Sweet Baby Kate

My sister in law told me about a friend of hers who had to deliver her baby very early due to some complications with her pregnancy. My heart went out to her even though I didn't know who she was. I thought it would be neat to help get pictures of her since she was at my mom's hospital and I love little babies. (Mom manages the NICU) So I made the offer to come get some shots of her while she was still itty bitty. Look at those teensy tinsy feet. When I took these, baby Kate was just under 2 pounds.

Shawnte was such a sweet and loving mama. It was fun to meet her. I admire her strength through such a heartwrenching trial.

This is Shawnte's wedding ring!

Little Kate had some meds just before we came so she was very sleepy.

But we managed to get one little peek! (o: What a little angel.

The Silly Dog Story

Once upon a time, I was doing the usual afternoon routine. Doing the dishes, encouraging the little persons in our home to do piano practice, homework, chores, etc. It was all very normal except for the never ending yapping noise coming from the front yard. Our neighborhood has a lot of dogs and some that like to bark, so at first I didn't think anything of it. But it didn't stop and it sounded closer than the usual barking noises. One of the girls finally looked outside and realized that the dog was indeed in our yard, on our sidewalk by the porch. I checked out the situation. It was a little dog, with no owner just yipping away and as I approached it, the yipping got more intense and very loud. Someone walked by on our sidewalk and the dog went crazy, like it was protecting our house or something. I apologized and explained it wasn't even our dog.

Now I have never had a dog. I don't know much about them. I think some dogs are cute, but I wouldn't say I'm a dog person. (Heck, I'm not even a cat person, but I have a cat.) Anyway, I wasn't really sure what to do. I tried to "shew" him/her away with no luck. "Oh well," I thought, "His or her owners will find it pretty easier if I just let it bark here for a while." I went back to my usual routine and mostly forgot about the dog. The barking kind of faded to the background. However, after about an hour and a half, I was starting to get annoyed. That little thing did not shut up that WHOLE time! I couldn't believe something could go on so consistently for so long.

I decided to head back out with a broom this time to scoot the little thing which had moved up to our porch. At one point, someone tried bringing something to our porch and just about got their hand bit off. It was getting ridiculous. That little thing would NOT budge. I had to push it's whole body weight. The poor little thing was so scared it peed on the porch - my feelings were annoyance and sympathy at the same time. I was at a loss so I called Bob* for ideas. He headed home and managed to get the thing off our porch, but it just went in our backyard and hid under the back stairs.

Our next idea was to start asking neighbors and making phone calls. Bob* took a picture on his phone and walked around to all the neighbors houses. I made phone calls using the ward list and my limited knowledge on people in the ward who had dogs. We had a few leads that all piddled out. No one knew someone who was missing a dog after all. Luckily, the poor thing finally got tired and stopped barking. We decided we did everything we could. But then as we watched the news, we realized it was going to get pretty cold - in the 30's that night. That dog was sure annoying, but I didn't have the heart to let him freeze to death. So at 11:00 p.m. the two of us headed outside with a flashlight, a broom and a box. Thank heavens the little thing didn't put up a fight like he had before. We got him in the box pretty easily and took him to the garage where it was lots warmer. We put in an old shirt, some water and a little cat food and hoped he would stay quiet during the night.

This was him the next morning. He was good and didn't make a peep all night. He didn't even make any messes in the box. We still weren't sure what to do. I got a hold of a nice lady at the local shelter and I ended up taking him (or her?) over. It was kind of funny how sad I felt dropping him/her off - I felt so bad for the little thing and was grateful that he seemed to figure out we were trying to help him so he stopped being annoying. Angela and I decided to make some signs to put up around the neighborhood with the phone number to the shelter. Ang was a good little helper. (o:

The lady at the shelter was really sweet and grateful. She told us to Friend the shelter on Facebook so we could keep up on the little dog's status. (They can only keep the animals for so many days, so we were a little worried.) The next day we got great news that the family either saw our signs or just called the shelter and came to pick up their little dog. Hopefully they got a tag to put on him/her so that doesn't happen again. (O: We were so glad that this little dog's story was a happy ending. It would have devastated the girls. They really wanted to keep it. Thank heavens it didn't come to that!

