Once Upon a Time...Boy meets Girl

Once upon a time

 there was a little baby boy, a sweet, happy, good-natured little guy. 

Well, this little baby grew and grew into a strong little boy, sometimes rowdy, sometimes naughty, but mostly kind and gentle. 

This little boy grew and grew into a handsome, young man who loved the Lord and wanted to serve him as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in far off places like Guatemala. He learned to habla Espanol and eat rice and beans and walk through jungles.  

Meanwhile...

there was a chubby, jolly little baby girl (yes, that's a GIRL--very becoming in orange).

Well, this little baby girl grew and grew into a shy, quiet, mostly well-behaved little girl.

This little gal grew and grew into a young lady who wanted to learn and explore the world. So she went to college and far away places to learn.  

In the midst of her learning, she realized her great blessings and wanted to share those with others as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

AND THEN...

That young man

with all his zany ways (and green goatee for St. Patty's Day)

met

that young lady 

(the one on the left--aren't those just the cutest, funnest friends ever?!) 

with all her crazy quirks.

Wooing her with his winning smile, snow-tubing antics, and gentle spirit...

Knocking her over with his ice-skating abilities and the BOOMING loud base pouring forth from his car...

 Making her heart pound with his quiet testimony, simple style, and the best Valentine EVER,

of course, she said YES! when he popped the question!

And they lived happily ever after... 

with life's occasional twists and turns, hills and valleys, 

canyons and craters, streams and roaring rapids, 

rainstorms and thunder, and rainbows and sunsets.  

Fifteen years ago today, that young man and that young gal were married in the temple for time and all eternity. 

About Time for a B.O. Party

B. got her braces off today!!!  Hip hip hurray!  To celebrate we are having a B.O. (Braces Off) Party with the goodies B. has gone without for the past 2 1/2 years--popcorn, Doritos, Fritos, gum, Snickers, Butterfingers, Skittles. Anything crunchy and chewy she is sinking her braces-free, appliances-gone teeth into. Of course, we are "helping" her celebrate. We don't want her feeling lonely eating all those goodies.

She will get a bit of a break before the braces go back on all her teeth, and we move forward toward the next bit of mouth work. For now, B. is reveling in the smooth feel of her beautiful teeth. She had a pack of gum she's been saving for months; she's chomped through most of it already!

In other news...
A. helped with the 11 year old Scout Camporee by playing the victim for the 1st Aid part of the competition. She and another victim had driven a car into a tree.  It was really parked by the tree, but just use your imagination. The boys were to assess the situation, use their first aid skills, and "help" the girls by transporting them to a marked area.  The girls were dropped a couple of times and CPR was suggested by some of the boys although A. had tape stuck to her stating she was BREATHING.  (Leaders helped steer the rescuers in another direction!)  She had a fun time.  I was thankful she was so willing to help.

All made up and ready to be wounded. That's a gut wound and a compound fracture on her arm with a real bone (chicken) sticking out of her arm. She was also unconscious (in the scene).

A. with her make-up artist, K, and her fellow "victim" A who was suffering from a severe burn on her hand, bleeding, and shock.  

Aren't they cute!

 B. and A. have been busy working on Personal Progress, a church program for young women with a focus in developing character values through goal setting, prayer, and scripture reading.  B. was working on Knowledge and learned some basic sewing skills. She picked out fabric, helped cut blocks, and sewed it together. We had help from our good sewing friend too.

Miss A. had a school assignment to write a figure of speech on a t-shirt and illustrate it with an example. She had 'Pun' and her example was: "7 days without pizza makes one weak!" Very appropriate for her.

 She also made that jean purse. Cute!  We cut off the legs of old jeans with cute pockets and sewed the bottom closed. We added the strap, using the hem part of the jeans.  It turned out rather cute, I think. A is always wanting to create and do new things. She keeps me stretching.

I have been learning about quilting (again from my good sewing friend).  I wanted to try free-motion quilting which is sewing designs on the fabric while moving it around yourself (usually the machine feeds the material through--feed dogs).  It was a little tricky trying to go the right speed AND move the fabric AND sew a design (I drew it on) AND get the stitches the same size.  Once I stopped sweating, I started to enjoy it. It was like scribbling on fabric with a sewing machine.  I really like the way my runner turned out.

 A close-up of the design. 

Of course, this "news" has been over the course of the last few months. Don't go thinking we've done all this in the past week, because we haven't.  I've just been a little lame about updating the blog.