Family History

I don't think I really meant to post that--I just clicked one button and there it went to the blog! But it's kind of interesting. About the middle, it talks about William Giles and his son Frederick--they're on your Genealogy charts. William was the first Giles to join the church and move to Zion. Maybe he and Dad are visiting these days. Just remembering that it's been 6 years today.
Love to you all!

Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of the State of Utah Containing Biographies of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present

Portrait, Genealogical and Biographical Record of the State of Utah Containing Biographies of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present: ""

I changed the color scheme. I like it. Any complaints--go ahead and change it.

"Tatum the Babysitter"

So funny b/c I kind of ended our little CO-OP babysitting group this week. Tatum has been wanting to start babysitting and I was all over that! I told her I have to teach her and she must get ALOT of practice before anyone will want to pay her :). So then yesterday a friend of mine w/ 2 kids ages: 6 and 3 called and said "Could Tatum babysit tonight for just an hr in between when I have to leave and my husband will be home from work. So like 5:30-6:45."
Talk about feeling old!! I have a daughter that can babysit??? WoW! I was way more worried then she was. I gave her the drill before she left. No movies, play with the kids, clean up messes, I am here if you need me, etc, etc... "ya, ya ya I know mom, she said as she left" I can't beleive how old she is already. She is such responsible girl and did a great job. Even got paid $7.00 and The 6 yr old was happy to have the "president" as his babysitter. My baby is growing up!

Taking the Plunge

I can't figure out how to add info on the side of our blog, but I wanted to say that I finally started my own blog. It's- klevenlife.blogspot.com. If you dare to go to it just know that it will be a work in progress and if you're used to seeing all these cute blogs that people have (like I am)-don't expect it to be like those. So there's my disclaimer...
My kids are all also taking the plunge literally (except Sadie-much to her dismay) everyday. Emma still LOVES swimteam in the mornings (yay!) and Holly and Eli LOVE swim lessons in the afternoon. Eli swam halfway across the pool today! I got tears in my eyes when he did. (Mom, thanks for the Ecard :) Today was our last day until mid-June.

Swimming Lessons

We just finished our 8th swimming lesson today for Eli and Holly and I just had to report Eli's triumph. He was so scared starting out and even ran away from the teacher a couple times. Now he LOVES it and is constantly going under water and is getting close to swimming! The best part is seeing him and how excited he is that he's overcome his fear. Also, can you see the rain? We have this freak storm today and probably through the weekend. I think it's LV too-. The weather guy said there hasn't been a storm like this here in May for the past 100 yrs! It is awesome though! Day before yesterday it was 110 and today was down 50 deg. to 60!

Holly is swimming and is cute to watch. I love this picture because everything is blurry except her. Lucky shot. Anyway, swim lessons have been fun- it's the highlight of their day for sure.

Jane's sweet heart

Jane decided a long time ago to cut off her hair when it was long enough and give it to locks of love!

Last night was "The Night"

It reminds me of when she was little! What a thoughtful girl. It was a plan that took alot of patience with a tender head but WE (patience for both of us) DID IT!

Miranda Giles: Published Authoress

IT’s true. I am published, and I actually owe it all to 395. I wrote a paper for my final in that class about post-modernism and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet, which I ended up lengthening and presenting at the Wooden O Symposium hosted by SUU and the Shakespeare Festival last August. Then I rewrote it some more, and submitted it to be published in the conference journal, was accepted, rewrote a little more still…until yesterday I finally got to see my name in the table-O-contents of the little book. A pretty cool feeling.
It’s a very different paper than what it started as, but I like that it still contains some really random allusions to things like Gone with the Wind, St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and American Graffiti, and particularly what Shakespeare would call the ‘vile phrase’: “the pervasive popularity of the playwright who lived to see commercial success in his own day and who has enjoyed an astronomically greater posthumous devotion…”
Sooo anyway a fun success for me to enjoy. I doubt if anyone will ever read my little paper. It is theoretically going to be available on JSTOR (an online scholarly journal data base), but not yet, and maybe not ever.

Some day I promise to write something a lot more fun and to make a good attempt at having it published.

We have a graduate!!

Dallin went to his 1st year of preschool this year and did so well. Today was his graduation it was short and very sweet! They did a few songs and tricks and we were out of there within 20 min. (Which was great since I had Jane puking in her bathroom) Timing always is great w/ kids! Anyway only 2 more days for the girls now and we will be free agin for a few months.....

Littlest Ballerina

I just had to add a couple pictures of my own of Holly. She was so excited -especially because she got to wear make-up. She was the youngest one in her group and the littlest but she did good! It was fun that we got to see her and Tatum and Jane's dance (which was really cute) at the same show!

Dog

I got a dog. Well not just me... Two of my roommates decided they really wanted a dog. They asked me and I said it would be okay so long as it wasn't too big, didn't bark, and didn't shed.

I didn't think they'd actually get one for a while but two days after we talked about it they brought home a three month old pit bull. It's a boy, he's very mellow sleeps a lot and is NOT potty trained yet.

So if anyone knows how to potty train a dog let me know. I think my roommates are going to take him some place and find out but I bet it will take them a while to get around to it. Also if anyone has any great ideas for names place them along with your comments. We were calling him George Saint Pierre (he's a famous UFC fighter) but we just keep calling him George or Pierre and none of us really like either of those names much.

Dancers

Holly was a fancy little ballerina!
Here is our little group of dancers!
As you can see my girls were in a jazz High School musical dance together.


