2013 so far

I'm not sure that any one reads anymore, but I thought I'd make my first post for 2013. Ha! Enjoy!

We've been shooting.

We've lost teeth and put on fashion shows.

I had my hair dyed red, and I loved it. Now it's a caramely brown.

We've played with umbrellas in the rain.

We checked out City Creek Mall one rainy and lonely Sunday night....

and Temple Square.

We enjoyed lots of rain...

and R&R.

We've drawn with chalk....

got bunkbeds for the girls....

and had cozy fires in the backyard.

We've had cousins....

and dance pictures....

and giant pumpkins....

and friends...

and fishing...

and fishing...

and playing.

We've played in water...

and water...

and in the mud and in the mountains.

We went to Fillmore...

and saw the sand dunes there...

and played at the park.

Miaya graduated from Kindergarten (and got an award for reading the most minutes in her whole class :)

We had Miaya's Spring Concert...

and Sarah's 3rd Birthday...

 and a trip down memory lane...

and more cousins!

And lots and lots of fun. Whew! How's your year been so far?

I also turned 30 way back in January, and I have to say I LOVE it. :)

Christmas times

Have your holidays been good? I hope so. We've been celebrating with family and friends and it's been great! We are traveling soon, and I'm so excited! We all are. Texas for Christmas and New Mexico for New Years! So fun. It's been a long time since I've been out of state. Woohoo!

The glasses

I love these girls so much. They are my favorite. I hope you guys have someone in your life who constantly reminds you not to take life too seriously. It's the best. :) They take my glasses and run and pose and ask " Do I look just like you, Mamma?" And I am in awe that they hope the answer is yes. It makes me laugh lots and feel bubbly. I adore these little girls.

Dustin's addiction

Dustin grew a giant pumpkin this year, and he did fairly well. It got up to 373 pounds. Not too shabby. It takes lots of work. But it's lots of fun too. We were buying fertilizer every other week to feed the thing. I was cleaning out the shed a bit today and found Dustin's dirty little secret. Hahahahaha. The empty fertilizer boxes. And I'm pretty sure there were more that we had all ready tossed out. I love my Dustin guy. He's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. :)

When I got up this morning, there was no snow

And now look! My Miaya girl adores the snow. My Sarah pop prefers the indoors.

And also, this is a total mamarazzi stalker shot, I know. That's how I roll.

I love snow

I love, love, lover, the snow! Yesterday it was 69 degrees F and so sunny and so windy! It was lovely. And today it is 33 degrees F and snowing and snowing and snowing! I love living in a place that has such weather. You never know what you might get.

So with it being a snowy day, Miaya picked grilled cheese and hot cocoa for lunch. Delicious. She also asked if we could play games this afternoon, so I am teaching them how to play Racko. I love this game. It's fun.

You know what else I love about snowy days? Shoveling the snow! And no, I am not joking. I love to get all bundled up and go outside in the silence you only get when it snows. Exerting my body in ways that only come with shoveling. Then you get to see instantly what you've done. It's awesome. Hope you're enjoying your day whether it is snowing or not.

Oh Sarah

I hadn't seen a Baby Einstein movie before I had kids. My kids have both adored the Baby Mozart one (we own it). Sarah likes to watch them so I get different ones from the library. Today I put the Baby Beethoven one on. She went and grabbed the Baby Mozart one and says she doesn't want to watch the Beethoven one. She wanted the Mozart one. Oh boy. She makes me laugh every day.

Life is strange.

Life really is. Strange and lovely and amazing and hard and thought provoking and so unexpected.

My life plan right before I met my love, my Dustin, went something like this: go to school, get a degree of some sort,  date a lovely young man and then marry said young man once we fell madly in love right around the age of 25 and then have lots of babies (at least four) all before the age of 30 and work the whole time too. Oh and buy a house in the mix too.

