Alexa's Song

Last night Alexa asked my mom if she wanted to learn a new song. She said repeat after me, "I" and my mom said "I" and this went back and forth until she put together the following song...

"I am a child of God
And he is hilarious
Because he has sent me here!"

I don't know where she comes up with the things she does, but she is pretty hilarious and I am glad that she has been sent here to me!

The Little Mermaid

Anyone who knows Alexa or has been around her for more than 5 minutes, knows that she loves the little mermaid. She was known in nursery for singing the "Ahhhh ahhhh ahhhh" tune and telling them her name was Ariel. Her favorite pajamas that she wears every night have the little mermaid on them and she has like 5 different mermaid Barbies that she totes around everywhere Because I turned my taxes this year at the Mandalay Bay they gave out free tickets to the Shark Reef that expired June 30th. We got to go twice this week to the Shark Reef with them. Alexa was in heaven!!! She sat on my dad's shoulders and listened to every single exhibit on the portable speaker thing.

There was one part where you could touch some sting rays and these baby sharks. She wouldn't touch them, but was so fascinated with them. I wanted her to get to touch them so I kept pressuring her to do it. She finally said that if I touched it then she would. (If you know me, then you know that I was probably more scared of them then she was!) I was trying to be the brave mommy so I did it and then she said "I was just kidding" and wouldn't touch them.

Her favorite was when we got to the sunken ship which is the main exhibit with like 400 big sharks and a few sea turtles. There was one shark who had a crooked fin. She kept saying "Mom that poor fish has a broken arm." There was a part where the floor is see through and you are walking over the sharks. She just started singing her favorite "Ahhhhh ahhhh ahhhh" tune and then got on the floor and started pretending she was swimming like a mermaid. She drew a pretty large crowd and even recruited some other kids.

Some Big Firsts Today!!!

Today has been a big day for us. Alexa started gymnastics this morning with "Ms. KT". (KT, my sister, is teaching a gymnastics class at the rec. center and it started today.) Alexa was so excited to go. On the way home she asked me if later today when KT was done with her other gymnastics classes if she could go back to being her aunt.

A few weeks ago my parents finally planted some grass in the backyard. Alexa looks at it everyday and scares the birds away who are trying to eat the seed and the bunnies who are eating the grass. She has been waiting to get to go on it. Today she got to run through the sprinklers for the first time and walk on the grass.

Another big first for our whole family is my brother, Tommy got his mission call today. He will be the first missionary on my mother's side of the family. Her parents were converts so he will be the first Mooney missionary serving in Uruguay. He will be speaking Spanish and reports to the Provo MTC on October 1st. We are so proud of him!

Best Dad Ever

I just wanted to tell my dad (although I am not sure if he looks at this) how much I love him. He has been a great father and grandfather. Since everyone seems to like the pictures better then reading what I have to say, here are some pictures that sum him up.

When I think of my dad I think he is the most kind and gentle person I know. He has always loved little kids and was always there to play with us or hold us when we were little. (Well actually he still does it) He loves music and has taught all of us to love music. He would have us sing along while he played the guitar and I loved that. Now that I am a parent, I realize the sacrifice my dad had to make to get his education. He went back to college and also worked full time and was in the middle of building our house by himself like 15 years ago (I could really be wrong on the year, but either way he had three kids and that is hard!) He taught me the value of getting my education.

My dad is also I big goof ball. Sometimes his jokes are hard to understand, but I think he is so funny. When we were little, we were at the beach and we were all supposed to make a sand castle and then we would judge who was the best. I though I was so clever making a dinosaur until we saw my dad's. He had made a toilet. It was so realistic. This other picture was from a really bad day that I was having. (You can't tell by the picture thanks to my dad) It was right when Garth Brooks was real big and KT and I had gotten in a fight about something and I was mad up in my room and my dad come in singing Garth Brooks and had a drawn on beard and microphone. He always makes us laugh.

Last, but not least, he is a great grandpa (or Papa as Alexa says). They love to play together and especially go out in the snow together.
Thanks Dad for all you do and happy Father's Day!!!
Love You!!!!!!

Improvising!

Today was our first day at our new ward. So far I have decided to go to the singles ward here. I have never been to a singles ward other then a BYU ward which is a creature of its own. I have never felt so nervous to go somewhere. I think I was more nervous to go to church today than I was on my first day of teaching. It just seems so weird to be going to a singles ward with Alexa, but they have a nursery and primary so it is perfect for her. I am going to try it for another week or two and then decide if it is where we are supposed to be. When we were getting ready this morning I was already stressed just because I was nervous and then Alexa had a hard time getting ready. She had a specific outfit she wanted to wear, but in the process of getting ready she ripped one of the ties on her dress. I wanted to just change her dress, but that wasn't happening. She wanted it fixed right then. We were already late for church. My brother and I ran around the house trying to find a needle and thread, but all my stuff is still paced and he had no idea where my mom would keep that. Finally he said why don't we just staple it so we did. It lasted long enough to get us to church, but it was ripped again by the time we got home. Grandma sewed it!!!

Don't Wait!!!

