Happy 47th Anniversary Mom & Dad

The secret of a happy marriage is to serve God and each other. When parents themselves have complied with the ordinances of salvation, when they have set the example of a temple marriage, not only is their own marriage more likely to succeed, but their children are far more likely to follow their example.
-Ezra Taft Benson-

Thank you Mom and Dad
&
Happy 47th Anniversary

My Cakes in August

BYU Grooms Cake

Lauren Crabtree's Wedding Cake

Baby Bootie Themed Baby Shower Cake


Shabby Chic Baby Shower Cake

Little Mermaid Twin Girls 2nd Birthday


Flower Garden Birthday Cake

Lauren's Meet the Teacher Night

This was a day long awaited for. Lauren has been so excited about meeting her new teacher and just being able to go to a big girl preschool. Her teacher called today to make sure we were coming and her name is Ms. Nikki. So we practiced that throughout the day and Lauren loves it.

She had on 3 different outfits today to wear to meet her teacher and finally decided on her American Girl twin dress. And she really wanted to take her doll, but oops, we forgot it. So, I told her we would take pictures of her with her doll when we got home so she could show her teacher later.

I think Lauren is really going to enjoy her new school. I was impressed. There are only 8 kids in her class and one is her friend Ella from Joy School and her primary class. There are also a set of twins in her class and I know their mom pretty well. I actually ran into quite a few people that I knew.

Lauren liked her teacher and so did not want to leave. Here a few pictures Marci took for me (thanks marcie). Lauren is trying so hard not to show her excitement.



Also today, while I was trying to clean off the Lost Hole of a desk, Lauren was filling envelopes with a bunch of tokens and some old Football Raffle tickets we had for Ethan. She had one for Ella, Emma, Cody and her cousin Macy. She wrote their names on them and wanted to take them to the mail box. I told her they needed a stamp and an address label. Well, she knew exactly what I was talking about and found the address labels and was ready to go. I managed to distract her for a little while.

Of course she woke up this morning looking for them.

First Day of School 2008

After having the meet your teacher night, all of our kids were a little more excited about starting school. They would never admit it, but I know they are excited. Matthew said his teacher was the nicest teacher and they have the special room. Rachel is still not totally sure, but I think her teacher is just like all the teachers she has had in the past. Rachel just loves her teachers and is always so very sad that she has to move on to the next grade with out them. And Ethan just loves that his teacher is the Math & Science teacher and that she loves to talk.

They each picked out their first day of school outfits and don't they look great.




Matthew & Mrs. Shroebroek his 2nd Grade Teacher



Rachel and Mrs. Leander her 2nd Grade Teacher



Ethan in 5th Grade (Last year in Elementary or Last year before Junior High, YIKES!) Ethan had to go by himself, so I interupted his class to get a picture of him and give him one last good luck kiss. He was loving it. His teacher is Mrs. Mateer.


Daddy and Lauren tagging along.



We had a great report on the first day of school. Everyone seems to be off to a great start. HIP HIP HORAY!

The Night Before School and All Through The House....

We just had our special Father's Blessings. I am so grateful for the priesthood in my home. I will never forget my dad giving us Father's blessings as we begin each new school year. Thank you Steve for the beautiful blessings, for being worthy of the priesthood and for the love you have for our children. We are going to have a great year.




My dad used to always take pictures of us sleeping, so here is to you Dad.

This is always a good time to take a picture as their summer comes to an end and their exciting new school year is about to begin. Sweet Dreams! I love these pictures.

It is also tradition to mark our height on our laundry room door at the beginning of each year and this is where we each stand:

Dad:6'1"
Mom:5'6"
Ethan:54"
Matthew:53 3/4"
Rachel:55"
Lauren:40"

Is that Hannah Montana?

Yesterday, my wonderful neighbor, Jennifer called to see if Lauren would like to have a Hannah Montana shirt that her mom gave to her daughter but was too small. Oh my gosh, would Lauren like a Hannah Montana shirt?!

Well, it turns out she loves it and it is even pink, her favorite color. She got it last night and immediately put it on a hanger and was carrying it around with her. And of course, first thing this morning it was on, along with a sparkly clip in her beautiful hair and bracelets up and down her arms. She WAS Hannah Montana.

Thank Ms. Jennifer for thinking of Lauren.

Last week of Summer 2008 Pictures

Rachel, Rachel, Rachel

When we returned home from our trip to California, I hadn't unpacked everything, like the medicine bag. It was sitting on my bathroom counter waiting to be put away, when "Curious" Rachel started browsing through it. Ethan's epi pen was looking very interesting. So interesting that Rachel opened it up, pulled the plug and after 10 seconds of holding it, the needle shot through the back of her thumb through her fingernail. I walked in just after it happened and she had the most stunned face ever.

I think what happened next was that I pulled it out quick, wrapped a towel around it and then I ran quickly to tell Steve in a bunch of mumble jumbled words. He had no idea what I was talking about. He thought Rachel took the epi pen and gave herself a shot on purpose. It took a few minutes for us all to be able to breath.

I called poison control, and they said to take her the emergency room. Then I called ask-a-nurse and the nurse talked us through it calmly. He was telling me exactly what to say to Rachel as he heard her in the background, "Am I going to die, Am I going to die?" "Am I going to the hospital?" It didn't phase her physical body whatsoever, besides a little puncture wound. But she could not catch her breath or stop rolling her wide eyes to the back of her head as she was freaking out.

In the meantime, Steve called our in house nurse, Aunt Sarah. And was getting the same kind of response as I was on the other line.

Rachel is fine, just another "Dull Moment" in the Spendlove household.





This reminded me of another "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel Moment." I can't remember how old she was. But I was driving Steve's truck, a F150 Ford with the suicide doors. So I had Ethan in the front seat and the other three sitting in the back. Somehow, Rachel literally got all twisted up in her seatbelt. She kept saying she was stuck and that the belt kept getting tighter. I annoyingly told her to unbuckle it and rebuckle herself in. She couldn't do it. Then I asked Ethan to help her and he couldn't do it. So I pulled over and sure enough she was stuck. I had no idea how I was going to get her out without cutting the seatbelt.

Luckily, I happened to see a firetruck parked at the McDonalds across the street. So I went inside to ask for help getting my daughter out of her seatbelt. I think we had about 5 fireman come out to the truck, which totally freaked her out. They had to pick her up and spin her like a pinwheel, she went upside, to get her untangled. How does something like that happen?

Kids Photo Shoot @ Aunt Janna's Parent's House

One of the many things our kids did during their stay with Grandma and Grandpa Cannon and Uncle Darrin and Aunt Janna, was get there pictures taken. Janna took them to her mom's house and they dressed them all up and did all kinds of poses. Here are some that I scanned of copies she gave me. I am going to have fun using these missionary pictures throughout their young lives. This was actually a surprise for us when we got back. The kids were so excited that they had done something special for Mom and Dad and couldn't wait to show us.