We Have a Star!

We were so excited to see Kylie's photo and name on the front page of the Local Section in our city's paper The Modesto Bee. The article appeared in Saturdy's paper and talks about Red Ribbon Week (kids pledge to stay drug free) and her school's jog-a-thon. Kylie was thrilled and thinks she is famous now.

P.S. We were so excited to learn that our family will soon be getting a girl cousin. Karen and Matt are having a girl due in March!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Monday night, October 22, we went to the pumpkin patch for Family Home Evening, as you can see from the pictures we had a great time! We went in the corn maze, fed the fish, saw farm animals, and of course, picked out pumpkins. We cherish moments like this.

Family Updates

Everyone I've been talking to says that they have been so busy lately. I keep wondering why October is such a busy month. I mean it's not like its the holiday season. I guess it is soccer season though and that keeps our family very busy. We have at least three soccer games at different times and places every Saturday. We are so grateful Lloyd has weekends off! Well, I thought I would just give a quick update on what we have all been up to.

Lloyd is working a lot; he's trying to work a double shift every week so we can have a little extra. He is in the second counselor in the Stake YMs and is in charge of coordinating the roadshows for the entire stake. He just ordered our new pool liner and wishes he had more time to spend working on the backyard. We all celebrated when we learned Lloyd got Halloween night off.

Kristi enjoyed her half marathon, but hasn't gone on a run since. She's been doing Body Pump and Turbo Kick classes at the gym. She's trying to eat a little better to lose the last 12 pounds to get to her pre-pregnancy weight. She picks up a lot after the kids and is almost always doing laundry. She is in charge of the Primary program at church (Oct. 28) which seems to be going pretty well. She's been buying a few items from ebay including the kids' Halloween costumes and a professional flat iron.

Courtney is becoming a teenager. She is in our ward's roadshow. She also started back with Girl Scouts (Kristi is the leader). She just took her earrings out and is sporting a different pair every day. She loves to instant message on the computer and play her SIMS 2 Pets game. Courtney also loves the trophy (2nd place) she got from her last soccer tournament.

On Tuesday, Katelyn and Kylie switched back to the Standiford, the school that they went to last year. Originally, they had to go to our neighborhood school because their transfer to Standiford was denied, but Standiford called on Friday and asked us if we wanted to come back. The girls decided they would. Now all of the girls are on a traditional schedule instead of year round. Katelyn adores her new teacher. She is also back to Girl Scouts and ballroom dancing. She has improved so much in soccer and is really helping her team out this year.

Kylie is all over the soccer field! I keep reminding her not to be a "ball hog." She scores at least five goals a game (there are no goalies at her level). She has also started gymnastics. Her teacher says it comes pretty naturally to her. I would love for her to compete in gymnastics like I did, we'll see. She is such a great reader. I wish I could take the credit, but it comes from her kindergarten teacher and her own ability. She also is enjoying Brownie Girl Scouts. Kylie keeps telling us she doesn't want to grow up because she doesn't want to get her period (we're preparing Courtney for this one) or have a baby. She says she just wants to be ten years old not any older.

Cameron is Cameron - never a dull moment when he's around. He thinks some Halloween things are "scary." He locked me out of the house three times last week, lost my license(luckily Kylie found it inside a dollhouse in the garage), and throws things out his bedroom window on the second story. He also sneaks into the car to eat gum and swallow it. I think he swallowed 4-5 pieces one day. Even though he keeps us on our toes, he is very sweet. He always has a kiss for us and says very precious things. When I say "How old are you?" He says "I'm three years old." When I ask how old I am he says, "You're Sister Payne." Also, when he makes a mess in his room or breaks something I say "Who did this?" and he readily admits, "I did it!" Last week he ripped up the two framed pictures I had of the boys with their newborn pictures and footprints. Oh well! Cameron also loves going to his play group with four other little boys every Tuesday and Thursday.

