Luke turned four years old on September 4th. Some day when we publish our blog into a book and he is reading it, he will wonder why we have pictures of Anna's birthday and not his. Sorry Luke, mom and Dad had their hands so full the day of your birthday party, we forgot the camera, but you still had a great party. Friday September 5th we celebrated as a family by going to "Jump Zone" one of our favorite places. Steve played hard with Stephen and Luke on the slides and jumpers while I watched Anna. Then we went to Pizza Inn for dinner and stuffed ourselves. Saturday, after coaching Stephen's soccer game, we ran home, picked up pizzas, and loaded the car with balloons, presents, party favors, a pinata, and everything else we needed and headed to our neighborhood park for Luke's birthday party. We had lots of little friends come celebrate with us. Everyone had a great time. Sorry we forgot the camera, Luke, but you had a great birthday party and we love you a lot. You are a great kid.

Anna Denise is 1 year old!

Anna turned one two weeks ago. What a joy she is! Her favorite words are "Mom, mom," and "Dad, Dad," and she shakes her head when you try to give her something she doesn't want. When she wants to she waves and she gives the best hugs on the planet. I'm enjoying the fact that she is not walking yet, but it won't be long before she is completely mobile. Oh no. She is going through cupboards already and pulling herself up and cruising around the sofa and chairs. Her least favorite thing is to crawl into a room and then shut the door on herself. She loves to read stories and most of all she loves her Daddy. Everyday around 5:00 pm she starts to say, "Dad, Dad,Dad." It's the cutest thing in the world. Incidentally, sometimes I let Luke take pictures, he shot this one, not bad!

Anna's Presents

Anna Blowing out her candles.

Anna eating her cupcake.

Stephen's First Day of Kindergarten

Stephen started Kindergarten the first week of August. It has been a little transition for us (especially for mom), but he really enjoys school. He has a wonder ful teacher who says he is a delight to have in class. Although some things come easy to him, he has struggled with writing and coloring. We are proud of him because he has worked really hard almost everyday after school to learn to color in the lines, write his name neatly in upper and lower case letters, and print his numbers and letters correctly. He is learning that if you aren't good at something, you can become good at it by practicing everyday and working hard. What a great principle to learn! Today Stephen paid tithing for the first time all by himself and he also took a friend, not a member of our faith, to church with us. We are so glad he is a member of our family.

My Walking Light Bulb

I have to take a second to write about my wonderful husband. He hasn't traveled much for quite a few months, but last week he went to Korea for a week. It seems, just like everything else in life, you don't realize what you have until you don't have it for a while. I (we) truly missed him last week. All of us cried at least once. One day I was holding Anna and I walked by his picutre on the magnet board and she just pointed at it and looked up at me. Stephen and Luke cried a few times before they went to bed at night. All I could say was, "I miss him too." I seriously think I am one of the most blessed women in the world. My husband is so wonderful. He is like a walking light bulb shining positive energy on everyone around him. I didn't realize how much he does to help me until he wasn't there. He helps do dishes, gives baths, puts kids to bed. We are a great team. He is my best friend and a wonderful Father. I felt like half a person without him. We are so glad he is safe at home.

Sisters

All my sister in laws are incredible women and it was wonderful to be with them and their children. Aunt Shauna is the newest member of the Alexander clan. We had a great time getting to know her at Lake Powell.

Why I love to Water Ski. . .

So, I know its kind of lame to put pictures of yourself doing something for everyone to gawk at, but I couldn't help include these. My Blog is like my journal and I can't let my posterity go on before me with out a record of my incredible adoration of water skiing. I happen to love snow skiing and water skiing with a large and grandeos passion. I can't think of anything I would rather do, well I can but they are at the top of the list. It just plain makes me happy! I feel like this clip actually helps you fathom why I love it so much. For one thing I woke my Dad up at 6:30 in the morning to take me out on the boat with Steve. The water was complete glass. The majesty of the canyon walls gliding beside me and James Taylor music in the background. It just doesn't get much better than that! This is why I will love Southern Utah with a burning fury until the day I die.