Beauty

I had the wonderful opportunity to be outside the other day and had a glorious time. Rich and I went ATVing up the canyon and I was overwhelmed with the beauty. I have to say that I feel so loved by our Father in Heaven when I am doing something in the mountains. I am so grateful that he made them for us to enjoy.

(after previewing this post, the photos I chose are not the best ones...more to come)

Yesterday

Started the day out tired and draggin’ myself from my snuggly bed.

Tired from a busy weekend.

Turned on the news to hear we were destined for snow.

3-5 inches expected.

Woke the little girls, as they are affectionately called here, (even though there is only a four and a half year spread from the birth of the oldest to the birth of the youngest) we have the two big girls, and the two little girls. Probably will be that way forever.  I hope so.

They were draggin’ , too.

They came down for breakfast. Oldest little girl seemed off.  Not silly like usual.

Woke the big girls.

One of them got out of bed.

One of them didn’t.

Finished making lunches and getting the three little girls (ha, tricked ya, in this instance there are three, the two little girls, and one of the big girls, who goes to a different school than the oldest big girl) out the door to the school bus.

Re-woke the oldest big girl. She is grumpy this morning. Not usual for her.

Went to get dressed, remembering the prediction for snow, bundled myself up. I am always cold.

Read scriptures. Lots of scriptures.

Hollered up to oldest big girl. “Let’s get a move on”.

Busy day ahead I think to myself.

She came down just when it was time to leave. Upset about her botched attempt at a fancy hair-do.

Tried to console her.

Didn’t work.

Left to take her to school.

Half-way home got a text from oldest big girl…"10 minutes late”.

I replied…”Okay”.

Proceeded to my destination, high school financial office... Registering for summer Drivers Ed. Oldest, big girl is really big.

While there got another text.  Told me I am mean. She was marked tardy, first time ever. Made her upset.

Came home to tackle the mountain of laundry that showed up unannounced. Decide it was the neighbors, but I will do it anyway, I am nice that way.

Later realize it was in fact ours. It must have been a busy few weeks to get so far behind.

Decide to be super woman and iron husbands shirts. Work really hard then realize there is a hole in the elbow of shirt I had just starched and pressed so perfectly.

Waste of a good ten minutes.

Laugh myself silly. Then continue ironing, this time checked the sleeves FIRST.

Found another one with hole. Cast it aside.

Got a call from school.

Oldest little girl is sick.

“Come get me, please.  I might throw-up”.

“On my way, I love you”.

Hang up.

Grab stuff and go.

Still no snow, but it looks like it’s coming. I am freezing.

Half-way there I remember I didn’t turn off  the iron . Glad it will do it itself, soon.

Arrive at school. Greeted by a very pale and sad looking girl.

“Let’s go home, kiddo.”

No resistance.

We waddle to the car.

Home again. Warm... and safe.

Oldest little girl goes up and soaks in a tub. Then falls asleep on the couch. There she stays for the rest of the day.

Get a another text “I get out at 12:25”

Better watch the clock. That is early.

Back to laundry.

Leave to get the oldest big girl a little while later.

We talked about being grumpy.

And we talked about being nice to people (especially your mom) even when you are grumpy.

Made a deal to try harder.

Smiled at each other for the first time today.

Home again.

Made some lunch.

Sat in front of the TV and ate. Bad habit.

It finally starts snowing. Doesn’t stick.

Oldest little girl still asleep. Oldest, big girl works on school work.   I work on laundry.

Time to think of dinner.

Decide on meatloaf .

Other little girl, and other big girl, come home.

Welcome home everyone.

Dudley is happy his girls are home.

We play for a few minutes.

Back up to switch laundry load.

Dad gets home. This is early. He doesn’t feel well.

Realize we are out of gravy mix. And milk.

Decide I must go to the store.

Finish peeling potatoes then prepare to leave.

Ask a girl to come with me.

Drive to store, carefully, trying not to speed down the hill.

Grab carrots, find packets of gravy, grab milk, find Dads favorite candy bar, then decide he should have two…he is feeling crumby after all.

Check out.

Drive home, carefully, trying not to speed up the hill.

Make mashed potatoes and gravy.

Finish dinner prep.

Switch loads of laundry.

Call everyone in for dinner.

Some of us don’t like meatloaf.

Some feel too sicky to come to the table and roll back over and go to sleep.

Some actually eat without complaint.

Some even compliment.

I smile.

Clean up dinner mess.

Worry out loud about my less than perfect body shape. Reminded quickly, by a loving husband, of his love for me, perfect or not, and I smile again.

Remember it is my turn to teach lesson for Family Home Evening.

Work on lesson.

Gather my little chicks around like a mother hen. “Come children, come listen…”

Sing, and love with all my heart, then teach, bear testimony, and love some more.

Then we sing and laugh about "Once There Was a Snowman" and that we do it wrong.

Then "Do As I'm Doing"

We pat our heads, and rub our bellies.

And Laugh.

Biggest girl makes treats.

Smoothies!

Uh-Oh... spilt smoothie.

Big girl apologizes, I console, and teach how to clean sticky smoothie from floor.

Time for little girls to go to bed.

Little big girl needs to practice violin.

Begins fretting soon after, “I need your help on this little part. Will you show me?”

I attempt to play violin, first or second time playing in 20 years.