Will's Mission Report

After our fun day with Will upon his arrival from Japan, we got to do some more celebrating with him at his homecoming. It was so neat to attend his ward and hear his mission report and some of the growing experiences he had on his mission. This was shortly after the earthquake in Japan so his emotions were especially tender that day as he spoke of the Japanese people he learned to love so much.

It was very cool to hear him bear his testimony of the Savior in Japanese. Vern* and I got to sit next to one of his companions from his mission which was fun. I just feel so proud of these awesome young men that go out and do miraculous work with so much faith at just 19 -21 years old. This is usually the stage of life when boys can be especially focused on themselves, but our church asks them to sacrifice everything to serve others and the Lord. It really is an amazing thing to see how mature and selfless these young men become during those two years. In other words, I felt very proud of my awesome cousin. And just a side note - not to give all the attention to Will. His older brother Charlie, came home just a year ago as well and I felt the same way. It was a bummer though that I didn't get to be a part of all his fun homecoming celebrating since we were in Oregon. They are good boys. Ahem, good men, I mean. Manly men. (o:

A little Simon Says is always a good way to celebrate!



Kimmie made the most adorable cupcakes for the occasion! Everything is candy. I like the broccoli the best!

My long lost cousin Megan. Well, I guess, I'm really the long lost cousin. I can't help but point out Lara's hilarious face in the background. He he! Sorry Lara! I want to know what she is saying.

We Are Sowing!

Back in February, mom had a fun idea to take a gardening class at Thanksgiving Point. So one Saturday morning she and dad and I headed off to learn about growing plants from seeds. Dad attended a general gardening class at the same time. We left with several packets of seeds, a small tray of seeds already planted and big plans!

A couple weeks later we got together with several more supplies and seeds and got sowing! While we planted and labeled our little babies, dad and Mo* made the light contraptions we would use to give our little seedlings warmth and light.

And what do you know, within a few weeks pretty much everything was growing. It was so fun! I kept a vigilant gardening journal and checked on my "babies" every morning. Every time something new would pop up, it was like Christmas! My tomatoes really worried me. They were what I was most excited to grow from seed and they were one of the last seeds to germinate. But up they came and they did very well.

Now lest you get too jealous and think I am some kind of magical green thumb, I had several failures and over-watered and under-watered a couple times. So . . . for the most part it was a success and hopefully everything survives the transplant in the summer! I'm so glad mom thought of this fun idea! We had so much fun checking on each others plants and progress. I still check in on her little plants to see how they are doing! What a fun hobby. I feel so agricultural!

Signs of Spring!

I have been so excited to see little green surprises popping up out of the dirt all over the yard. Since this is our first year in the house, and we've really only lived here during the winter months, I don't know what kind of plants we have in the yard. I am feeling very grateful to the previous owners for all their hard work planting the bulbs that make me so happy to see. Every time spring comes and the little green sprouts pop up out of the dirt I can't help but think of "The Secret Garden". I love the way Burnett describes the world coming to life again after a long, cold winter. I love spring!

Ahhh, another not-so-lovely sign of spring. Yellow jackets. Bart's* arch enemy. Our lovely wood beams in the entry of our house that I love so much are also loved by yellow jackets. I believe Bart* killed about 100 of these babies after he discovered a huge nest above one of the beams.

And, of course, playing outside again without coats, gloves, boots, etc. The girls found another use for the sleds we used in the winter. They made perfect boats for their imaginative play.

Special Delivery!

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a chance to be a nut ball, as Junie B. Jones would say. I love being silly. So when we found out that my brother in law, Aaron had to go to Afghanistan for 2 weeks, I knew we had to do something silly to help cheer up Shanna (my sister in law) while she was home with the four kids missing him and worrying about him. I concocted the idea with my other sis, Emily, and by the time our ideas were formed, we were feeling pretty darn clever and hilarious. (o: A quick run to the dollar store, a little wrapping, card making, printing off labels and Wa-la! We had a funny pick me up package for Shanna to keep her busy - one present to open each day.

We even got Ned's* mom in on it by utilizing her amazing poem writing skills for the card that would explain what this package was all about. (See above) She writes the most adorable verses, I seriously think she should work for Hallmark. Emily, the amazing card maker, used her talents to make everything look so beautiful. We were a good team!

