Tony Grove

There is a little piece of Heaven in the North East corner of Utah. It's a little place that I have visited since as early as I can remember. I have pictures and videos from my childhood there. Each time I visit I worry that the place won't live up to the memories I have tucked away. But it does, every time.

Tony Grove. If you haven't been there you should go. I will share it with you, I am that nice.

I only took my crappy point and shoot camera that apparently had a finger print on the lens the entire time. So the pictures are a little less than sub par. :/ but still you can see the beauty of the place.

 This doll was an angel the entire time.( Except for the hours between 9 pm and 7am) She spent lots of time in that little play pen.

 It was extra fun because my entire family was able to be there. We haven't all been together since Christmas so it was fun to all be together again.

We left late Saturday night because we didn't want to spend another sleepless night in the trailer with a baby cutting 4, YES 4 molars.

"Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky, whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by, whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me."

xoxo-me

Temple and Camping

Over memorial day weekend we were lucky enough to have Chris's family come up and go through the Brigham City Temple open house. I am always in awe at the beauty and peace found within those four walls. Being able to walk through with my kids seemed to solidify even more in my heart the immense gratitude I have for the sealing power that has bound us together for eternity. 

Watching Addison through the temple was an experience I will never forget. She was so alert and aware of where she was. While we were in the sealing room I know that I witnessed a conversation between her and a few friends she remembered from Heaven. As she pointed towards the ceiling and smiled and talked I was reminded of just how thin the veil is and how many loved ones we have on the other side surrounding us to help us through. Needless to say I didn't make it through with dry eyes.

So grateful for these incredible places on earth where we can go to be so close to our Heavenly Father. So grateful for these experiences that remind me of what is most important. 

After the temple we went up Provo Canyon to stay in a cabin with the Clayton family. 

Saturday everyone went fishing. Taycee called her pole a swimming pole. Lots of different bait was used for fishing but the most successful bait was twizzlers. I think we caught about 6 fish (small fish, but fish none the less) with a small piece of licorice on the hook.

The babies were all a bit dirty so they all got to take a bath together.

KaitLynn wasn't super excited about the entire experience. Addison becomes a wild woman in the tub and she scared KaitLynn a bit. :)

Grateful for family.

Grateful for the gospel.

Just Grateful.

xoxo-

me

I remember.

I remember every moment of that day. It is almost as if someone took a chisel and etched the feelings and images from the day onto my soul. I will never forget September 11, 2001.

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The day started like all of my days. I was up at 5:30, I got ready for school and met the family upstairs for breakfast scriptures and prayers. Dad told me I needed to take him to work before I went to school. I was running late. I sat in the car and watched dad as he walked to the truck and got out his sunglasses then continued on to clean them. I was annoyed. And my 16 year old self thought " If he was late and I was taking time to clean my sunglasses he would just leave me." I was agitated and worried about being to school on time.  Little did I know of the catastrophic tragedy that was happening 2,300 miles away. I remember.

Once we finally left and headed to school dad remembered that he had left something he needed for work. I had to turn around and go back for him to get it. He also needed me to stop so he could drop off something at a house on the way to school. He told me about 100 feet from the turn that I needed to stop. When I braked abruptly he told me "I had a braking problem that I needed to work on."The annoyance grew, the frustration mounted. I, in my self consumed dramatic world, couldn't imagine the day getting any worse.

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I arrived at school. Late. I made my way up to Mr. Workmans Health class on the second floor. I walked in and instantly knew something was wrong. The rest of school was spent in whispers of hear say. Who had done it, why they had done it, warnings we should have seen, when the next attacks would be.We watched footage of days events in 4 of my classes, the other two teachers made attempts at following the schedule outlined the day before. The attempts were in vain because I remember nothing taught. 

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I remember going to work and seeing the sign on the door "We are closed today due to the current events happening in New York."

I remember the feelings of fear and confusion.

I remember sitting on my grandma's porch with her and my mom. I remember grandma saying she had heard it had been planned to be on 9/11 because our emergency number here was 911.

