Miriam Turns Six!

Oh my Miriam, how can you be six already? The time has flown with my sweet, spunky, hilarious, darling, adorable girl. You keep us guessing at what you are going to do next. You are so loving and compassionate one day and completely feisty the next. You have a strong sense of fairness and right and wrong. You are the life of the party at our house and keep us laughing. You are an absolute treasure to us.
You have been looking forward to turning six for quite some time. It was quite the debate and discussion: what are you going to have for your treat, what are we going to do, what do you want most as a present?? After many weeks of deliberation you decided that you wanted a watch and a boogie board (a drawing board). Your sister picked out a glowing slime activity for you to make too. (Still a month later we haven't done it yet, sorry.) I think you were pretty pleased with everything.

For dessert you couldn't decide: cake or pudding??? I suggest a layered trifle and you were all in. Topping it with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and chocolate syrup was just what the doctor ordered. You came up with this plan for your birthday. I think we got almost everything done. All year long you have been talking about how we absolutely have to go swimming on your birthday. I am glad it wasn't too stormy or something to mess up your plans. 

1. Get ready and take a shower

2. Take a bath

3. Go to Costco

4. Listen to story

5. Make lunch

6. Eat lunch

7. Look at picture and videos (of when you were a baby)

8. Try to touch every balloon in the house

9. Reading time/Put Holland to bed

10. Drawing/Coloring time

11. All About Me Sheet

12. Play a game

13. Make dessert and dinner

14. Swimming

15. Eat dinner, dessert, open presents

16. Movie

I think we checked them all off! What a day. I loved doing the all about me sheet with you. I will write some of the questions along with including some of the six year old pictures we took in Long Beach. 

If you could live anywhere, where would it be? with you (Mommy)

What is your biggest fear? imaginary bug: bee + spider (daddy long leg that flies and stings)

What really makes you angry? if someone steals something

 What makes you laugh the most? Being tickled

If you could choose to be any animal for a day, what kind of animal would you choose? Falcon

 Have you ever had a nickname? yes What was it? Miri 

 If money were not an object, what would you like to do for a career? airplane mechanic (what?? :) )

 Aside from food, water, and shelter, what's one thing you can't live without? plants because they make oxygen

 In 3 words, how would your friends describe you? name, clothes, eyes

In 3 words, how would your family describe you? nice, kind, hungry 

 List your top two pet peeves: Mom's allergic to animals, when I get hurt

Who would play you in a movie made about your life? Sofia the First

  Do you collect anything? yes What is it? seashells and rocks

What is your motto for life? obey your parents (nice :) )

 Who was the first person to join the church in your family? Daddy, because he was born first

 These questions were from an Spotlight page I got from YWs. I like Miriam's answers a lot more than I like theirs though. :) 

Miriam is 42 pounds and is just starting first grade. She loves school and is thrilled to finally be a full day friend. I miss her at home a lot. She has been my little buddy and companion throughout the day. 

  Life is definitely quieter with the girls starting school (I will do a post about about starting school later), but I really miss Miriam's chatter. Here are some of my favorite Miriam quotes recently:

Mommy, I had a the best dream last night. I dreamed about farm animals. It was such an interesting dream. The big pig wouldn't eat its food. I woke up before I found out what happened.

I will entertain myself by playing with your mole, and you entertain yourself by going to sleep.

 You have heart Valentine's lips. They are going to take over your whole face.

I know everything. No, I know most things, not everything.

When adults takes baths, they just sit there.

 When I grow up I want to get a job as a scientist, a hair doctor, or as a police officer. Mostly a police officer because I want to help fix people's cars and take pictures of license plates. I want to marry a boy that flies planes. I want us to earn enough dollars to be able to buy a few clothes and books and toys.

 I am learning my deviders. I am in like 4th grade.

One day when Eliza and Miriam were talking about their wishes, they were contemplating finding a treasure box with the things they want the very most in it. Eliza said she would want to find a new book in it every day. Miriam said she would find the owner of the box, or that she would find an iPod inside with only appropriate things on it.

I also loved when she gave me some of the coins that she had found on the ground because we had bought something for her. She told me I was supposed to use the coins to buy water for us and not buy toys for them.
She also bore her testimony for the first time recently in Sacrament Meeting. She had practiced several times before and said it without help. She did want me to go stand by her though. It was adorable. She said that she knew the church was true and that she feels peaceful when she reads the scripture stories. (She reads those as her own scripture study everyday.) It was so so sweet.

