Accomplished!

This happened yesterday and even though there are like 20 events that I am skipping over and needing to blog about, I had to brag about my Bailey.  

Since FOREVER Bailey has wanted to get her ears pierced...what girl doesn't???  Most her friends had them done and she has felt like it should be her turn.  But John and I decided that 12 was the age that she could get it done (as long as her "Faith in God" a church program for 8-11 years old was done).  And I kept reminding her to be happy with 12 since her dad wanted her to be 16!   

But then about 18 months ago, she came home with an idea from her cute friend Ruth.  She said that Ruth's parents established a rule that she could get her ears pierced when she finished reading her scriptures, the "Book of Mormon."  So John and I talked and told Bailey that as long as our girls were at least 10, they could have the same deal.  So of course since then Bailey has been trying to accomplish this goal. 

Sometimes as with all goals of ours she was on fire and the reading would be consistent and she would progress.  Sometimes not so much.  But on Christmas she received the gift of earrings from her Bunch grandparents and THEN received an invitation to a New Year's Party in which a prize would go to the craziest earring wearer.  GAME ON!   Sunday morning she started where she had left off in 3rd Nephi (page 406) and stayed up until midnight reading.  She got up at 6am to continue to read and came into us at about 8:30 to read us the last few verses on the last page (Page 531).   The BEST part is that she followed the admonition of Moroni in the last chapter of the "Book of Mormon" and prayed to find out if the things that she had been reading were true.  Could I ask for a BETTER example or daughter??? I don't think so.   

So of course as soon as Layton Mall opened, we were THERE to get her ears pierced!   And OUR reward came with Bailey's comment on the way..."Dad, Mom, I am so glad you made me read before I could get my ears pierced. I feel so great about accomplishing my goal. Most people just go and get their ears pierced but I had to EARN it and I did it.  I am so grateful."   Oh the PARENTAL joy! Rewards a plenty!

On the way in to the mall...

Trying to find the perfect earrings she could wear for 6 weeks straight with friend Lindsay who came along for extra support!Her last moment earring free.

 Making sure the "dots" where the gun will shoot are in the right spot.

Check out that smile even though a little gun is shooting an earring through her lobe!  

Christmas Traditions...

Last Saturday night we did our traditional Christmas visit to Mr. Santa at Trolley Square (BEST Santa...free taking your own photos, not much line), followed by yummy Spag and a CRAZY walk around Temple Square to see the lights.  CRAZY because we had no stroller and were chasing 5 kids everywhere trying not to lose one...especially the special guest we had, little Addison.  It was TOTALLY PACKED with other light lookers but we still felt a great peace at seeing the temple grounds looking so glorious.

Happy Thanksgiving...now on to Christmas!!

 

Talk about whirlwind! In ONE day, we had an AMAZING Thanksgiving feast with Mom & Dad, Liz, Alex, Joseph & Susie, and friend Tomas (cooked mostly by John and Mom, with homemade rolls & cinnamon rolls by me) followed by FAST decorating for Christmas! Crazy I know. John left that night at midnight for Boston to attend his 20th year High School Reunion at Concord-Carlisle HS and was going to be gone for a week (thank goodness as of today we only have one more day without him).  Anyway, NO WAY I was decorating without HIM (he's the MASTER) so we had to do it!   It was actually kind of fun (or funny depending on your point of view).  And as of today, Jack Jack has only broken 4 ornaments, 3 nutcrackers, and 1 Christmas card holder!  I really don't know how we are going to make it with ANYTHING in one piece!!!

Visiting Teaching??????????

So my Visiting Teacher came this morning...and then went home to blog...  I think you will enjoy her experience.  And don't you love how she conceals identities to protect the innocent??? Thanks Beth!!!   The best part is knowing who Beth is. She was my first friend in the ward here and still one of my closest and dearest.  She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever known...not kidding...she is gorgeous.  She is also smart and a very loyal and great friend.  And ALWAYS ALWAYS put together.  I have known her 4 plus years now and I do not think I have ever come upon her in any kind of state where she finds the "woman" here in her post.  She always looks terrific.  And OH so composed.  We were playing a game the other night where we had to describe the person to our left and Beth was sitting by me and the word I came up with was "Elegant."  Of course the words that described me were more like, "Energetic! Enthusiastic.  Etc."  You get my point.  And she was my V.T. partner for a number of years and I was the BEST visiting teacher EVER as her partner only because of her.  So with all this in mind, read on...  