They all had the same teacher so they got to be in the same show. Everyone did great and it was alot of fun.
(And yes, my girls really are the same size now! Tatum is slouching)

Broadway Dreams

Last Saturday was Emma's show. It was so cute! Of course I may be a little biased but I thought Emma had the sweetest voice of all. She said she wasn't nervous even a little bit.

They did songs from lots of popular muscials-like Mama Mia, Wicked, Les Miserable, etc- so they were fun songs to listen to.

This weekend Holly and Tatum and Jane have their dance recital (they have the same teacher) so look forward to an upcoming post on that later! Love you all!

Go Dana!

Just wanted to post a thumbs up for Dana and his new job! I hope it's all that you want it to be--and even more. Starting a fresh can be a little nerve-wracking, but I'm sure he'll have it under control. Good luck tomorrow! Love you!

"Happy Happy Birthday Sally Dear"

Happy 30th Sally!

We wish we could be with you today to help you celebrate.

May the good Year continue and just get better and better. I hope you know how much we love you and are thankful to have you as a sister, s-n-law, and aunt.

Here are some reasons we love you

• "She is always fun"
• "Always has good ideas of fun things to do"
• "She is a Great example of living righteously"
• "Her heart is as big as the sun"
• "A strong love of family"
• "Strong values"
• "She is Kind"
• "A good attitude"
• "An amazing knowledge of the scriptures"
• "She is Happy"
• "Sally is Smart"
• " She is Pretty"
• "Great taste, always looks classy and put together"
• "Sally always has a smile on her face"
• " Sally always has good shoes"
• "She has a strong testimony, and love of the gospel."

As you can see there are many many reasons that we love you,

Thanks for being you!!!

We had a super trip to CA this last weekend! We rented a condo there that was such a great price and by far the best place we've stayed in, there. The best part was that it had a little backyard- one of the few over there. As Emma put it -there were "thousands" of snails back there. And thats where they spent all of their time when we were at the house. Naming the snails, and playing with them like little toys. "Come on Smiley lets go over here..." The funny thing is that they would leave them on this table with an umbrella alot and when we would leave and come back half the snails had climbed up the umbrella, and some gone under the table, etc. So then they'd have to gather them up again. Snails are so gross! Even Holly who was tenative at first but did get right in there. And of course they loved the beach. It was a little cold but of course that never stops kids from playing the water and sand for hours.

We had almost as much fun at "Gram's" and felt very loved by all. I finally got some new "4 generation" pictures for each of my girls which I've been meaning to do for awhile. And a boy 1 of Eli, Dana and Grandpa. Sadie even did great at night! An overall great trip.

El Templo

Today I had an interview with the temple presidency and they called me to be a temple worker. They told me I could say no if I feel too busy, but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time now. I think I just have to do it and make the time. I told him I can start in June, so I can wrap this quarter up first. They already set me apart, right then and there! Gotta love the Church; they are always very efficient.
I'll be working the Saturday Spanish shift, which is an extra bonus. The San Diego Temple serves most of Baja California as well, and Saturdays are when the Mexico stakes come up, so it gets packed with Spanish speakers. Just my style!
I'm really grateful for this chance the Lord has given me to serve, first as RS Pres and now in the temple. I feel it shaping my life in good ways. And I always feel like Dad would be proud of me when I make time for the temple, like he always did. He was such a good example that way.

Back to Basics

Okay so like I said I don't really ever take pictures. So this weekend I did something I haven't done in a long time I tore off a roof! Then we actually laid down ply would over the support beams and everything. It was a ward service project. I was hoping to get a chance to put on some shakes but we didn't get that far. So if there's anything left this Saturday maybe I'll put some shakes on after all.

The whole thing was a flash back to working with Dad. I dressed the part and probably looked somewhat like him. Old t-shirt, hat, sunglasses and headphones (the headphones were connected to my i-pod not a radio headset). I remember this one time when he and Roger were shooting at me with their stable guns. They were trying to tell me it was time for lunch without having to walk across the roof. I also remembered why he told me not to be a roofer. It's such hard work! I know he hated doing it but he loved us. When Roger, Nate and I re-did our roof I remember him telling me "Make sure you get an education because you don't want to have to work for a living." Now that I have graduated and have a real job and all I can see how right they were. It would be so hard to do that everyday.

Anyway even though I don't want to have to do that everyday. It was sort of fun to do for a few hours and brought back some fond memories of Dad. I miss him everyday and I know you guys do too. Well gotta go seminary at 6:00 AM...

A Beautiful Weekend

Yesterday I went with a couple of friends (and yes, Doug is just a friend.) to Bryce Canyon. Having lived here for a year without seeing it was basically a crime I guess. It was beautiful. The video really doesn't capture it. It was an amazing reminder of how awesome the Lord's hand is, and how small I am, but incredible to think that he is in the details of each our lives just the same.

My pie party was a mild success. A lot of people came, but not as many as I expected. I have whole cheese-cake left over, but I'm donating it to the ward today, and I'm making salsa with the left over tomatoes.

Life is good. I am blessed. That is about all there is to it. This will tell you more of my thoughts about life.

Here's my excitement...

AND...Twirly-Whirly's blooming! Actually, the garden is looking really pretty right now. Spring is sprung. It's not nearly as much exersize as soccer, but at least I get outside now and then.

Wanted: Soccer Mom

Tonight my soccer team ended our second season. It's an outdoor but enclosed mini-field and it's just 3 on 3. It's really fun and FAST because you use the walls and everything. We're really bad--haven't won a game yet, but it's fun and a good workout. I feel like I've been discovering my athletic self little by little since I was around 25. Better late than never, I guess. And now I finally have the pictures just like all the kids! But no moms to bring us orange slices afterwards. Mah!