FYI Elder Uchtdorf was not a pirate

A funny story

I feel very fortunate to be the primary chorister. Not only do I have the blessing of working with Heavenly Father's little ones but I also get the added bonus of the occasional funny moment. For those of you who are not serving in primary and don't get to hear many innocent yet extremely funny comment let me share this one with you. Our primary president has been working all month on teaching the kids the names of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. She has been making up songs that list them in order, telling personal stories and fun facts about them all, and sharing quotes from each of the Brethren. It has been very interesting for all of us and the kids are starting to match up names with faces. One of the fun facts she told the kids was that Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was a pilot before he was called to serve full time in the church. This is one of the kids favorite fun facts so when ever she points to his picture lots of hands go up and the child called upon always says, "he was a pilot". Today our primary president displayed all the pictures and started asking the kids about them. Just like always when she gets to Elder Uchtdorf lots of hands go up. A little girl who has a bad speech impediment was called on and said, "he was a pilot (sounded like pirate)." The kids started laughing and one older boy said, "he was NOT a pirate!" The little girl was upset but tried again yelling out, "he was too a pilot (sounded like pirate again)!!" The primary president calmed things down at this point and said, "yes Maggie you're right he was a pilot".

Baptism details

I know this is very early but I always like to be given plenty of notice on things so I will assume you all do as well. We have the Fruitvale stake center reserved for Jacob's baptism on June 10th for a 5:00 baptism followed by a family dinner. I hope to see as many family members as possible there. Please email me if you are able to bring something for the dinner clementfam97@sbcglobal.net.

Happy Birthday!!

We want to wish Aunt Brittany a happy birthday!! We love you Britt and hope you have a special day!

*notice no picture of Britt. Our old computer crashed and we have not seen Brittany since so come June we will need to make sure we get a picture of her.

Happy Birthday!!

We want to wish my mother a very special birthday. We love her so much and can't wait until June to see her again. She is such a wonderful mother and grandmother!!

My sisters

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time."

-Clara Ortega

Today as I was talking with one of my best friends on the the phone I started sharing an idea I got from one of my sisters. My friend (who has never meet any of my sisters) immediately knew who I was talking about. I realized how much I talk about each of my sisters and how much I respect and admire each of them. While they were all on my mind I thought I would brag for a minute and dedicate this post to each of them. I wish I had the time to give each of them the honors they are due, but being a busy mother of four I will just put down the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear their names.

Heather: Inspiring, I have never seen her start a project that didn't turn out better then I could have ever even imagined.

Emily: HARD WORKING, I don't know how she does it. She can't sleep with something unfinished. She is able to do more in a 24 hour day then I could get done in a week.

Sarah: Wonderful friend, I am so jealous of those who live close to Sarah I know she is a blessing in thier lives.

Clare: Beauty, It is easy for all to see her outward beauty but it is her inner beauty, her true compassion she has for others, that I am talking about.

Christina: KIND, KIND, KIND, What a patient, kind mother she is I am inspired by her.

Aimee: Creative, Aimee has made some of the most beautiful scrap books and cards that I have ever seen. Her students and family are so lucky to have her.

Amanda: Motivated, When Amanda says she is going to do something she does it. It might not happen when she wants it to (Oprah tickets) but if she puts her mind to it then it will get done.

Andrea: Independent, Andrea has done things in her life that I would have never even thought about doing. She lives in Georgia where she has made a life for herself with wonderful friends. I admire the courage and independence it took for her to do that.

Jennifer: Funny, Those who know Jen would say I picked such an obvious one but honestly it's the first thing that pops in my mind when I think of her. She keeps us all laughing!!

Brittany: Sweet, When I think of Brittany I always think of that very sweet 10 year old girl that was so welcoming and kind when I first meet my new family to be. To this day I always know I will be getting a hug from Britt.

Like I said earlier these are just the first things that come to mind. Many of the qualities I have listed for each of my sisters would be just as fitting for another sister on my list. I guess bottom line is I am so blessed to have such wonderful examples in my lives. Thank you all for being my sister and friend. I love you all and miss not seeing you but you are always in my thoughts.

save the date

Save The Date

You are all invited to attend Jacob's baptism on the evening of June the 10th. We do not have the time and building 100% secured (we are hoping to get the Fruitvale building at about 5:00 p.m.) but when we do we will pass the info on to everyone. We hope to see as many of our family and friends there as possible. We are trying to give everyone as much notice as possible of the date so those who are able to make the trip to Bakersfield on the 10th will have plenty of time to make their arrangements. After the baptism we will be having a dinner and games at the building we are able to reserve. Please email me or leave me a message on here if you think you and your family will be able to attend so we can make sure there is plenty of food for everyone.

