Shop 'til We Drop!

We went shopping at one of the Vegas Outlets. We found some great deals, as you can tell from all the bags. We left in the morining and came back just as the sun was setting. We even ran into a sale at Vans, buy one get one FREE. That's a Deal! We are all set for school now. Yeah! We also ate at Yougurtland that April suggested. Can you say YUM!

Just add water part II

Okay, blog being weird so I will post these here.
The girlies chillin' under the water palm.
Hannah and Lauren having a run thru.
Sabrina and Aliza takin' a break from all the fun.
Hannah and Annie playing too.

Just Add Water

Just add water to a park on a Hot summer day and you have excitment! Steph has a park by her house that has all these water features. It was refreshing to go get wet and cool down. Wish we had one of these in our area.

The first run thru of the day.

These spout up at different times, it is fun to guess which one is next.

Hannah enjoying the water.

Hoover Dam

Emma, Aralie, Hannah and Aliza all with one foot in Nevada and one in Arizona. I think it's more fun when the states are on different time zones too!

This is the suspension bridge that will cross the river. After it is built you will not be able to drive over the dam anymore. I can't wait to be able to drive on it...it looks fun!

Here are the girls down in tunnels that lead to the turbine rooms. It is more than 500 ft. down. It was interesting to see how it all works and the energy it produces.

On the way back to Henderson, we stopped at a beautiful lookout over Lake Mead. The lake is the Largest man-made lake in the US. It certainly is more vast than our little Castaic Lake.

Sunday Sampler 7/27/2008

We are staying at our friends the Waite's this week, so we attended the McCullough Hills ward today. It is the exact same floor plan as Skycrest. It was weird walking in and knowing where the main parts of the building were. A young man named Jesse gave a talk about honoring and obeying your parents. He was a great speaker and it was his first talk. He said his family motto was "Life Is Good When You Do What You Should" He also stated that one of the best ways he can help is parents is to not fight with his siblings so that his Mom didn't have to deal with one more problem. Wow wouldn't that be great!
Sister Paxton talked about being a Celestial Family. That the most important thing we do is within the walls of our home. I know she was quoting a prophet, but the statement is so true. We want the love of our family to be with us eternally.
Brother Paxton talked about life as being in training for our Celestial lives. Great concept to think about.
In Sunday School we talked about Korihor being the Anti-Christ. To think about that the true anti-christ assumes the guise of Christ. He is not blatant about his deception...it is hidden in untruth masked as truth.
The third hour for all those 12 and up was a lesson from Preach My Gospel about how to share the Gospel with others. Interesting thoughts about just starting conversations with others about our beliefs. It was a wonderful Ward to attend very friendly, thoughtful people.

Controversy Follows Kirby Again

Once again controversy has followed our beloved comedian Kirby Heyborne. He made a commercial in the UK with Mr. T for Snickers. Gay rights activist protested the commercial saying it was anti-gay. It's totally HILARIOUS! It made CNN news. Now he has more than just the mormon controversy...it's the real thing. We LOVE You Kirby! Check out the commercial..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi4DEdUmA6A

Pioneer Day

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah. It is a state holiday. They are celebrating the Pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley from their exodus in Nauvoo. Although I am not from Mormon Pioneer Stock, I am grateful for their courage, sacrifice and commitment to building up lives unto the Gospel. However, I do have ancestor that settled this land. My Great Grandparents, the Houses, traveled from Nebraska to Idaho to farm. My Great Grandpa Jewel House used to witch wells with a stick. He taught Eskimos in Alaska and Native American in Arizona. He lived to be almost 100.

My Great Great Grandfather William Luby came from Ireland to Canada then by horse to the Oklahoma land runs. He married an Irish girl from Illinois name Bridget

It's fun to find out about Ancestors. I think I will call my grandmother and find out a little more if I can. So even though I am not from that set of great Mormon Pioneers, I am grateful to all those Pioneers that settled this Great Country.

EFY Memories

Aralie and Emalee arriving at Snow College in Southern Utah for EFY. Aralie says one of her favorite things was the guys escorted the girls wherever they went. It was fun to get to know the guys this way. Brother Smith was the session director and he shared many inspirational stories. Of course, the Dances were a big hit too! Aralie says that one thing that impressed upon her was that a Smile can change a persons life. That she feels like she is one of the ones that is Steady and Sure and she can bring light to others lives by being friendly and an example.

