Thankful for freedom and three day weekends!

Secrets, secrets are no fun!

Today was Kenzie's ultra sound and we all thought we'd be seeing a
little somthin, somthin, (or lack of). But it didn't happen.
  The bitty babe had it's legs crossed as if to say:

"Excuse me, can I have a little privacy in here!"

Which leads me to predict...

A Girl!

Here's my reasoning: Girls are, shall we say, ladylike-

 while boys seem to have no problem sprawling out any old place!

Yes, I believe there is a 50% chance it's a she!

But if it's a He, that's great with me!

 

(How yummy are baby feet!)

My Anticipation for the week-

Hopefully, this Thursday we'll get a little peek to see if Will is getting a baby brother or a baby sister. Either way, it will be a very happy occasion to find out what is coming our way...

Pink or Blue!

Good advice

My amazing nephew, Zach, left on his mission almost a week ago.  The night before he left, some close friends and family members met to say goodbye.  His mom and dad expressed their love and appreciation to him and then one of his church leaders gave him this sound advice.

  "Wherever you are, be there" 

 Being in the moments of our lives is sometimes difficult.  We long for yesterdays, wish for tomorrows and in the process we miss our todays.  I am the worst offender.  Especially right now.  I want to just "get through" this part of my life and move onto something better.  But who knows? Maybe this is better than that will be!  My goal; embrace each moment and treasure the now.  I'm going to start this weekend! 

HOWEVER...

When the rain decides to turn to snow in the middle of the night, at the end of May, the year that I have decided to become a farmer, I no longer am a fan!!! Seriously, can we not have one normal season!

Covering my crops. 

My flower garden is also taking a hit.  Ugh!

Rainy days

I could have lived in Washington, or Oregon.

I adore the rain.  There is nothing as peaceful as listening to the rain fall while your lying in bed at night.  And it makes everything so green and clean. The rainy weekends also give you a great excuse not to work in the yard or wash your car which is awesome! I love going on a ride in the rain, and I love the smell of rain and I love the way it waters my lawn so evenly. It seems to match my mood lately.  I'm not sure if that is good or bad? 

Yummo!

Mark and Abbie have been cooking fresh lately.

They made this yummy dish for dinner Saturday night and

then followed it up with home-made oatmeal cookies.

I'm sure I'm up another 5 lbs thanks to their culenary skills!

Random acts of cuteness

Will gets the cutest rosie cheeks.  He gives me a call from time to time to say NANA?! and he kisses the phone.  I love it!

He went to NYC to see his dad.  It was a big trip for a little guy. He's been to Hawaii too.  He is a frequent flyer already!

 

Halle went to Nursery with me and had to sit in the doll stroller for snack time because she's too tiny for the tiny chairs! Not too tiny for the cookies!

I love these cutie pies lots & lots!

Year to year contracts

What if our marriages were contracts that we had to renew annually.  I wonder if it would make a difference in how we treated each other- especially a few weeks before the day of expiration. I've been thinking about that lately.  How much time would I spend thinking about weather or not I was up for another year with Nathan, and yikes-  how much time I would spend worrying about him deciding if he had any interest in another year with me! 

In some ways, it could be a good thing. 

Here are some things I would have to improve:

1. Keep my side of the room cleaner

2. Cook more

3. Give longer back scratches

4. Get in better shape

5. Watch more movies

6. Spend more money at Victoria's Secret

7. Use my purchases more frequently

9. Never let my phone die or leave it at home

9. Be nicer to the dogs and agree to a cat

10. Discontinue all complaining and nagging!

Some things Nathan may consider:

Just kidding! I'm married to an almost perfect person! 

Mother (& mother in-law) of a flock!

One of my accomplishments in life has been helping my kids earn their Young Womanhood awards and their Eagles.  Yes, they did the work but I would be lying if I didn't admit that it took a lot of support and encouragement from Nathan & me to make it happen!  Jake received his award this Sunday (more than a year after he actually earned it) and that's a wrap for us.

 Taylor, Curtis, Jacob, Dustin and Mark are all eagles. 

That's a whole flock!

Jacob and Brian Abrams have had some good times on camp outs.  Brian has been an awesome Scout leader.   

Getting my last Eagle pin!

      Jake honored Curtis with a mentor pin.   

Curtis has always been a great support for Jake.

When Jacob was a younger Scout, Curt always

made sure he was packed and prepared.

He also wemt on a couple of Jake's camp outs.

Not that my children's leaders are "readers"-
 but if they were, I would say:

"Millions of thanks for the countless hours you have invested in my kids.
 They are remarkable individuals because of your efforts!"

Playing Chicken

I was appaled when Jake admitted that the starshaped puncture wound on the top of his foot was made be a phillips screwdriver that someone had thrown at his foot. All in good fun mind you.  He was playing chicken with his friends.  When I presented him to Nathan and said "you'll never believe what Jake did!" Nathan laughed and said, "we used to play with knives!"

When Jake told his brothers what he had done, they both admitted that they had never played chicken.  Thank heavens that they had better sense.  (Although I know for a fact that they both did their fair share of foolish things)

Raising boys is an adventure!

The end of an era

As Jacob finishes 9th grade, our family will no longer be represented at

 Olympus Junior High School

We started there in 1995 just after we moved into our home on Melodie Ann Way and we've been gracing the halls ever since.  So here are the memories that stand out the most.

