If I sent Christmas cards, you'd totally be on my list!

With a young, growing family we're always looking for ways to simplify and keep costs down, whether it's Christmas Day or just another ordinary weekday. Unfortunately, Christmas cards are one of those "expendable" expenses. And quite frankly, this bums me out! 

I LOVE Christmas cards. Every year I look forward to seeing pictures of family and friends and pouring over the details of their lives if they are doubly ambitious and including a letter. (I guess I'm kind of nosy like that.) In return, I want to share my own life. (I know I'm an oversharer like that.) Never mind that we do this daily through social media. Isn't it fun seeing it all summed up and packaged up in pretty paper and beautiful photos?

So to all those who were thoughtful enough to include us on their mailing list this year: thank you! It means a lot to me. (And Clayton too though he probably wouldn't gush about it like I do.) And in response, may I send out a virtual Christmas card/end of the year summary to you in the form of a blog post? Tacky? Probably. But tacky with all the best wishes stuck to it.

While every year seems bigger and crazier than the preceding, 2013 really was a rather monumental year for us. After ten years of marriage, our little family is moving on to the next exciting and busy (in a different way) stage of life. We're trading in diapers, strollers, and baby blessings for pierced ears, family hikes, and baptisms.

While we're not trying to rush the youngest member of the family, Lucy (2), we are pretty thrilled to see her developing and changing from a baby to a big girl. It's so bittersweet knowing she is the last little one, but we are relishing each moment and every milestone. This year she graduated from diapers, cribs, sippy cups, and strollers. Now she loves to be the mommy and diapers, feeds, and swaddles anything that will hold still long enough for her to do so.

She will be turning three in January and wants so badly to join the big girls in school and dance. I imagine we'll blink and she'll be doing those things in no time. NO MORE BLINKING! Our "baby" still loves to cuddle as often as she can, sing lullabies at bedtime, and says "I love you!" more than any child I've ever met. Now if she could just learn how to stick with one outfit a day...

Lydia (5) graduated from preschool in May and headed to kindergarten in the fall. I was particularly nervous about sending my little blondie to the "big school", but there was no holding her back. She loves walking with Deacon and Eliza to school every morning. While she plays it pretty cool, she enjoys just about everything about school, even the homework!

It's been especially amazing to watch the non-physical changes in Lydia this year. She is getting braver and more confident in herself. We were so proud of her for dancing on stage this year at her Spring dance recital and December Nutcracker performance.  I marvel (sometimes with fear and surprise, but mostly with awe and amazement) at how this child looks at the world. She is unpredictable and spontaneous and hilarious and artistic. We continue to make progress with her gluten-free diet trying new foods and recipes and I'm thankful she goes along with it so willingly.

Eliza (7) finished 1st grade in a puddle of bittersweet tears, but met 2nd with an eager, happy grin. She loves music, art, helping, chocolate, lip gloss, and playing with cousins and friends. In fact she loves EVERYTHING...except cleaning her room. She embraces life with so much enthusiasm and emotion. It's simultaneously gratifying and terrifying to see your child developing into a mini-version of yourself.

Eliza has grown musically this year. She decided to give dance another go and performed in her dance studio's performance of The Nutcracker. She and I sang our first mommy/daughter duet in our ward talent show. She had zero fear and ate up the limelight while I was, literally, shaking in my boots. Since then we have been asked to sing together a couple of times. Eliza even sang her first public solo in our ward primary program. (We are treated to solos daily here at home.) She has a beautiful voice and it's so fun seeing her love of music in action. She also lost several teeth, got her ears pierced for her birthday, and had to get glasses (which she can never seem to remember to wear). It's fun watching her start these growing pain years and we already admire the beautiful girl she already is.

2013 was especially big for our oldest, Deacon. When he turned eight in January he had the opportunity to be baptized. We enjoyed sharing this very special event with our family and friends. Deacon was excited about joining scouts this year...until he realized it wasn't all camp outs and treats and vowed to not go back until it was. We've "convinced" him to return and he quickly earned his Bobcat badge and will be earning his Wolf in a few weeks (if his mother has anything to do with it).

This year he played soccer again and is also giving basketball a go. While he isn't exactly athletic or aggressive, he has a true love for team sports. He's just happy to be out there, running around with his buddies. And no bird poop on the shoulder or ball to the face (TWO bloody noses in one game!) is going to keep him away. At least not when there are treats at the end. While we question his obsession with Skylanders we see that our son is growing into a fantastic, responsible, little man. He has learned how to clean his room the first time mom asks, that reading is for fun and not just for homework, and that helping others makes him feel good inside. He's just a good kid through and through and we sure appreciate and love him.

While Clayton would prefer I not even mention him in this letter, we would never be complete without him. "Incomplete" is how we often feel since he continues to travel often for work. He has been with Komatsu Equipment Company as an instructor for three years. While he doesn't seem to get to go anywhere too exciting (mostly tiny mining towns in Nevada and other sites in Arizona, Wyoming, Georgia, and Michigan), he continues to impress his coworkers with his knowledge of power generation and electric trucks. He even had the opportunity to help in some training classes with Spanish translation for some Peruvian classmates.