So at six years old, Miriam loves movies, audiobooks, and swimming. She adores Holland and is best friends with Eliza. She is starting to really love reading chapter books to herself. She is good at math even though she doesn't like practicing equations.

 Her favorite color changes regularly, and she loves all things sugar. Her favorite dinner is pizza or mac and cheese with watermelon. She comes up with pretty good recipes. For example, yesterday her dessert smoothie recipe: 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp water, orange juice (if desired), 1 cup whole milk. That's it. :)
She and I collaborated on an ice cream recipe that we actually made.
M's Chocolate Ice Cream
4.5 cups whole milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp coconut and almond extract (each)
1 handful of coconut and marshmallows as a stir in

It's delicious, and she is super proud of it.

Like I said she loves audiobooks and asks to listen to them nearly everyday. She would probably ask to do the same with movies, but the girls only watch shows and movies on Friday and Saturday nights. These days she particularly likes to listen to the BoxCar Children books and the Oz books.

On an About Me poster she recently filled out for school she said that Daddy was her best friend. I think she still really likes time with Mommy though. :) She wrote that she is special because she likes to dro (draw). (She's not the best at spelling although she has always had excellent penmanship.)

She said her wish was to have magic. She wrote that she is the happiest when she listens to an audiobook. She wrote that her favorite show is Moana, season is winter, toy is books, holiday is Christmas, school subject is science, and sport is soccer.
Miriam is also super strong and held a backbend/bridge recently for 100 seconds.

 Miriam, bless her heart is not the easiest person to take pictures of. She has a really hard time smiling in a natural way, so I have to make her laugh which makes it next to impossible for her to hold still. This makes the picture blurry. She also gets bored and wants to do her own poses. So of course I let her pose herself. Like in these following pictures. The one on the left, Miriam said she was being a heart. On the one on the right, she is a star.

 I don't even know what this position was. A cool trick maybe??

 It was fun to see the beach from the top of the bluffs here.

 This was on the evening of July 4th, so there were a ton of people milling about setting up camp to watch fireworks. Miriam didn't mind a bit.

 Here she is on the ground being a star again.

 Oh, now she's a heart again.

 Another cool trick. 

 Getting tired. Taking pictures is exhausting.

 Just smile Miriam. Ah, there we go.

 Sort of. :) 

We adore you Miriam! Happy Sixth!!

Long Beach

Over the 4th of July we did our big family trip to Long Beach. This was the trip that I spent so much agonizing time trying to figure out back in December. My parents rented it for my siblings and I and our families for four nights. It was so fun! The house was so so gorgeous, although obviously everyone tastes differ, but it was perfect for a vacation house. See the room we stayed in? It was lovely. 

It also had an awesome sun room off the back. John and I hung out here a lot, which was super nice because of the mild weather.

 We played games and watched movies. 

 Sigh...our room! It had a perfectly sized closet for Holland's port-a-crib. She slept perfectly in there and we even ran a little fan for some white noise.

 The owners were so nice and besides the cute folded towels and everything else, they left us a ton of fresh and snack food to use. So so nice.

 It was a darling home with a beach theme because it was directly on the beach. What a dream. These kiddos were in heaven.

 The first day we went down to the beach it was a little cloudy and cool, but still awesome.

 See. John is pointing to where the house is. We had to walk past three houses, cross the street at the light, and walk down the stairs to be at the sand. Incredible.

Most of my photos of this trip are of us playing at the beach because that is what we did. It might have been my most laid back vacation with my family ever. No, I am pretty sure it actually was.

 We just played in the morning and walked back up to the house for lunch. There was a fun tennis court backyard with a ton outside seating, tables, and riding toys.

 Back to the beach again!

Getting wet and sandy. Shadows of me and my baby!

They loved building sand castles with their cousins!

 With all those girl cousins of course at some point there were going to be some sand mermaids. We started with a couple and then another girl would notice and want to lay down and be a sand mermaid, and so it went on.

 So many little girls.

 Holland wandered off a few times. She doesn't have a radius of how far she is willing to go from us. 

