracked by watching Torie play the Wii. Ellie got bored watching the movie he put on for her (his idea of babysitting) and went exploring. She found some red nail polish in my bathroom and went to town. These pictures are after we cleaned her up a bit. She was putting on "make up" She got her eye lid, her mouth, her teeth, her fingernails, her fingers, her toenails, her toes, the top of her feet, and the bottom of her feet. We soaked her in the bathtub after we tried a little bit of polish remover. Today for church most was gone, no one even commented on her red feet.

Smile pretty!! (you can't see the polish on her upper teeth)

She only painted the bottom of her right foot

and the top of her left foot.

I love you Grandma!

This is a picture of my Grandma and her kids (that is my Dad next to her). Grandma passed away yesterday evening at the age of 96 years old. She has always been so healthy and strong until a fall last week caused her to have a broken hip and head injuries. This week has been real hard knowing Grandma would leave us soon and I could not get to Utah to tell her goodbye. We saw her last summer and I am grateful for the time we spent with her. I can't help but be excited for her because she will be with Grandpa La Rue again. Grandpa went for a walk 20 years ago and never came back. Because of his age they think he had a heart attack or a stroke and died in the desert. Grandma has been by herself for these 20 years not knowing what happened to her husband, but now she knows. I am sure the reunion was great! Going through this last week has given me a greater appreciation for our Heavenly Father's Plan. I can't imagine having to make the decisions my Dad and his sisters had to make without the understanding of seeing their parents again. I have such mixed feelings: Joy in my heart for Grandma that she is not suffering anymore, and that she is with her husband eternally; Sorrow for those of us left behind; Gratitude for my Savior for his Atoning Sacrifice allowing all this to be possible. I know that we will see both of them again and the reunion will be wonderful. I love you Grandma and will miss you.

ABC's Of Me

Shayla tagged me last week with this fun game. I am just getting around to it because of our vacation. Enjoy!

A - Attached or single: Attached
B - Best friend: Marissa
C - Cake or pie: Neither I am a brownie person
D - Day of choice: Friday!! Date night with Ron!
E - Essential item: Diapers
F - Favorite color: I love so many colors: red, yellow, orange, pink. . .
G - Gummy bears or worms: I don't care for gummies at all!
H - Hometown: Mesa, AZ
I - Indulgence(s): Jalapeno Poppers with Cream Cheese filling and Raspberry dipping sauce! YUM!!
J - January or July: January: I love the cold in AZ (because it doesn't get that cold I can say that)
K - Kids: 7 Bryndee, Porter, Torie, Kymber, Abby, Ellie, and Taralee
L - Life is incomplete without: My Family
M - Marriage date: 10/24/1992
N - Number of siblings: 4-Leslie, Stacey, Tara, Cassie
O - Oranges or apples: I like both but if I have to choose, Oranges-sweet and juicy!
P - Phobias or fears: Losing the people I love
Q - Quotes: Life = Salsa: Lots of stuff and very hard to resist!
R - Reason to smile: My family, The Gospel
S - Season of choice: Spring!
T - Tag three friends: Marissa, Misty, Jenna
U - Unknown fact about me: I was on the varsity golf team in high school ( I wanted a varsity letter and this was the only way to get one - you signed up no need to try out)
V - Very favorite store: Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls
W - Worst habit: Spending to much time reading blogs
X - X-ray or ultrasound: Ultrasound. You get to see something fun with x-ray you usually see something bad.
Y - Your favorite food: Anything good!
Z - Zodiac sign: Taurus

Kymber and Tara

Today Tara and Kymber sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in our Sacrament meeting. They both did a great job. Kymber has a pretty little voice and her and Tara actually harmonized very nice together. Thanks Tara for helping out. We wish our family could have been here to hear them.

Our Family Vacation!

We finally did it! We took our family to Disneyland and had a wonderful time. Thank you Ramie for all your planning. She took charge and planned everything. We stayed at the Tropicana, right across from the park, so we walked to and from the park and didn't have to worry about parking or a shuttle. This came in handy when we needed to take Ellie and Taralee home for naps. Because Mike and Ramie go to Disneyland multiple times a year they know the park very well and could navigate us to wherever we wanted to go in a hurry. They knew the best spots to see the parades and all the shows. It was a great time for my kids and their cousins to build memories. Danika took a liking to Bryndee and wanted to do everything she did. Ellie and Dyllin played really cute together also. The park was not too crowded so we rode every ride as many times as we wanted. My kids were so well behaved I was very proud of each of them. Grandma Rosie also went with us and we really enjoyed spending the time with her. We even got her on most of the rides. I told my kids before we left that they had to ride every ride at least once and then decide if they didn't like it. They were good sports and obeyed! Even Torie on the Tower of Terror, after much convincing she finally went and it ended up being her favorite ride. Kymber and Bryndee are our "dare devils" they wanted to try every ride and the faster the better. Ellie was even able to ride quite a few. She rode the Matterhorn with Ron and after the ride was over she said "Wow that was scary!" But wanted to ride more. All in all we had a wonderful time and am so glad we did it even if we had to take our kids out of school for a week.

(front row) Ellie, Dyllin (2nd row) Abby, Torie, Porter, Kymber, Danika (3rd row) Taralee, Andrea, Bryndee, Grandma Rosie, Ramie (last row) Ron, Mike

Mike, Grandma Rosie, Ron

(I think this is the only picture of Ron with his mom and brother that I have ever seen.)

Kymber was lucky enough to see Minnie Mouse and get her picture with her!

Before we left Taralee started getting a really deep cough and a rattle in her chest. I took her to the DR's and they said we needed give her a breathing treatment every 6 hours. He made me promise to be consistent or I could not take her with us. Seeing as this was not an option, I promised and she was a good sport about it. She sounds alot better now and hopefully we quit the treatments soon.

A Star Is Born

Porter and Ian in "The Jungle Book"

Last week Porter had the opportunity to perform in the school play "The Jungle Book". We were so proud of him, he did this all himself. He came home one day in January and said I am going to try out for the play. He had to memorize lines and perform a song by memory in front of the directors. The parts he got were a monkey and a vulture. His good friend, Ian, was King Louis. He did such a good job. He had to sing a solo and a couple of lines to speak. People keep coming up to me and telling me that he was a terrific monkey, as cute as can be. He said he had a wonderful time and next year he would like to be a part of the tech crew. Way to go Bug we are proud of you!

I don't do this but...

Need I say more?