Flowers

I received beautiful flowers today just because! I love these gerbera daisies-- they make me smile every time I look at them. Such bright, beautiful colors!

Brittney's Letter to my Parents-- these make my momma heart happy! (I love her spelling too!)

Dear,Gradma & Grampa
I hope you have a Good time on you mission.
You guys are Awesome grandparents.
Yesterday I played a soccer game it was like 15-0.
The team we played was so easy team to play.
Have you guys started to spec French yet?
On saterday night we went to smiths and got are own tub of ice cream I got plan vanela ice cream.
I have not looked on you blog sense last time I left a message you but I will look at the blog this week or some time ok. 
Is Grampa better sense he was sick &  did you guys figure out how Grampa got sick. 
What is it like in the Congo? 
Do all the children go to school who are old enof to go to school?
Our is their no school for the children that are old enof for school? 
By have a good week.
Love you guys 
Love Brittney Ropelato 

Hayley

Tonight Hayley asked if she could make dinner! Of course, I let her! She made egg sandwiches which were delicious! She did everything all on her own! She will be a great catch one day! Love you Hayley!!

Hayley making dinner

Brittney

Here is our favorite little eight year old practicing the piano before school. Brittney likes to get up early, read for 30 minutes, and practice her piano before school. Her she is, glasses and all, practicing. She is becoming quite the good little piano player-- she takes it pretty seriously!

We love our little B!

Brittney at her indoor soccer game-- she scored a few points and her team was very successful today-- they won by a lot!

Spontaneous Date Night

Tonight we found ourselves home-- a meeting I was suppose to have for Girl's Camp had been canceled and Scott didn't have anything. While the girls and I were playing Tri-ominos- Scott asked if we had anything tonight. I told him "no" and he said, "Let's go see Star Wars. It starts in 40 minutes!" Well, I'm not one to say no to a date so off we went! We gave the girls a few instructions and headed out (it is so nice that they are old enough to be by themselves a few hours)! I really liked the movie-- I guess I need to go and watch the other Star Wars shows and get a refresher! It was nice to get out together, just Scott and I. When we got home at almost 11, all three girls were asleep in Hayley's room! We might need to go see it again-- I love seeing movies in the theater!

2nd Ice Fishing Trip of 2016

The girls didn't have school again today because of a teacher work day! Scott took half the day off week so we could go ice fishing together again. This time, we left early in the morning (6:30 a.m.). We went to Rockport again! 

We got everything set up and we waited, and waited, and waited for the fish to come. Every once in a while a fish would show up on the fish finder but we missed them. Scott, Mallory and Brittney left our little ice fishing shack to go look for more fertile fishing areas! I was sitting in my chair in the corner, resting my eyes when Hayley started yelling that Brittney's pole was moving. Since I was closest to the pole, I started reeling it in. The whole time Hayley was screaming for Scott to hurry -- I'm not sure how far away Scott was, but I know the whole lake new we had a fish! I was able to reel in a pretty nice Rainbow Trout on Brittney's pole. Fred, the fish, was pretty lively! We tried to catch other fish but didn't have any luck. We had a great morning!

Brittney tending her pole

Mallory hanging out by her pole

Hayley hanging out

Brittney and I with Fred (I'm holding the lucky pole)

Hayley pulling the sled with all our equipment by herself-- pretty amazing--it's really heavy!

Tuckered out on the way home

Mallory trying to cover eyes so it's dark enough to sleep

Cleaning House

Today was a day off from school! I love days off from school! I had great helpers cleaning the house today--I love it!

Hayley cleaning the mirror

Getting a strange look-- "Why are you taking my picture?"

Brittney cleaning the fridge

Letter to my parents from Mallory

 Hello grandma and grandpa! How are you guys? What have you guys been doing? Yesterday we went to Brittney's soccer game and they tied 5-5, but they should of won, because the ref. wouldn't call anything on the other team but EVERYTHING on us. I also have been making felt food. Here is a picture.

Donut (which I still have to sew one of the sides and stuff it), pancake, egg and bacon.

We also have been making valentine banners to put in our rooms. Here is mine.

Hope that you guys have a fun time!

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

    Love,     

        Mallory

Letter to my parents from Hayley-- I love all her emoji's!

    HI. I miss you guys so much.😂 Time has gone by way fast it has already been 2 months! 