From Beth:

Why I Love Visiting Teaching

November 20th, 2008

I just had a really fantastic 15 minutes!  I went to visit teach my friend and it was just the touch of craziness I needed to help my day start off right!   I don’t want to reveal her true identity (to protect her fragile nature) so let’s just call her Megan B.  

I arrived at 9:50, which was 20 minutes late, but she thought I was 10 minutes early, because she totally disregarded the fact that I called her yesterday to tell her I would be coming at 9:30 instead of 10.  Well, I’m certain that 10 minutes more time would not have mattered much to her appearance. She had all her hair pulled up in a messy messy ponytail, no makeup, with a bright cheery red robe on, hanging open revealing her large bosoms to me.  I knock on the door, her 2 little angels answer (let’s just call them Morgan and JJ) and the dog runs out.  I hear Megan say Oh crap! from the other room, and I’m wondering if it’s because I’m here, or because the dog ran out the door. This is followed by Morgan and JJ both saying Oh crap! and they run out the door as well.  That is when I walked into the kitchen and found Megan in the state I previously described sitting at the computer.  Did I mention that her bosoms were hanging out of her robe? And that her ponytail was very messy? 

Her dear saintly husband was also home, and after a moment, he called us to the front door. JJ had dragged in a string of Christmas lights along with a whole pile of dead leaves and it was all in her house. He was on his way to get another handful of leaves.  I was laughing quite hysterically while I was delivering my message, which was Learn to Laugh. The husband (let’s call him John) was not laughing much. I encouraged him to give it a try.  He said, "This is what happens when Megan is blogging!" 

She dragged the lights and leaves back outside and then we proceeded to the kitchen area where I attempted to give her point number 2 of my lesson. This is when John tackled the dog and wrapped her up in a towel and asked Megan to dump ear fluid into her ears, which they did, as I stood over them teaching them about seeking the divine.

Then Morgan and JJ hopped onto the computer that mama had vacated and started playing songs, country songs, loud songs, any old songs they could click on, so we had some nice spiritual background music going as well.  As I spouted scripture, and Megan and John wrestled with a dog and her ears, and the 2 kiddies played at the computer. I looked over at them and JJ had dumped out half a bottle of Hand Sanitizer on his hands and the desk, and then proceeded to chase Morgan around the house, wiping it on her clothes, and anything else he could reach.

The ears were done, and John picked up the dog, holding her ears shut so that she wouldn’t flip her head around and spray doggy ear fluid all over me. Now that would have been just another fascinating detail to add to my visit. The dog was thrown outside, the children were chasing each other around the island, and I gave point number 3 - The principle of compensation. Thank heavens all will be made right when we get to heaven.  Megan will be compensated for raising little JJ.  And John will be compensated for marrying Megan.

Principle 4 was to trust in the Lord, which I’m sure Megan is doing. She’s got to trust someone that everything is going to work out and that she will surivive this. 

She then asked if I’d like to sit down and visit and I told her no, thank you.  Let’s call that good!   I told her how happy I was that I had come to visit her and her charming family and to have a great day as I escaped out the front door!

I was so wishing that I had a secret camera somewhere on my body so that I could have documented it all!

Long may she wave...

On Sunday, our wonderful Sunday School teacher Tom Gill  brought some great quotes from our Prophets concerning this great nation and our Constitution.  What a joy to be able to be reminded of what our dear Prophets have spoken and that the Lord is mindful of us at this time in our nation.   This was one of the quotes by President Harold B. Lee that I believe could be exactly what we need to hear at this time:

Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail… Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won’t fail… I plead with you not to preach pessimism… It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through. Harold B. Lee, Ye Are the Light of the World, 350-351. 

I am so grateful for a living Prophet and the guidance and peace that brings into our lives if we follow him.  I know that all will be well.  Happy Voting!

P.S. Email me at megansbunch@yahoo.com if you want me to send you all of the quotes. Well worth the read!

Halloween!