He's actually had the opportunity to use his Spanish a lot this year as we have gained a new Chilean sister-in-law (my brother Colin married Massiel in June this year). He used it again when we traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where he served his mission to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. With all that work traveling Clayton has done he was able to accrue enough air and hotel points to cover our trip!

Our little "honeymoon" was incredible! We visited several ancient Mayan ruins, sweated our brains out, drove all over the peninsula, swam in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean Sea, missed our kids too much, went snorkeling for the first time, ate lots of local food, drank lots of Mexican Coke, unsuccessfully tried to avoid the pushy peddlers, and reunited with several wonderful people he had known on the mission. It was an amazing experience that helped us to appreciate even more all the little and big things we are blessed with. And what a way to celebrate ten years of wedded bliss!

Returning to his mission has been a dream of Clayton's for years. Actually we've seen several of our dreams come true this year. When our minivan's slow decline began to look fatal, we had to go shopping for a new family vehicle. Now Clayton finally has that pickup truck he has been fantasizing about for who knows how long. We're still a one-car family, but now we have somewhere to load all these kids and their stuff and four-wheel drive to get us there.

Singing in a "real" performance with my children has always been a dream of mine. I'm grateful Eliza was up for it. Running with my kids was another. This fall, Deacon and Eliza joined me for their very first 5K race! We had a blast running through the Color Me Rad course and the kids were still smiling by the end. I was very proud of both of them!

Seeing my children and their talents, personalities, and senses of responsibility growing is a dream come true too. I find myself almost daily saying aloud how awesome it is to be starting this stage of life. It was really hard to let that baby stage go, but it's a huge relief as well. It's liberating to have everyone walking, talking, dressing, pottying, and feeding themselves. While they may not do it well sometimes I'm just happy we're making progress. The future is looking pretty bright!

I've made a bit of progress this year too. Lo and behold, I've actually stuck with this little running hobby of mine. This year I celebrated my 32nd birthday by running from my doorstep to my sister Erin's doorstep, a total of 24 miles. A friend joined me for the second half and we were met with a banner and balloons at the "finish line" of Erin's driveway. A month later I completed my first full marathon, a harrowing experience as I had been so ill the week of and the freezing spring rain poured through the entire race. By the time I reached the finish line it was with incredible pride, pain, and relief that it was over. I vowed to never do that again. Unfortunately I had already registered and paid for two more races. So in August I ran a second (terrible, terrible) marathon and in October a third (slower, but so much more pleasant!) marathon, making three full marathons in five months' time. I've since sworn off full marathons, but am already signed up for my first triathlon, my first Ragnar relay race, and a half marathon next year. Stupid or ambitious, even I'm not sure some days.

As painful and lonely as long distance running is, it doesn't really compare to having to be a "single married" all the time. In fact I run to deal with being "on duty" all the time. It's gotten a lot easier to have Clayton gone so much, but we sure do miss him when he is. I continue to serve in the primary presidency in our ward and Clayton is the assistant pack leader. And when we're together we try to squeeze in a few family adventures whether it be going for mountain drives and hikes or trying new recipes in the kitchen. This year we made some traditional Yucatacan food, homemade corn dogs, canned applesauce, and homemade vanilla.

Right now our life is homework, Tooth Fairy visits, Saturday ball games, being lucky to get through only ten verses of scripture a night, coloring books, hanging up coats for the hundredth time, hotel rooms, phone calls goodnight, sticky fingers, and animated movies. But we love it. It's funny how one second it feels like everything is broken and a mess when the next second I find myself thinking "Life is good" and meaning it.

Life IS good. And we appreciate the friends and family that help make it that way. Along with our Heavenly Father and Savior who bless us more than we deserve. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours from us! Much love and well wishes!

Of Fossils and Family Pictures

Spring Break rolls on...

Today we took a little trip to the local dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids and I have been here before, but Daddy was a first-timer. It's been a little while since we've all been, so it was fun seeing all the displays and skeletons again.

Cee has been doing really well with potty training. Only...she refuses to go on any toilet seat but her own little seat than can be placed inside larger toilet seats. I imagine it can be pretty scary for a little bum to be dangling in such a precarious situation. So...I did the only thing a mom who doesn't want to lose any of the precious potty training progress she's made could do.

I carried a tiny toilet seat around in a plastic bag inside of a back pack.

I'm a mom. That's how I roll.

Don't laugh. It worked. Twice.

By the end of the trip we posed for a family picture. And I realized, for the millionth time, that there is no such thing as a perfect family picture. With a family of six, it is inevitable that someone will be crying or picking their nose or asking for something to eat or staring off into the distance or yelling at someone else to smile or blinking or imitating Bart Simpson or missing the dinosaur in the picture.

