The Ten Virgins

In January I was asked to participate in a Relief Society Enrichment program that the committee was putting together telling the story of the ten virgins.  I wasn't given a whole lot of details but I said yes.  Until I went to the first meeting I didn't realize the time commitment that would be involved in this program they were putting together.  After the first meeting I left thinking maybe I should have told them no.  We would be meeting every Tuesday night plus some additional Saturdays until the night of the program.  With my school schedule being the worst it has ever been I didn't know how in the world I would be able to do all of that and learn lines and attend practices for this program.  But after reading through the script and seeing what a great program this was I became very excited and looked forward to each practice.  
I am been in the primary since we moved into the ward and knowing that we weren't staying here permenantly I haven't really gotten to know very many women in the ward.  Boy have I been missing out!  

I have gotten to know and love each of them.  We worked hard to get this program ready and spent many hours both laughing and crying together.  
It has been a long time since I was on a stage and performed.  I did it a lot in high school both in dance and drama.  I loved it then but felt a little rusty.  I think if it weren't for me being in school right now and my mind being in good "study shape"  I would have had a very difficult time memorizing my lines.  They seemed to come very easy for me and I am so grateful for that.
One thing that I have learned about the sisters in my ward is that they don't do anything "half way"  If they are going to do something it is all or nothing.  We had beautiful props and a gorgeous back drop.  They truly did go all out.  
We were even miked for the production!
One of the funnest parts for me was being able to work with my good friend Kim Brown.  We have known each other since elementary school and have been very good friends for a long time.  We actually were in drama and dance company together and actually performed quite a bit together back in the good old days.  We had a lot of laughs as we remembered some of our times together doing The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and The Grinch among other things.

Kim directed the program and also sang a few songs.  She is so talented and did an excellant job.
I played the part of Malka, a foolish virgin, who was a good woman who just got consumed with making things beautiful and didn't prepare.  I learned a lot about myself and ways that I can become better by being part in this play.  I am so grateful for this opportunity and for being blessed to have so many great women to work with.

Birthday Time

My two sisters and I all have our birthdays within two weeks of each other. When we were younger my mom would always get a cake for each of us and we would all be terribly sick of cake by the time the birthdays had passed. Now that we are older we enjoy celebrating our birthdays together. Alison lives in North Carolina so she doesn't get to join in as often but Stacey and I share our family party every year. This year though all the Mills girls are officially all over 30. I am the oldest just turning 34, Stacey 32, and Alison just turned 30 (congratulations Alison).


I guess maybe we are just a little bitter about getting older!






I am glad that I get to celebrate getting older with two sisters that are getting older right along with me! I am lucky to have two great sisters!

Isaac's 6th grade dance

On February 13th Isaac had his first dance!  Just in the last few months he has really started to notice that girls actually exist!  I over hear he and his friends talking about who they like.  It's hard to believe that he is old enough to get into that kind of stuff already.  
The school did a great job with the dance and all of the kids dance almost every song.  They actually taught them real dances too!  Isaac learned the cha-cha, the waltz, and the two-step.  I had to catch a picture of all the boys sitting on stage.  After every dance the DJ would announce what the next dance was and if it was girls choice or boys choice.  If it was a girls choice all of the boys would hurry over to the steps and sit and wait for a girl to come and ask them to dance.  The girls would to the same thing.  It was hilarious!

I think this is just a glimpse of what we have to look forward to in the next few years.  

Whether I like it or not, Isaac is growing up and not my little boy anymore. As hard as it is to see him grow up I am looking forward to what lies ahead. I am proud of him and that he is such a kind, respectful, considerate "young" man.

Bad Bad Mom

So yesterday I did something that makes me feel like a rotten mom.  Our hometeacher stopped us at church and asked us if he could come for a visit right after.  We said that would be fine, but Chad had to do a few things for the bishop and would be right behind us.  I got the kids loaded in the car and told the kids that when we got home I wanted them to hurry inside and pick up everything they could because we had left the house unhometeacher ready.  So everyone raced in and we cleaned up just in the niche of time for the hometeacher to show up.  He visited for a little bit and left.  I got dinner in the oven and Chad and I started to peel some potatoes when I started thinking about how quiet Lafe had been.  I thought he must have gone upstairs and was hanging out with Grandma and Uncle Jeff and Uncle Brady or possibly he had fallen asleep.  I went and asked upstairs if they had seen him.  They said no.  I looked around to see if maybe he had fallen asleep somewhere but new that wasn't likely since he had taken a nap during church.  I started to relay to Chad how I was really worried that I couldn't find Lafe.  We both raced outside and went right for the car.  As we looked in the windows there was Lafe smiling at us buckled in his car seat.  He had managed to get his shoes and pants off but was unable to get himself out the his seat.  It was apparent that he had been crying earlier but had been in there long enough that the crying phase had stopped and he was just waiting.  He had been in there for about an hour.  Oh the guilt!  I can only imagine how scared he must have been.  

This only reminds me of another experience when Isaac was about Lafe's age and Shina was a baby.  At the time we were finishing up building our house in Cedar Hills and living in a basement apartment in Highland.  If I remember right it was Chad's birthday and we had been moving a few things over to our new house and then had to stop to go to Chad's parents for his birthday.  It was about 10:00 at night when we got home.  We had left a few things outside and realized because of the cold night that we needed to move them.  Both of the kids were asleep in their carseats.  I carried Shina inside and put her in bed.  I then got in bed and Chad came shortly after.  We were sound asleep when we started to hear Isaac crying.  We got up to go get him from his room when we realized that the crying was coming from outside.  We then realized that we had left Isaac asleep in his carseat outside and was luckily able to climb out and open the door and come to the door.  If he would not have been able to get out he would have spent the whole night in the car and froze.   I am so grateful that my kids have so far survived having me as a mom.  It reminds me that I need to be more careful.  But it's times like this that I feel like a bad, bad mom.  

Hunting Trip

Chad and Isaac were invited to hunting in Nebraska by Isaac's buddy Dallin and his dad.  

I don't know a lot about hunting but from the looks of things it was quite a success. 

It was Isaac's first hunting trip and he had a blast.  

New Family Pictures

In November we had these taken.  It just takes me a while to get things posted.