I remember listening to President Bush's address to the nation and feeling proud to be an American and realizing for the first time in my life the cost to be free. 

I remembered the goosebumps that rose on my arm as he made this statement, "Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me."

I remember. 

And I will never forget.

Can we skip Tuesday?

Tuesdays are cursed at my house. You may think I am kidding, let me assure you, I. AM. NOT.  At the end of each Tuesday I fall into bed physically and emotionally spent. And my prayers are full of words that sound something like this, "Thank you for keeping us alive throughout the day. Please let tomorrow be nothing like today." In case you still think I am exaggerating I will give you a brief description of the last 2 Tuesdays at our house.

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Last Tuesday

The day actually started out okay. I was up with my alarm at 6:30 I had my scripture study done before the kids got up, breakfast was made and eaten, showers were taken and we were to school with plenty of time to spare. That is where the good luck ended

When we came home Addison was not interested in her usual afternoon nap but I desperately wanted to exercise so I put her in her bouncer turned on a little Yo Gabba Gabba and headed upstairs to hit the elliptical for a half hour. When I was finished and came downstairs the smell hit me immediately. "That is one smelly diaper" I thought. Then I saw the carpet. Somehow Addison had pooped out the side of her diaper right onto her foot which she then proceeded to jump around in for, well, I don't know how long. A half hour maybe? Long enough to make about a 2 foot wide circle of mushed poo into the carpet. No amount of scrubbing could remove the ground in poop. A carpet cleaner had to be used.

When I picked Kaden up from school he informed me that he had gotten in trouble. Apparently Quinn, (naughty Quinn who sits next to him) had been smacking him with his pencil. Kaden decided to give him a smack back and they both spent the rest of writing time with no pencils and their heads down on their desk.  Awesome. 5th day of school and he's already got a record. (Is it bad to request a different desk partner for your child? haha.)

Later while I was helping Kaden with his homework  Taycee was practicing writing her name on the dry erase board. She accidentally forgot she hadn't put the lid on the marker and wrote all over her dress and the couch and my bed. (I am not sure how accidental that forgetting was.)

When I was working with Taycee on her letters I told Kaden he could play a little wii til we were done. When we were finished I looked down into the family room and noticed a huge wet spot on the couch. I was confused how it got there because I hadn't given the kids any drinks. Then I noticed Kaden was wearing completely different clothes. My 5 year old peed his pants on the couch. WHAAAAT? He hasn't had an accident since he was 3. Then he tried to tell me it wasn't him and he had no idea how the wet spot got there. When I told him I was going to go check the laundry basket upstairs he came clean. He was so excited to finally get to play the wii that he didn't want to waste any of his time going potty. So he peed. On the couch.  After he scrubbed the couch we had a long conversation about lying. He spent a good portion of the evening in his room.

Chris arrived home at 9 oclock that night. Did I mention he left that morning at about 6?

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Fast forward to this Tuesday

The day started out with a cracked tooth. Yep I cracked my tooth in half. How? Well how everyone cracks their tooth in half of course, taking a bite of a twix bar. Ridiculous. So I found a new dentist because the one I went to last time is the most awful incompetent dentist on planet earth and called to get the earliest appointment possible. At 10 am I was sitting in the dentist chair. The next two hours that followed were neither fun nor cheap. In case any of you don't know I have a fear of the dentist that is both irrational and unmatched. I shake and cry and use every ounce of will power I possess not to scream "STOP!" punch the dentist in the face and bolt out of the chair. So add those emotions to a whopping 1,000 dentist bill that insurance pays exactly 0% of and it is safe to say it was a painful 2 hours.