Every day before school (while we are driving) we are trying to memorize t
All the articles of faith. We are now number 6. Some times we are like "can we at least listen to the radio?" But now there is some bad songs that have swear words 
In them. I fell better at school ever since we have been doing that. Yesterday we had Brittney's ⚽️ game. They tied. But over all they won. The score was 5 to 5. They switched goalies at haft time. The first goalie was Brittney's friend that had came on the team at the same time Brittney did. The other goalie was named "Kate". She was a little shorter than Brittney. She stopped a P.K (penalty kick). Brittney scored 2 out of the 5 goals that were scored. Her coach and his daughter was not there. It made a big difference. They played really good. 
    On Friday we did not have soccer practice.😂 Yesterday we went to church. Now we have 9 A.M church. I woke up extra early to read my scriptures. We have't had a ⚽️game since the first of December. The reason we have't had a game in a long time is because it has the start of a new season. We all got our ears pierced. Look at the attachment that I am going to send you.

ind
    When we got them pierced it all went well except for when the gun got stuck in Mallory's ear. It was weird because Mallory's face looked like she was going to cry. The lady that did them got the earnings mixed up so I went first. So now I have prettier ones than them. Mine have face diamonds in them when Mallory and Brittney got boring ones.😎
    We are off of school for Monday and Tuesday.YEAH. I am really glad. We are going to go Ice Fishing on Tuesday morning. I 💗Ice Fishing. We went about a week or so ago and we would have got one but Brittney get real it up in time. 
    I hope that you guys are enjoying yourself on your mission. I wish that I could jump thru the iPad and come with this Email and go thru your iPad and see you. We all miss you very much.💕 

                                                                                  Love: HayleyRopelato 💖

Letter to my parents from Brittney

Hi Grandma and Grampa I hope you have had a good time so far. you guys are the best Grandma and Grampa ever!!!!

Yesterday I played soccer it was 5 to 5. I scored 2 of the 5 goals from  before the penaltey line.

I have been looking at your blog it is awesome!!!   That food looks so good that's on the bog!!!

Those kids look so Happy in some of the picher so a little tired but thay are so cute in the pichers!!

 Nice hair cut Grampa you look nice.

                                                                       LOVE,Brittney Ropelato

Valentine's Day Banners

Tonight Hayley and I decided we were going to make a Valentine’s Day banner to hang up on the fireplace. We found one we could just print off, laminate, cut out and hang up. As we were working on a banner for the living room, all three girls decided they each wanted one for their bedrooms (all free printables, of course). We spent the evening printing, laminating, cutting and hanging 4 different banners. We had a great time! We are now a little decorated for Valentine’s Day (except the living room one fell down so now I need to figure out a better way to hang it).

Banner for Hayley's Room all laid out

Working on Brittney's Banner

Hayley stringing her banner

The Living Room Banner
Source: http://pagingsupermom.com/2015/01/free-decorative-valentines-banner/

Brittney's Conversation Heart Banner
Source: http://www.sandytoesandpopsicles.com/celebrate/valentines-day/easy-diy-valentines-day-banner-free-printable/

Part of Hayley's hanging in her room (this one is LLLOONNGG)
Source: http://catchmyparty.com/blog/free-valentines-day-party-printables-from-anna-and-blue-paperie

Mallory's Banner
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205650199248/

A Simple Prayer Answered

What Julie's vacuum looks like

Today I cleaned the house. I got everything cleaned but vacuuming. The other day, I cut all the hair and stuff off the vacuum roller and since then I could’t get the roller to move. I had told Scott about it but I always told him when it was not a convenient time for him to check it out. I fiddled with our vacuum for about 10 minutes with no luck. As I looked around the house, I thought, “Man, I really need to vacuum and then I can say the house is clean’. I decided to go ask Julie if I could borrow her vacuum. She, more than willingly, let me borrow her vacuum. 

I started vacuuming and when I got to Mallory’s room, I ran over a bobby pin (I couldn’t see it in the carpet). Julie’s vacuum was making a noise and I could tell a bobby pin was stuck somewhere. (I do not like borrowing things for this specific reason). I turned the vacuum off and unplugged it and turned it over to see if I could free the bobby pin. The bobby pin could not be seen. As I manually turned the roller, I could hear it click with every turn. I decided to get a screw driver and I took off the bottom plate of the vacuum—I still couldn’t see the bobby pin but I could still hear it. There were other things I could unscrew but I wasn't about to take the motor out- since I'm not handy putting things back together (hence my predicament with my own vacuum). In my mind I was wondering how I was going to tell Julie I broke her vacuum and how I was going to tell Scott we needed to buy Julie a new vacuum plus get us a new one. 

I put the bottom back on Julie’s and was just about ready to go talk to Julie. Right before I went out the front door, I stopped and decided to say a prayer. I told Heavenly Father about my little predicament and I apologized for praying over a little insignificant thing such as a vacuum. I ended my prayer and thought, plug the vacuum in one more time and turn it on. As I turned the vacuum on, I heard a swoosh sound right up the hose and the clicking noise from the bobby pin was gone!!!! I got all teary eyed realizing how instantly Heavenly Father had answered my prayer. I had tried all I felt I could do to resolve the problem and when I didn’t know what else to do I prayed and He answered that little prayer!! I had to take a minute to say another prayer of gratitude and acknowledging that Heavenly Father had indeed answered my prayer—it wasn’t by chance that the bobby pin was unstuck. 

