Students of the Month

Since I last blogged, well even before that to be exact, Sophie and Sadie have been chosen for Student of the month. Sophie was chosen for the month of Januray and Sadie for the month of May. Fortunately, my parents were here for Sophie's Student of the Month Assembly and I was able to capture it with these pictures.

Both girls have worked considerably hard and I am so proud of them! It is not easy being an "army brat"... that is for sure! They have been in three schools in the past two years, moved across the Country/Pacific Ocean, have had to make new friends, and work themselves back up to grade level while their Father is deployed! It has been TOUGH and I am so proud of them! They AMAZE me each and everyday!

To be Student of the Month the student must be: a self-directed learner, a community contributor, a complex thinker, a quality producer, and effective communicator and an effective and ethical user of technology. The student must also show mutual respect, be an attentive listener, share appreciations and appropiately practice the right to pass and the right to participate.

Way to go Sophie and Sadie!!

Christmas in February!

My "Ultimate Christmas Wish" was...Dallas. This month Dallas was able to come home for 16 WONDERFUL DAYS! It has been 7 whole months since we said goodbye. It's been hard, but WE all have grown, it seriously has been a spiritual journey. For those of you who have gone through a deployment you have an understanding of how heartwrenching this journey can be and for those who have witnessed loved ones in this same situation, you to have an understanding. Despite the heartache...I am grateful for the opportunity! Our family has recieved NUMEROUS BLESSINGS and I am humbled. I know the Lord is with us! 
While Dallas was home we were able to attend the newly rededicated Laie Temple. The experience was HEAVENLY. I loved every moment. The rest of our days were spent like any other "normal" day would be spent...and that in itself is a REAL TREAT! We loved hearing the children giggle, make jokes and scream with laughter! It was Heaven on Earth. We were a FAMILY and that was the most important thing.
We are counting the days for his return! We cannot wait! Because you see, Dallas makes EVERYTHING WONDERFUL!! EVERYTHING.  

Wating for baggage at the the airport! The children and I literally ran into his arms,
 NOTHING was going to stand in our way!!

Dallas playing with Sariah & Ammon outside on the swing set.

Waikiki Beach. It was a cloudy day and the children and I had a cold,
but we ventured out to enjoy the beach with Dad!

Saying our goodbyes. Uncle Rocky was kind to take our family picture before he took Dallas to the airport. Cute family.

Our Eleventh Wedding Anniversary

 On this day, Janurary 15th, eleven years ago we entered the Mesa, AZ Temple to be Sealed for Time and All Eternity. It's been wonderful! I love my Dallas more than ever, he is a wonderful Father to our four children; Sadie, Sophie, Sariah and Ammon. I am continually blessed to share my life with such a wonderful partner and best friend. I look forward to another amazing year!

Don't you love our "old school" wedding pictures?  Dallas is such a stud!
I'm just so happy I was able to scan them to the computer! 

                                                     Love, I love you with all my heart! B

Christmas in Hawaii: Year 1

This post is a couple of weeks late, but here it is! LOL! My family was able to fly out to Hawaii and be with us this Christmas! It was an ENJOYABLE 2 1/2 week visit! Although Dallas was not here in person due to his deployment in Iraq, he was very much here in spirit! We enjoyed chatting with him via Skype Christmas morning and many other mornings last month...SKYPE OH HOW I LOVE THEE! 

I don't think I realized how much I trully missed my family until the day they departed back to the mainland. My brother Brian and his family were not scheduled to fly back until the following day and so we spent the remainder of our time taking them around to local shops. I did not want to go home. I love being home, but the thought of entering an EMPTY home, no longer filled with my extended family, saddened me.
My sister (AKA LALA) and I were the tour guides for our family. We scheduled everything. It was fun. We spent 2 1/2 weeks:
     * visiting Turtle Beach-dad kept his shoes on and they never dried!
     * attending Church- we took up an entire row!
     * Black Pearl from Pirates of the Carribean- I think this was the highlight for Spencer! JK
     * Giovanni's Shrimp- heard it was DELICIOUS! HATE SEAFOOD! Ask Dallas, Chelsea & Rocky
     * Laie Temple! Amazing
     * Polynesian Cultural Center-PCC -It rained on us the entire time, but it was amazing!
     * Pearl Harbor-USS Missouri
     * Being eaten alive by mosquito's at the park!
     * Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium- my mother's fav place to shop!
     * Driving around the Island- seeing the faces of family members admiring the AWESOMENESS!
     * Kaneohe Beach- Parents did not get into the water, but played with grandkids on the beach.
     * Surfin Taco's- A new family fav!
     * Ko Olina Beach- Perfect day at the Beach
     * Matsumoto Shave Ice- Need I say more...DELICIOUS!
     * China Town in Honolulu
     * Waikiki Beach New Years Eve

Turtle Beach with Grandparents

Ko Olina Beach

Laie, HI Temple

Overall we visited many places, but the most enjoyable moments were spent visiting and EATING! I love that I now know my niece EMMA! I hope she doesn't forget Aunt BJ. We had a wonderful and memorable time! Thanks mom for making breakfast EVERY morning and keeping the house spotless...I thank you as my house now is a complete disaster! LOL!    