Emalee, Sharalee and Aralie (Sharalee was her group councilor)

Aralie with all the adorable boys in her group. Looks like she is having fun.

Aralie and Dane her COW...crush of the week. EFY language

End of Swim Lessons

Aliza learning to dive off the starting board. She is doing better, at least it's not belly first!

Hannah and her teacher Adam. He was lots of fun and helped her improve her strokes.

Aliza and her teacher Tracy. Aliza passed all her skills to advance to the next level Now if she could just float without sinking!

Twilight Quiz

For all you Twilight Fans out there, here's a little quiz. Take the quiz and post your score in the comment section. I got 14948. Still not good enough for the top 100.

http://www.mtv.com/games/arcade/game/play.jhtml?arcadeGameId=10151256

Swim Lessons

Last week Hannah and Aliza started swimming lessons, along with Taylor and Jacob. My kids have not taken swim lessons since with left Long Beach. It was so easy to go to one of the many parks there. Heather found the Valencia Glen pool and the two younger girls can work on their swim strokes. They both love the water, but needed some work on their performance. Leonard always tells me black people don't float, if Aliza is any indication, he is right:-) She is working hard at it though, her freestyle has improved this week.

Hannah was not so great at diving last year. She would always practice when she could. She has definitely improved this year!

Sunday Sampler 7/20/08

Well, in sacrament I must have been playing with Megan too much, because I remember Jordan M. talk and the primary kids singing and the rest is a blur. Jordan gave his talk on the 3rd article of faith about the atonement. Without the gift of the atonement life here would be useless. I am grateful to my Savior for this, The Ultimate Gift. I am grateful for his sacrifice and hope that by trying to live the Gospel Principles the best I can, will be a small remittance to show him how grateful I am. Thanks, for that reminder Jordan.

I taught Hannah's Valiant 11 class today. We talked about Captain Moroni and his army, fighting for their, liberty, their God, their wives and their children. What a righteous desire they had that helped them defeat Zerahemnah. Even though they were outnumbered 2 to 1, their preparations and their prayers with one voice helped them to overcome their enemies. At the age of 25 Moroni must a been a very inspirational speaker to lead all those people to victory. I hope I can meet him one day.

In RS. we talked about living the commandments and the righteous desires that it leads to. I remember when I was little President Kimball said he had no desire to sin anymore. I remember what an impact that statement made on me. I doubt if I will ever get there.

Jordon said he learned about Hope, Faith and Charity. He said he has had a lot of charity shown to him by us lately. If he only knew how much!

Aralie said she learned that obedience was the first law of heaven. Obedience seems to come easy to her, I wish that for me.

Our Home Teacher came for a visit. We love him, he has such a great spirit and he's lots of fun! Love you Larry!

Twilight Trailer #2

Is it December yet? Sorry you will have to watch a tampon commercial first. I haven't found another site yet without the advertisment.

Chubbers!

I love this picture of me holding Miss Megan...she is such a doll. She has the best smile and she is always got her cute little tongue out. She is such a little chubby wubby...I love all her rolls. So I was wondering why EVERYONE loves a chubby baby...it's so regarded as a sign of health and the care of a baby. However, not so much as we grow older...wow I wish I were a baby! Anywho...I just love this little baby, she is so sweet and adorable. I'm happy this little caboose made her surprise entrance into the Mower family.

Banzai Falls

Heather had to be out of her home today since some work was being done...so we set up the Banzai Falls Slide for the first time. I got it at a garage sale for fifty bucks. Great Deal! The kids had lots of fun slip slidding away. It was a great way for them to spend a hot summer afternoon.

Home from EFY

Aralie flew home today from Utah. She has been gone for 10 days. Emalee and Aralie went to EFY at Snow College in Ephraim Utah. First they stayed with Emalee's Grandparents and then down to EFY for a week. She met lots of new friends(boys too!) Aralie had lots of faith promoting experiences to share when she got home. We will post some pix when I get them uploaded. Glad my bubbly tigger is home!

Sunday Sampler 7/13/08

First I have to talk about the sister that sang in sacrament today. She had such a beautiful tone to her voice. Her rendition of Sweet Hour of Prayer was just beautiful. If there was one talent I could wish for it would be to sing such beautiful melodies. But, it is not my lot in life...so I always admire those that have the gift.

