Family Pictures

Sometimes it's the inbetween shots that I love the most. A million thanks to my amazing sister (in law) Cami! Sit back and enjoy.

And a million thanks to my boys, who don't love family picture time, but are patient enough to do them for me!

yard work

There were three main reasons we wanted to move. They were what we told our kids when we decided to move.
1. A bigger home for a growing family.
2. Somewhere that we could put food storage (aka - a basement...not garage, kids closets, or under beds)
3. A bigger yard for us to play and grow a big garden.
Sweet Corbin would tell us, it's okay we can fit a couple more kids in our (1100 sq.ft.) house.
But the yard, he was a fan of that.

Justin and I have farm blood running through us. We love working out in the yard together. We have dreams of a big garden that will produce lots of food for our family, a small orchard that we can pick fresh peaches off and enjoy, a big maple tree that we will sit under and watch our little ones running around (it will probably be grandchildren by then), our own honeybees to help our garden grow and give us our own honey, some chickens, and maybe even a cow or two. We pretty much want to be able to take care of ourselves in case we can't even afford to buy bread at the store. But then Justin reminds me of the gross things that come with farming...like killing the chickens, plucking their feathers, getting them "ready" to eat. Then I think how much I love the convenience of the grocery store.
Who knows if these things will happen, but we can dream, right?

For now we are just trying to put the yard in and that is what we have been doing for the past month and a half on just about every single one of Justin's days off.

We killed off the weed farm and tilled up the yard.

Levi loved spending all that time with us while the boys were at school.

We found huge rocks and concrete chunks throughout our yard.

Our Utah shape. This thing was enourmous!

We played, digged, and buried kids in the dirt. (okay, just the kids did that)

We dug up trenches. (okay Justin did that)

We installed a whole sprinkling system all by ourselves. People were surprised. Which surprised us. (and guess who did most of the priming and glueing?? I wasn't just taking pictures) We jumped for joy when we saw that they all worked with no leaks. Thanks to my man who figured out the whole plan and taught me that putting in sprinklers is not rocket science. But I like to think so.

We dug out a huge hole for a trampoline. Justin said it was worth all the hard work and time in hopes that we will save on ER bills.

Now the work is done for the season. There have been some great people who have helped us along the way. Thank you so much! Especially to Justin, I knew I married a great man, but I never really knew what a hard worker he is. We have many, many hours ahead of us still, but it is worth it all.

And I wouldn't trade our view for any other.

family weekend

Do you love a full packed weekend? With lots of family time.

Friday night we went to my brothers concert in his backyard. Wow. It was so cool to hear him play in front of an audience. He has got talent that I never knew of. The music was so enjoyable, the weather couldn't have been any better, the view was amazing, the treats were delicious, (my kids can second that one with the amount they ate), and the backyard was heaven to our boys.

(Landon is on the left)

They also had two other amazing artists come and perform for us. I was also very impressed, they even had the kids come and join in which was hilarious.

I'm looking forward to it next year guys!

Saturday we had an extremely talented sister-in-law do some pictures for us (see above for a sample). Cami worked wonders. I am ecstatic with the results.

Afterwards we went up to Shady Acres for a family party. I loved how relaxing and beautiful the evening was. Can it get any better than to be surrounded by this scene?

And to be able to roast hot dogs and marshmallows? Probably not.

It was also nice to spend the evening with Justin's family Sunday night.

Happy Birthday to Grandma Morris!! We just love her and all she does for us.

I do like a full packed weekend. But you'll probably find me in my pajamas next weekend making cookies, playing games, and watching movies.

schedule

We have lived here for a month and a half now. That's crazy.

(I promise to have pictures of the inside soon for those of you who were asking)

Lately I have felt like there was a millions things to do - from the sprinkling system, to cleaning, to spending quality time with each kid, time with Justin, and house projects - that I felt like I wasn't getting what really needed to be done, I felt so unorganized. Do you ever feel like when you have so much to do, your time spent is not very productive and you get nothing done? I did.

