Spring Break

I was literally counting down the days until Spring Break this year. I couldn't wait to have a whole week to spend with my VERY favorite people in the whole-wide world . . . my family! I was especially excited to be heading to the Tri-Cities to see my grandma. She recently had knee-replacement surgery. This woman is my rock. She's always been there for me both before and after my mom died when I was in high school. I was so lucky to live just a block away from my grandparents and spent many an afternoon sitting at my grandma's table enjoying home-made cookies. Anyway, my grandma is in her late 70s now, but has been in excellent health. A matter of fact, my grandpa mentioned that after he gave her a blessing to help her knee heal, he hadn't given her a blessing in over 40 years because she hasn't needed it (they've been married 60 years this summer!) My grandpa also has been very healthy (no surgeries, no hospital stays, nothing . . . .)Thank you - thank you - thank you for the word of wisdom!


Anyway, my true joy came last week watching my children serve their grandma. I was a little nervous about how my kids would react to her because usually when we go to grandma's house she has lots of fun activities planned and loves to entertain the kids. This time my children did the entertaining. They fell all over themselves bringing her drinks, painting her pictures for the refrigerator, writing her poems, etc. I also had the opportunity to give my grandpa a little break by being the one to take my grandma to physical therapy and to get her hair done. And, Andrew was a gem keeping everyone laughing with his jokes.


After visiting grandma, me, Andrew and Natalie jumped on a plane to Salt Lake City for general conference. We have a tradition in our family that when a child turns 8 they get to go to Salt Lake with mom and dad for general conference. I have definitely noticed an increase in spirituality in Natalie since she was baptized last month. She really enjoyed all the sights in Salt Lake and tells me her most memorable moment was seeing our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, enter the conference center.

It was a great spring break. Now, my life will revolve around the jog-a-thon I'm in charge of for my children's school and spring sports (we try to pack as much as we can in during the spring since we're right in the middle of snow-skiing season and water-skiing season!) We have 3 kids in soccer, 1 kid in baseball, 1 kid in gymnastics, 1 kid in ballet, and 2 in piano. Not to mention their church activities. The good thing is that this will all be over in a couple months and then Andrew and I can claim our sweet children for ourself and whisk them off to the lake!

An Invitation

Our sweet little Natalie is getting baptized

Saturday, March 6th at 5:00 pm.
Friends and family are invited. :-)
I'd post the place, but this is a public blog,
so I better not. I'm sure you can guess though . . . .

The Start of a New Year

Well, the move is over, I'm finally settling in to our new house, and I'm even blogging!

The walls are still pretty bare at my house, but it's starting to feel like home. I love, love, love our new ward where there are lots of other families in our stage of life and I love, love, love our new neighborhood. Everyone has been so friendly and the 14 children who live on our street make for a lot of laughing and giggling coming from our basement each day after school. I'm teaching the 6-year-olds at church and am loving every minute of it. I miss seeing my old friends on the south hill though, but thank goodness for Target and Costco where I run into most of you! :-)


We had our first Christmas in our new house. My grandparents and one of Andrew's, bachelor, brothers spent Christmas with us. I was worried Andrew's brother would be bored with all our family traditions, but he fit right in and was a great playmate for the kids (not to mention a great help at putting Christmas presents together!)


Last week, Adam and I went to San Diego for my annual mother/child trip. Each year I take a little vacation with one of my children to a destination of their choice. Adam has very patiently waited his turn and he picked Legoland in sunny southern California (thank goodness!) I had the best time with this sweet little boy. He had funny comments throughout the week, which kept me laughing. Thanks Andrew for being so supportive of these trips through the years!


Here are some pics of Christmas morning and San Diego.

The New House

About 6 weeks ago, Andrew said to me, as he was walking out the door to work, "I think we should move." He basically told me to pray about it and get back to him. WHAT?!?!?! We had plans to raise our children in our house, to stay in the same church ward until we grew old, and to follow Dave Ramsey and pay off our house as soon as possible. Andrew's prompting went completely against all OUR plans! But, that's the key, sometimes OUR plans aren't the same as Heavenly Father's plans. I must admit, it took me 2 days to even pray about moving because I was scared of the answer. But, alas, I received the same answer as Andrew. So, in the last 6 weeks, we've sold our house and made a couple offers on different houses, with the below house being the one that worked out. Looking back over the last 6 weeks, I have to admit the whole process has gone fairly smooth and quick - which helped reaffirm to me that it must be right. Here are some pictures of our new place - we close in just a couple weeks! Yikes - I better get back to packing . . . .

The criss-cross thing above the garage has got to go! I'm thinking a decorative vent would look better.