Conner is now 9 months old. I keep telling him not to grow up, but he isn't listening. I love all the baby stages, but he's at an especially cute one right now! He is always smiling at us and so very happy. He still loves to climb up the stairs and continues to do the army crawl. He loves to eat and nurse. He is getting his 8th tooth. It's funny he had 7 teeth for so long and the one that is coming in on the bottom is finally going to even things up. He has recently learned how to shake his head "no" and does it all the time to get attention. Now we are trying to teach him to wave bye-bye. He loves the vacuum. He gets a huge smile on his face whenever he sees the vacuum and always chases after it. I think he looks so cute when he sits on the seat in a shopping cart. He holds the little bar and smiles at everyone he sees. I told the girls I may just have to take a picture of him in the shopping cart (Courtney thinks that would be very embarrassing). He is sleeping well. He goes to sleep around 10 and wakes up around 7. He and Cameron already really love each other. I think those two are going to be trouble together. Tonight I asked the girls, "Is it just me or is Conner really cute?" They said he really is a cute baby. We are so blessed to have him. I have to admit I love it that he can't talk back to me yet. I adore his little blonde head and precious blue eyes. He looks a lot like Kylie. I guess you could say I'm smitten with our little guy.

Well, that's life around here. I'm grateful this blog is helping me record some things about the kids. I haven't written in my journal in a long time. I'm trying to enjoy these precious years with my children.

An Adored Prophet

I had to speak in church on Sunday. The Bishopric let me choose my own topic so I chose to speak about General Conference. Even though we all know talks are not the most fun thing to do, I really considered this one a blessing. It helped me to pay closer attention to conference and review all the talks that were given (they're already available on the internet). My sweetest and most tender moment of the conference came Saturday morning. When I woke up I quickly turned to the BYU channel. I was anxious to see who was going to take President Faust's spot in the First Presidency and who would be called to the Quorum of the Twelve. After the choir sang, President Hinckley read the sustaining of church officers. As I watched him read the names including his own, my heart was filled with so much love for him. The Lord has truly given the Church a tender mercy by prolonging President Hinckley's life here upon the earth. He is 97 years old and has so much life, vigor, and love. Although he desperately misses his dear wife who died three years ago, he presses on. He is so humble and has such a sense of humor. We have been truly blessed as he has served as our prophet these past twelve years. What a precious moment it was for me last Saturday morning as I watched our sweet prophet. I know without a doubt he is a modern-day prophet and a mouthpiece for the Lord. I know he truly loves and prays for us daily.

In my talk I also highlighted some of the messages given at conference. I specifically enjoyed Elder Dallin H. Oak's talk entitled, "Good, Better, Best." In his talk he says. "Most of us have more things expected of us than we can possibly do...We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good thins we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should commend priority attention in our lives." He goes on to recount the story of Mary and Martha found in the Bible. I often have to ask myself am I a Mary or a Martha? President Oaks really emphasizes spending quality time together as a family. We should not let work, sports, TV, video games, and even church activities take away the precious time we can use to study the gospel and be with our family. For Family Home Evening, we made a chart of all the activities we do and we divided them up into categories of "Good," "Better" and "Best." We put this chart on our fridge to serve as a reminder of how we can best spend our time. I highly recommend this talk!

I also liked what Sister Beck had to say about mothers doing less. She explains that mothers choose very carefully how they spend their time and don't try to do it all. There we go! We all have permission not to be super Moms.

Well, I did not intend for this post to be so long, but I wanted to share just a few thoughts from conference. I hope the inspired words of our dear leaders will be something we cherish.

A Priceless Feeling

On Saturday, September 29, I ran the half marathon I had been training since May for. Below are a few costs I had for the half marathon.



Worn in running shoes:

35 dollars

MP3 player with all favorite songs:

85 dollars

Half Marathon entry fee:

40 dollars

The thrill of running 13.1 miles and crossing the finish line:

PRICELESS!



Yes, I really enjoyed the race along with my two friends Ann and Julie. The course race was very flat which I loved. The weather was perfect (not too hot or cold), except for a little wind. I completed the race in 2 hours and 4 minutes. Julie and Ann were 7 minutes ahead of me at 1 hour 57 minutes. I was excited that I beat my goal by 11 minutes; my goal was to finish in 2 hours 15 minutes. I think the pizza and cookies I ate the night before gave me extra energy and the songs Lloyd had downloaded for me kept me moving. I got a little tired around mile 9, but not too bad. The only mile that was hard was mile 13 because I knew I was almost there. It was such an exhilarating feeling when I finished. A runner's high really is priceless. Ann and I (and maybe Julie) are looking forward to doing a full marathon in October 2008 in St. George, UT. Something to train hard for - 26 miles is twice as many as 13!