Church Open House

The missionaries in our ward recently put together an open house/tour for our church building. I was asked to be the primary representative and give a 2 or 3 minute presentation to people who came. It was really fun to put together. I probably spent more time on it than I should have, but it was fun to have something turn out the way I envisioned it. That rarely happens for me.

Here's some pictures of the tables I put together. The cell phone pictures make it look a bit hokey, but it was actually pretty cute in real life.

I started off sharing that there are approximately 1 million kids throughout the world that are members of primary. No two are the same, but we all have at least one thing in common: we are Children of God and He loves us very much. Primary is a place where we learn what it means to be a child of God, how we should act, and the choices we should make to become more like our Savior. 

I had a little CTR table and I talked about Choosing the Right. 

I also had an activity day/cub scout table and talked a little bit about those programs.

Here's the room all together:

There weren't a ton of people that came, but enough to make it feel like a success. I really do love primary. It is such an incredible program and I am always impressed at the goodness, kindness, and faith of those kids. Primary is a great place to be!

Emery Goes to Preschool

I can't believe it, but Emery started preschool. Where did the time go? These pictures simultaneously make my heart ache and swell with pride. It's not an "official" preschool, it's more of a joy school type co-op with some friends, but it still makes her seem so big! Just look at her:

All grown up!

A cute smile, she was so excited!

Two thumbs up!

Showing off her back pack!

She isn't quite 3 years old yet, so she's a little bit young for this. Most of the kids we are doing it with are a year ahead of her. But she speaks very well and can follow directions...if she feels like it...and I think this will be very good for her. It's going to take a few weeks for her to get used to it, and she'll take a bit more helping than the other kids, but I think eventually she will thrive. There are 5 kids in the group so I will teach every 5 weeks or so. Not too bad! I get to teach this next week and I'm ridiculously excited about it. I've spent an unhealthy amount of time on pinterest looking up science projects, worksheets, and art projects. It's going to be so fun!

Here's the little "discipline" chart I made for us to use. This is the idea the Joy School curriculum uses. A school house with windows. The kids open up their window when they arrive and if they start not listening/misbehaving you close their window. Then they can open it again when they are ready to listen.

We want to keep the window open, Emery! Not closed!!!

 I love the concept, but it didn't mean too much to Emery. Her first day she was just trying to go play, she didn't understand that she had to sit for a lesson first. My friend kept asking her to come sit and finally said, "Emery, do I need to close your window?" Apparently Emery nonchalantly said as she was walking away, "Yeah, you can close it." She didn't care about some window. Once my friend convinced Emery to sit down with the rest of the kids she did well. Or so my friend said. :) We will see next week when it's at our house how she does!

Her second day was great, she came home so proud of this alligator she made and was telling everyone, "A says ah! A says ah! A says ah!" It was so cute. 

Lawyer by day...

In case any of you might be tempted to think that Gavin is getting soft from all his office work, I'm posting some of the amazing physical feats he has accomplished in the last few months. Prepare to be amazed!

First up is Keith, Gavin, and Tobin from the "Summer of Seals" competition they completed this summer. It starts with a 500 meter swim, followed by 2 min push-ups, 2 min sit-ups, as many pull-ups as you can, and you end with a 1.5 mile run.

Here's his stats:
Swim: 10 min 20 sec
Push-ups: 85
Sit-ups: 84
Pull-ups: 10
Run: 10 min 9 sec

Impressive!

Smiling because the race hasn't started...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

He also rescued a pair of shoes from this gigantic tree that you can see he is climbing, with help from spikes on his feet, rope, and a harness. It was a big tree though, and it was difficult to get the rope to go up the bark. I think my brother in law ended up getting a big pole to help him from the back so he didn't lose his grip and fall to his death (ok, ok, not his death, but possibly a sprained ankle! He was really high up there!)

Aaaaaaand here he is wrestling a 7 & 1/2 FOOT shark. That shark is alive in that photo, they had just fished him out of the water AND GAVIN IS STICKING HIS HAND INCHES FROM HIS RAZOR SHARP TEETH! The man is crazy. I had to make the picture extra big so you get a feel for the size of this shark. 

I don't have a picture for the last one, but he did a Spartan race a few months ago and he did really well. It was about a 10 mile run with obstacles throughout. The picture I wish I had was of his feet when he was done. They were so torn up, but he pushed through and finished well. 

In conclusion, my husband is super strong, manly, and very nice to look at. He's the complete package folks!