Missionary work was definitely the theme for the day. Kevin Wood spoke today after returning from his Mission. I enjoyed his missionary experiences and his humor. I loved the quote he gave from J. Gordon Kimball, "I don't always walk on the straight and narrow path, but I try to cross it as often as I can." I can relate to this so much. I know I am not perfect but I do have a desire to live a good life. Many times my mortal mind takes over, but I always try to come back to the path.

Hannah gave a talk about being a true friend and that will help others see the value in the gospel.
We touched on that principal in Sunday School too. Ammon just wanted to be a good servant for King Lamoni, his faithful attitude made King Lamoni want to know more about Ammons beliefs. (maybe the basket of smote off arms had something to do with it too:-)

In Relief Society we talked about having the Courage to share the gospel with others. Try to worry less about rejection and concentrate on opportunities to share our beliefs with others.

When I was in the workforce it seems that I had more opportunities to talk about the church than I do now. I was always talking about what we did at church or activities we were going to. It was always an easy lead into talking more in depth about the gospel. Even though none of my discussions led to someone being baptized, it did dispel alot of myths people had about the Church. I remember my boss saying now that I know who you are as a person, I don't believe all that I have been told about your church. You are not a person who would do the things they say you do. I feel that was important too, letting people see the Good in the Gospel-Our Gospel.

I am grateful that my Neighbor Wendy Cecil saw a little girl sitting on the porch every Sunday, and decided to ask if she wanted to go to church. I gladly accepted the invitation to attend church with them. I had been going to few different Churches by this time and was a little apprehensive about it being the same You are going to hell message. I clearly remember walking into the chapel and having that "I am Home feeling" I continued to attend church with them for 5 more years before I was baptized at the age of 13. I am grateful for the early influence the church had in my life. It certainly wasn't the same experience my children are having, but it did give me direction early in my life. My love for the Savior has always been immense. I'm grateful I was led to the church early in my life, so I could build upon that foundation. So from my neighbor asking a little 8 yr. old girl to come to church, there is now a family that is Sealed together for Eternity!

An Artist

Aliza loves to draw, color, paint and create. She also has great penmenship, which is sometimes a hard thing for a leftie;-) You can usually find her with a pencil or crayon in her hand. Even if she is watching tv, she is usually drawing or coloring too. Well, she gets this talent from my mom. My Mom is a beautiful artist. She can look at anything and re-create it. I guess it skipped a generation. The other day Aliza asked me how to draw a horse, I said I don't know look at one of yours and draw it. Well that she did. I was shocked at how good it was for a 7 yr old. It was definately more than a stick figure, which is all I can muster. It will be fun watching her discover all she can do!

A Day in the Temple

Today was the Valencia Stakes Day in the Temple. We went to the Los Angeles Temple for an afternoon session. Followed by Sealings and then a Chapel session at 6pm. We went with the Woods. Then met up with the Huffakers for sealings. Bro. Huffaker is an amazing genealogist. He always has stacks of names to be completed. After doing a few sealing the Sealer said, wait are you the Huffaker who does all the genealogy? Bro. H kinda laughed and said yes, I need all the help on the other side because I'm so radical here. We all chuckled at that. When he asked me to act as the Huffaker's child, I said cool do I get dual citizenship now too. (Sis. H is from Canada) I love the peaceful feeling in the temple, no matter how stressful it is getting there...it is always chased away once you start the work. I loved kneeling over the alter with my husband and listening to the promises of eternal families. What a blessing in our lives to have those promises! The temple is a great reminder of the Great Plan of Salvation and the Sacrifice our Savior made for us. It is amazing to think about how this world was created and all the beautiful things in it.

Look at how beautiful the Temple is on the Outside...it's 100 times that on the inside. I love walking up the spiral staircase.

After our day in the Temple we went with the Woods to a Persian restaurant. We had some wonderful shishkabob and cherry rice. Yummmm!

Also, a special shout out to Heather for helping me out with the girls. It's easier to be so far away when you know they are cared for. Thanks Heather!

A New Do for You

Aliza has been asking for weeks to get her hair cut. I love her long ringlets so I have put her off. On our way home from the Aquarium we stopped by our good friends the Neslons. Hannah Nelson just graduated from Paul Mitchell beauty school. When Aliza found out that she was a stylist now, she asked to have her hair cut. Hannah graciously obliged. She gave her a shorter cut with a little A-Line. It is absolutely adorable, especially when she blew it out straight. Hannah is going to be a Fabulous Stylist! Thanks Hannah! Look how gorgeous Hannah is too! We love you great job!