Tay:

 Pulling up on the first day of school and having Nathan say,

 "we can't leave him here!  These girls have boobs!"

Taylor meeting his best buddies Cody Flamm & Jack Stringham & 

 endless hours of jumping on the tramp and eating quesadillas

Lot's of math study groups at the kitchen table.

Whitney:

Violin performances.

8th grade class officer.

Jazz band  pianist and being the only girl, earning her the title of "Princess"

Getting a 4.0 for the sole purpose of the $100.

Abbie:

Adjusting to the change from the Reid School.

Spending most of her waking hours (non school hours) dancing.

Balancing homework and dance like a pro.

Looking for new friends :{

Curtis:

Having EVERY teacher say that they love him,

 but he needs to stay in his seat and not visit so much.

Tackling the hearing problems.

Helping tons with homework.

(Me dreading parent teacher conference.)

Jake:

Tons of friends.

Class officer in 9th grade.

Being the child that we went from asking

"What homework do you have tonight?"

 to- "You don't have homework tonight, do you?"

Not helping AT ALL with homework.

The picture above is of 3 banners that hang from the ceiling by the lunchroom in Oly Jr.

I think they are absolutly beautiful and empowering.

My dream home...

I love this little house.  It's so neat and tidy-

I think I might stand a chance at keeping it that way!

Grandbaby #3 looks something like this-

-

November 2, 2010 seems so far away! 

I can't wait to meet our new little bit!

Congratulations Taylor and Kenzie. 

Way to get through the first trimester!

Contractor needed, please apply.

It looks like I need to install a new front door.  Abbie moved back home today and Curtis just got a new job and is moving to Oregon in a couple of weeks.  Our house is full of boxes and baskets and I'm not sure what is coming and what is going. All I know is that we're in a state of transition!

Getting caught up with the latest and greatest-

Hal was a little fussy this afternoon-
She is trying to cut those two front teeth. Ouch! So Auntie Kenzie saved the day by telling me about these two great treats for teethers. We went straight to the store and sure enough- Halle loved the treats.
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE KENZ!





another great find:
these tiny little popsicles-  perfect for itty bits!

"DOOOOG"

All Halle wants to do all day is to crawl around chasing Sammy yelling

"Dooog", "Dooog", "Dooog"!

She LOVES Sammy and so-

Sammy shall remain part of the family.  Just because of her.

(He is so lucky she is a fan!)

(waiting for sammy to come back in from going potty)

She has no fear of putting her hand in his mouth. 

 Her mom and dad will have a fit when they find out they she shares all her food with him!

(Feeding sammy fruit snacks)

(Jake is so happy that sammy isn't headed for the pound!)

One proud momma!

I am so "over the top" proud of Taylor.  He has a great wife, a darling little boy, and a fantastic job with Goldman Sachs.  He's all grown up!  I am so impressed with all of his accomplishments.

He is an amazing son and brother.  I couldn't have asked for a better example for our family!

He is smart & handsome & thoughtful & funny & diligent & thoughtful & sensitive & faithful and the list goes on and on.  I love him to death and enjoyed our lunch at GS today!

Beyond the bugs...

We enjoyed Beautiful day at the Zoo! Wills was happy to show Halle the ropes since he is a pro at the zoo excursions. I was sad that all the bears were gone and there is no longer a butterfly exhibit. It shouldn't be a surprize since a haven't been to the zoo in years! There was a super cute baby elephant named Zuri that made the whole trip worth it! Plus just being with these cute little bugs is always such a treat!

Thinking of Abbie, missing Jake.

I am making strawberry freezer jam and all of the sudden, images of Abbie come flooding through my mind.  Almost nothing makes Abbie happier than a PB & J with homemade strawberry jam on it.  I can visualize her as a little girl with high pony tails, running around the neighborhood with her friends, Nick White and McKell Westover. She was always happy to be playing with friends, especially outside on Melborne street.  Abbie has hated growing up.  She would love to live in never, never land. So I have had to gently push her to the next step, and the next step.  Making her do her own hair in Jr. High and encouraging her to wear make up in high school. Now I am sad that she is older and that I no longer have to wipe the Jam off her cute little cheeks.  Wow! That went so fast. Before I knew it she was sneaking jars of Jam out of the freezer to take to college.  Now she is almost graduated from Utah State.  I just hope that no matter how old she gets, she'll always have a soft spot for my freezer jam.

And while I'm lamenting... I am missing Jake tonight as well.  He has been my helper for the past few years when if comes time to making Jam.  Now he's so social that I rarely see the little guy- who incidently is way taller than me.  Sadly, I know how this story goes.  It's "friends first" for the next few years.  I'll see him but only rarely. He will be driving soon and then the other thing that I'll rarely see is my car!   

Ode to the woodpecker

I feel sorry for woodpeckers. 
 (Plus I kind of identify with them.) 

Random, I know.  But we have one in our yard every spring so I wake up to the sound of some poor bird beating his head against a hard pole. I can imagine what the poor woodpecker is thinking.  "Why me?" as he looks around at all the other birds in the yard pulling up fat juicy worms out of the lush green grass. "Why me?" I bet they have chronic headaches.  Then theres the singing... Other birds have a beautiful chirp.  Not the woodpecker.  He is an annoying little bugger. Most other birds build their nests with strings, feathers and other lucious soft material. Not woody! And finally, no one loves the woodpecker.  One of our neighbors has even tried to "eliminate" ours!