Spending Time With Sophie

I love this picture of Sophie. A week before this picture was taken she lost her tooth.
Cute smile don't you think?

 Sophie and I had a wonderful time at her class activity, which was constructing gingerbread houses with graham crackers, milk cartons, sugar cones and an ample supply of candy and cereal. Sophie's gingerbread house turned out fantastic! She had such a fun time chatting with friends and eating her  gingerbread trimmings. I loved watching her giggle.

Here is Sophie's amazing gingerbread house!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Sadie, Sophie and Sariah performed so well last Saturday in their December Dance Perfomances. I was amazed at how well they kept in sync with all the other dancers and smiled a majority of the time.

 Sadie and Sophie are in the far back, they are probably two of the younger dancers in the group, but are very talented Hula Dancers.

 Shaking their hips to Tahiti Tahiti, this is their favorite performance by far, they love the music and can perform this in their sleep. 

                      Beautiful Gilmore Girls. They are growing up so fast.

Sariah danced to "Let it Snow, Let it Snow", she did a wonderful job! As you can see she is very focused and knew exactly what she was doing the entire time! 

 She loves Ballet and Tap. I hope she continues because she is a natural when it comes to performing.

 Sariah with her dance group waiting for their turn to "hit the stage!"

Auntie LaLa applying a little stage makeup...lip gloss and blush. She was the one who helped me get the girls ready for their performances because she too dances Hula and competes in Pageants!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Wishing Dad a Happy Birthday in Iraq was probably one of the hardest things to do...we just wanted Daddy home to celebrate with! Fortunately, modern technology enables us to share such moments as these. The children enjoyed seeing their Dad via the web camera! Here we are gathered around the lap top getting ready to sing Happy Birthday to Dad.

 I am just as excited to see Dallas on the web camera, it's not everyday I get to see him and hear his voice, so this is a super big deal!

Ammon waits patiently for his turn to blow out the candles for Daddy! WE all blew! I think Ammon spit on the cake more than anything. Sariah lovingly picked out Daddy's cake and prepared it with the help of Mom. She added the ingredients, frosted the cake, added blue sprinkles and two candles! She was super excited and made sure I made it to the Commissary (Military Grocery Store) to buy what was needed.

 In addition, to chatting and singing with Dad on his Birthday we enjoyed sending him a Birthday package, which he recieved a day before his Birthday! I so wish we could of all jumped inside the package! That would be so wonderful!

The girls being silly as usual! They are super excited!

 Sophie enjoying her first bite of the Birthday cake and Ammon smiling in approval...I hope! We love you Dad and are So grateful for All that you do for our family and country! We look forward to your arrival home with much anticipation.

*Thanks Auntie LaLa for taking such wonderful pictures!

Laie Temple Re-Dedication

Sadie & I at the Mililani Stake Building in Mililani, HI

Today, Sadie and I had the opportunity in attending the Laie Temple Re-Dedication. To sum it up in two words it was both Heavenly and Wonderful! Many faithful Latter-day Saints were in attendance for this spiritual event and I am sure many walked away with different feelings from their spiritual experience. I know I did. I would like to share some of my thoughts with you now. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. Simple in every degree. 
What stood out the most was this quote given by our Prophet Thomas S. Monson, "You will not remember everything that is said this day, but I hope you remember the feelings you felt." It is so true. I cannot remember every word, but I can remember the expression on my daughter's face and the feelings I felt.
I felt a sense of peace, joy, love and excitement...all of these emotions combined into one, if you can imagine! I had extreme peace in knowing my Dallas, three daughters and one son were sealed to me for all time and eternity IF I strive to live according to the covenants I made in the Temple. I felt joy in knowing Families Can Be Together Forever! I felt a deeper sense of  love for my Savior Jesus Christ & Heavenly Father for providing such Temples here on the earth. I felt excitement in knowing that someday soon I would again walk into the House of the Lord with my Dear Love Dallas!
I am  especially grateful that I was able to share in this experience with Sadie. To see her beaming smile is joy felt beyond measure! I love you Sadie! MOM

Happy, Happy Birthday Ammon!

Happy Birthday Ammon!
It was a blast as you can tell from
 his ADORABLE smile!

Ammon was extremely excited to blow out his candle. He blew pretty hard!
See how wide his mouth is as he prepares to blow the
candle out?

So hard that no one had to help him!

We all clapped in AMAZEMENT!

Such a BIG BOY!

Cute! 

P.S. Don't you just love Tysho's expression?

I think Sohpie and Sariah do!

Halloween 2010

To set off the Halloween festivities in the Dallas & BJ Home, we had the children wear their Halloween PJ's! The kids had fun posing for the camera in the "playroom". I love how you can see each of their personalities shine through in each picture. Crazy Kids!






Being that Halloween fell on a Sunday, we opted to participate in our ward's Trunk or Treat on Saturday (Wahiawa 2nd Ward). All three Wahiawa wards were in attendance and as to be expected there were an insane amount of children!