Later, I was able to share my little prayer experience with Mallory, Hayley and Brittney on the way home from school (Mallory’s eyes were pretty wide as I was telling the beginning of the story since she knew it was her bobby pin she had just thrown on the floor), I also told Scott about it and I told Julie about how I prayed for her vacuum.  It was a good little experience that I need to remember—Heavenly Father does care about the little things in our lives--nothing is too insignificant to pray over!!

I also had a totally clean house for about 15 minutes since I finished just in time to get the girls from school!

Nightime Ice Fishing at Rockport

Scott has been planning to go ice fishing all week after work tonight. We all found all our snow gear and were on our way at 6:45 p.m. 

Brittney following Scott pulling the sled-- she wasn't paying attention and fell on to the sled a few times when Scott stopped! Too Funny!

Brittney

We went to Rockport and arrived at 8 p.m. and hiked down to the ice and found a spot to set up and fish (someone was already fishing in the spot Scott wanted to go to). We got all set up in our shelter, with the heater going and Scott drilled three holes. The fish were not biting at all!

Getting Brittney's hole and pole ready

Mallory-- it was pretty warm in our shack with the heater on

Hayley brought a stash of snacks along-- eating Pringles waiting for her pole to move!

Hayley

Brittney sitting in her corner having a great time

Erin

Scott checking the fish finder

Trying to catch a fish

Hayley snuggled in a chair to stay warm

Mallory and Hayley getting warm by the heater

Mallory, Hayley and Erin (I didn't know we were doing a goofy pose--ooops!

Brittney all smiles

Scott and Brittney

We had a great time! Mallory was cracking us all up—she kept coming up with some perfect one liners—I wish I could remember some of them but I can’t right now. We had a great time together even though we didn’t catch a fish at all! We headed back to the truck at 11:30 p.m. We got home at almost 1 a.m.  The girls can't wait to go again--  maybe daytime will be better and the fish will be biting!

Ice Cream Treat Night

Tonight we had to run an errand with Scott. On the way home, we stopped at Smith's and everyone picked out their own carton of ice cream! CRAZY I know! We have never done this before but everyone LOVED it! We all picked out our favorite ice cream and the entire carton is ours!! So $11 later, we were all happy with our own treat (which will hopefully last a few days)! Scott picked out Cookie Dough, Erin has French Silk, Mallory chose Butterfinger, Hayley wanted Rainbow Sherbet and Brittney brought home Mint Chocolate Chip!

Mallory eating right out of her carton!

Hayley's eyes are big (notice the Sharpie marker -- the girls wrote big signs on Duct tape to put on the lid of their ice cream stating who's carton it was and a big "DO NOT EAT" on it!

Brittney's Field Trip

I was able to go with Brittney on a field trip to Ott Planetarium at Weber State University. It was a lot of fun! I may or may not have closed my eyes a lot during the star show--a reclined chair with the lights out is a bad combination for this momma!

Erin, Brittney and her friend Jazelle

Brittney and Erin in the planetarium theater

All the 2nd Graders (Brittney is on the second step up from the bottom)

Personal Progress

This week I finished two more values on my Personal Progress. I received my Divine Nature ribbon and my Virtue ribbon. I finished reading the Book of Mormon on December 30th to finish out my Virtue Value Experiences. For my Diving Nature 10 Hour Project, I memorized "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and passed it off to my mom in September-- three days before it was given 20 years prior! I am have a few more things to do between now and March to finish up the other five values to earn my Young Womanhood Medallion! I am looking forward to starting again with Mallory when she enters Young Women's in March!

New Year's Day Hockey--WARNING- Picture Overload

Mallory, Hayley and Brittney had a great day playing hockey today. A few neighbor friends came over to play-- Morgan, Taigen and Hope! Several of the pictures I took from inside the shack with water droplets on the plexiglass! 

The girls have been ice skating a lot—they are getting really good. Hayley can skate backwards really well and she is really good at playing hockey. They have had lots of friends come over and try it out too.

Brittney, Hope (way in the back), Morgan, Mallory, Taigen and Hayley

Hayley and Brittney going after the puck

Brittney, Hayley, Mallory and Morgan

Erin staying warm in the shack! The photographers fingers can't get cold! ;)

Scott

Scott, Hayley, Hope, Brittney, Morgan and Mallory

Morgan

Taigen

Brittney

Mallory

Hayley warming up with me--trying to get her to smile!

Morgan and Mallory

Brittney

Hayley

Hayley

Hayley

The scene in the kitchen after the hockey game! We need to stock up on my Stephen's Cocoa!!