The black appliances have been replaced with stainless steel

Dining Room - I like the window seat in front of the window

Entry

Family Room


Formal Living Room - I like how bright it is

Basement Family Room

Decks

View

Here's why I love fall . . . .

Funny Comparisons

I got this from Conservative Northwest, a website I sometimes read. I hope I don't offend any of my readers, I just thought the comparisons were funny. Enjoy!

-If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

-If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn`t eat meat. If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

-If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

-If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life. If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

-If a black man or Hispanic are conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

-If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

-If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels.Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

-If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

-If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

12 Fast Years

They all warned me it would go fast, but I didn't believe it. My life is mainly defined by the service I render to my family. Each day is filled with opportunities to love, guide, instruct, listen and cheer. Days filled with responsibilities tend to breeze by. October 6, 1997 to October 6, 2009 went faster than I could imagine. My oldest is 12.

Andrew and I were reflecting tonight on all the times Ally asked for more "grown up" things in her life and we always said, "when you're 12." Given that she has a memory like an elephant, Ally will be getting her first pair of "heels," a tube of mascara, dangling earrings, and . . . gulp . . . a cell phone. Why on earth did we think 12 was a good age for these things - she's just a baby still, isn't she???? Perhaps not, this child has always been wiser than her years. The other night we were sitting together talking and she said, "Mom, I just know we were best friends before we came to earth - how do you think we decided who would be the mom and who would be the daughter?" I don't know how it was decided, but I'm so happy to be the mom, because it gives me the opportunity to watch this amazing girl grow into a young woman. I love you Ally - shoot for the stars.

TIMBER!!!!!!

Here's what we woke up to this morning (note the smashed swing set in the middle of the tree!) Our neighbors tree fell over in the middle of the night into our yard. They knocked on our door at 7:00am to apologize (which I thought was very nice of them). Our whole family slept through it! I got up about 6:00am and opened the curtains and still didn't notice. The ironic thing is that we cut down the 10 pine trees that were in our yard for this very reason. Oh well, I'm thankful it didn't fall on a house and I'm thankful it didn't fall while my kids were playing on their swing set. Small blessings . . . .

WARNING: SERIOUS CATCH UP BLOGGING BELOW!

Girls Camp and Jam

I said goodbye to my family last week and headed out to B.O.O.T. (Build Our Own Testimonies) Camp with a group of amazing 12 to 18-year-old girls from our church. It was a great week! There was lots of laughter and tears throughout the week. Most of the week was filled with silliness and practical jokes (I will not mention the names of two of our priesthood leaders who discovered my fear of snakes and used this knowledge to their advantage!) There is also time set aside each day to strengthen the girls' testimonies. On the last night, there is a testimony meeting. There was not a dry eye in the camp ground. I'm thankful for good friends up there to laugh and talk with late into the night, making it our own "girls camp." I'm also thankful my two daughters will each get to have these same experiences.

When I got home, I headed out to check the garden and noticed a raspberries explosion! I think a combination of rain and sun while I was gone really got our garden growing. So, today me and the kids picked raspberries and made freezer jam. It's so great to be home!

New Traditions

Every year for the 4th of July we go to the Tri-cities. My grandparents have the perfect set up. They have a pool/BBQ party during the day and then at night we all take our lawn chairs and sit outside their place and watch the fireworks (the fireworks are let off on a big barge in the Columbia River below).


This year, though, we decided to spend the holiday at our cabin. We started the day with a parade. I love small town parades. First, they're short! Second, there is such a community feel with everyone standing together on "main" street watching their neighbors drive by on their 4-wheelers. It's fun to shout out at people you know! The kids got lots of candy and I got a little teary-eyed watching the veterans walk down the street carrying the American Flag. Thank you - thank you- thank you to the veterans.


We spent the rest of the day water skiing. We're all working hard to master this new sport. Ally and Nicholas are the best by far in our family. They have great form and are already crossing back and forth over the wake. I'll post more on this later.


As darkness set in, we got comfy on our dock and watched the amazing firework displays brought to us courtesy of our neighbors. I swear 2 of our neighbors on the lake were having some sort of fireworks competition. We sat back and enjoyed the show. My favorite part was watching the reflection of the fireworks on the water. It was like 2 sets of fireworks were going off at the same time: one above and one below. It was awesome!


Here are some pictures of the kids on the 4th of July and the yummy cake Ally and I made.

Ocean Vacation

"Who let the dogs out?"
Ally, Nicholas, and Natalie's school mascot is the Prairie Dog. On the last day of school, they blare this song over the PA system. I collected my "prairie dogs" on the last day of school and headed straight to the ocean. We had a great time, collecting sea shells, jumping waves, eating salt water taffy, and visiting the aviation museum. We got home on Father's Day - just in time to make Andrew's favorite meal . . . spaghetti and meatballs. This man is so easy to please! He wasn't able to join us on the ocean trip due to work, but we brought him back lots of goodies from the candy store.