We just take multiples and hope for the best.

There's Nothing Funny about Potty Training

Little Cee woke up this morning and decided it was really, truly time to potty train. Actually, she's had that in mind for awhile. It's just now, we're all on the same page. And home long enough to do it.

She's been using the toilet all day with no accidents! #1 and #2!!! Hooray!

*Please don't let this be an April Fool's joke! Please don't let this be an April Fool's joke! Please don't let this be an April Fool's joke!*

After it took me almost a year to potty train older sister, Elle, I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I HATE HATE HATE potty training. It really has to be the worst part of having a baby. Honestly, I think I would rather go through labor and delivery again instead of potty training. At least with labor and delivery there's a time frame. And drugs. Lots of drugs.

Wish us luck!

In other news, it's Spring Break and we are having loads of fun with Daddy off of work. Last weekend we headed up to Hometown, Idaho and spent a few days with our families. I have mountains of memories of playing with my many cousins as a kid and I love seeing my children making those same memories with all their little cousins. It was fun watching them split off into their respective age groups and busy themselves in pairs or trios.

They got to pet horses in Tiny Town, Wyoming. They "helped" the uncles build a tree house at Ya-Ya's. Lots of running around Grandma and Grandpa's big yard. Decorating eggs. Lots of yummy food. Two Easter egg hunts. A late-night barn dance. An impromptu talent show. And Mommy and Daddy pointing out lots of "this happened there" sites along the way. 

Life is very, very good.

Tuesdays with Evie

...and Dee, Jeigh, Elle, and Cee of course.

Oh, and Joe! He's home and balance has once again been restored to the universe.

Pink eye has claimed its third victim, but somehow it doesn't seem as tragic now that Joe is back. Everything's better when Daddy is home. Dee will be staying home from school tomorrow so as not to spread The Pink Plague; something he is not incredibly broken up about.

It is Tuesday, which means it's "Clean the Toy Room Tuesday", which means I was cleaning up toys and other random things --as it so happens in the toy room-- as Cee watched. Eventually she got tired of watching and fell asleep like this...

 

And like the good parent I am...I left her there to go find the camera and capture the moment before I scooped her up and put her in bed. Because moments like these are what makes parenthood so worth it.

Moments like those and moments like when I skipped out on the workout I had planned to sit down with my four year old in her little kitchen and chat with her about recipes, chocolate, her unstable relationship with peanut butter, tigers, her friends at school, the difference between "friends" and "cousins", and how my hair is going "blond". I can't even remember the last time we had such a good talk. She positively glowed with the individual attention she was getting from Mommy. Note to self: Those chats really must happen more often.

Don't worry! I didn't skip that workout completely. After our chat, Elle took it upon herself to pick the workout of the day and we did Zumba together. Well, we did Zumba together for about 5 minutes. Then she just sat on the fireplace step, watching and intermittently yelling, "FASTER, MAMA!", "WHY ARE YOU SO SWEATY?", and "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE LUNCH SOON, RIGHT?"

Four year olds are hilarious. Like when they come running to tell you that the baby is drawing on herself again.

Is that a stick figure the two year old has drawn upon her own back?

In other news, Cee suddenly doesn't like Muddy Buddies. I think she may have been switched at birth.

I can't watch "Lost" while I fold laundry. Too many subtitles. And too many kids walking in on too many scary parts.

The two older kids figured out how to do flips on the trampoline tonight.

Today, I voluntarily offered to run a half marathon race on Saturday. That's in--ahem--four days.

My poor little four year old niece just found out she has Type I Diabetes AND Celiac disease. My heart is breaking for her, but I'm feeling grateful that maybe Elle and I can help her a little bit.

One of my videos on YouTube is going "viral"-ish and it's kind of freaking me out that people are making comments on it, "thumbs-upping" it, and subscribing to my YouTube account.

And I found this lurking in the kitchen sink disposal...

Just another Tuesday at our house.

Dee's Baptism

On February 2, 2013, our oldest child and only son was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I can't deny that we, as his parents, probably had a profound effect on this event taking place, but it truly was his decision to do so. For several months we have been talking with our children, particularly Dee, about why and how we are baptized. We asked him if he wanted to be baptized, making it clear that we were not forcing him to do it, and he responded with a resounding "Yes!"...as long as Daddy wouldn't let him drown. :)

I am so proud of Dee for making this choice. By being baptized he has followed the example of the Savior, he has proven his willingness to try to choose the right, and he has become a member of the LDS church, the church we believe to be the true church of Jesus Christ. My hope is that this is the first of many choices he will make in his life that will bring him closer to Heavenly Father and happiness in this life and the next.





 

Saturday was such a great day! Lots of our family came to support Dee and our family. The baptism was held at our stake center. Brother Sessions from our ward's bishopric conducted. Dee's sister, Jeigh, proudly led the music, beginning with an opening song of "I am a Child of God". Grandpa R. gave the opening prayer.

