2010 School Pictures

Just thought I would share!





And just how is it that my busiest little child always takes the best pictures?!?!

THIS is what it is about....

This last week has been nice. I truly love Fall. I love the colors, the crispness, the smells, the baking, the fun festive attitudes... It is just fun. Of course I have a massive anxiety about Fall preceding Winter…and I won’t let myself think about what is right around the corner. Being stuck in a frozen hellish wasteland until next April or May is not my cup of tea.

Anyways, we have had a few fun things over the past week. We took the kids to get pumpkins for FHE last week. We took the dog, and I think she had more fun than the kids!:



We kept extremely busy last Tuesday and Wednesday. I don’t think I stopped once. Phew….and it is about to repeat itself this Tuesday and Wednesday. I went to the park with some friends last Thursday. It was so nice to soak in the sunshine and be out of the house. Friday was busy busy as usual. The kids had friends over to play that night, and I ended up going to the movie with my friend Holly. Saturday we were lucky to get a lot of yard work done before a storm rolled in. Yesterday I was busy in Primary preparing for our upcoming program on November 14th.

Anyways…before I share this set of pictures-here is the insight I had over the last week. My life is great. Sure…it is often derailed by unexpected illness, accidents, messes, frustrations, etc. But whose life isn’t? I am also ashamed to admit that I am probably frustrated, annoyed, and depressed a LOT more than I should be...I am working on it.

It was only as G.J. blew leaves on the grass and my 3 beautiful children played in the piles of leaves giggling and smiling…along with our dog, that I had an overwhelming realization of how lucky I am! Most people would give anything to have a wonderful religion to be a part of, great family, great friends, a beautiful home, extra beautiful and sweet children, and a truly wonderful husband who has a great job that he loves.:




Speaking of our sweet puppy Mollee the Goldendoodle, she really is a GREAT dog. I would recommend this breed (half golden retriever/half poodle) to anyone. If you want a quick learning, no shedding, hypoallergenic, smart, kind, calm dog…this one is for you. She sleeps all night (for the most part!) eats on a schedule, and poops in the same spot, what more could I want right?!? (note: G.J. would NOT agree. He doesn't love pets....neither do I, but I learn to compromise for the sake of my kids!):



It is like MY version of a newborn baby. ;) I was joking that when Hallie and Gavin are at school, Kayler and the puppy are like my twins! They do the same naughty things, frustrate me the same, and require the same amount of attention. I caught this picture of them last week “fighting” over the same toy!:



And one final thing, I have received almost ¼ of my supposed invited readers with a comment. I will give it about a week or so and then try to fix it. I did some reading on blogger, and it said that if you don’t log into my blog, or leave a comment in a 120 day time frame, it is “inactivating” readers. It is frustrating me….but what can I do! Just keep blogging I guess~! ;)

Testing, testing...is this thing on???

Hey Everyone...I have been having weird problems with my blog. It is not allowing access to people that I have sent invites to-even though it says they are on the "invited" list. So I have to invite again and then it works.....So, if you are reading this, please take 5 seconds and let me know your access is working. If I don't hear from ya, I will assume you don't want to read and I will redo my list! Thanks :)

Someday I will laugh.....

So I checked my camera card and realized I hadn’t blogged about the Daddy Daughter date that Hallie and G.J. went on. It was western themed paired with games, a dinner, a speaker, and it was set up SO cute!:



Last Wednesday we headed to Salt Lake for several different reasons. We house/dog sat my brothers house while he was away. My mom kept Kayler for Wednesday and Thursday, so it was nice to pay my undivided attention to Hallie and Gavin for once. G.J. had a lot of work to do in Salt Lake, so the kids and I just did a variety of things.

On Friday, the highlight of Gavin’s trip was Lagoon! It was so cute set up for Halloween and Frightmares! 3 of my sisters-in-law and 4 nieces and 1 nephew joined us. I forget how much FUN Lagoon is! Especially when there are no strollers, diapers, bottles, or frequent potty breaks involved! It was busy since it was UEA, and poor Hallie had a ride in a wheelchair because of her broken foot. That proved to be a BONUS! They let us on the rides sooner and we got to ride 2 times in a row, the kids (and adults!) thought that was awesome.

