Ahh, Success...finally! (Videos of Dancing throught the Decades)

Yipee, they finally loaded. I apologize for not being the greatest camera person. I forget that I if I turn the camera, the pic turns too. Sorry.

Here is Cass doing the twist.


Here is Kenzie doing all kinds of eighties dances. She did a great job on the moon walk.

"Dancing Through the Decades"

Our Elementary school has a tradition that started about 4 years ago, they "dance through the decades." Each grade learns a certain dance pertaining to a certain era. Kindergartners do the hokey pokey, 1st grades do the twist, there is also line dancing, the hand jive, disco from the 70's and dancing from the good old 80's! It is a fun program, and I love to go watch the kids. This year was the twist for Cass and Kenzie got to do the 80's (my favorite dance era of course)!

Cassidy had a great time learning the twist, and as you can see in the video, she does quite well :). She got to wear her 1st grade class shirt, and she had a little speaking part before her grade danced.

Kenzie got to do several different dance moves from the 80's, and she seemed to master Michael Jackson's moonwalk. We had a good time picking her outfit, and doing her hair. It brought back a lot of memories for me, and I LOVED the music.

Hopefully in the future I can figure out why the video wouldn't work, and I will post it later.

Celebrating our Freedom and Pioneer Heritage

It has become a tradition on the 4th of July to go on a bike ride, and have a picnic in a park somewhere before we head off to watch fireworks. This year we had fun at Draper Park, and Cutter is old enough now, and so good on his bike that he kept right up with everyone, and doesn't complain. He is such a great little bike rider. We also have fun buying an ice cream cone from the the ice cream truck. He must remember us from last year, he certainly made a haul on our group of 15. At the park waiting for fireworks we play card games. It is fun to have C home and enjoying it with us.

For the 24th, we swim at the Kearns Pool. It is such a fun place, with all kinds of water features, slides, buckets, sprayers, etc. Even I got in my suit, and enjoyed the massive water bucket that spills down on you. All the kids had such a great time. After it is BBQ time and fireworks at home. Summer is such a fun time.

 

Volunteers

 

Saturday June 13th Cory and I were able to volunteer and help out at the Temple Open House. Cory's assignment was parking, and mine was an usher at tent 3. What an awesome experience we both had. It was a very stormy day, and Cory headed out to his assignment in the rain. Kenzie was a little worried. "Is dad going to be okay?" she asked me. I said he would be just fine. He is serving the Lord. As Cory's group got updated and ready to go and and work, they were told that Moroni had been hit by lightning. WOW!!! Moroni did his job protecting the temple. (see pics below) At our Thursday night orientation we had been encouraged to be kind and willing to accept all those that came to see the temple, reservation or not, church dress or not. There had been feedback given to President Monson that people were being turned away because they didn't have a reservation etc. It was sad for us to hear that that had happened, but our Stake President told us in that meeting that he knew that our Stake would not be that way. To go out and serve all with open arms and hearts. Because Cory was doing parking he would be the first person people entering at his location would come in contact with. He shared with me the neat experiences he had. There were several that drove in (he was assigned the main entrance to the temple)and didn't have a reservation. All asked, we don't have a reservation, is that a problem? Of course the answer was no. One family was late for there reservation time, and they had a van load of hungry kids. Cory said, don't worry, you go get your family fed and come back. We will let you in. Another car pulled in, they had just taken their daughter to Provo, were driving by and wondered if they could go through the temple without a reservation...absolutely. He had so many other great experiences as well, just standing there at the main gate, welcoming and directing traffic. I had the opportunity to be an Usher at tent 3. There are 5 tents showing a 12 minute video on temples, and a little history of South Jordan. Patrons go to the tents first to see the video before they walk through the temple. I was on the north side of the temple and posted at the first place people would come to from the parking lot. Tent 3 was designated as the Spanish Speaking tent, or if there wasn't a need for spanish, we would show english as well. We filled the tent 3 times with spanish speaking patrons. An entire spanish speaking branch came together to go through the temple. It was such a special experience, greeting all those that passed by me, welcoming them to the temple, and directing them where they needed to go, even if it was to the bathrooms. It was so fun to be there with other ward members, carpooling over, and working side by side. Cory and I look forward to serving again the end of July.