Grandpa P. gave a talk on baptism, wherein he shared the experience of his own baptism which was done in his local high school swimming pool. Another kid that was being baptized that day had to be rescued from the deep end. He reminded Dee to find something memorable that would mark this day in his mind.

Grandma R. gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. She had many objects to help Dee know how to recognize the Spirit, one of them being his favorite fuzzy blanket that was given to him as a brand new baby. Dee listened attentively to the talks. I'm not sure if he was nervous or excited or probably both. He slightly bounced in his chair with a huge grin on his face through the entire meeting.

After the talks, Aunt Erin and I sang a special musical number, "Baptism". It has been a long time since I've had the chance to sing with my sister; we used to do it all the time. It was my way of sharing in and contributing to Dee's big day.

After the musical number, Dee and his dad stepped into the font and Dee was baptized by immersion with both of his grandfathers acting as witnesses. All the little cousins and children who had come to the baptism sat near the glass surrounding the font to watch. Jeigh started cackling as Dee was submerged in the water and that set several of the children off. However irreverent, they were just voicing the excitement and energy that could be felt in the room.

While Dee and Joe changed into dry clothes, the primary president, Sister Garside, passed out papers for people to write notes of congratulation, advice, or love for Dee. When they reappeared, dried and dressed, the confirmation took place. Nine men (Joe, Grandpa R., Grandpa P., Uncle Kip, Uncle Colin, Cousin Brandon, Paula (friend), Bishop Phillips, and Brother Sessions) who hold the power of the priesthood placed their hands on Dee's head and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. My husband, Joe, is a humble man who gives powerful blessings. I'm always amazed at the words that come from his mouth when he is acting as the mouthpiece of God. I know they are not his own. Among many other things, he blessed Dee to do well in school, to serve as a full-time missionary someday, and reminded him how much his earthly and heavenly parents love him. Dee gave awkward, yet happy handshakes and hugs to all the men in the circle after the confirmation.



Dee and his sweet Primary teacher, Sister Spears



Brother Sessions turned some time over to Bishop Phillips and then closed the meeting. The closing song, "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus" was led again by Jeigh and the closing prayer was given by Dee's five year old cousin, Kashus. We were slightly nervous when Dee wanted to ask Kash to give the closing prayer. Kash's prayers are often...creative...and always long. This one wasn't any different, but it was a great prayer. It was obvious that Kash had been listening closely to the baptism and confirmation when he repeatedly asked that things be blessed "by the holy authority". At one point, even he got tired during his long prayer and yawned a big, loud yawn. That was the point that Dee and I lost it. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to stop from giggling out loud. It was a memorable prayer from one fantastic kid!

Once the meeting was over we made our way to our home where we served a luncheon. Dee had requested Chicken Noodle and Minestrone Soup. Aunt Erin made a Cheese Broccoli Soup for those who CAN have milk. With about 45 people, the house was full to the brim with family and friends. Just the way we like it!

This boy is blessed to have such great friends and family in his life. He is so loved! What a special day!







Grandpa and Grandma P.

  


Grandpa and Grandma R. (and cousin London)

 


Three generations

  


These girls sure are lucky to have such a great older brother!



 





This is the Man I Married

Joe recently received an end of the year bonus. Woohoo! Extra money?! WOOHOO!!

But what does this man that I married, this father of my children do with that extra money???

Does he buy a new tool?

What about a new recliner?

Does he go blow it on a weekend out with the boys?

How about a new gun?

Maybe a down payment on a motorcycle?

He should spend it on some new clothes for himself.

Or maybe even a night out with his gorgeous wife (hee hee!).

Does he do any of that???

Nope. No. Nada. Not even close. No way.

This is what he does.

He spends three hours shopping around town for a swing set for his children only to bring home the next best thing...

A trampoline!

Then he spends his entire Saturday, his one and only true day off, to set the thing up.

And he even lets the kids help.

And we all know how truly "helpful" a 7, 5, and 3 year old can be.

What a guy! What a dad! We sure love you, Daddy Joe, for being the selfless, committed, loving, giving man you are. (Even if you always pull goofy faces when I take pictures.)

Putting on Airs at the In-Laws

If there is one thing I know how to do well, it is to embarrass myself.

I've had a lifetime of practice and I'm a pro. In fact I've gotten so good at saying and doing dumb things that my mouth is practically foot-shaped. (Get it? Open mouth. Insert foot.)

To give you a recent example...

This last weekend we had the opportunity to spend sometime in Hometown, Idaho with our families. I have a great in-law family that I really do enjoy and feel comfortable being with. Nonetheless, I would still like to make somewhat of a good impression to remind them why their son/grandson/brother/nephew/cousin picked me as his blushing bride.

The morning before we drove out to the family lunch and Easter egg hunt, I spent a fair amount of time picking out a flattering outfit and doing my hair and makeup just so. I left my parents house, where we had stayed the night, feeling confident about my appearance. Woo! I still got it!

