Sweet 16

Sarah turned 16 this year. So as a little tribute to her I decided to write 16 of my favorite things about her.

16. She is a very good friend, friendly and one of my best friends.

15. She has great hair!

14. I love when she gets embaressed and her giggle that goes along with it.

13. I love how sassy she gets with our 8 brothers and how she can hold her own with them.

12. She has a fabulous fashion sense :)!!

11. She is outgoing and isn't afraid to try something new. She jumps in head first and doesn't look back.

10. That's her place among the kids. So glad my parents didn't stop at 9 :)!!

9. She is soooo smart. And she wants to be a nurse.

8. She is dedicated to everything she believes in and wants out of life.

7. She is super pretty.

6. She is genuine about everything

5. Her testimony and knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

4. That she has goals and knows where she is going and what she wants out of life.

3. Her flippin' sweet piano & guitar playin' skills

2. Her smiles lights up any room and (drum roll please.......)

#1. That she and I are such great friends and how well we understand each other and how we have this amazing bond with each other. (Never play Apples to Apples with us... you'll loose)

And that is my Sweet Sister Sarah! Love ya Sis!

Not Just Music

Sarah and I not only sing but we read. We have been reading the Twilight saga along with every other girl in America. We like to keep up on our current events and be in the know!! So it goes without saying that we are anxiously awaiting the movie release.... which to my surprise today has been bumped up to November 21st. So whether you are Team Edward or Team Jacob...gear up cause we have just shaved 3 weeks off our waiting time. (I strongly believe in the secret j/k) And for those of you who are fans and live in Utah we are planning a Twilight Party at my house in the near future so watch for more details to come. And anyone with ideas or who wants to help in the planning just give me a buzz.

Practice Makes Perfect

I don't have any picture updates for you. Sarah and I have been practicing singing and fine tuning our voices. It's an ongoing process: practicing and fine tuning, you are never done in that area. We have decided that we need to do a photo album of just us so we are planning on taking pictures (which took some convincing on my part since I don't like to see myself in pictures) in the near future so you'll have to check back to see our photos and tell us which ones are your fav's.

Anyway.... as a side note we were having FHE last night since Jess will be out of town today and we decided to play scripture hang man. For those who don't believe in Divine Intervention I wish all of you a moment or experience such as mine last night. The Haag Family rules of scripture hang man go as follows: you have to pick a word or phrase from the scriptures, once it's guessed then you have to tell why you chose that word or phrase by either telling the story, giving a personal experience, ect..... So we started out and we play in teams since our children are small. Jess chose the first word and it was "converted" and told the kids about his mission just a little bit. Then I was at a loss as to what I wanted as my word or phrase. As I was flipping through the back of the Book of Mormon I instictively chose "Nephi builds a ship" which is in the front of the book. After everyone had guessed it I was then to explain the story. As I was telling the story I said that Nephi's brothers told him that he couldn't build a ship, he didn't know how or have the tools too and that they laughed at him and mocked him. Then I told them how Heavenly Father showed him the plans and showed him how to make the tools and where to go for wood and supplies. And then at the very last I likened it to us today and told my small children that in life we can do and be anything we want to be and that if we ask Heavenly Father that he will show us the way and what we need to do to accomplish these things. Even though I was talking to my children it seemed like Heavenly Father was talking to me and as I listened to everything I was saying I knew that I was where I needed to be at this point in my life and that my sister and I are supposed to be singing and blessing the lives of others through our voices. I don't know how all of that will come about but I do know that He will show me bit by bit and piece by piece. FHE continued and Jess chose the phrase "The Iron Rod" and then it was my turn again and I chose "The Liahona" and it just seemed that our explainations of the stories and our personal experiences were this Divine intervention of sorts for me. Here I was thinking about what my children needed and what I was supposed to be teaching them and it turned into everything that I needed at that moment. And how ironic it was that I was teaching myself. Was it a huge and grande display of anything.... no it was just this awe hah moment in my living room with my family, that opened my eyes to the things I needed at that moment.

I am so thankful for all of the different talents my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. For my sister, Sarah and for the sisterhood bond we share. For my wonderful, dear, sweet husband and all of his love and support and for him being in tune with the Spirit too.

What It Takes

Sarah and I (Joleen) have been singing probably since the day we were born. There are actually 13 years between the two of us but we are the best of friends. We recently decided that we wanted a blog page where we could journal all about us and our singing, somewhere we could post our inspiration and sucesses as we journey down this path in our lives. Sarah is an amazing pianist and our voices tend to blend beautifully. "Nothing is greater than the harmony that comes from siblings" that is Sarah's most favorite saying. I play the piano as well but I like to let Sarah take the lead there since I'm a little rusty in that area.

We have the most amazing family and not just because of it's size :)!! There are 13 siblings in our family all from the same Mom and Dad. Our parents are the most compassionate, caring and supportive people we know. We love them dearly and thank them for all their love, support and input. We have been very blessed by our Heavenly Father who we owe so much to for blessing us with our talent of music, among other things. There are 8 brothers and 5 sisters in the family. I'm number 3 in line and Sarah is number 10! We have to thank our siblings for their love and support as well. We are always there for one another and cheering each other on in all of our different endeavors.

I am married, 7 1/2 years, and have to also thank my sweet husband for all of his love, time and support. For his patience with me as well. He is amazing and my rock, my everything. We have 4 beautiful children... one who is in Heaven waiting for the rest of us and watching over us as we journey through life here on Earth. The other 3 keep me very busy here at home. And I have to thank his parents as well for raising such an amazing son and for being supportive of us.

Sarah is in her Junior year in High School. She has lots of personality, is friendly, smart, loves to swing dance and is lots of fun. She is an awesome aunt too. She wants to go into nursing aside from singing and she is super creative. She came up with our name: Diamond in the Rough. We hope you like our blog and will check back often to see what is going on with us, our families and our singing. We love input so don't be shy on commenting :)