"Mom I need to feel loved, can you do a blog about me?"...JAY

I love my Jay man! He is in my opinion the best son in the world (for me!!!) He is very astute in knowing when I need help and when to steer clear! He's such a little gentleman, and is very respectful to me and his sisters. This year Jay has grown a lot and is almost as tall as me. I'm not ready to face the fact that soon he will be the tallest in our family! Jay has had a fun year in middle school. It's been a pleasure to see him make some tough choices about what friends to hang out with. I'm lucky that he made GREAT decisions. Everybody loves Jay...the line from Ferris Bueller comes to mind when describing him-- "Oh, he's very popular! The sportos, the motorheads. geeks, *&^%$, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, @#%!&*@#$, they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude!" This describes Jay to a tee!!! One day I was helping a few of the 12 year old girls from our ward with a project and I asked them "so, how is Jay at school?" they replied "EVERYBODY LOVES JAY!"

Jay is very inquisitive. He asks some deep questions sometimes and is NEVER satisfied with some of the passive answers I give him. He has a real desire to know answers!!! I love him for that, he keeps me on my toes!

Have tree will climb...this will be engraved on his tombstone!!! When we went to the park to take pictures of the kids, I thought it would be cute if all the kids were hanging upside down. Jay COULD NOT do it! We laughed so hard at his desperate attempts.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the 6 year olds in our ward called and asked if Jay could come over and help show him how to dress for church. It was soo cute! The following Sunday, Jay was asked by the parents to come and help get the kid ready for church...Jay very willing went and helped! I know a lot of the little guys look up to Jay. Jay has quickly become the favorite babysitter in the ward and it's starting to irritate his older sister!!!

Jay gives the greatest hugs! I'm lucky to be his mom!!!

Jay is such a jokester...he and Britt work well as a team!!!

I hope Jay feels more loved now! He is one amazing kid. I have learned a lot from him, and I'm sure he's got lots more to share!

Brittany

My sweet Britt turned 15 on Friday...I still can't believe it!!! Britt was born on Mother's Day. It was a perfect first Mother's Day. I feel so blessed to be her mother. I have learned so much from her. Britt is so confident in who she is and truly stands strong for all that she believes in. People are drawn to her and she welcomes everyone with open arms. Britt was recently asked by the Stake Presidency to speak at the upcoming Seminary Graduation, she will be speaking in honor of the Freshman. She's amazing! Britt is definitely the peacemaker in our family. She's always the first to make a joke and the first to speak up when she has an opposing opinion...always with tact of course! She's an amazing negotiator and is very good at getting what she wants. I truly am so thankful the Lord sent her to me, she's been a joy from day one!!!

She's always been picture perfect in my opinion. She has always made everything an adventure and a fun memory! I love her for that!

Can't you just feel her mocking my picture taking in this one...she's a delight!

This year Britt had a "Minute to Win it" party. It was so fun to see her and her friends do the goofy games and compete against each other. Britt has an amazing group of friends. It was fun to have a houseful of teenagers.

I love this picture above...I wish I had video taped the opening of presents. All of the guys made "ooh and aww" sounds every time Britt opened a present. It was HILARIOUS!!! The night was filled with fun and games and the energy from these guys is infectious!

Every child should be so lucky to have an aunt like Aunt Anne...she surprised Britt by showing up with Beth and Bella. Anne called from our driveway (unbeknown to us) and told Britt to go online and look at the picture she had just posted of her present. When Britt opened up the picture it was of Beth and Bella in our driveway. So fun!!! Wayne and Jay were away at Father's and Sons so we went and enjoyed a girls night out. We went to dinner and then went and saw "Letters to Juliet" it was the cutest movie!

Britt got braces a few days before her birthday. I think she's adorable! I can't wait to see the end result!!!

I mentioned that Britt has great friends...when I picked her up from school on her birthday this is what I saw. She had a handful of balloons, treats and presents! I'm glad she's loved and I'm glad she's mine forever!!!

To SLR or not...

I have been debating for a long time what kind of camera should I get to replace the one I dropped? I LOVED the camera that I had, it was a Panasonic Lumix. It was more camera than I needed. I'm a point and shoot kind of gal...I appreciate good photos, but liked the compact camera that fit nicely in my purse or pocket. I wasn't trying to win any awards with my photos, they just go in a file on my computer...maybe someday they will end up in a scrapbook. I love real life shots and occasionally like to post pics on my blog or FB. My camera broke, luckily my husband bought the warranty so I did get to replace it. It was a fairly nice camera, not a $700 DSLR camera but a nice camera...what would I replace it with? I could've gone with replacing it with the another Lumix, or I could go a different route...decisions, decisions! I took several online quizzes with a variation of titles like, what kind of camera should I get? I talked to several people who have DSLR's and I just couldn't see myself enjoying one. I did a lot of research and found that the Fuji Finepix fit all of my desires in a camera. I really wanted to still have a great point and shoot, but desired to have options to change Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, optical zoom and manual focus. I think I went to every place within 50 miles of my house that sells cameras and spent too many hours online trying to decide what kind of camera to get. I decided on the Fuji Finepix S1800. It has A LOT of features that I'm still learning to use. I plan to take a class at the community college so I can learn how to better use the features that it offers. It's a GREAT point and shoot and has 18x optical zoom. I have taken several online lessons and have learned a lot so far. I am very happy! I'm still not out to win awards and just capture those great real life pictures that probably will never change. It has been fun to look at award winning pictures and know my camera has the ability to achieve that if desired. I have had so much fun picture taking and learning something new. If you're in the market for a new camera and have the means I'm completely happy with my investment and happy my husband let me get a slight upgrade!!! (love ya babe!)

I can't wait to get out and take more pics! I have to fold laundry and vacuum first!

New Pics...I'll blog later about my new toy that I LOVE!!!