We had a very happy Halloween this year with very fun and DIFFERENT costumes (I think this is the first year our family did NOT go with a theme...much LESS stressful)! Everyone got to choose what they wanted based on what we had already or what we could borrow.  A great way to go.  And we had HUNDREDS of trick-or-treaters. We ran out of candy twice and had to send Baampa to the store for a candy run and then raid the kids' candy collections. 

Baby Bailey was SUPER restrained as she continued her "no candy for a year" goal (for $$$ of course) without a hitch.  She kindly distributed her candy and traded for non-candy items such as crackers and cookies.  Strawberry Cameron joined Baby Bailey and her friends for a fun "no parents" trick-or treat...and John was kind enough to take Princess Morgan and Lion Jack around in the wagon.  

Before we went out, we carved out our pumpkins which included 2 Boston themed ones, a polka dot fashion statement, and others.  John lit them up with Christmas lights and it was an impressive sight!  Great fun for all!!!!

 !

Our New little NIECE!

My sister Liz gave birth to precious baby Susan Mareya on Saturday night. She weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. Look at those beautiful long fingers and mushy cheeks!  We can't wait to meet her!  Mom and baby are both doing great and big brother Joseph and daddy Alex can't wait until they get home!

Fun with Cam in the East...

Cameron and I just got back from a very special 8 Years-old Mommy/Daughter trip to North Carolina.  We went to stay with our dear friends the Calhouns.  We loved being with Pargie, Will, James, Abbie and Liza.  Their home in Chapel Hill is beautiful and we had some fun adventures. Once such outing was a few day trip to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.  WOW!  What a way to make history come alive.  We walked up and down the street enjoying period costumes and stores that included a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a printing press and a wig shop.  All of these were staffed and in real working condition just like they would be in the Colonial times.  The BONUS of this trip is that my sister Jocelyn (Jo Jo) and her darling son Peter were able to drive up/down from Alexandria to be with us.  How fun to be with them.  

Cameron and I also attended the North Carolina state fair which was a very fun experience. We tried deep fried twinkies, deep fried snickers, and deep fried Reeses peanut butter cup (YUCK). Cameron even was the first of our group to win a prize.  So fun!

But the BEST part of our trip was just being with people we adore.  It would not have mattered where, just to be with them was so special.  AND I loved being with my Cameron. She is such a sweet and caring girl with the best imagination.  A trip I will never forget...

The Fish Funeral

Yes. We lost "Pedroia" the fish today.  He was named "Manny" until Manny Ramirez betrayed us.  So we did the honors and let him go.  Good-bye Pedroia.  His loss may have had something to do with this little gal...Lucy...fresh from her first pro bath...

 

Fall is here...

The view from our backyard. Isn't it beautiful? And this is just the beginning. 

"My Little Princess Morgan"

Morgan's "Best Friend" Brittan sent her this email.  He told his mom what he wanted to download and she helped him with spelling but otherwise it was all him.  They adore each other and love to play.  Everytime they see each other, they embrace and are just so happy to be together. It is hilarious!  And what a cutie.  They look like a miniature family I know.  We always say that if they did get married we would have a killer slide show at the wedding dinner!  

the little man

John took the cutest photos of Jack Jack at the Elementary school the other day during our "Bike Rodeo." I was off PTAing of course and am so glad he was there to capture our handsome little man.  Just had to share...

September FIRSTS!

Since I have not really updated much on the fam, I thought I would do so in a quick and easy fashion...so you know what we have all been up to.

FIRST day of School...For Bailey & Cam it was August 25th. For Morgan , it was September 3rd...Jack Jack and I miss them at home but we know they are where they should be and they are all loving it. 

The big 6th Graders ready to RULE the School!

 

There they go...Summer is over.

FIRST 20 year High School Reunion for Megan...and sorry to say the last. I can't wait until the next...is it really 10 years away?? Thank goodness for FACEBOOK!  We had "casual Friday night" where we met at a friend's house and then went on a Tiki Boat cruise around Balboa Harbor.  Then we had "formal" night at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. Very fun to see so many old friends.  Everyone looked fabulous!

FIRST dog.  Arrived September 3rd. Well you all know about her. But isn't she just adorable? And 3 1/2 weeks later and we still adore her.  She really is a great dog.