Sadie was Frankenstein's Bride...and yes I made her costume. Sophie was a ballerina. I made her tutu from scratch (minus the extra apparrel, which we purchased). Sariah was Snow White. She used Sophie's Disney costume. Ammon was a Fire Fighter (what else would we expect of the boy obsessed with Fire trucks?). To create his costume I simply applied tape to his raincoat and boots than added a Fire Fighter's Hat. TA-DUH!




What made our Saturday night even more perfect was being able to spend it with our three favorite cousins; Tysho, Lincoln, and MaeLee! We had a fun photo shoot in the cultural hall because our children are just so ADORABLE!




P.S.
The children had fun yelling to our neighbors as they walked by our house, "We have a lot of candy!" Since we live on an island, I started to panic and began buying Halloween candy back in September!

Angels Ride Bikes

Dear Nie and Madsen;

Aloha! I send you my greetings from the beautiful island of Oahu. As an avid reader of your astounding blog, I cannot begin to conceive the amount of emails you have obtained. I tried earnestly in every possible way to think of a creative way to express my desire to obtain the wondrous Madsen bike, but I have failed to do so. So let me just be forthright. First and foremost I am the blessed mother of four beautiful, rambunctious children; Sadie, Sophie, Sariah and Ammon. I am a military wife to my beloved Dallas. As of ten months our current post is Schofield base in Wahiawa, Hawaii.

Hawaii is a place of enchanted beauty. Although I am extremely elated for this blessed opportunity to live in a picturesque metropolis, I am saddened at the absence of my incredible Dallas. He is currently deployed for a year of service in Iraq. My Dallas is the keystone of our family. With our deprival of his presence my children, as well as I, long for when he returns home.

It is till he returns home I am maintaining order within our home. I am the mother and the father. I am the nurturer and the disciplinarian. I am the one who fixes the bikes and makes dinner. Nie and Madsen, words cannot describe how much I miss him. Dallas truly is my best friend. My Dallas knows how to brighten my day. He knows the stories I love to hear. He loves and adores my silliness. Above all he loves and adores our children.

Since his departure in June, I have strived to keep the children and myself occupied with activities. This permits us couple hours of relief from our hearts throbbing. The children are very active. They love to engage in old and new adventures. Being that each of my children are two years apart in age, the eldest being nine (Sadie), they love to be outdoors. And yes, you guessed right, they love to ride bikes! Sadie, Sophie and Sariah, in particular. If their mother permitted them they would ride their bikes till midnight. They recently discovered a specific place here on base that they refer to as “the roller coaster”. Riding their bikes on “the roller coaster” is a pretty big deal in our household.

Here is the clincher; I do not own a bike. Instead I walk the stroller (Ammon in tow) to “the roller coaster”. As witnessed on our last adventure, Ammon sat in the stroller with our picnic basket and his sister’s bike (I was too frightened to allow Sariah to ride her bike because of traffic). Obtaining the Madsen bike would not only elate me, but also my children. The Madsen bike would mean more adventures for our family. It would permit me as a mother less worries in regards to how I am going to load the food, the diapers and the toys. It would permit me to be the examplinary, patient mother I strive to be everyday that Dallas is gone.

I truly do appreciate your generosity. I hope it is with your compassionate understanding that you receive this notion as that of deep admiration and love for the sacrifice our service men and women partake in. Thank you Nie and Madsen.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Gilmore

Fire Trucks & Ammon

Ammon is OBSESSED with Fire Trucks! Ammon was fortunate enough to view one up close and boy did he have a blast! We walked around the fire truck several times and each time he was in awe with all the cool nozzles, hoses and switches. He especially enjoyed sitting in the drivers seat! A million pictures were taken to capture his interest and delight! I think it is awesome that he has developed such an interest!

Can you guess what Ammon will be for Halloween?

BYU Living Legends Here We Come!

My Hula Maidens performed wonderfully in todays performance! I am so proud of their efforts! Sadie was a little hesitant, but she can dance beautifully! She has the omni down very well (the swaying of the hips). Sophie on the other hand...is a natural performer! She had the hand motions down to a "T." She was not nervous in the slightest bit and smiled the entire time while dancing.

They wore their Pa'u Hula Skirts and Shelled Leis, which we purchased at the Swap Meet in Aiea. They were simply breathtaking.





I am so excited for them! It is my wish that someday one of them will have the desire to dance with BYU Living Legends. What can I say I live vicariously through my children. Wink! Wink!

Here is a peak at one of the girls performances. Enjoy!

Dallas...The Greatest Husband Ever!

Not only is Dallas "The Greatest Husband Ever" but, he is also my Dearest Best Friend! We have been married almost eleven years...to this day he still makes my heart melt! I know that sounds cliche, but it is so true!

The other day the doorbell rang and to my surprise I had a package from ProFlowerers.com! Yes! Dallas ordered me Beautiful Autumn Peruvian Lilies with Chocolates! I was in Heaven! I love flowers and sentimental gestures of Love! Dallas knows I am a sentimental fool for stuff like this, not only does he send me flowers, but he expresses his love to me in so many other ways, that let me know I am His Queen!
I love you, Love!
You Are My World!
B




My message board of Love Notes!