Elleigh

Elleigh is my 6 year old queen of the world. She has so much confidence and attitude. Her enthusiasm is infectious and she can talk anyone into just about anything. She feels things deeply. She loves her family and friends with a passion and can be heartbroken by the slightest wrong to or from these people. She can be my biggest helper and is the first person to try and make you feel better. She is a caretaker at heart. Thank goodness Sophie is patient and lets Elleigh "mother" her quite a bit.

Elleigh loves individual attention from us. Matt and I decided to take the girls on individual dates one weekend and Elleigh was beyond excited to have one on one time with us. I wonder if she remembers what it was like before little sister was born and she had all the attention.
Another time, she went to the store with daddy all by herself. As they were walking out, holding hands, she turned and said, "well this is romantic." We laughed about that one for awhile.

She loves to write and illustrate her own stories. They are all very creative and she really spends a lot of time making them a nice piece of work. Then she loves to read it to everyone in the family over and over again. Her best audience member is her sister Sophie who is very attentive when her big sister wants to read anything to her. Her latest story, and one of my favorites, is called "The Cat and Dog Hate Each Other."

Elleigh likes to make up games for her and her sister or friends to play. They are very creative and she is very specific about how they must be played and will give constant instruction throughout. She is always the one to take charge and be the leader of the group. Sometimes this can be the cause of disciplinary action from her mother because it can turn into extreme bossiness. Most of the time it is just a good characteristic to have and everyone enjoys the ideas she comes up with. She can really create a fun atmosphere.

Elleigh likes to feed people and make sure they are taken care of. If anyone isn't feeling well she will find them something to eat or drink and usually get them a wet wash cloth for their forehead. She will stroke your arm and love on you so that you can feel better. I love this about her.

She is very good at coming up with "excuses" as to why something was not her fault. This might sound like a negative thing and sometimes it is but usually it is amazing what this little girl can come up with! The other day she was upset at me because she had ended up in her room after a tiff with her friend and she explained to me that I just don't understand a kid's life and this is why she was in trouble. She felt the need to enlighten me on what had really occurred. Apparently the fight that I heard her start was all a misunderstanding that adults wouldn't get. I love it! I have a 16 year old already.

Elleigh makes friends with everyone! She is the first person to walk up to the other children and introduce herself and her sister. They are immediately best friends. Her friends at school are very important to her and one of my favorite things is to hear all the goings on in her 1st grade world. Who her boyfriend is this week and why (currently it's Eli.) Who said what to her today that made her happy or sad and who she helped today. She also loves to please her teachers and will report to me what they said to her every day.

Elleigh is a very talented dancer. We moved to Mississippi and found a dance studio we liked but we had missed auditions for the upcoming year. They told me that they would put her on something called pre-company and see how she did. Within a few lessons they pulled me aside and told me how talented she was and that they wanted to put her up on a 6-7 year old team. They said how well she listened and picked up so quickly and how flexible she is. They made her feel very important and I was very proud. She is so poised for a 6 year old and takes it very seriously. It will be fun to see what she does with it. She loves to make up her own dances as well as practice the ones she is learning in class. She also loves to come home and teach them to Sophie.

Elleigh loves to pray. She says the most descriptive prayers I have ever heard. The whole thing is like a performance with the way she uses her voice to emphasize things. It can be hard not to laugh sometimes but it is always a beautiful thing to hear her talk to her Heavenly Father. My favorite thing she is asking for a lot lately is to please bless that no bugs get in here (a serious Mississippi problem) and that no bandits get in our house. I am not sure where she got the word bandit but I love it. She then thanks Him for her family with such a loving tone that it can bring me to tears. Sometimes she will even reach out and touch that person as she mentions their name in the prayer. It is the sweetest thing. Her prayers are so innocent and lovely and I know her Heavenly Father loves her and her sweet prayers dearly.

Elleigh you are my first born and you have changed my life forever. I love your spirit and what you bring to our family. What would we do without our Elleigh bug?

Sophie

Sophie is my heart. She is the crack up of my life and a gift to me. She is a delight every day and I am lucky to be able to squeeze her little body on a daily basis. She turned 4 this June and it happened too fast. She says she just doesn't know how to stop growing so I guess it will have to continue. There are many times that I just wish I could freeze her and keep her just this way. Alas, she grows into a distinguished little girl more and more every day.
This post is mostly for me to record some of the fun things she is doing at this point in her life and share them with you.

Sophie would like more than anything to be a mermaid. I have caught her saying a prayer to Heavenly Father, asking that he please make her a mermaid and her family so that we can stay together and live in the water but her dad will have to be a merman instead of a mermaid. She told me that she has asked Jesus too but that he just hasn't changed her yet. It is very hard to explain to a 4 year old that she isn't going to be turned into a mermaid because Heavenly Father wants her to be a Sophie. I think she is still holding out hope.