Last Sunday my mind was full and I felt it was time to figure out how to make our home less chaotic. A friend of mine mentioned something while teaching class a couple weeks ago that has stuck with me ever since. In our church, we as Latter-Day Saints who hold temple recommends, where do we go when we need to feel peace? The Temple. But our kids, where do they have to go? It should be our homes. Our homes should be like the temple to our kids. When they leave "the world", they should have a place to come to where it does not feel like the world.

That is exactly how I want our home to be for our kids and for Justin when he comes home from "the world". They should be entering a place of love.

For me (and I hope it is the same for most mothers out there), our home is most peaceful when I feel at peace and when I feel like I have a hold of things. Of course that is not always possible, but I was feeling like if I had some kind of a routine for myself, I would be better able to take care of my family and make our home the kind of place I want it to be.

So for what it's worth, here is our weekday morning routine. I love it for me! I have been a much better wife and mom because of it.

6:30 -- Wake up, make bed, pack up Justin's lunch, goodbye kiss for Justin
6:45 -- Spiritual time for me (Can I just say how much I love this. This is what makes my day a good day. I'm loving the New Testament)

7:15 -- Exercise. (I have decided that I am in a time of my life that I don't want to devote a ton of time on this. Solution. 15 minutes of some kind of work out: Jillian, Pilates, or just a bunch of cruches-pushups-lunges. Next solution. Wear a pedometer and reach 10,000 steps everyday, it's really easy when you have little people to chase around all day)

7:30 -- Shower, get ready for the day. (This makes me feel happy.)
8:00 -- Get the boys ready. (My boys usually sleep this long. If they wake up before then, they get to play legos until 8:00.) They have to get dressed, brush teeth, comb hair, make bed, empty their part of the dishwasher, eat breakfast, have devotional, get backpacks ready, and get out the door for the bus by 8:30. (I think we get all that in since we only have boys.)

(Are you loving the trenches in our lawn?)

8:30 -- Computer time. (I am allowing myself 1 hour in the morning to do all things computer. E-mail, blog, research ideas)

9:30 -- Mommy school with Levi. (work on alphabet; read books; math activities...counting, shapes, patterns; good for the brain activities...memorizing, matching games, puzzles, play what's missing)

10:30 -- Cleaning time/Project time (Levi loves helping me.)

Here's another schedule I like to keep...I love a clean house.

Monday - Laundry Day

Tuesday- Clean Bathroons, wash towels

Wednesday - Clean Kitchen

Thursday - Clean Family Roon

Friday - 1 extra load of laundry if needed (if there's been lots of playing outside time), clean out van, clean downstairs (we watch our Friday night movie down there so it's nice to have it looking good for that.)

Saturday - As a famly, we clean up. Clean our bedrooms and bathrooms, and any extra places that mom says needs to be cleaned. (entry ways, closets, garage, baseboards, daddy's office)

I'm not demanding am I?

11:45 -- Taylor's home, we have lunch, relax, play.

The afternoon I like to keep open. It should be that way. Starting next week, when all boys are home we are going to start a theme of the week. Our boys love crafts and projects. So we'll enjoy doing that together. (I'm so glad our kids aren't into extra curricular activities yet. I want it to stay this way forever.) When I have the rest of it figured out. I'll let you know. (ex: fall, pumpkins, ghosts, bats, cats, and rats)

Can you tell? I'm so excited for this time of year!

On a side note. I can't get enough of listening to Nat King Cole lately. This is one of his songs. I like the message. So it goes up on our quote wall.

10 years ago

This was me.

These were two of my greatest friends. (wow that's a mouthful of metal, my sister liked to mention that I had such a bright smile, mostly when the sun was hitting it at the right angle.)