And then I snuck a peek in the vanity mirror in our minivan.

AGH!!!

Bright purple and unmistakable, there it lurked, begging for any passerby's visual attention... A hickey.

And not just any hickey.

My very first hickey. Ever.

You know, besides the ones you would give yourself when you sucked on your own arm in 3rd grade class out of boredom and curiosity. (Oh, you didn't do that? Well...Umm...)

This was my very first neck hickey.

And this one didn't even come with some amazing amorous affair.

My husband and I were just messing around the night before--STOP! Not THAT kind of messing around. Just teasing each other about something. He wrestled me down and latched on to my neck for .0013 seconds. There he left The Mark of Shame, flashing brighter than any Scarlett Letter.

No makeup, no ice, no nothing was going to cover that thing up.

Oh well, at least my hair--that is looking goooood--will maybe cover it up. My good impression isn't shot...yet.

And then I spilled an entire water bottle. In the worst place one can spill an entire water bottle.

With burning cheeks, a bright purple hickey on my neck, and looking like I had just peed my pants (not "Oops! I giggled too hard!" peed my pants, but "Woah! Buy me some Depends!" peed my pants) I prepared to greet my husband's entire family. Grandma and Grandpa, all the aunts, a few uncles, cousins, everybody.

Sweet.

As you can see, with my amazing sense of fortune and poor timing, I don't need any help in the mortification department. But that afternoon my seven year old son felt free to offer his services anyway.

Later in the day, he and I made a trip out to our van to get him some Benadryl for an accidental milk exposure he had experienced. While we were out there, I felt free to...ahem..."air out". A couple of times.

My son was walking away as I did, but turned quickly when he heard me. He giggled wildly and asked if I had indeed farted.

I confessed, thinking it would be our little secret. Moms fart too. What's the big deal?

He walked back to the house through the back entrance, cackling. I walked back through the front entrance. As I entered the kitchen where my husband's entire family was gathered, they were laughing uproariously about something. They turned to see me and the laughter escalated to another level. Joe's cousin couldn't even talk because he was doubled over, laughing so hard, and pointing...At me.

What I had failed to remember is, to a seven year old boy, farting in and of itself is a mighty big deal and worthy of proper and loud group announcements.

Hickey on neck.
Pees pants.
Farts.

Guilty as charged. And making the kind of impressions the family will be talking about for years.

Hooray.

Of Grieving and Gratitude

I spoke with my Aunt Jane this morning.

She called me on the phone. She was laughing. She said she couldn't talk long, but wanted to know how I was doing. She also wanted to tell me that she was busy and happy.

And she giggled infectiously through out our entire conversation. That wonderful, irreverent giggle that simultaneously puts you at ease and convinces you of just how much she cares for you.

Then almost as soon as it had begun it was over. Still laughing, she said she had to go.

I tried to convince her to stay on the phone with me, but even as she told me she loved me and hung up I started to wake up.

I had been dreaming. I gazed at the room around me, blinking with the cold realization of it.

And then I began waking up again.

I had been dreaming that I had been dreaming that I talked to my Aunt Jane.

Yet, as I woke definitively, the sound of my Aunt Jane's laugh and love reverberated in my head. Before the memory of it could vanish as dreams so commonly do, I turned to my husband who was waking beside me.

No "Good morning, Honey". No "And how did you sleep?".

"I just talked to my Aunt Jane", I said.

He didn't miss a beat. "Oh yeah? How is she?"

"She's happy and busy and she loves me."

As the words left my mouth, the ache began to set in. I rolled on my back, staring at the ceiling. And then I started to cry. I grabbed my pillow, crammed it over my face creating a hasty sanctuary, and let the tears flow.

You see... My Aunt Jane passed away in February 2008. My beautiful, hilarious, talented, loving, red haired Auntie Jane has been "gone" for three and a half years.

Skin cancer. Malignant melanoma. Nasty stuff.

Long after my tears had stopped and dried, I laid in bed. Wondering. Pondering.

One could conjecture that I dreamed of Jane simply because the night before I had been shuffling things around in my storage room and had found the large wooden box I have that bears her name. My thoughts had most certainly lingered on her more than usual the night before as I hefted the box from storage, carried it upstairs, and placed it in my family room.

She had been in my conscious. In my subconscious. Is that why I dreamed that I dreamed that I spoke with her?

One could also speculate that those gone from this earth are not truly gone, that they speak to us in dreams. That they are very near and watching over us. That it was not a trick of the mind, but a true and sincere conversation with a beloved aunt who still lives just not in the same world as I. That she is indeed happy, busy, and that she loves me.

I am not exactly certain what happened in my dreams this morning.

But I am most certain of a few things.

She does live. And I will see her again. We will be reunited and when we are it will be as family. She will know me as her niece and I will love her as my Auntie Jane. Death cannot break the bonds we had on this earth.