After I got home and Addison screamed at me for 2 hours for no apparent reason, all of my children were finally sleeping. I was tired and in pain so I decided to take advantage of the rare quiet moment in my home and laid down too. When I woke up an hour later I noticed Taycee wasn't in her bed. I was surprised because usually the kids sleep for at least 2 hours in the afternoon. I found her downstairs with a spray bottle and comb. She had a guilty look on her face but I didn't see anything suspicious. About 15 minutes later I was on the phone with my mom when I came across a PILE OF HAIR. Long blond locks laying all over my kitchen floor. I about died. I ran to Taycee and sure enough a large section of the front of her hair was missing. I have no idea how I missed it earlier. I wanted to cry. She told me that she was combing her hair and it got stuck so she cut it out. We have been growing this child's hair since she was born. Each strand is an accomplishment. Her hair is awful, fine and thin and it breaks with any tension. I baby her hair to try and get it to grow and be stronger, and she chopped it off. :'(

CURSE YOU TUESDAYS!!!

Do you believe me yet?

Oh and Addison also pulled the piano bench down on top of her later in the day. 

I also found out Taycee swallowed a penny sometime during the day. 

One good thing about Tuesdays is that they make my Wednesdays seem super productive.Yesterday I

Exercised

Went grocery shopping

Made 5 loafs of bread (which was more like making 10 because my yeast didn't work the first time around so I had to do it twice.)

Made a batch of caramel oatmeal bars

Read for 20 minutes with each child

Did homework

Made a new wreath for my front door 

Did my visiting teaching.

AND had the house clean by the time I went to bed.

WHEW, now that is a successful day.

So if it is okay with everyone can we just cross Tuesday's off the calendar and skip straight to Wednesdays?

All of us at this house would really appreciate it.

For your viewing pleasure here are a few more shots of the hack job. 

** sniff sniff**

Doesn't she look so innocent? Ha!

Some of the locks I found.

The culprit of it all. The comb.

Goodbye fair locks. 

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Next Tuesday maybe everyone should send a little prayer my way.

Getting Smarter

We are getting smarter around here...

Well, at least two of us are... : /

7 and 2

This is what 7 am looks like at our house.

 MMMM... love those green smoothies.

Which makes 2pm look a lot like this.

The Big K

The day came. Kaden went to Kindergarten for a very first time. He couldn't have been more excited. I couldn't have been more hesitant. : /

The night before I asked what he wanted for breakfast on his big first day. He choose hootenanies and a smoothie. So it was. 

He picked out his first day of school outfit and laid it out on his bench.

I offered to make him hootenanies and a smoothie every morning for the rest of his life if he would stay home with me. I reconsidered home school. I beg and pleaded a bit. I threw a minor fit. Then Kaden told me that kindergarten was important and he didn't think I was making very good choices. So I sucked it up and took my very first baby to school.

Besides my minor meltdown the morning went off without a hitch... til we found this GIANT spider that is. WHAT IS THAT? Sick.

My not so little "kindergarten boy"

Notice how last year on the first day of school he was so happy to let me kiss him and send him off. You can almost feel his embarrassment in this years picture. This boy better understand he has many more years of kisses ahead of him.

He is in love with his backpack grandma Kathy bought him. He all but ran to the school doors, he was pointing from the moment we got out of the car telling me where he was suppose to go.

I couldn't get him to turn around and slow down for a second. Notice how the pictures are blurry and his feet are still moving. This child wanted to get to class so bad he could hardly stand it. I was definitely cramping his style.

Okay so maybe I was "that mom" who follows her kid into the class room and is still taking pictures. But really I went in because he couldn't find his cubby. They had moved it since back to school night and he was confused. I knew he needed my help. :) Really. I promise.

Since I was already in the classroom I thought I would take a few more shots. He made a beeline right to his desk on the very front row and sat his cute but down.

Then immediately turned to his neighbor and said "HI! I am Kaden, What is your name?" (His name by the way is Quinn and according to Kaden he is quite the little stinker.)

It was then, as I watched him get comfortable and make new friends and gaze so excitedly around the room, that I realized he didn't need me there. AT ALL. It was time for me to go. So I snapped one more picture and forced myself to walk out the door. I didn't even cry...til I got in the car.

 

He loved it. Every second. The first thing he told me about was recess. The only thing he complained about was his snack. He said I packed him too big of a snack and so he didn't have enough time to play. I pack smaller snacks now.

You did it buddy. You conquered your first day of Kindergarten with signature Kaden smile and enthusiasm. And I....well I still let you go every morning so that is something.