You can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man

Elise decided she wanted to bring reindeer puddings and gingerbread men for her preschool snack. At night Kent made a few batches of gingerbread men (Stub Toe Joe cookies – a mild type of cookie similar to gingerbread) with the girls.

Mama promised the girls she would put the gingerbread men away as soon as they were done cooling because we had read a story about ginger bread men running away. But Mama forgot to put three of them away before bed, two gingerbread men and a small gingerbread bear; she accidentally left them out!! Uh oh!

The next morning Mama said, "Girls, did you eat your gingerbread men I left you on the table?" The girls said, "No, mama, we didn't." Mama said, "Then where are they?" Then we spotted a note on the table....

We ran to the raisin container and we only saw this.

Oh no! We ran to the doll bed and only found this and a few raisins.

We ran to the Christmas tree and up in one of the branches we found this. Darn they got away again! 

We ran to the scale and found this.

But don't you worry we finally caught those little running men in the drawer that holds the girls tea party stuff. They were getting ready for a party with raisins and tea party set. The girls ate those little cookies up as fast as they could so they could not get away again!

Grace's First Birthday Party

Grace's had her first birthday this week! She almost enjoyed her birthday as much as her sisters enjoyed her birthday. It is amazing that it has been a year since she was born. We just love this little, cute girl. She brings so much joy into our lives. I made her a chocolate pudding cake with whipped topping and a yummy potato ham soup for dinner. She ate so much of her dinner she wasn't hungry for the cake, but enjoyed playing with it anyway. Nana and papa came over to help us celebrate and she recieved a very fun package from Grandma and Grandpa Slack. Happy Birthday little Gracie.

Opening Presents

Eating Cake

Two Girls in a Boat - Then and Now

Then

Now

Phoenix Temple Open House and the Agave

We went to the Phoenix Temple open house. This is the 2nd Temple open house that we have had the privilege to take our girls to, this year. It is a beautiful temple and like the Gilbert Temple has the agave symbolism throughout the temple. The girls really liked seeing it. Elise especially liked the baptismal font that was "sitting on the oxen's backs and the oxen had horns." She clarified to me that they were not real oxen but just pretend oxen.

Anna especially liked seeing the sealing rooms. Her part in the sacrament meeting program this year goes: "Temple marriage is a priesthood ordinance and strengthens my family." When we saw the sealing room I told her it was here that temple marriage takes place and showed here where the bride and groom kneel over the alter to get married. I showed her the mirrors that represented eternity. She was very interested and loved it.

The Phoenix Temple uses the agave flower as a design throughout the temple, just as the Gilbert Temple used the agave plant as it's theme. I have been thinking about why these temples use the agave plant and it's flower, I don't know exactly but I have learned a few beautiful things about his plant. 

1) The agave can represent new life, eternal family, and the influence of generations. As new leaves come forth, the old ones die away. On many agave, the older leaves leave their imprint on the next generation of leaves and the newer leaves also leave impressions on the older.  

2) The agave plant only blooms once in it's life. Throughout its life it builds up and stores energy/ starch in it's center. When the agave is fully mature, it gives all, literally all, of it's energy and strength to raising it's tall beautiful arm to the heavens to glorify God. Then with no energy left it dies. What a beautiful image. 

This morning during my early morning run, I ran by an agave plant with it's flower reaching the sky in all it's glory. I stopped to look at it and I thought: it truly is fulfilling the measure of it's creation.

Creative Activities for Family Home Evening

I told the girls we would be having Family Home Evening tonight. A bit later I saw Elise drawing a picture and she asked me for some scissors. She said she was making a game for our family home evening activity and it was going to be a puzzle that we all had to put it together. She is so cute and creative. I showed her how to hold the scissors and she actually learned how to cut for the first time. She cut her picture up in so many little pieces.  At family home evening last night we all tried to put it together, which we couldn’t really but she was so happy about her game. She even wanted to put it in a special puzzle box after we had finished. Good job Elise!

Anna also decided she was going to make up a game for us to play at family home evening. She wrote a whole bunch of made up words on a paper earlier in the day and during activity time 

we had to sound them out and try to say them. It was pretty fun.

They are at a really fun age right now and get so into and excited about the little things in life. They make life fun.

Dolls and girls and different cognitive levels.

Elise: My Rose (the name of her doll) talks.

Anna: No, she doesn’t; dolls do not talk.

Elise: Well my Rose does talk. Hummph.

Anna: Dolls are not real so they don’t talk.

Elise: She talks to me at nighttime when she is going to sleep.

Me: I think Rose talks.

Anna just looks at me not knowing what to say. I take her aside, out of hearing range of Elise, and explain to her that she is right but little children like Elise like to imagine that their dolls are real so we should let them.