We had just graduated from high school with some more of our good friends.
I was living with my parents working two jobs. I think I had the two best jobs a teenager could ever have. I worked as a dietary aid at the hospital. I loved bringing food to those who were healing and those who had just delivered babies. (this just so happens to be my sister-in-law's tray)

And then there was the best yogurt shop in town. It was a blast especially when I got to work with this georgous lady and this georgous lady. (wow check out that hair!)

I also got to babysitt this adorable nephew of mine a couple times of week. (Can you believe how little this guy was Monica?)

Life was pretty simple and easy for me. I loved living, I loved my family, my nephews and nieces were the greatest little things ever, I had the best of friends, I didn't want to grow up. The world was a beautiful sunny place.

Then on Sept. 11, 2001 I was laying in bed when my mom came and told me the news. I was shocked. How could something like this happen, not in America? I remember watching the news ALL day long. Watching the second plane hit, hearing about the other two planes that hit the pentagon and then crashed in the field in Pennslyvania, watching the first tower fall, then the second, and then all those faces of shock and fear. I remember getting a call from my work telling me that I didn't have to come in that day because the hospital had too few of patients for me to come in. But not back east. There hospitals were jammed packed with people who had been through the worst attack ever. All those images are still so vivid in my memory.

But then on Sept. 12, 2001, there was a feeling in the air that I have not felt as much since. The feeling of love, unity, pride for this country. I remember the radio playing God Bless the USA over and over. I was so proud to live in this country. I am so grateful for those who were true heroes that day and the many days, weeks, and years after. And for those hereos who continue to defend the cause of liberty to this day.

I have been reflecting a lot this past couple of days as to how much this country has changed, and then how much my life has changed in short ten years...

I made the choice to move to Salt Lake City. I still was not sure what I was going to do with my life, and when this opportunity was presented to me, it felt so right, everything fell right into place, and a few years later I understood why I was to move there.

I had some pretty great roomates....and some pretty great memories...

But the reason for me to be there was to find this guy...I scored big time!

And on May 7, 2003 we began our lives together.

Then we welcomed Corbin into our family.

Then we welcomed Taylor.

And then our Levi.

Yes, in the past 10 years my life has changed dramatically. There have been 9 homes I have known during that time, many friends who have come and gone, good times and sad ones, but the things that has been constant is the pride I feel to be an American, the faith I have, and the incredible amount of love I have for my family.

One of my favorite songs that came about from 9/11/01 is this one by Alan Jackson. And the line that I can't help but sing over and over in my head is this...

"Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family, thank God you had somebody to love"

10 years later that is exactly what I am doing.

i guess they have to grow up

It has happened again. The boys keep growing up. Corbin is 2nd grade and Taylor has entered the world of Kindergarten. Crazy. It seemed like we rushed right into this school schedule with all that was going on for us, but the boys are so happy. I'm not sure if it's because they are back on a schedule or if they are just so excited to meet some new people. Probably both.

Growing up my mom always made rice pudding. We devoured it (along with any treats we were lucky enough to get...which was not often) When my brothers got married, we would call them and let them know when mom made rice pudding, they came running. My dad never liked it, most of the family that has married into ours does not really like it (including Justin). I guess since we grew up on it, it's our comfort food and man I love this stuff. So you can bet our boys will grow up on mom's rice pudding. So to continue a tradition we started two years ago. The boys will be getting rice pudding on the first day of school. They were ecstatic!

They are so grown up.

As much as I miss them during the day - wondering what they are learning right now, if they have made some new friends at school, are they choosing to be the best they can be; I am happy for them. I am happy they get to learn, I am happy they get to meet new people, I am happy that they have experiences that will help them be even better.

In the meantime, I get to spend lots more one on one time with the adorable little guy. I love that he stays right by me throughout the house. He loves to help me fold laundry, clean up, work on projects (especially painting), make food, read books and even help on the computer. And starting this week we will have mommy school. I think he likes me okay, until his brothers come home.

Then I'm history.

At least until the next morning.