Alia

Alia had some important milestones this year: Girls camp, beginning Young Women's, getting her ears pierced. It's been a very joyful year for her.

Alia's first Sunday in Young Women's

Wearing her bee socks that the YW gave her to welcome her as the newest beehive.

Alia has a love for nature. This summer she collected "amber" (dried sap) from a nearby tree and made quite a collection for herself. She has a way of seeing beauty all around.  She climbs trees, will get soaking wet anytime she has the hose (when it is warm outside of course).

She is also good at getting other people involved with her fun and games (whether they like it or not).

Alia and the other Young Women in our ward performing their skit at girls camp.

Alia and her quirky sense of humor.

Alia loves baking, especially cookies. She almost always includes Matt as her baking assistant and he absolutely loves it.

Alia is a very thoughtful person. One day Matthew was not sleeping well and decided it was time to get out of bed at 6:00am. Alia took him downstairs, got him breakfast. I was awakened at 6:30 by Matthew and Alia bringing me breakfast in bed. It was such a great way to wake up that morning.

I love you Alia! You are a wonderful, beautiful and creative daughter. You set a good example for your sisters and brother on how to live life with determination and joy. As the oldest, you are a great help to me and I really appreciate you being willing to help around the house and especially with Matthew.

You have matured so much this past year. You are really excited about being involved in church and all the activities that are available to your age group (Personal Progress, Indexing and Mutual.) It was such a joy to see you go to the temple for the first time to do proxy baptisms for the dead. You were so excited to go and afterward said what a great experience it was. It is such a joy to see your love of the gospel.

I'm so glad you are my daughter and part of our family.

Love to read.

Is it any wonder this boy loves books so much with so many willing to read to him?

Goodbye Summer

At the first of this month, we said goodbye to Summer with one last camping trip with our friends.

We played in the river (even though it was a little cold)

 The girls went on a trail ride and horse ride.

The trail ride was especially fun because this year Madelyn's friend Sarah met the weight requirement and could go with her.

Ashlie did the led ride with Dad.

 We paddled around.

Alia paddled the canoe while I kept Matthew from running around and tipping it over or falling out. She did an awesome job!

It was nap time for Matt when we went canoeing and he was just a little cranky. He's trying to be happy here.

It was a great time!

School

We're on week 3 of the 2012 school year. Our days are filled with equations, reading, memorizing, studying, experimenting, drawing and enjoying the journey of homeschool.

A great day to be at the beach.

It was overcast but warm as we headed to the island.

We were greeted by some playful Harbor Seals.

The tide was in and the water fun began.

Then the tide went out, the sun came out and it was time to start the digging and sandcastle making. I think they were actually Volcanoes and Mount Olympus and there may have been a magical river in there too, because a simple sandcastle is not what this group is about.

It was also time to run in the shallow water and splash in the puddles.

One last dip in the water...

...and we headed home, happy and sandy.