Today, I am most grateful for that knowledge. Families are forever. Death is but a temporary separation. A painful and heartbreaking one, yes. But in the end, nothing but a fleeting moment. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for the power of the Atonement that will make that sweet reunion possible.

Today, I can't help but be sorrowful as we enter another holiday season without Jane, but filled with hope and happiness that we will meet again.

And not just in dreams.

Note to Self: Heavy

You know that song "He's Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"?



You remember that picture I showed you of me and my brother?

Well, he's back (yea!)
and holy moly! Has he changed!

But...

he's not the only one.

That song is right.

He's my brother.

And he ain't heavy.

I am.



Note to self: It is time to get serious about postpartum weight loss.

Seriously.

Couch to 5K program here I waddle.

Anyone want to be my running partner?

P.S. It is humiliating to show this to you all, but it's part of my scare tactic for myself.

Only...

2 more sleeps

6 more meals

79 more Facebook checks

2 more blog posts

34 more diaper changes

4 more loads of laundry

24 more trips to the bathroom

2 more showers

4 more kid baths

4 more trips back or forth from the school

8 more times of pushing "snooze" on my alarm clock

3 more dishwasher runs

1 more trip to the grocery store

4 more movies

6 more piano practices

8 more children's books

27 more texts

2 more sessions with my vacuum cleaner

83 more times of asking Elle if she needs to go potty

82 more times of cleaning up potty training accidents

...until I see this kid again!


I have a feeling he's changed a bit in the last two and a half years since I last saw him.

Welcome home very very soon Elder Colin!!!

The Good, the NOT Bad, and the Very UN-Ugly

(Cheesy? Probably. But how else do you thank the mysterious early morning snow shoveler?)

As I write this post my three oldest are playing outside in the backyard of our new house.

A fenced backyard. Of their very own. I think I'm gonna cry...

Happy tears!

I've always been a rather emotional person (you read my blog, right?) Over the last month those emotions have swung from despair and depression to joy and contentment.

LIFE IS GOOD!

And I would be a very ungrateful girl indeed if I didn't share it. It's too easy to write about all the trials and tribulations and soak up all the "poor Evelyn"s.

There is a balance.

For as insanely crazy and chaotic that the month of January was, so many good things happened and continue to happen. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was this happy.

We have been blessed with family and friends who love us and give us so much support, encouragement, and love. We have felt the power of prayers, fasting, and love over the last several weeks.

I can't believe that this still surprises me, but it does. Over the last several weeks people would call or write out of the blue to tell me that they weren't sure why but they had been thinking of us and wondered if we needed anything. Amazing!

Packages of goodies and love arrived in our mail box. Homemade meals came to our door. Visitors sat in our living room unannounced but so very welcome. Blog friends who I have never met in person queried how we were doing and asked if there was anything they could do or just expressed the desire to be closer so they could help.

There were so many offers to help that I didn't even know what to tell people. I always feel kind of silly saying things like "just keep us in your prayers" or "we need your prayers", but if there was ever a time we needed prayers it was this last month. And those prayers were there and the power of them felt. Many times over.

I don't understand how. I don't understand why. I don't think we particularly deserved to be so blessed. We try to do good, but we certainly aren't the most righteous or generous or deserving folks.

In short, all that has happened this last month, the good and the bad, has been overwhelming and HUMBLING. Maybe that's why it happened. Because we needed a good humbling.

Note taken.

As grateful as we were for the help, it was hard to take it.

It was not easy to send my children away with my sister and mom for the better part of a week when I was in the hospital giving birth.

It was not easy to sit on the floor of our trailer in Nevada and watch nine men load up my house in a moving van in the space of an hour.

It was not easy to say "yes" when the Relief Societies of our church asked if they could bring in meals when we were all so sick and again after the baby was born and AGAIN when my husband left town a week after we moved to our new home.

It was not easy to watch my family set up my new house in the space of a day from the comfort of a recliner (something that would have taken me months to complete on my own with the "help" of three kids and a newborn).

It is not easy to feel worthy of so much concern and care. It is not easy to feel this indebted to so many people. It is not easy to find the right words to express the depth of gratitude I have.

I have every intention of paying it back and paying it forward. Possibly impossible, but I'll try anyway.

Starting now...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

To all our family, to our friends, to the old ward, to the new ward, to the "neighborly" neighbors, to the bloggers, to the complete strangers, for the meals, for the gifts, for the muscles, for the time, for the sweat, for the child care, for the fresh fruit, for the reminders to take it easy and to absorb the time with our new baby, for the shoulders to cry on, for the sympathetic ears, for the hugs, for the phone calls, for the messages, for the hotel stay, for the snow shoveling, for showing up, for being there, for staying, for coming back, for asking again and again and again, FOR THE PRAYERS...THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts, from the bottom of our toes, and all the spaces in between!

Thank you.