What I didn't expect: meeting Dustin at 19 and loving him so completely then marrying him less than a year later. Dropping out of school half way through the program because I realized it wasn't what I wanted or needed in life. The sadness of wondering if we could have children and then realizing, or maybe more accurately, remembering that Heavenly Father knows me and loves me and will send our babies when they are supposed to come. Being a stay at home mom. I never expected that one. :) I didn't think it was a possibility in this day and age. And I didn't realize how strong I can be. How tough things can get even when you are with the person who is so completely for you and you for them. How much love can grow when you take good care of it and how it withers when neglected. How we can stretch and grow in ways we never wanted to stretch and grow. How two little girls can drive you so insane and yet make everything better with a hug; a kiss ; an I love you.

So I say again: life is strange. But it is so good.

Slowly, but surely.

I have wanted to blog again for a while. And today I am.

So I read this blog today, and it made me think of what 5 books have changed me. (I like her books, by the way. hahahaha.)

My five:

1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I read this for the first time when I was probably about 12. My mom bought it at the DI for 25 cents, and it became an instant favorite. I love it still because it reminds me to never forget what it's like to be a child. To always have that wonder and innocence that children have. Some favorite quotes:
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

2. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. I read this for the first time as an adult, in my early twenties. This book is one that as I read, I wasn't quite sure what each story had to do with anything. But when I got to the end, everything came together. It taught me that you never quite know the impact you may or may not have on another person's life.

3. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  I grew up reading this book. It has always been a part of my life. I read it completely by myself for the first time when I was 18. And that was when I received my testimony of it's truthfulness. It's always helped me live the life I know I want.

4.Animalia by Graeme Base. I loved this book so much as a child. My favorite part was (and still is) always the pictures. It helped me realize how amazing drawing could be.

5. You Are Special by Max Lucado. I got this book as a gift from my young women's presidency at a time of life that was really hard for me. I was making terrible choices. I was really unhappy. It helped me remember who I was again.

So now the question for me is, what are five books that have changed you?

Life lately.

I miss sleep. I vaguely remember what it is like to have a good sleep. We used to be such good friends, sleep and I, but the older I get, the harder it is for me to become well acquainted with it again.

Let me tell you a story:

Once upon a time, I had a baby. Her name is Sarah. She is lovely. And I feel so blessed to have her in my life. My lovely Sarah, she has a hard time sleeping. She doesn't like to sleep at night, at least not all the way through. She doesn't want to stay in her bed to sleep. And she screams and screams when she is woken up. It's quite the sticky situation. She is cranky often. I think it's because she doesn't get enough sleep. I find myself quite cranky when I don't get enough sleep, so I don't see why she wouldn't be cranky too. :) She also doesn't like much food, so again with the cranky. But we try our best to make it all work. And that is the end of that story.

 The sun shines most days. We have gotten lots of lovely thunderstorms. I love watching it all and hearing it all from the safety of my bedroom. We go wheeling every couple of weeks.

I have discovered eaudiobooks that I can get from my library right to my phone, so housework and yardwork is often accompanied by a story. :)

Dustin hurt his back a couple of weeks ago, and is still hurting, but it's better than it was. He got a blessing on Tuesday night (last week), and he felt lots better after that. I love my primary class. I teach Miaya's primary class now, and it's such a fun calling.

My children help me realize often how blessed I am to be able to stay home with them each day. They amaze me with their curiosity, their love, their brilliance, their themness. They remind me to not stay home too often, to let others in, to be adventurous, and to be amazed by all that life has to offer.

We love to take walks in the new park by our house. We love to take walks to the library to get books and movies to while the hot afternoons away with. I love taking pictures of the kids too. They make me laugh.

There have been fires all over the place here in Utah, so we get lots of smoky red sunsets.

Dustin has been growing a giant pumpkin, and he is doing an awesome job. I joke about him being obsessed, but I think it's lots of fun. He measures it most days (it's 63 inches today) and waters and fertilizes it often. He enjoys it, and it makes him happy. :) It's already way bigger than the one we grew last year, so it's surpassed any of my expectations.

My hibiscuses have been blooming. We're eating the lovely veggies from our garden. The lawn is greener than it's ever been since we've owned the house.

I'm excited to see my siblings in the next few weeks. They're going to come and visit and also go exploring. I hope fun will be had by all.

Life is so good. And life is hard. I'm glad I get to spend it with the people that I do.