A Great Man, A Prophet of God

Tonight I am feeling rather somber. I know this was expected at some point (he was 97) but I always knew I would grieve a bit at the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley. I feel as though he was "my" prophet. I guess that makes his passing much more personal. He has been an amazing example to me of faith, courage, and optimism. I have looked to him on many occasions for comfort and direction and have found so much more. He had a wonderful sense of humor and good will and has been a fabulous example of hard work and dedication. He was a great leader who inspired us and allowed the world to see who we, "the mormons" really are spending a signifigant amount of time in front of the media. Maybe in this I was also able to get to know him better. He will be sorely missed. A true man of God has passed on.

Sharp?

"Mom, this girl by the slides thought I was an elf."

"Oh yeah. Why did she think you were an elf?"

"Because I have sharp ears!"

(someday this comment may cause some pain, but for today, it was just so silly!)

Stand and be Proud!

The other day I walked into the family room and found Andrew standing at the fireplace...

Still a bit perplexed at how he managed that stunt, I went to get him up from his nap today and found him standing in his crib with the biggest grin yet! Well, I suppose I'd be smiling too! Way to go baby boy! You are growing up way too fast! Good thing I already moved the mattress down a level...

Don't Hate Me...

Ok - he may not be pleased but I had to share this little seen and hilariously funny picture with all of you (well, it's hilarious to me!). Check him out!

To-do, to-do, to-do

I know everyone out there knows what I'm talking about, but it's been killing me lately that I can't seem to accomplish a single thing. You know, I have spare moments here and there of which I should be making the most of, but because I have no idea where to start, I end up just surfing the blogosphere and every other site imaginable before realizing that hours have passed and I still have accomplished nothing of relevance. I'm an extremely task oriented person and this third child has really thrown me for a loop. This grates on me...the fact that the laundry is piling up, the bathrooms need cleaning and I can't seem to keep even one room picked up...not to mention the myriad of tasks I'd like to tackle like scrapbooking, painting, etc. Every once in a while, after a particularly bad day, I have to remember to take a step back and realize that I wasn't meant to do it all. In fact, I find I am always working as if trying to reach an "end" and let's face it, we all know that's never going to come. And really, who wants it to anyway? I've decided that I can have two kinds of days: the day where I drop my kids in front of the TV babysitter and work like a dog ending the day with a clean house and a strong, albeit, short lived sense of accomplishment...or....I ignore everything (sometimes including the shower, personal care, food, etc.) and play the good and fun mom. At the end of this day, I don't always feel so powerful as I look around my surroundings and my untouched to-do list. But, the smiles and happiness I was able to share with my wonderful children mean so much more. In truth, we will never remember (or want to remember) or be remembered for how many loads of laundry we did in our lifetime, but we, along with others, will cherish the time we spent serving, teaching and playing! Isn't that what life is all about?

Second Christmas and New Years in the desert

After the fun-filled adventure to Utah, we packed up the car, now significantly heavier than when we came, and headed to the desert to see the other grandparents. It was so nice, relaxing, and WINDY! They always tell me how windy it is there ALL THE TIME and I am now beginning to believe it. The kids were given a bowling game and this video clip shows just exactly how Ava plays to win.

We had a great time and our kids are going home the best dressed on the block after being spoiled by Grandma and Aunt Traci!!

Andrew is 6 months old!

Wow! Where has the time gone! Andrew is half way through his 1st year and I feel as though he was born yesterday! He has turned out to be such a great baby. Always happy and now sleeping REALLY well - 9pm til 7am or later on many nights! He gets around with a combination of "real" crawling, commando style, and of course,as stated before, the face on the ground, butt in the air movement. Not too much has changed on that front, though he is much faster and more effective. He is now starting to pull himself up...on your leg, up the stairs, etc. The kid just really wants to move! He is eating more foods...we tried peas the other day but that proved to be a bit messy on the way in and a few times on the way back up. I suppose having a kid who's a spitter and green colored foods really don't mix well. Hopefully that all goes away soon! I finally broke out the old high chair and got it cleaned up. It's made feeding time much easier and he hangs out there occassionally while I'm cooking. This month he took his first sled ride, he began to LOVE bathtime with his brother and sister, and he discovered the magic of swinging at the park.

More at Christmas time..

While in Utah, we took the kids to the Discovery Gateway Children's museum and to see the lights at Temple Square. The kids enjoyed this trip mainly because they got to ride the light rail around the downtown area. Public transportation is so exciting to someone living in a state where EVERYONE drives!

The kids were just so cute all bundled up and cold!

Sledding was probably the highlight of the trip - especially when we finally took the kids to a park with an actual hill. They had a great time and I even got involved effectively cracking one of the sleds due to my decision to take it off one of the jumps. Oh well. I'm just grateful that the very sharp pain that reverberated up my spine upon landing wasn't permanent!

Do you think sending a baby down a hill could be considered child abuse?? Nah, I bet he liked it!

Ethan really enjoyed the "snow slide"

Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa for taking such great care of us - we had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas!

As half of my family has now moved up to Utah, this year we were hoping for a white Christmas and we got it! It was great spending time with everyone in their new homes and enjoying the festivities of the holidays. Here are some highlights from our trip.

This was the kids first experience with snow, right around Cedar City at a rest stop (we end up at many of those while traveling with 3 kids)! They couldn't wait to get out in it but then Ethan cried his eyes out when he realized how cold his hands were. Silly! What do you expect when forming snowballs barehanded!!!

The kids couldn't wait to go sledding so they hit the backyard. Yes, I did say sledding and no, I don't really call that a hill but hey, it worked for the kids. Todd and Randy enhanced the experience a bit by building a ramp of sorts. It was all good fun!

Even near blizzard conditions are great opportunities for the family portrait!

Christmas morning...

We ended the day with a great meal and a re-enactment of the nativity which is on my other camera...

Pre-Christmas

Of course, the yearly picture with Santa Claus....Ethan was VERY serious this year about what he told Santa to bring him. In fact, he was very concerned when he realized he'd forgotten to ask for an item he thought of after the fact. Good thing Santa has so many spies about!

Aunt Karley came to visit with Doris & Robbie. I think Santa must have hired them to be his little "pre-Christmas" elves as they showed up with gifts for all!

Our night out with friends....and believe it or not, no kids! Thanks to my sister Tammy who managed to care for them all, even the little one! We enjoyed a great night out at "The Melting Pot." Can't say it was my favorite place to eat but it was a different experience and so good to see all of our friends we don't see nearly often enough!

Ok - next comes our Christmas trip - in a separate entry (thank you Liz for the recommendation)!

So one day, as I was coming down the stairs...

I looked over the bannister and saw the sweetest thing...

Yes, I believe Andrew eventually ripped a page in the book, but it was ever so nice to see Ava reading so patiently to him!

Graduation Day!

I am so far behind as far as this blog thing goes...well, actually, I'm pretty behind in just about everything right now! Anyway - I thought I'd quickly post this one since I don't have to download the pictures from the camera to do it (thank you Shalece).
Yesterday our ward's primary planned a short and sweet graduation ceremony for the kids moving from nursery into sunbeams. I doubt many of them had a clue what was happening but they were all so cute with their little black construction paper hats and diplomas! Ava took awhile to warm up as she thought we were throwing her back into nursery to stay after she had been promised a new class and a chance to be a "sunbeam". I can't believe my little girl is already out of nursery and on to new a bigger challenges in primary. Ahhh...they grow so fast! I can only imagine how quickly the time will come that I will be watching her graduate from high school!