2010 Christmas Card and Letter

In spite of my tongue-in-cheek rant against Christmas letters a few days ago, how could I resist sharing ours? Merry Christmas to all of our online friends and family!

*(Names and locations have been changed so as to be blog-friendly.)

Dear Friends and Family,

Our 2010 holiday letter is quickly becoming The Christmas Letter That Almost Wasn’t. In fact, if you are actually reading this and it isn’t Valentine’s Day, a Christmas miracle must have taken place. We keep thinking that one of these days life is bound to slow down a bit. Why are you laughing? It could happen. Although it certainly won’t be happening for us over the next several months.

As soon as the stockings are tucked in the boxes with care, we will be expecting the arrival of our fourth baby. SHE is due January 17th (coincidentally the exact same day as Dee was due) and we look forward to meeting her. We are hoping she will come with her name tattooed somewhere as we are still clueless about what to call her. Watch for baby announcements in the next month or so.

Once the baby is safely here and I have a week or so to recover we will be packing up our household and moving where Joe has accepted a job offer with the corporate part of Komatsu. You may be thinking “Didn’t they just get a new job and move?” and you would be thinking right. At the beginning of this year Joe was teaching Cummins Power Generation at Universal Technical Institute in Arizona. In May he took a job with Komatsu Equipment Company as a field technician in another state, helping build the HUGE mine haul trucks for the surrounding mines. This job with its abundance of overtime has been a great blessing and we have been enjoying being so much closer to our families. We assumed we would be living in this town for a few more years at least, but you know what happens when you assume, right?

In early December Joe went to a training program for Komatsu. He must have done something to impress somebody because they asked him if he would be interested in taking a trainer position with Komatsu Corporate in another state. We weren’t even searching for a job, but after much deliberation we have decided to take it. We will be moving AGAIN at the end of January. I think I am beginning to understand how Mary felt just a little. Fortunately, I get to ride in a mini-van and NOT on the back of a donkey.

The kids are amazingly resilient in spite their parents’ knack for shaking things up every six months. Dee will turn six years old in January. He started Kindergarten this year and is head over heels for school and his wonderful teacher. He has improved so much this past year that he no longer requires speech therapy and is even testing at the top of his class. He is learning to read and is developing a love for the written word. When I asked him what his favorite things are his response was: “I love to go to Grandma’s house, go to school, and watch lots of TV”. (Did I really just admit that on our holiday letter?) I would also add his love for eating as I never seem to be able to satisfy his voracious appetite. Luckily his favorite foods are green apples and salad. Whew!

Jeigh is four years old which we seem to have a hard time convincing people of as she is so tall and well-versed. She squeaked into the last available spot at the local school’s preschool program this fall and is also testing at the top of her class. She maintains that dramatic flair she was born with sustaining “life-threatening” injuries on a daily basis. She loves spending time with her family, going to ballet class, reading books, and helping Mommy in the kitchen. She is rarely seen without a notepad and pen in hand and impresses us daily with her funny little drawings and knack for writing letters. She is a natural-born mommy and we are planning on allowing her to practice all she wants once baby #4 arrives.

Elle is two years old, but dying to be at least twice that. She has a hard time watching the bigger kids go to school every day. I will remind her of that when she complains about waking up every morning in ten years. She is a busy girl who has a special talent for getting into trouble; usually soapy, wet, lofty, or cosmetic trouble. She loves to read books, take baths, collect and chew on rocks, dance and sing, eat chocolate, and cuddle. We love our one and only little blondie (so far) and her sweet and funny ways.

Joe hasn’t done much this year besides work, work, and let’s see…work. When he isn’t working, he’s sleeping or eating. We have been so grateful for his dedication to providing for our family, but are really looking forward to having him home more often with this new job. This last month he took and passed the MSHA test, a big deal for his current job. He was pretty nervous about passing, but we knew he could do it. Passing this test meant a bonus, a raise, and merits on his resume. Although he hasn’t been able to go with us very often on trips home, he has enjoyed being closer to family. He continues to be a wonderful dad, husband, and provider.

As for me…I have been busy being a stay at home mom, doing less “staying” than the title would imply. With two kids in school it feels much of the day is spent chauffeuring back and forth between home and school. Earlier this year I started doing some freelance writing for a popular pregnancy and parenting website as a featured blogger. Personal blogging continues to be a favorite activity (http://hangingbyasilverlining.blogspot.com). Other than writing, raising kids, packing and unpacking our household, I have been busy growing a baby. A rather successful year I suppose.

We have loved reading all of your letters and cards and hearing what you and yours are up to. We are grateful for such wonderful and true friends and family and hope to continue to stay in touch over the coming year. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Valentine’s Day…Whenever this letter gets to you…we hope you are happy, merry, and well!

Love, Our Family

Those Dear Dimming Memories

(Ethel Blanch Green)
When my great-grandmother was a single young woman, she was a nurse transferring up to Port Angeles, Washington. Her travels were made increasingly difficult as she had become quite ill. By the time she reached her destination she could hardly walk, but still needed to transport her self and her trunk and bags to where she would be boarding.

