Being Happy!

This week, the focus in our home has been on "being happy". A couple of events this week highlight the joy that comes from the pursuit of happiness:

Now a little background first: Alyssa's grandmother is an administrator in a local school district and has extensive training and education on the development of little kids. This Monday, for Memorial Day, we spent the day with Alyssa's grandma and she taught us some things. 1st- Little girls cannot hide their "happy emotions" and will usually dance, sing, or jump up and down as they wait for the excitement to pass. This is evident with Alyssa whenever she waits for a SNACK! 2nd - Bryce's mom informed us that little boys will just jump in and try to help, usually with great zeal, instead of waiting patiently. The difference in genders was evident this week.

Baby Sisters make us Happy!

This week we found out that Angie will be delivering another girl in November. For weeks we have asked Alyssa if she wants a "Sister or Brother". Depending on which order we've asked the question, she usually would state the latter of the two answers. This week she found out she'd have a sister.

Due to schedules, we brought Alyssa to the ultrasound with us. She saw as the doctor looked at Angie's belly and a picture of a baby developed. When we got home, Alyssa lifted up her shirt, pointing to her belly, and said "tummy, baby, Mommy - tummy - baby - too!" You feel free to interpret!

The promise of a new arriving Sister has made Alyssa a little happier this week. Baby Sisters make us happy!

Music makes us Happy

If you know Alyssa, you know she can move and groove with the music. In fact, she likely has more rhythm and dance skills than either of her parents. We volunteered to be DJs this week for a school fundraiser on Friday, and as we cued up music this week, Alyssa would bop her head or sway to the music. Dancing was reserved for the truly exceptional songs. "Low" by Flo Rida seemed to be the song of choice. Before you pass judgement on her parents, just know that we are already aware that we are in SO much trouble when it comes to raising this little princess. Between dance, signing, gymnastics, soccer, and academics, this little girl will have her parents scrambling to to keep up!

The Service project turned out to be a paid gig when the PTA insisted that we were WAY cheaper than their other options would have been; besides, they said, the music was the best part of their Fun Run and who could have denied that those kids dancing the Macarena weren't having a blast.

In this life, music makes us move, groove and keeps us happy.

Swimming makes us Happy

Alyssa finally got to use her life jacket that we bought her. This week Angie took her nephew, niece and Alyssa to the local pool. Though a little apprehensive at first, Alyssa quickly learned that her new swimming suit would keep her afloat. She splashed and played in the pool for a couple of hours, and those of you who went swimming with Alyssa before will recognize this as a HUGE improvement over her previous attitude.

Saturday afternoon, Alyssa and Angie went boating on Utah Lake with Angie's brother. The event was a sucess, and everyone made it back safe. On Sunday afternoon, Alyssa was still talking about boating. She went and grabbed her life jacket and told Bryce, "Alyssa happy, Mommy happy, Daddy NEED boat!" Dad's in trouble because swimming and boating makes us happy.

Jesus makes us Happy

Saturday was the baptism for Angie's niece. As with anything spiritual in this life, there is drama leading up to every spiritual experience. This was no exception, but the actual day went off without a hitch. After her cousin was baptized, Alyssa volunteered to go down into the water by saying "Me Too!" Our church doesn't believe in baptizing children until they are at least eight years old, and can be accountable for their actions. She'll have to wait a few more years, but it's great to know that in this life we can find true happiness by following the example of Jesus, because of his sacrifice for us. He doesn't make us do anything, so I guess it's better said, "We are happy because of Jesus".