The Graduate

My baby graduated from preschool today! It was the end of 8 years of preschool (2 years for each child, NOT 8 years just for Adam - ha!) All 4 have gone to the same preschool and all 4 had the same teacher. Mrs. Crater is a wonderful teacher who provided a loving and nurturing environment for each of my children as they started their educational journeys. Adam's brother and sisters rallied around him this morning, making him feel VERY special. Here's a picture of him with a cap Ally made from construction paper:


Adam wasn't much in the mood for pictures afterwards (mainly because he was drawn to the yummy cake at the graduation reception). I wish I could have gotten pictures of him with all his little friends from preschool, but here's one I was able to sneak in of him with his buddy Alec.


Kindergarten here they come . . . .

Easter

Before racing off to church, I wanted to get some quick Easter pictures but I only had 1 picture left before my CF card was full. So, here's our 1 picture. We had a wonderful, quiet Easter with our little family. What a glorious holiday to reflect on Christ, enjoy family, and eat jelly beans!

The Birthday Boy's Weekend

Andrew's birthday was last weekend. When I asked him the week before what he wanted for his big day, he told me he wanted a long weekend at the cabin with the family. So, we got crazy and pulled the kids out of school on Friday and headed up. He also agreed to a ski trip. Of course, we didn't anticipate Andrew skiing with us! For the last couple years Andrew has been a great sport and came skiing with me and the kids, but he usually hangs out on the bunny hill with Adam or in the lodge. He has always declined skiing, claiming it was too cold of a sport for him. But this weekend, he surprised us and skied too. It was an awesome day with our whole family skiing together and basically no one on the mountain but us. Happy Birthday Andrew and thank you for giving me the gift of skiing with my whole family. All those years of teaching 5 people to ski finally paid off!

More reverence give me!

My last post revealed some of my personal New Year's resolutions, now I'll discuss our big FAMILY resolution, which is to be more reverent at church. For those of you in my ward, let me just apologize now for all the years of having to endure our circus. I've been feeling especially motivated lately to step up our reverence after sitting behind the most amazing family the last few months. This family has 6 kids, ages 15 to 4 - they all sit perfectly still for 1 hour 10 minutes and they don't even bring a church bag! I feel like I bring LUGGAGE to church!


So, in my quest to increase our reverence I decided to stop bringing a church bag (my kids just spend the whole sacrament meeting fighting over the stuff in the bag anyway) and just bring a "church pouch." I made this pouch based on an idea my friend Christianne gave me last year. It is super easy to sew, seriously the hardest part was sewing on the button!

This Sunday I'm going to try the "church pouch" and see how it goes. Do any of you still bring a bag to church (my youngest is 4)? Or, do you have any reverence tips?

"What manner of men ought ye to be?"

As my children have grown older and, consequently, began spending more time at school, I've found myself with more spare time than ever. Slowly, I feel I've started to redefine myself and what fills my time. I wasn't so sure I liked the direction I was taking though . . . I found myself bored and killing time in malls trying to "fill the time." But, at the end of the day I felt like I wasted my day. Why was I feeling so unsatisfied? The scripture "What manner of men ought ye to be?" 3 Nephi 27:27 kept coming to mind.

Last month, I was released from the Stake Primary Presidency. This ended 7 awesome years of primary, or so I thought. I was soon called as the Primary Music Leader. Many of you know - I CAN'T SING. Consequently, this calling now fills a lot of my spare time. What a blessing! I spend hours each week teaching myself the songs (not the words per se, but the NOTES!) Our piano and I have become good friends as I work on my pitch (I can only imagine what Simon Cowell would say about me!) I've also spent a lot of time on my knees, praying for help with this new calling. So far, the experience has been so enriching to me. I feel more fulfilled.

I've also been working lately on my homemaking skills. I've been sewing more and trying new recipes. I've also been preparing some of my oldies, but goodies. Here's a picture of Adam helping me make our favorite chocolate chip cookies (it's the recipe from the Crisco butter-flavored cubes container). I'm sure Adam's thinking, "when are these cookies going to be done!?!?!"

Today, I went skiing while the kids were at school (and Adam was at a friend's house). It felt so good to be exercising and the mountain was breathtaking. And, tonight I'm attending a Japanese cooking class. Ally is obsessed with all things Japanese right now and I thought it'd be a great surprise to her if I made our family a Japanese meal (other than just sushi, which is the only Japanese food I know how to make!)

I'm feeling better lately with how I'm spending my time. I would also love to fill in the gaps with more service, family history, and temple attendance. But, for now I feel like I'm making strides by being more conscious about how I spend my time and trying to ponder more what type of woman I ought to be.