I don’t know if I should be concerned or not…lol-but my Gavin LOVED the Haunted Houses they had set up. They said they weren’t for kids, but he insisted on going with the grown ups and he thoroughly enjoyed them! I found it very funny that Hallie refused the haunted things, but loved the Roller Coasters. Gavin was just the opposite...hated roller coasters but couldn't get enough of the creepy things!:




After a late and very tiring day at Lagoon, G.J.’s mom brought Kayler out to us. He was so happy to see us! We woke up bright and early on Saturday to head to North Salt Lake to throw a baby shower for my soon to be Great-Nephew….boy does that make me feel old! ;) It turned out great:



And for Hallie’s favorite reason for our trip: we finally picked up her long awaited beloved puppy Mollee:



The drive home was so easy. The dog didn’t wake up once, and the kids were good for the most part. We arrived home to a nice clean house only to dirty it after we unpacked from 4 days of adventure. The worst part was we discovered that Hallie had LICE-……can you say GROSS!?:



I had heard it was going around…but never in a million years thought we would get it. Only dirty people get lice right? Well that is not true-apparently Lice LOVE clean homes and clean heads of hair. So after some research on the internet, Hallie and I had to soak our hair in Listerine and Vinegar under the shower caps for 1 hour. Then we had a shower with Lice shampoo, coconut shampoo and conditioner, and finished by coating our hair in baby oil and combing the little critters out for hours…. As we were soaking in our shower caps...I was SO frustrated-but then just started laughing and had G.J. take the very unflattering picture above. Hence my title-someday I will laugh at this right????!!! We didn’t find any in my hair, but Hallie had quite a few. G.J. and the boys are clean, but lets hope and pray our fluffy little puppy doesn’t get them!

So there you have the Reader’s Digest version of our happenings over the past few days!

Word to the wise.....

Word to the wise….

When your sweet 10 year older daughter complains for a week and a half that her foot hurts….

Listen….!

She might just know what she is talking about!

And you might feel like a very bad mother when the x-ray shows a break on the heel bone…:



Good thing she is so sweet.

Bad thing she is on crutches/casted/in a walking boot for the next 6-8 weeks:



I hope you all got your invite in one way or another for this:



I’m excited about it!

I love fall…

I also love changes in routine once in awhile.

Like UEA break and going to Salt Lake to chill at my brothers house (while he is gone…lol), going to Frightmares, having a baby shower, and getting this little sweetie!:

We are so excited-it is going to be a fun week!!!

{Gratitude}

I have been meaning to post this for a few days, but life happens, kids need me, a house needs tended, meals to be made…you get the picture.

It wasn’t until the Prophet spoke today about gratitude that I realized I needed to post my feelings.

This past week I have had the pleasure to be in the company of almost all of my closest friends. I have had 4 individual girls’ nights out with 4 different great friends. I had 5 phone conversations with great friends. I didn’t fully convey to each one of these great friends how much our nights out and conversations meant to me. They will never know how much I needed each unique night out, each unique conversation. It was truly an answer to my prayers-and only Heavenly Father and myself know how inspired each of these great friends were to think of me this past week….it was very appreciated, needed, and I will never forget. I also need to thank my sweet husband who willingly gave up his own time and needs to let me go out.

I have always considered myself to be a very grateful person. I don’t think it is prideful of me to say that I truly do take the time to notice the beauty of nature, say a silent thanks for modern conveniences, or send a prayer heavenwards when things go smoothly. I also always try to thank the lord for the big and even the smallest things in my life as I pray to him. I think this is a quality I learned from my Dad.

After attending a rather strange Enrichment night…I have been pondering something the speaker said. She said that- “depression is a silent tantrum.” She went on to say that depression is caused by us over-analyzing the things that go wrong in our lives. We are unable to let whatever it might be go…therefore we become depressed.

While I do somewhat agree with that, the more I think of it...I realize she was wrong- I have learned through my own experience that depression is an illness-and sometimes those unwelcome “tantrums” are beyond our control. I hate when I feel depressed, because at the same time I feel ungrateful for the wonderful life I lead.

So….that is one of the MANY things that I need to work on. No more silent tantrums, to be constantly thankful and mindful of my blessings, and to keep the private promises I have made to myself and the Lord.

I took these pictures yesterday evening while spending the day at my parents’ house. I love the fall colors. I also have been paying special attention to sunrise and sunsets lately. I find such hope in the beginning of a new day, and the close of another…knowing that each day brings opportunity to do good and to try, try again.:




We finished our wonderful conference weekend off with picking apples at my Grandma and Grandpa Stewart's house. My grandpa loves his apple trees, and takes great pride in them. It was so special to have him out there helping lift the kids up to get the "best" one. They taste SO yummy! I love this time of year :)



Have a wonderful day!!!