Happy 3!

My Dear Violette,

What a fun year it has been! I obviously haven't even documented anything since last year's Birthday post so let's go back and see what you've accomplished this year!  Last winter you learned how to ski.  We went with our friends the Schkrohowski's to Idaho for our yearly ski trip and after about 3 runs going down with me holding your little back pack, you pushed me away and said, "do it self, mommy, do it self!"  You were determined to do it all by yourself and you did!  You would start to go down and I would tell you to turn to stop and you did it perfectly many times, and fell a few times too.  You have a "no fear" personality which sometimes scares me but it's also really fun to watch you climb up rocks, jump off rocks into my arms, run fast as the wind and play with all the big kids.  One time you were walking the llamas and the one you were holding started to trot.  I was too far behind to catch up with you, but you held on to that leash and ran in a full out sprint until the llama stopped.  I fully expected you to trip and get road rash all over your face and body but you held on and was able to keep up with a trotting llama at two years old! I predict you will be my runner. 

Vivi, you are definitely the most animated of all of my kids.  You are always dancing all around the room and you're very inspired by music.  Once while we were heading into a hotel in Las Vegas you stopped at the doors to listen to the swanky music that was being played and you thought for a second, cocked your hip to the side and started slowly bouncing up and down to the beat of the music.  Everyone cracked up! You are always willing to perform in front of people and your dance moves are very impressive.  Your favorite moves kind of look like Indian Bollywood dance moves.  It's just the cutest! You also love to sing while you dance and constantly make up your own songs that are usually about the temple, Jesus, mommy, or how much you love to dance.  You are constantly chatting and you move your arms and head a lot while you speak.  Your facial expressions are also very animated and you are always smiling.  Because of this, everyone tells me you should be in movies and many people have commented that you look similar to the Olson twins.  Maybe an acting career is in your future! You started ballet class this year and I'm so excited for you to be in the performance with your sisters this summer!

This summer you took swimming lessons even though you were techinically not old enough to start.  I had to fib on your registration so you could be in swimming lessons and you passed off the first two levels with flying colors!  When you got to preschool level three, you had a lot of trouble because the teacher was a boy and you do NOT like being taught by a boy.  You told me he was mean to you on the first day, which wasn't true, so you could go back to the girl teacher.  You had no problems going down the water slide and jumping off the diving board at the last day of each session.  Since then, you've learned how to tread water, so I'm hoping that this summer you'll be able to swim without your floatie! You and your siblings love to swim and your hair is constantly green.  Speaking of hair, your sister Clementine decided to give you a hair cut the day before your Birthday photos.  I hid it well and luckily you have a super short hairdo, but she got some right in the front and chopped off your curls on both sides.  Ay yai yai...

This summer we went to Hawaii for the first time.  You got to ride around in a convertible mustang the whole time but you didn't like the wind.  Most of the time you would cover your head with your blankie.  I would snorkel out and find tons of weird sea creatures and you had no problem holding all the crazy things I brought back to shore.  You and your siblings created a "zoo" that other kids came to see.  Most of them and their mothers were afraid to touch them and some of the moms even freaked out when their kids came over to look.  You aren't afraid of anything though!

Another trip we took this year was to Havasupai, one of my most favorite places in the world.  It's a subsidiary of the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon and it's also a Native American reservation.  We got to fly in the helicopter to get there and back.  While we were there we had to climb up and down a very treacherous cliff to get to the best part of the river and you did it with help from your daddy, but had no problems at all.  Some adults that climbed down before us said that, "it was the scariest thing (they've) ever done" and you did it when you were 2 years old.  Ha!

Most of your free time is spent pretend playing with Clementine and Bea, but now that Bea is in Kindergarten, you've bonded even more with Clemmie and you play and play all day long together.  She is definitely your best bud!  You love to pretend that you are a baby and when you play baby, your name is Rosie.  Bea puts binkies in your mouth, makes beds for you and takes care of you.  You always play along, crawling all over the place and pretending to cry.  Bea is so lucky because a real baby would not obey all her demands.  I am entertained all day long by your imaginative characters and voices. 

Vivi, you are a big helper on the farm.  You help me collect eggs, take the llamas on walks, feed the chickens and sweep up the messes.  You aren't afraid of any of our animals and were picking up our giant turkeys until they were as big as you and got too heavy.  You are an expert chicken catcher and people who come visit are amazed by how easily you can snatch any animal you have your eye on!

You just started going to preschool even though it's technically a year early.  I didn't want you to be the lone child at home while the other kids got to go to school so you go with Clementine twice a week to a school that mainly focuses on playing and socializing.  You're also learning your letters, which you love.  You always sing the ABC song and are eager to learn. 

One of my favorite things about you is that you always want to pray and you say such thoughtful prayers.  Your prayers always include, "thank you that mommy will feel better(ankle problem), daddy will come home tomorrow, Jesus will come to our house, thank you for my sissies and brothie".  It's just wonderful to hear what you're thinking about.  You just have such a sweet little soul.  You have such a darling little smile too.  You have a slight underbite, but definitely not as bad as Bea, and you smile all day long.  You're the only kid in the family that has a natural looking fake smile, which I appreciate when I'm trying to take photos!

One great thing about you is that you want to be friends with everyone you meet.  You go up to strangers and melt their hearts by asking them, "are you my friend?" in your sweet little voice.  You've brought 20 year old girls to tears and have made old hardened men crack a smile.  When you were at the park with your Nanna B you asked a little girl if she was your friend and she turned to you and yelled, "NO!" You were devastated and cried and cried, but come to find out, that little girl had Downs Syndrome and wasn't expecting you to ask for friendship so quickly!  I'm just proud that you see everyone around you as equals and want to befriend them. 

Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our lives.  Everyone loves you, especially your Father in Heaven.  You love to sing about the temple and I know you'll get married there someday.  You're sweet spirit fills our home with joy.  I love you my wonderful little girl.

Love,
Mommy