Sounds recognizable.

We decide to try it with the piano.

It works and she is happy for now.

Tries again later on her own. The practice didn’t stick. Now she is sad.

Biggest girl finds a metronome app for little big girls iPOD.

That helps.

Finally time alone with husband.

We need a treat.

Make two batches of microwave popcorn, one Butter Lovers, one Smart Pop 94% fat free.

Little big girl is back.

Metronome is bothering her. “Daddy, please help me”

Daddy saves the day (or very late night). She is better now.

Watch a television program …bored to tears.

“I am going to bed. I am tired…” big yawn.

“ Okay, give me a kiss. Love ya , babe.“

“ Love you, too...more!”

“sleep good”

I wave as I head to my snuggly bed.

Turn out the lamp.

Kneel to pray.

Thankful for my life.

Climb into bed.

Assume the position…

Little big girl is back .

Then one last attempt with little big girls violin.

One more assurance that she will get it... just keep trying.

And one last I love you.

Assume the position one more time.

Realize it never really snowed.

That’s okay.

Then I felt it.

I
was
falling
asleep.

Good night, family.

I love you.

Another One Bites the Dust

Another sicky today.

Fabulous.

The Land of Amoxicillin and Ibuprofen

You know, I just have to say that I HATE being sick. I know that is not unusual, probably most people do, but man, could we catch a break please?

We have not been to the doctor for being sick in YEARS!! I mean it, we have been for yearly check ups and immunizations and anything like that, but not sickness. We have been sick, dont get me wrong, just not sick enough to visit the MD.

This year we have been quite a lot. We have had ear infections, sinus infections, strep throat, pink eye, and whatever else causes you to spew things from your nose and mouth at random times.

Enough.

I am officially ready for spring.

They will miss me at the pharmacy.

A Little Bit of History

We were asked by our Bishop to do this little project, and I thought it would be fun to post here:


Rich and I both grew up outside of Utah. For me it was primarily Mesa, Arizona, for Rich it was several different states, and two separate tours in Germany, thanks to his dad’s Military career. Like all couples we have a story, maybe not an earth shatteringly different story, but a story none the less. We met in college, in the computer lab, at Weber State University to be specific.

It is funny because I asked for his help with something, and we both laugh about it now because it was a beginning of a lifetime of him helping me with the computer.

We became best friends and enjoyed long drives through the mountains, going to concerts, movies, and spending all our free time together in any way possible. Eventually we realized what everyone else already knew, something had changed, and we were ready for that next step. We joined our lives together on a snowy day in January, 1995. We settled ourselves in a tiny one bedroom apartment in Bountiful, Utah.

Little did we know how quickly we would become a growing family. We welcomed our first daughter, Tori, to our little family the following December, just eleven short months later! Exactly one year after that we learned we were expecting our second child, Whitney, and just before she was born we moved into our first “real” (albeit a rental) house in Farmington, Utah. Nineteen months later we welcomed our third daughter, Paige, to our growing and busy family. Shortly after her arrival came the arrival of a new job opportunity, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.


We jumped on the chance to do something different, and see something different, for a few years at least, while the kiddos were still little and easily portable. Turned out to be nine years, in two different states, but boy was it fun!

Shortly after we were safe and sound in Pennsylvania, we learned of the impending arrival of our fourth daughter, Rylie, and were surprised when she arrived 7 weeks early. That brought with it many trials and health concerns for both baby and Me. At the same time we were going through the process of determining that our daughter, Whitney, had autism. It was a very rough time for our family, but, looking back, it was one that completely knocked us to our very foundation and rebuilt us piece by piece, stronger and even more solid than we started.


We moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in October, 2005. We’ve all heard the saying “I left my heart in San Francisco”, well, we left our hearts in Omaha. Way less glamorous I suppose, but there is something about that place that just captivated us to the very center of our hearts. We lived there 3 years and met many wonderful people and feel like we really grew a lot as a family, both spiritually and physically!


When the chance to come home to Utah presented itself, we eagerly pursued it, and have been grateful to be here in our beloved mountains and repeatedly find ourselves in awe of the beauty that is here.

We love camping (in our pop-up trailer, not a tent) and hiking in the mountains,especially the spectacular Zion's National Park; doesn’t get any better than that for us. Together we still find ourselves loving the exact same things we enjoyed as a young couple, sans the concerts, at least the loud ones, even after all these years.

Rich enjoys his career in the computer field, he enjoys anything electronic, the more “gadgety” the better. He loves home theater projects, and has recently discovered a talent and a love for all things BBQ. As a family we are thrilled with all of his hobbies, but especially the BBQ! Good stuff!

I like to do all things paper craft, scrapbooking, cards, etc. I find myself at a new place as of late, after homeschooling for the past eight years we sent our girls to school, I am now finding new hobbies and re-discovering old hobbies, and choosing which I would like to spend more time with. Photography seems to keep popping to the top of that short list!

We are always surprised by the fact that each of our girls, though genetically linked, and you would assume very similar, are so very different! They are wonderful and keep us hopping, four teen/pre-teen girls, in one house...yep, lots of music, dancing, singing, texting, computering, “Twilight” loving, emotions flying, quarreling, loving, and best of all growing and learning every day. This, by far, has been the most challenging time of our parental career, but we would not change a thing.