 I have the cutest husband ever. 

 Baby footprints!

 Cool effect made by the waves coming up on the sand.

 Uh, oh. The mermaids are becoming unburied...

Beautiful beach girls.

She loves daddy.

 The next day we walked down to the pier. It was fun, but pretty gross with all of the fish remains left by the local fishermen.

 We're so touristy. 

 Don't touch the rails!!!!

Check out the view from the front window. 

My parents were super nervous about all of the light colored furniture. They wouldn't let the kids in a few of the rooms, including this one. I guess you never know what could have happened, but it did make me kind of sad. 

Resting that afternoon! Holland napped later, while John took the kids to the beach again. He accidentally took his phone in the waves with him. So after this trip he got a new phone. My dad and I played tennis while Holland napped. 

We got some fresh seafood with the whole family. It was delicious. Although we certainly do make a spectacle wherever we go as a group.  

That evening we took some family pictures on the beach. We also stayed up playing a fun game of hand and foot. It was fun because my team won. :)
We wanted to do something fun just our family that night so we went to a highly rated ice cream shop and treated ourselves. It was delicious!

 The next day was the fourth of July and we spent almost the entire day at the beach. We went early and got a prime spot.

 Lots of sand castles were built that day. We have to remember to bring a nice big dirt shovel when going to the beach. It makes it way funner to actually be able to move some dirt with a sturdy shovel.

 They decorated this sand castle with sea weed, a lagoon, drip sand castles, and shells.

 Playing kisses with daddy. <3 p="">

 This sand castle was a group effort, but eventually it got washed away.

 Miriam and Lizzy sitting on the remains.

 We had these fun floaties with handles that were perfect to ride the waves. The only complication was that the kids would travel down beach while floating.

Trying to save the sandcastle! John and I decided to dig some tunnels. Marc helped too.

 We eventually got a trifecta system with three holes and tunnels. We got them large enough that most of the little kids could slide through. We're awesome. :)

 They were the perfect size for Holland to stand in. She took some convincing though to crawl through, even though she fit easier than anyone. Nathan was our little guinea pig who was the first to crawl through them all.

 I spy cute little feet and cool layers in the sand. 

 Miriam crawling through. They older kids built another sand castle higher up on the beach. Those darn tides.

There is our little trifecta. 

 We took a family photo while we were there. I edited it and swapped some heads and this is what I came up with. I hope we get our little family photos from Patti someday.

That night we watched fireworks from the Queen Mary from the front yard. Since it is also Anna's birthday we also had root beer floats and a fun dinner. Check out the fun twinkle lights the house had. 

On the last morning we were the last ones to leave, so I took a few more pictures of the house. Fun ship chandelier. Perfect for a vacation home.

 Same with this gorgeous living room with crystal pear. 

She likes it. 

I loved this pretty staircase. We went on a walk along the beach road.

 This was real flower growing. Crazy! It was still fun to see an occasional prickly pear and agave. It made us feel more at home. :) There was even a fig tree in the yard, but not the same variety as our tree. It had purple figs. Ours it a Kadota fig with white figs.

 That is the house on the right. What a perfect California shot.

After we checked out of the house we visited the USS Iowa with my parents before John took them to the airport. We followed a little tour around and listened to the tour guide. I think it was a school group and just wanted to say "Oh don't mind us. We aren't listening." ;) That provided a lot of interesting information though. I can't believe how much fire power "deathnaughts" packed. Crazy. Those cannons could fire 25 miles. Insane.
I love this picture of Holland and me. What a happy pretty girl. She actually wasn't that happy. She was pretty frustrated I wouldn't let her run around. I couldn't move as fast as I wanted to because we were with my parents. I swear sometimes the more anxious I feel about moving along the slower my mom looks at things. I love her dearly, but that is the truth. I am still so glad we visited this with them though. My mom wasn't feeling the best during the trip and just slept a lot. I think she was pretty disappointed with missing out. We all tried to invite her to come along though. It's too bad.

 After the ship, John took my parents to the airport and we drove back to Phoenix. We got home fairly late, but it was such a fun trip. I do have to say that the traffic getting out of LA was particularly awful. Glad I don't live there despite the temperate weather and the beach. It was sure fun to visit though!

Here is the video of the trip made by Patti.