Later that morning the girls both want to bring their dolls to the kitchen table for breakfast.  I notice Anna is pretend feeding her dolls some of her breakfast. I don't know why I thought Elise would do the same, just pretend to feed her doll, after having the previous conversation earlier that same morning; but I did. Then I looked over at Elise I see Cream of Wheat dripping all over Elise’s lap and down her dolls face. Oh great!

Cookies for Breakfast?

This morning Dayna exclaimed in an elated tone "Who wants cookies for breakfast?" This question was met with squeals of delight from the girls. Only then did she realize her mistake, "I mean, who wants cereal for breakfast?" We all had a good laugh. Right when Dayna was about to say "cereal" she caught a glance of the cookie jar and it just came out "cookies." So, the girls were able to have a cookie for breakfast along with their cereal.

First Steps

Trying to keep up with her sisters.

Follow the Leader, Dancin' and Jumpin' Style

The girls decided to play a little follow the leader this evening, and Grace was the leader. When Grace dances, the girls dance. When Grace jumps, the girls jump. You can't get much more fun than this.

Fun Feats

Anna, Elise, and Kent went to a birthday pool party. At this pool, there was a short diving board. After a lot of coaxing, Anna decided to jump off the diving board. After that first time off the board, I was barely able to convince her to stop jumping off the diving board so we could eat some dinner.
Once we arrived home, there was another surprise. Grace learned how to stand up. In the video below, she

Anna and Papa play Chinese Checkers

Recently, I (Kent) taught Anna how to play Chinese Checkers. I was amazed at how quickly she learned. After she and I had played a game or two, she decided (with a little encouragement) to challenge Papa.
It was amazing to see how quickly she learned and adapted. In the game I played with her before this video was shot, she would focus on moving one marble at a time to the other side of the board. If possible, she would jump it, but it was always moving one marble the entire way and then going back to get the next marble available. It was neat to see that she watched how I played and adapter her play style based on what she saw me do. The result was a somewhat close game between her and Papa.

Elise Turns Three

Elise turned three; I can't believe it! Elise has given us three years of pure joy. She is such a joy to have in our family, a great blessing, a little angel. She says the cutest things and even though she is the middle child she is definitely noticed and loved!

We celebrated her birthday at Nana and Papa's house of course.

I let her pick out a cake mix and frosting at the grocery store and she picked out a pink cake and pink frosting and was pretty excited about it. She also said she wanted a princess cake so Anna picked out a surprise princess to put on the top of her cake. She love it and wanted to help put the candles on.

She was spoiled and got some fun things. She also got a music box from her grandma and a little pink soccer ball.   

We love our Elise whom is growing into a beautiful and wonderful girl. We loved every minute of her two year old year; she really was the funnest two year old ever and we hope the three year old year will be just as good.

Hiking Wind Caves - Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, we decided to hike the Wind Cave trail at Usary Mtn park. We had a good hike though it was a little warm. Here is a video taken near the top.

Fun with Cousins at GG's house

We went to GG's house (LaDawn and Charles Powell) for a visit. As often happens at GG's, a lot of extended family came by as well. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins. The video below shows one of the games they played.

Snippets of little Gracie learning and growing

Our little Gracie is a beautiful little girl and it is wonderful to watch her experience the world. Here are a few videos showing some cute experiences along the way.


Tasting a popcicle, Yummmmmmm.

First official bites of food.

Learning to sit-up.

Trying (licking) corn on the cob.

Another Doll

I set Grace on a blanket in the living room while I was washing dishes. A few seconds later I looked back to see how she was doing and she was gone; nowhere to be seen. “Where is Grace?” I said in a concerned voice heading down the hall toward the sound of playing girls. There Grace was on Elise’s bed with the girls playing around her. The girls have been carrying Grace off lately when they are playing house to put her in their make-up beds or strollers, etc. They think she is another doll. Oh man, I have to be on the watch!

A Princess Tea Party: 4 years old

We decided to do a princess tea party for Anna’s 4th birthday and invite all of her little girl second cousins and a friend. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, expecting her to say a princess cake. She said, “a heart cake.” I tried to convince her to have a princess cake, just because I think it would lots of fun to make, and she said, “No, I want a heart cake.” I asked, “Why do you want a heart cake?” She replied, “Because I love everyone and I want to give them all a piece of my heart cake.” OK, how can I argue with that. A heart cake it was.

She was very excited for her princess tea party birthday. She would marked off each day on the calendar until her birthday. She helped me plan and pick out the menu. When the day arrived she was excited to help me make the cake, get everything ready, and she even set the table for the tea party with all her little tea party cups.

It was really cute. When each of her royal guests started arriving she decided she would greet them with a royal curtsey. It made me smile, she probably picked that idea up from watching Cinderella.

The royal princesses, ok, and 1 prince, had a fancy tea party, while using language such as “darling”. They were are very lovely.

What a cute princess she is, loving this day.

After the tea party there was dancing of course!