4th of July

The Cornwall 4th of July was as wonderful as ever this year. There's never enough time to catch up with all my cousins now that everyone is so spread out, but I was happy to talk to the ones I did. My whole family was there...almost. My brother-in-law Joey couldn't make it and we missed him. Here's the rest of us:

We look so patriotic in our reds, whites, and blues! Gavin and I took a picture on my grandparents rock wall, but it was a little bit sunny...

This next one is my brother and his family. So cute! That's my little nephew that was born prematurely--look how big he is now! He is so sweet.

Super cute shots of Natalie and Olivia. I think the second one belongs in a country magazine.

Giraud Family Pictures

We had Giraud family pictures done while we were in Idaho. The photographer was awesome and we got a lot of great pictures out of it. Here's some of my favorites.

Here's the whole group! 

Grandma and Grandpa with all the granddaughters. I had to post this one with Emery's awesome face. That's what she does when you say "smile!"

I think this one is my favorite. We sure love this guy. 

Go BYU!

Here's Emery! I think she is so beautiful. I know I'm biased, but sometimes I just stare at her in awe of how beautiful she is. 

I like this one but the pose is lacking a little bit. I wish I would have had Gavin put his arm around us or something. 

The handsome husbands of the group. 

And the lovely ladies! 

My First Auction

A friend recently introduced me to the wonderful world of AUCTIONS! There's a company that puts on an auction in a warehouse once a month or so close to where we live. Although I've driven by the sign dozens of times I've never had to the nerve to actually go to one. But that all changed in June when my friend invited me along, and I am hooked! It was so exciting. This particular one was mostly antique furniture and home decor and it was really fun seeing beautiful, Old World antique pieces with their intricate carved designs, and big, dark lines. It was fun to listen to the auctioneer with his "$100--whosgot100--gimme 110--110there110--comeonit'sworthmorenthat--120-120-120--SOLD!!!" And the ladies in the front watching the crowds yelling, "YEEEEEP!!!" every time someone bids. The atmosphere was so thrilling. I made Gavin come along for the first hour (it went until 11 pm!) and he enjoyed it too.

Here's my handsome auction partner

I was looking for something to use as an entry way table and there were a few narrow chests that I had my eye on. I tried for a few of them but was outbid. I am not a good impulsive shopper. It's kind of stressful for me. But after sitting there listening to all the bustle and feeling a competitive disappointment at getting outbid, they brought out this chest of drawers that I hadn't noticed in the preview portion. For whatever reason in that split second I decided I had to have it and started bidding and bidding and bidding. And I won it! But the second they said sold I was just like, "Oh no, what did I just buy?! Why did I keep bidding?! What if it's a piece of junk?! Is that even going to fit in the entry way?" Like I said, not a good impulsive shopper. Too much buyer's remorse. A few hours later I got home with the chest and it was WAY bigger than I thought it was when I first saw it (law of auctioning #123: things look smaller in a gigantic warehouse than in your own house...) I was really sad about it and felt like I had wasted my money, but then we moved it into our bedroom and I really like it. It's not in the best shape, some of the veneer/overlay stuff is chipping off, but I still think it's beautiful. I figure the chips here and there give it nice character. Plus it is my FIRST AUCTION PURCHASE! I love it just for that (now that the shock has worn off). :)

I need a picture and some little trinkets to spruce it up, but I like it. The thing on the wall above it is a corkboard I covered in fabric.  

Here's a shot of the side so you can see the little scroll/leg things. I think that's why I started bidding on it in the first place.

And surprise! The top is a writing desk thing or something. Not actually sure what it is. But it works great for organizing Gavin's stuff! This pictures shows the chips...ahem, I mean, character...a little better.

Auctions are my new favorite thing. I went to another one a few weeks ago. I didn't even see anything at the preview that I wanted but I went for a few hours just because it's so fun. I love to see how much the pieces go for. Speaking of, I won the chest with a bid of $110. Is it tacky to say how much I paid? Oh well, I thought I'd mention it because if I was reading this blog and it wasn't mentioned I'd be like, "What?! She didn't even tell us how much she paid for the dang thing?! Why did I even read this post?!" The final cost was $130 after sales tax and a buyers premium. Ouch. A little steep, but I like it still. 

The Snarl

I posted this on Facebook awhile ago but wanted it here too. Emery is queen of the snarl face. 

It makes me laugh every time I see this picture.