A handsome young servicemen leaped to her aid, sweeping up her things, and escorting her to her new residence. This gallant handsome hero had made quite the chivalrous impression. He became my great-grandfather some time later.

(Ira and Ethel Bourm on their honeymoon)

Back to present day...

Joe and I were talking about our respective family histories. Joe began to comment on how remarkable my great-grandparents' first meeting was. I was surprised it had made such an impression on him and encouraged him to expound on what he meant.

"Well, you know, how she was a nurse and didn't she pass him on an air flight vision test even though he couldn't see very well just because she thought he was handsome? And she accidentally gave him too many shots. And then how they snuck off from a dance to a boat right before he was called to war..."

And then I couldn't hear him anymore because of how long and loud I was laughing.

As wonderful as Joe remembers how my great-grandparents' first meeting went... No, my great-grandparents did NOT meet on the set of the movie, Pearl Harbor.

Come on and Get Happy!

I'm joining in with Mamarazzi and her Happy List Link-Up because sometimes I need to remind myself just WHY I should be!

Happy that is.


Last night at dinner, Joe just started laughing at something and couldn't stop for like twenty minutes straight. (Think Mary Poppins.) He was laughing so hard he was crying and ended up with a headache by the time he could get control of himself. I never really could figure out what the heck was so funny, but it made me HAPPY just to see him laughing so hard for so long. It's been too long.

This morning I woke to the sounds of three little kiddos happily and calmly playing with each other. They were being so tender and sweet to each other. Later, Jeigh was whispering to Elle, "Tell Mom what a good sister I am, okay? And I'll give you a sticker." She didn't have to convince me. I already know what good kids I have. And I sure love them and all their cute, crazy ways! In spite of all my daily "suffering" and whining and wailing as a stay at home mom, they make me very HAPPY!

I took my girls out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant yesterday. They make the yummiest chicken fajitas I have ever had and my pregnant palate can't get enough. I was quite HAPPY digging into my sizzling platter yesterday. And rather UN-happy once I realized they were gone and I would have to wait a reasonable time to go again. Think 24 hours is reasonable enough?

I am overflowing with HAPPY-ness that Christmas season is on its way and this year I am feeling all sorts of "in the spirit" as it is 40 degrees or less everyday! I am so HAPPY we have moved back to snow country!

It makes me HAPPY that people actually signed up for our ornament swap! I have to admit I was a little nervous that no one would and Sami and I would just end up sending one to each other, which could have been fun too, but...the more the merrier, right? Thanks to all who did sign up! It's going to great!

Having a friend like Sami makes me very HAPPY! We were chatting back and forth online tonight and I was laughing so hard that Dee wandered into my room asking what was going on. When I told him I was chatting with my friend and that I thought she was so funny, he asked, "You have friends?!" Why, thanks to blogging, yes, yes I do! Friends that make me HAPPY! And for those true-blue, real-life friends that stick with me through the thick and thin and time of it I am most grateful and HAPPY to have.

HAPPY is what I am whenever I get to feel this sweet little wee one inside. She is growing big and strong and making her presence known more and more every day. I think out of all my pregnancies she has been the most "personable" as evidenced by movements from within. We went to a parade a few weeks ago and when the marching band went by, she JUMPED! She must have been sleeping when they so rudely woke her. It was so funny! I am looking forward to meeting her soon...But she can feel free to wait as long as she wants. No need to rush things.

When payday came this week and Joe's paycheck was deposited I realized how grateful and HAPPY I am for such a hard-working and sacrificing husband who does so much for us. I am grateful for the money that deposits each week because of HIM. What a good, good husband I have. And not just for his bread-winning-ness. He makes me very HAPPY.

Looking at little Elle wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and sporting a pony tail makes me HAPPY and sad all at the same time. Aww cute! She looks so grown up and Aww dangit! She looks so grown up. {sniff, sniff}

So, I wasn't very original with my HAPPY list. I guess I get HAPPY from the same old stuff as every one else does: family and friends and love and food. Life is good! What more can I say?

What makes YOU HAPPY???

"How Do You Replace a Mother?"

(Image found in Google Images)

Do you remember when I mentioned not too long ago that Joe's cousin's wife passed away very unexpectedly?

An autopsy was done and even though all the test results are back, there is no obvious reason why a perfectly healthy, happy 31 year old mother of two would pass away so suddenly.

I hardly knew Zoe, but I sure can't stop thinking about her and even more about the little ones and husband she left behind. I have so many thoughts and emotions circling around this brain of mine, but Joe's cousin, Lori Conger said it better than I ever could on her blog today.

Can I just direct you over THERE today?

I hope you take the time to read it. It's not just about the tragic loss of this woman, but how invaluable each and every mother is. Beautifully written. Thank you, Lori.