They all danced so lovely to all the princess music I could find.

The dancing was their favorite part. There was lots of laughing and fun.

That night she got a big girl bike that Kent found and fixed up for her. We will have to practice since she does not have any training wheels.

We love Anna, she has grown so much! I look at her and can’t believe my first baby is already four.

I asked Anna the day before her birthday, “Can I keep you three years old forever. Please”! She looked at me with a troubled look on her face. I could tell she wanted to make me happy but at the same time she really wanted to turn four. Then she said in her little three year old voice, “but mama, if I don’t turn four you can’t have any of my birthday cake.” Wishing I really could just freeze time I replied, “That is a good point Anna. I guess you better turn four. But don’t you dare think about turning five any time soon.” “I won’t.”

Valentine’s Day

Anna was counting down on her own little calendar the days until Valentines day, marked with a little red heart,  for about a month. She was pretty excited.

We read lots of Valentine books we checked out from the library all week long, we stuck hearts all over the window, we even colored and cut valentines out of the red and pink construction paper to give to family, neighbors, and friends to get ready for the day. Anna cut all of her valentines out herself.

The girls woke up to pink matching skirts they were pretty excited about in the morning. They had a Valentines day party at music makers then we came home and decorated Valentine’s cookies with Elizabeth and Benjamin and had picnic in our front yard.

To carry on our tradition of a picnic dinner for Valentines day even though Kent now gets home after dark, we had a picnic dinner with Kent in the living room which was pretty fun itself.

I just love all my Valentines!

Ok, enough with the pictures!”"

Grace Teresa’s Baby Blessing

Grace was blessed Feb 2, 2014 during Sacrament meeting in the Los Altos ward.

Participants in her blessing were: Kent Slack, Ron Fosson, Charles Powell, Jacob Patterson, Brian Patterson, and Bishop Pindar.

She wore the dress her grandmother, Teresa Slack, made, using the same material as her temple dress. It is also the same dress her two older sisters were blessed in.

She was given a beautiful blessing that she would have charily, be a strength and bring joy to others amongst other things. She is a special little girl and are so grateful to have her in our family (even though she tries to eat her hand quite often).

Our New Temple

On Feb 12 we went as a family to the open house of our new Temple, The Gilbert Temple. It was neat to have our whole little family together and to show the girls the inside of a temple.
Anna loved seeing the temple. She got a pamphlet of the temple with pictures of all of its rooms before we went in. As we were walking from room to room Anna would open the pamphlet and find the picture of each room we were in. There were a lot of stairs. Every time we went up or down the stairs Anna would hold up both sides of her dress like a princess to walk up or down. When we walked into the celestial room Anna said pointing to the Chandelier, “wow look at all those sparkly lights, so pretty.”
At the entry Elise would not let them put the shoe covers over her shoes. She started screaming if we tried. I had to carry her until I finally convinced her to put them on. Inside she was delighted by it all and wanted to touch everything. She also had to walk up and down all the stairs “all by herself,” even if it meant we were the last ones from our group to make it into each room.  When we walked into the baptistery Elise pointed and said aloud in an excited voice, “an ocean!” It was cute. She like looking at all the “cows” too.
It is a beautiful temple. I loved the agave design found throughout the temple; on the windows, carpets, wood, vases, etc. The reception of the temple and the amount of people that have come through to see it has been amazing to us. Thousands every day!
It is neat to have a new temple in the area, in our own temple district. It is OUR new temple; how neat. Kent has been working with the youth as they are preparing for the cultural celebration. The dedication will be March 2nd which we feel blessed to have another House of the Lord in this land. Our Stake President gave all the primary children their own picture of the temple to hang on their walls.
Ever since the open house started and many many non-members have been through to see it, I have had a lot more opportunities at work and elsewhere to talk about the gospel and our church to others. It has been a great blessing to the people of this area. We are grateful for this new temple and hope to be able to go there often.

Anna sings a song to Grace

Here is a little video that is sure to give you a smile or two. Dayna was working and I needed to make dinner, so I asked Anna and Elise to please play with Grace so that I could set her down without her fussing. This was the result. It was so cute that I had to put off making dinner and record this. (0:48- is the best phrase out of nowhere "it's so sad if you get bitten by a lion").

Two little girls, one baby, and a Determined mama

I just want to say that I am proud of myself and feel a little liberated for taking a two year old, a three year old, and a new baby all by myself to see the Zoo lights. I really wanted to take the girls to see them but I was afraid I could not handle all of them at night, in the dark, on my own. Yet, Kent was working late last night, and it was the last night I could go with my free coupon. So, even though I was nervous about it, I decided I would do it. I took them all yesterday evening, the fussy time for the baby, and it actually was not so bad; I am happy to say I did it. Two little girls, one baby, and a determined mama.  Maybe now I can convince myself to go grocery shopping with all them. :)