Birthday Girl

Cassidy turned 7! She had a great birthday celebration that lasted several day. The Saturday before her birthday we had a BBQ with Cory's family to celebrate both Jordyn and Cassidy's b-days. It is always fun to get together with the cousins. On her birthday she got to wear a birthday crown all day at school. Her class made her a giant birthday card. At home she opened presents and we decorated birthday cakes. She picked her cake and wanted it baked in a heart muffin tin, so we decorated those and cupcakes with Sara F, and friends from the neighborhood that dropped by. With the girls we have decided that even birthdays they can have a party, and odd birthdays you can take a friend to dinner. So, being an odd year, she invited her friend Ruby from school to go to dinner with us. Cassidy picked IHOP. We had a fun time with her and her friend. Ruby is a very nice girl. They both were dressed up and looked so cute.

Herriman Days Parade

 

We always look forward to Herriman Days. The parade, carnival and fireworks. It signifies the start of summer and all the fun activities. This year Cassidy had the opportunity to actually be in the parade with her dance group. She was very excited about it. She got to wear her new shirt from Illuzion Dance, and ride on a trailer with hay. Kenzie and I took her over to the school to meet her group, dowsed in sun screen and with her water bottle and candy to throw. We went and found us a spot along the parade route, and went back and got Cutter and Cory. Kenz and Cutter had a great time gathering all the candy. We love the sheriffs on their motorcycles. We saw Eden (Kenzie's art teacher) following behind them, her husband is a sheriff. The Bishop, his daughter and her friend from our ward were the flag bearers. Then we saw Miss Cass and we yelled and screamed. She was so happy, and had a great time. Cory took the kids to the carnival later that day, Cutter loved the Ferris wheel. They came home with fun little prizes as well. It was a great day!

 

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

 

What a truely once in a lifetime opportunity we have this year being able to not only visit one new temple in the valley, but two. Cory didn't make it to the Draper Temple with us in March, so I made sure that we ALL got to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. This is our new temple. This is where we will go, to fill our ward and stake assignments, this is where McKenzie will go from now on to do Baptisms for the Dead. She was able to go with the ward her first time to the Jordan River Temple the Wednesday before we went to the Open House. She loved everything about doing Baptisms and wants to go again and again and again. So it was extra special for her to go through this temple knowing what to expect now and knowing that this is where she will go from now on. Cory took a Friday off, and we went as a family to the Open House. It was so beautiful and peaceful. It is so different from the Draper Temple, both extremely beautiful. They are different designs. Draper is very square, and the Oquirrh Mountain is Rectangular, and has two grand staircases. The Celestial Room is at the east end of the temple, the Chandelier in there is an eight pointed star. It is absolutely gorgeous. I had met a gentleman while waiting for our food one Wednesday at Carl's Jr, he was up from Utah County working in the temple, getting things ready to hang the chandelier and told me about it, so I was anxious to see it in person. Because this will be our temple we also have the opportunity to serve at the open house. Cory and I had gone to a training meeting the day before and it was so fun to walk through and recognize people from our Stake their volunteering. In the sealing rooms they have invited the Bishoprics and their wives to be in the rooms and share their testimonies about the temple. As we walked into one of the sealing rooms, the girls recognized the women in their that was going to speak to us. She is the crossing guard that the girls see everyday going to and from school. That was so neat for them. They got a hug, and I think it made it more personable and real to them to hear someone they know from their everyday goings on share her testimony. As we exited the temple and headed to the hospitality tent, Cutter looked up and there to greet us was Teacher Tricia, Cutter's preschool teacher. He was excited and gave her a hug. Again, so neat to see someone from his little world there serving and sharing in the special blessing of this temple. After our cookie, we headed to the front of the temple and took pictures. The Laurels have been asked to serve at the front of the temple and offer to take pictures so everyone can be in the picture. Just a wonderful, special experience.