The past few days have been a little crazy with the move and then trying to get settled in here in Las Vegas. I know that I have been a little negative about the whole move and having to live with my parents, but I wanted to take this time to tell my parents how much they mean to me. This morning I got a text message from one of my friends from work letting me know that our other friend from work's mother had passed away last night. This was not unexpected. Her mother had been battling cancer and was not expected to make it through the week. She had said she wished she knew it was her last week because she would have said a lot of different things to her mother before she went into a more coma like state. I hope that nothing like that will happen anytime in the near future, but there is never a bad time to tell the people around you how much they mean to you.
I have the most amazing parents. They have stood by me through everything and were always willing to drop everything and do whatever I needed. I have never had to question my parents' love for me or for Alexa. I couldn't ask for better grandparents. Although they do spoil her a little bit.
As Alexa told me, "They love me! And we slide down the snow and they think I'm a little cowgirl and like a lollipop. They always know what to do with Tommy! And they think I am silly and a lucky duck! And that's all I have to tell you." (Just some background, Alexa just can't stop talking about the time they took her to Mount Charleston and went sledding and she is obsessed with the word lollipop. The rest of the quote was just what came out of her mouth when I asked her what she thinks of Grandma and Grandpa.) Thanks mom and dad and thanks for letting us stay with you. Love you!!!!

We're Here!!!

We are finally here in Vegas!!!! Have lots of stuff to move in and organize.

Alexa Is So Talented

Here is another funny video from her concert she gave us tonight.

"You Never Get Impressed"

My mom is on her way driving up here now so she shouldn't need an Alexa fix, but I wanted to write down some of the funny things Alexa said. We have been packing all day and so she (and I) was going a little stir crazy. My friend from work came over and helped entertain Alexa while I got a bunch of packing done. She kept saying funny things to her.

--She told my friend that she really needed to change her clothes. We asked why and she just kept insisting that she needed to go home and change her clothes. Finally she said that she looked silly in her clothes and that she needed to go change. Sometimes I worry about the things she is going to tell people. She does not have the filter to always know that it isn't nice to say something. --When I was trying to get her in bed she was really resisting. (She knows Gammy and Papa are on their way, but they wont be here till like 3 in the morning) I found her wandering the house and she said she couldn't find the bed and she was looking for it so she could go to bed. She just wanted any excuse to stay up. We are both excited to see my mom and dad.

--She was making up a song about every random thing that she would see. For some reason she kept saying the line, "Mom you never get impressed!" I try hard to be a good mom, but sometimes I feel like you never know the mental damage you are doing to your child. (Me taping it probably didn't help)

Best Day Ever!!!

Here is just the most recent picture I have of Alexa. It is from a few days ago. She was so upset, I can't remember why, but I just think she is so cute even when she cries. (It sure didn't make her too happy that I was taking this picture while she was crying)

I figured I would write one last time before I have to return my laptop back to my old school since I am leaving. My parents are coming up tomorrow to help me move and then I will have their computer, but it wont be the same. So today my neighbor and I had appointments to go get pedicures. We decided to leave at 10:30 this morning so we could stop at a store on the way and then get some lunch. We wanted to have a nice little fun day together before I leave. We left Alexa and her three kids with her husband (which I was so impressed, he never complained and was so willing to do it so we could have a nice day!) and we took off to pamper ourselves. The hours just passed by and we didn't get home until about 10:30 pm. We decided to go back to the mall afterwards and then to her mom's who does massages and this wax stuff. It was fun to be pampered today! I have the best friends. I am going to miss them.

Last year, my friends who I was with today, her sister-in-law was killed in a gas explosion here in Utah. She was in her house with the people from the gas company and it exploded. Luckily her 18 month old daughter was fine and her husband was not home, but her and the Questar Gas worker didn't survive. My friend has started a website about protecting your homes form having this same thing happen to you. It is scary, but it could have been anyone. Please check out this website and see what you can do to keep your family safe!!! http://detectorssavelives.com/index.html

Suprise Tears!!!

When I moved to Provo it was a very temporary thing. I never thought I would miss this place. I hate the cold and didn't really love the snow. As I have been packing up my house and saying goodbye to my friends, I realize how much I love this place. I know I keep boohooing about how I am leaving, but I am sad about it. I have the perfect little house decorated just the way I want and a cute little backyard for Alexa to play in. We had friends over tonight for dinner and ate out in the back while the kids ran around and wore themselves out. Most importantly I have the best friends up here. They have gotten me through a lot this last year.


Today was my last week at church and it was sad saying goodbye. I have had a really tough time in this ward for the past three years. I was kind of the odd ball and never felt like a part of the ward. For the last few years I have been in activity days in my ward and today the bishopric figured out that I was leaving and so they just walked up and told me thanks and that I was released. I never realy felt like this calling was that big of a deal or that it meant so much to me, but when he said that I just started crying. I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't quite know what to do. I realized right then how much I love those girls and especially the ladies that I have gotten to work with. I have made some life long friends with the women that I have served with.


I feel like a really shy person and it is hard for me to just go make friends. When I would tell my mom how hard it was for me in this ward, she would always say, "make sure you do your calling and your visiting teaching and you will make friends." Visiting teaching, that one always changed because the people in the ward changed so much, but I can truely say now that serving in my calling is what has saved me this past year. If I had not been there I wouldn't have had such an awsome babysitter for Alexa. All of us leaders had girls the same age and they are just best friends. Alexa is really going to miss them too. Here is a picture of all of them on Cinco de Mayo playing in the big backyard after a picnic.

I am nervous to move down to Las Vegas where it should seem familiar, but really everything has changed. I have been gone for so long it seems like everything will be different, but (Mom you don't have to say it) I know if I just do my calling and my visiting teaching it will be great and I will make some new girl friends although the ones up here will be hard to replace!