Nature Walks

Catching up is hard to do.  So many other things start happening and before I know it I'll miss blogging everything before the years through.  So I am just going to carry on with life and I will play catch up as I go!

Today I took Rylie and Emma and some of their friends on a nature hike.  We collected various wonders of nature, from acorns to rocks.  It was so much fun.  I loved hearing their excitement over their little discoveries.  I loved listening to their conversations, watching them help one another but compete against each other all at the same time.

When all was said and done we gathered our new collection back home and glued them on a grapevine wreath and ate delicious pumpkin bread.  Seriously the best bread I have ever eaten!

My favorite word of the day was: "Wabbefart" aka "Waterfall", oh and "ACKHorn" aka "Acorn"

And my favorite expression: "I like nature, it is so COOL!"

Rylie continued to say, "Thank you so much mommy for doing this, this is so fun!"  She doesn't use the word fun unless she means it so it must have been a great success.

I loved having these sweet girls over today and I honestly can't wait to do it again!

I love to see the temple, I'll go inside someday...

We are so new to having the temples around us that it never dawned us that when Sav turned 12 she could go whenever she wanted to.  We were waiting around for the youth temple trip not ever considering that we can take her ourselves.  One day we will grow accustomed to all the advantages of Utah life, as for now we are content that we learned this one.  When one of Savannah's best friends, Paige, turned 12 she invited Savannah to go to the temple with her.  So bright and early in the morning Savannah, Harvey, Paige and her Dad Ryan headed to the temple to have their first experience enjoying the peace that the temple offers.  Her words to describe the event afterwards were, "I felt so calm and happy there."  I am so happy she was able to have this experience.  And just to show you how far behind I am on this blog, this blessed event happened in April and many times after.  I'll catch up!  I am determined!

She's found it!

My Maddie is one of those kids that has the potential to do anything.  Everything we have enrolled this kid into she has excelled at.  She has got the talent but she also has the drive, ambition, and the competitiveness that gets her just one step ahead of the pack.  We were excited to have Madison finally find her "thing" because we knew once she did, she would spread her wings and fly!  Well gymnastics is her chosen profession right now and she is doing great!  You would think when she was doing things like this and climbing 30 ft flag poles at three years old we would have known then!:

Finally we caught on and here she is has happy as a clam doing what she does and loves best.  We are proud of you Madison for setting your sights on a goal and striving harder than anyone I know to achieve it.  I believe you are destined for great things!  And yes, I am a biased mom!

My little Entrepreneur

It is when I stumble upon pictures like this one when I wonder how many other moments in my children's lives I have failed to capture.  This is one of those moments that would have escaped my memory and all the emotions it caused would have been lost forever but thankfully I just happened to be perusing through pictures and I came upon it.  What is glorious about these so called remembrances are that the emotions come racing up to the surface as soon as they are recalled.  I am truly grateful for this one.  This was one of those moments where as a parent you sit back in awe, "Is this my child?"  I know he didn't learn this from me, most definitely it passed on through the genes of his daddy but even then it wasn't something he was taught.  It was just in him.  Ambition, motivation, confidence, are these characteristics taught or are they something you are born with?  Heaven knows I didn't teach him these things and I haven't seen his daddy sit down with his economic books and business management lectures and bullet point presentations.  The boy was born with it, always full of ideas; using his creativity to formulate the execution of these ideas and the motivation to see it through.  Just one of the many things I admire about Carson.

One day he woke up with an idea.  He knew that as it was around Christmas time many people would be wrapping presents.  And something he did learn from his mom was that wrapping can be tedious so why not gift bag it?  So as he is the master craftsman and artist he took it upon himself to spend the entire morning and into the afternoon making gift bags.  The design and structure came from his little mind and he saw it through.  He then decided to set up "shop" outside on the sidewalk.  It wasn't until I heard him shouting, "Bags for sell, gift bags for sell!" that I even knew he was up to something.  So I ventured out into the cold and got the full scoop of what he had been up to all morning.  Now not to completely discredit my mothering abilities I was aware he had been hard at work in creating but did fail to enquire as to what.  Aunt Michelle and Uncle Chad however came to Carson's aid as his first patrons of his newly founded business.  Which I am personally grateful for.  His confidence boosted and feeling like .50 earned was a job well done; he bagged the goods and went inside where it was warm and played the night away with his cousins.

Again, the flood of emotions that arise are pride and love as I look at this picture in awe of my son.  He is a creative little ambitious man.  One I am quite proud to call my boy.