She has also invented something called a "ghost hug." This is where you hug yourself but you are sending it to someone you love like blowing them a kiss. She will blow me a kiss and then squeeze herself and say ghost hug! I am not sure where the name came from but I love it.

Sophie made up a club and came up with rules for her club. You have to wear a dress with high heels and make up. Those are the only rules. The club's activities consist of dancing around in these outfits and posing. It is a lot of fun and I am proud to say I am a member. It won't be long before mom's aren't invited anymore. Hopefully not anytime soon.

She is obsessed with jumping out at us and screaming "Boo!" This is usually followed by her laughing and saying, "Got ya!" It can be pretty funny most of the time but sometimes she is really sneaky and it really scares the crap out of me and Elleigh. Now anyone who knows me well will know that being startled is not one of my favorite activities. Elleigh is like me in this way. Matt doesn't startle easily. I remember a time a few years ago when my sister Carly scared me so bad I ended up in fetal position crying. Yeah I should probably be on pills. It's pretty funny now.

This little girl LOVES baths. She would spend hours in there if I let her. She loves to take toys in there and sing and "swim." If you want a giggle you can listen to her outside the door. She musn't know you are listening or she stops. You will usually here the most beautiful version of the Little Mermaid song ever sung. The voices she gives to her toys is also quite entertaining.

Sophie would change outfits 15 times a day if I let her. She comes up with the most interesting combinations but the best part is the way she presents herself after. You have to close your eyes and then she will reveal her latest creation. Then she will prance in front of you with the most dainty hands you've ever seen. This girl already knows how to strut and strike a pose. It's all too beautiful.

Sophie is not afraid to give kisses to her family. Much to the chagrin of her older sister who is not as fond of kissing and so of course this means that she tries even harder. Very rarely does she pass by you without a kiss and huggy (as she calls it). Matt made up the rule that every time she comes and asks him for anything, the payment is a kiss and hug. I hope she never changes this.

I love you my little princess angel. Your dad and I would be lost without you.

4th of July - Yes I Am Not Caught Up

So we spent the 4th of July back in Mississippi where we will be living for about 2 1/2 years. It was a little sad to not be at our family BBQ's and with friends but we found some really fun activities to go to. Our bishop and his family invited us to their house for a BBQ as well as some other people from the ward. It was really fun with great food! We then went down to a place called Bonita Lakes. They have music, booths and fireworks. It was a lot of fun in a beautiful area. It was disgustingly hot but that is to be expected in Mississippi in July. Happy Birthday America!
Oh and thanks for the dresses Grandma! They were perfect for this occasion!

Oh Sophie

If you have seen the movie Madagascar 2 then you know that she is mimicking Alex the Lion. She is a crack up.

More from Alabama

We were able to do some cool things in Montgomery. There is a lot to see there and we had a lot of friends to enjoy it with. I miss them all! Matt had a good time with all the training they did. All around ASBC was a good time.

Alabama and more new friends

Ryan and Lucy Claussen. They have 2 beautiful daughters.

Crystal and Roland LaFrance (with Lucy in the background)


Joemaira and Mario Sauceda. They also have 2 beautiful daughters. (and Lucy)

Stephanie and Mike Chambers. They also have 2 beautiful girls. (No Lucy)


We got to go with Matt while he went to more Officer training at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL. I was glad we didn't have to be separated again for that 6 weeks but it was interesting to live in a small hotel room on the base for 6 weeks. However, we made some great friends for life that made it so fun.

First days in Mississippi then on to Alabama

In Alabama, we went to a children's convention and the girls got to jump on big blow up toys and listen to music, make crafts and play games. Here is their face painting.



Elleigh got bored at one point on our drive out to Mississippi (that we did in 2 days because we are crazy!) The girls were amazing the whole trip. They didn't even complain.....not once! It was divine intervention. Sophie was known to say that this was the best trip of her life......so funny. I guess we don't need to take them to Disneyland anymore. Just an unbearable drive across the country. So anyway, I couldn't get too mad at Elleigh when she did this to her hand because they had been so well behaved the whole time.

This little guy was at our doorstep every night in Mississippi in temporary lodging. He hopped into our room one night and so we took a picture. It has been fun to see all the new animal life that we don't see much of at home. We also have seen turtles, foxes, possums, armadillos, cranes and more. Very interesting.

New friends in Mississippi. These are some friends we met at church. They have a really nice neighborhood pool and were nice enough to invite us over. Soooo much fun. Thanks Mathesons!