Dallin's Blessing

We blessed Dallin on Sunday (11-23-2008). We were fortunate to have my brothers (Scott and Jason)and Travis' family: (Lucky, Don, Curtis, Chris-Danielle's husband). It was a beautiful blessing and we were so excited to have such a good turn out of support from both sides of the family.




My brothers are a lot bigger than me...and Dallin was hungry...rootin' around Uncle Jason for food. :)

My kids don't see their Uncle Scotty or Uncle Jason very often, so this was a real treat.

Marie got Dallin all calmed just before the blessing. I think the noise made him a little anxious - but she calmed the soul.

Visiting before we started....

Tyler played "chase" with Grandpa before we started.

Arizona (1st post)

We got to Arizona without incident. THe kids travelled amazingly well. We checked 5 bags and 2 carseats and 4 kids...(well the kids actually rode in the seats of the plane...they didn't go with the checked bags). It was an uneventful trip thankfully.

We have already seen grandma and grandpa and played with cousins. We have been to Higley Hot Dog and are gearing up for more fun to come. Here are a few pictures so far!



Higley Hot Dog....


Melissa's kids and my kids....






Me and Melissa...(we went to London together) Hunter took the picture as you can see...

Grandpa time.

9 years, 4 kids, and 15 vehicles later...(11-27-99)

We leave for Arizona tomorrow and won't be here to update on Thanksgiving for that post. This year Thanksgiving happens to be on my anniversary. 9 years to be exact. I don't know if I will have a chance to do a post while I am gone, so it is a bit early. I know I will have a katrillion pictures to post upon our return so I will get this one out of the way. We met our senior year in high school, dated a few months and then he left on his mission. Upon his return we married (2 months later to be exact). I don't know how my mom did it, I had a dress and the announcements I liked picked out before he got home. I don't know if I could support Gwendalin if she told me she wanted to marry someone she hadn't seen for 2 years! But...my mom knew I would do it (dress shopping) with or without, so she joined in the fun...and it all worked out. I am very lucky to have a Travis....He's a good match for me and I've loved the 9 years we have had so far and look forward to many more. :)

Dallin's 3 month Pictures

I took Dallin in for his 3 month pictures this week. They snapped him and then a few with Tyler in as well. They turned out pretty cute....I went to Target....

Last Week...and a quick tag(at the bottom)

Last week I managed to do the following:

* Go to the bathroom with an infant on my lap while watching a two year old take a bath.

* Visit my sister in the hospital with her gorgeous new Maesyn.

*Get pictures taken of my 3 month old Dallin.

* Cry over a 6 year old boy who is learning the value of respect.

*Watch several episodes of mine and Travis' new found favorite NCIS...(we haven't seen any so we TiVo them and then watch them in our "spare" time).

*Get plastic bags to cover the car seats on the plane when we check them as baggage this weekend.

*Buy new luggage for our trip next week since Aggie (the dog) ate our other luggage literally.

*Finish Christmas shopping.

*Take some random pictures so there is proof that I interact with my kids... :)

*Miss only the "Yoga" day on my P90X workout....(very intense and great by the way)....but missing the Yoga is okay because it's my least favorite of all the 6 workouts...


It has been a good week....I'm tired, but it's been good.

And there's a cute little Tag from my friend Heidi from London at the bottom....

7 Things:

7Things I Can Do

Eat

Sleep

Cry

Mow the Lawn

Play the Piano (not masterfully, but enough)

Clean

Pee my pants if I laugh too hard, or jump up and down....it's very sad

7 Things I can't do

Keep my house as clean and organized as I would like

Cook - I despise it

Put up a fence

Change the oil on my car

Not eat sugar...I hate it- it makes me literally ill, but I still eat it.

Pay the right amount of tax to the IRS and SSA for our business...I always screw it up.

Clog

7 Things I say

I'm not kidding

Don't hit

No Way! (said like Amanda from London)

Exactly

Did you make your bed, brush your teeth, and say your prayers?

I'm so tired

Where's the remote?

7 Things I eat

Yogurt

Bagels ( the Alternative bagels from Wal Mart - they are only 1 point)

Sweet Potatoes

Baby Carrots

Oscar Meyer Turkey - thin slices

Weight Watchers Carrot Cakes

Fiber One Bars (the chocolate ones)

7 People to do this...

Lynn

Tricia

Marie

Mom

Brittany

Debbie

Anna

Dianne

Amy M.

Remember When....

Okay here is a list of "Remember Whens" that have been going through my head lately. I may add more later, but I just thought I'd jot these while I was thinking about them.



Remember when you had Family Home Evening and learned about the Tree of Life and your kids held onto the broom (Iron Rod) for dear life to get to the candy (fruit) at the end of the rod?

Remember when you thought your mom had kids so they could do all the work and she wouldn't have to do any? Oh and then you had your own kids and realized you were wrong when you thought that?

Remember when you learned the song Fifty Nifty United States in grade school and your husband learned it too and you sing it in the car together just for laughs? And then you sing it to your two year old when he gets out of the bath and he laughs hysterically causing a chain reaction of laughter?

Remember when you thought you could keep your house clean when you had kids, and then you had kids and realized that was a falsehood?

Remember when you thought your mom made the best dinners and was so on top of life in general and then you became a mom and realized that all moms just fly by the seat of their pants and usually think about dinner five minutes before dinner time?

Remember when you thought wearing "clicky" shoes was fun and you wore them just to hear them click on any occasion, not just for church, and now putting on any dress shoes makes your feet hurt at the thought?

Remember when you thought your parents were so mean for not letting you do one thing or another and now you find your kids saying your the meanest mom ever for getting the wrong kind of juice or something small?

Remember when you love being alive because the adventures are just so much fun that you find yourself loving that you got to have one more day with the people you adore?

Remember when you thought you'd never feel comfortable with any of your in-laws and now some of them are your dearest friends?

Remember when you were in high school and the biggest challenge was what you were going to wear or what you would say to the crush of your life, and now the challenge is just getting dressed because it's a task to look cute when you juggle 4 kids? :)

Remember when you thought you'd be the one that "bounced right back" after having a child and you struggle to lose any of your baby weight? Now you have a new respect for all women who bear or have born children.

Remember when you didn't want Obama to win for president, but then he did and you cried and then decided to pray for him rather than be upset?

LIFE IS GOOD! WE ARE BLESSED!

Hardships...

I was rocking Dallin today and realized as he slept in my arms how incredibly lucky I am to have 4 healthy kids and a healthy husband. There are so many things going on in our lives at the moment and sometimes it takes a few quiet moments rocking one of my kids to realize that the things that matter the most are just fine.

I tend to get very anxious over things I can not control. For instance, the economy at the moment is in a bit of chaos. We own our own business and are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. So then the questions arise, should we just walk away from everything we have worked so hard for? Our house, credit, etc. We take a lot of comfort in knowing that we are not the only ones in the situation that we find ourselves. In fact, there are so many that we know of that are struggling as well. It wasn't bad decisions that we have made because we have felt that the Lord has been a part of all of our decisions and we have heeded His counsel. However, it doesn't make it any easier to know that we are the brink of possibly losing many of our material possessions. We already have cut back in so many areas, that now we are just playing the waiting game to see what will come for us next. I know that we will be taken care of, the Lord hasn't forgotten us. Travis tries very hard to do what is right in His sight, it's just hard to have things out of my control. I don't do well without a solid plan to follow. But like I said to start, my family is healthy and safe and we have a place to live with food to eat, what is more important than that? Nothing.