We are so proud of the boy Jacob has turned into and for his decision to be baptized. He is such a wonderful example to his sisters and to his parents. Jeremy and I feel so blessed and privileged to be his parents. We are so excited to see you all and hope you can make it to Jake's big day!!

Brooke Quote Of The Day (BQOTD)

Brooke is in a very funny phase of her life. She says such silly things at my mother's urging I have decided to post some of my favorite Brookisms.

On Sunday Brooke was looking through some church pictures and she found one of Christ holding a lamb. She thought for a second and then said to me, "Mary didn't have a little lamb her son Jesus did."

Happy Easter Y'all

Wow where should I start? We have had a very exciting Easter weekend. First I was able to complete my McDonald's Happy Meal Wizard of Oz set thank to my mother. I don't know how many of you remember my teenie beanie obsession of '99 but the Wizard of Oz was almost as bad. I really REALLY had to have them all. I am happy to say I have them now!

We did all of the traditional things this weekend; dyed Easter eggs, had an Easter egg hunt, baked/cooked, attended church. It all has culminated to a very non traditional Easter dinner. A group of us in our ward who don't have lots of family in town decided to get together for a Mexican themed potluck. I made spanish rice, spicy chicken, chocolate chip cookies (of course) and brought some tortillas. It was all very good and the kids really had fun playing with all the other kids there.

I have included a picture of Jake. He lost two front teeth this week one on each side of his BIG front teeth. He now can make a very funny "bunny" smile so I took a picture for everyone. If I had been more on the ball I would have bought some of the funny bunny ears but I didn't so just imagine that part.

We have some exciting baby news!!!

We have some exciting news for everyone. If you are thinking this is the big baby number 5 announcement then you are very mistaken. We have adopted a little puppy. His name is wiggles and he is very smart and sweet. We were told his parents are medium size dogs so we hope that wiggles doesn't get very big. We intend to keep him inside most of the day. The kids just adore having his as part of the family. Jacob is excited that he finally has a little brother.

As promised we also have a special shout out/birthday wishes for our Uncle David. We hope you are having a wonderful day and miss you tons!!

Amanda, this one is for you. As you requested Jeremy and his buddy (the other Jeremy) took a camera to the gym and had someone film them playing racquetball with his sweet new racquet. Here are some of the highlights of Jeremy making the other Jeremy his poster child (as he calls it). Once again click on the boxes with the "x" in them.

Hello again. I am trying to make up for not posting anything is about two months. This is my 3rd one in the last week. Well Jeremy has made a new discovery that brings him much joy. he recently found a supermarket that sells whole tri-tip!!! After searching for almost 8 years, one of the local stores started carrying it. He talked to butchers over the years explaining that tri-tip is part of the round and he would show them where it is usually cut. He even used the wall diagram of where all the cuts of meat come from on the butcher's wall to point it out. They would all just respond with, "huh?, I've never heard of it" Well his endeavors have paid off because at least for now, we know where to get it. We bought one on Friday and he cooked it yesterday. He says he is a little rusty but cooking tri-tip is like riding a bike. It was very good. We had our friends Danielle and Elijah over and they enjoyed it too.
Here is a short video of Brooke doing one of her favorite things these days, dressing up like a ballerina and watching her "Bella Ballerina DVD". I had to be sneaky because she is shy and didn't want me to film her. Click the box with the "x" in it. Its a link to you tube. It works, I promise.

Medical Mystery

I am happy to say that after a very strange medical phenomenon occurring in our home everyone seems to be healthy and finally over it all. For about a week every night either Brooke or Riley would wake up during the night and throw up. This always seemed to happen around 3 am and it never happened in the toilet. Needless to say there was lots of laundry going on in our home and several sleep deprived nights in a row. The girls never acted sick during the day or at night. They would throw up once or twice and get cleaned up and then go back to sleep. Neither of them ever ran a fever, had cold symptoms, loss of appetite or any other symptoms that might explain why this was going on. It always happened in the middle of the night and they seemed to take turns. It was very frustrating and gross, but it looks like it might be over now. The last incident was on Monday.