Jim's Week.....

More Pics of Jim!

Am I The Best Dad For My Daughters?

Recently, a member of our bishopric loaned me a book on being a father to daughters, titled Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know. I don't yet know if this is because he thinks I need to improve, or he just thought it was a good book, and I have daughters. It is written by Meg Meeker, M.D., who has a background in Psychology, and Pediatrics, and has many years experience working with troubled youth, particularly young women. She outlines the challenges of today's youth (a good perspective, although I don't believe she is a member of the church), and what a father needs to know to connect with his daughters.

One part in particular that I found insightful was on being your daughter's hero. "Your daughter wants a hero - and she has chosen you.

"Think about heroes: they protect people, they persevere, they exhibit altruistic love, they are faithful to their inner convictions, and they understand right from wrong, and act on it. No fireman counts the odds when he runs through sheets of flame and showers of concrete to save just one terrified person.

"Heroes are humble, but to those they rescue, they are bigger than life."

So, how's that for responsibility?

The Week of Jim!

Jim's birthday is coming up this week so I am dedicating this weeks blog's to him! I Love You Jim!

He may not have a boy to hang out with, but he sure does love his girls. They love being with their dad too. This last week Lexie wouldn't let me help her with anything. She kept saying, "No, Daddy do it!"

Is It Spring Yet?

I can't tell you how excited I am to get back in the hills, to ride the 4 wheeler, and to pull the camp trailer out! The snow is finally starting to melt around here, none too soon. Of course, along with all the fun things to do in the spring, there is also yard work, gardening, finishing the garage, etc. I suppose that stuff is fun too... :)

Happy Birthday to You!!!

It's crazy to think I have an 8 year old. Brindley was so excited for her birthday this year. Yes, she is getting baptized. Her baptism will be on March 29th. She has already picked out a dress to wear and has practiced with her dad several times.

For the girls' birthdays I usually try to fix them something fun for breakfast. Brindley chose to have hashbrowns and bacon. Quite easy.....Brindley doesn't like cereal, so I usually am making her pancakes or waffles or hashbrowns anyway.

This poor cake. If you notice it has a tiara on it. Well, that tiara started out on top. It was a little to big for the top, so I tied the back part of it together with a rubberband to make it smaller. It worked great and I even had flowers on the top until the rubberband broke. The tiara flipped up out of the cake and tore it apart. So we ended up with extra frosting on top and the tiara in the middle of the cake. O-well, Brindley made me feel good...When she got home from school and saw her cake she came running into my room telling me how much she loved her cake. I was very relieved.

Build-A-Bear Outing

For Brindley's birthday this year she asked if she could go to Build-A-Bear. We had never been there before, and I thought it sounded like fun. We took the girls, and picked up Aunt Suz then went to the Gateway. We ate lunch at Applebee's.... another place we don't frequent very much, but since our waitress was a little unattentive, my lunch was free! We entered build-a-bear and the girls stood there in awe at everything. It took them 20 minutes to decide what stuffed animal they wanted. If you notice in the picture, not one of them is a bear. The girls picked some cute outfits for their animals, which took another 30 minutes... then they named them. Brindley's is Fluffy, Karissa's is Snickers, and Lexie's is Patty. I just now realized that I didn't get a finished product picture of them, so I will have to add that one later. It was a fun experience. I told Jim that he needed to take me back so I can make one for myself.

Junior Prom

Maria, Jim's sister, had her Junior Prom last Friday. I was lucky enough to get to be at her house while she was getting ready. It was fun watching her and remembering my Junior Prom. Here are a few pictures of the process of her getting ready.

Here we have the "Master Artist" painting the face.

In this picture we have the "Master Seamstress" working her magic on the dress only minutes before the boy arrives.

The finished product! Doesn't she look like a princess?!
Mother and Daughter... What a beautiful site.

Maria and Nate!