Some of our favorite things were completely silly and nonsense items like the random balloon wrapped in a fancy box. Or the box that contained exactly two Smarties for each of the kids to enjoy. Or another box that simply had a feather. (Hey 14 days is a lot and the box wasn't big!)

This was a little inside joke, but one of the ones I was most proud of. I still laugh when I read it. On the front of this lotion I made a fancy "Boil Cream" label.

And the lovely bust of a giraffe. The perfect antidote for a day when you're feeling blue.

I am happy to report that the package was received with much laughter and helped Shanna feel just a little less lonely, I think. (o: Love you Shanna!

Happy Birthday Mystery Man

The girls were soooo excited for daddy's birthday this year. They love helping plan everything and surprises are just so much fun to be a part of. We planned a lovely dinner of crepes and showered daddy with gifts like a big box of Captain Crunch, Coke, some items to use with his new Grill he will hopefully get soon and a couple movies.

Finally, he came home to our surprises and lovely birthday decorations.

The highlight of the evening was watching the hilarious play the girls wrote and produced for daddy. They incorporated their special present to him in the play. A HUGE container of Cheeseballs! If I remember right, during the scene in the play when the cheeseballs came on stage, there were choirs of angels singing. (O: How could anyone NOT have a happy birthday with a cheeseball play by such funny girls?

Grandma Beth

Well, just because we live a lot closer to most of our family now, doesn't mean we get to see them as often as we'd like. We have slowly, but surely, made our way around the valley to see our wonderful extended family. When the girls had a day off from school in March, I thought it would be the perfect time to head down to Orem to finally visit with Grandma Beth. Beth married my grandpa when I was a teenager and has been such a sweetheart to me all these years. I consider her my "adopted" grandma and want the girls to know her. We thought it would be fun to bring the girls' scrapbooks to show her what they've been up to this last year. She took time with each of them to ooh and ahh over every page and they loved sharing all the fun things with her.

Natalie found one of grandpa's old tigers in the basement and has not stopped talking about it since. Grandpa loved tigers. We also got to see grandma Beth's "Daughters of the Utah Pioneers" flag that she designed! The girls were very impressed that grandma Beth made an official flag.



Before we headed to lunch, Beth gave each of the girls a very special little glass box in the shape of a heart with a fancy flower on top. They were so excited to have something so fancy.

After our fun visit, Beth took us to lunch at Village Inn. We had such a fun time and the girls really enjoyed getting to know Grandma Beth better.

Miss Manners

On the day it was my turn to be in charge of activity days, Miss Natalie was not feeling well. We had to change our plans around a bit, which actually ended up being more fun anyway. We held our activity at my house while Nat watched a movie in my bedroom. The girls did little skits where the first time around the main characters were rude. They had to "rewrite" the skit so the characters had better manners. They really got into it and did a cute job. Then we ate some snacks using some good manners that we learned after playing a funny game. This has been one of my favorite activities so far. The girls were pretty cute and had very nice manners that day! (o: I've had fun getting to be Sarah's activity days leader too!

The girls have have right now are (front to back, left to right) Sierra, (the one next to her is a visitor), Kaitlyn, Mandy, Sarah, Sunshine, Nicole and McKayla.

Homecoming!

When my aunt Jill invited us to come to welcome my cousin Will home at the airport after his two year LDS mission to Japan, I was so excited! Luckily, the timing of his flight worked perfect with the girls' school schedule on Friday afternoon. Getting there was a little stressful. I am so used to PDX (the Portland Airport), I really had a hard time finding my way around. The girls and I went to where we thought we were supposed to be, and even saw several families holding signs and balloons waiting for elders, but the people did not look familiar at all. I called Chrissy and after a few minutes we realized I wasn't even in the right building! (Thank heavens for cell phones!) Like I said, I don't remember the Salt Lake airport so well. (O:

So the girls and I ran to where Christine told us to go - about a block away. Luckily, we got there in plenty of time. We found everyone holding signs - Christine asked that we not calculate her percentages on the poster above. (O: Brad (below) held one of the signs that a friend helped them write in Japanese. The feeling there was so exciting. There were other groups of families waiting in the same area and everyone was anxious and watching closely up the escalators every time a group of people came down. I think Jill was about to burst with all the waiting.





Everyone cheered as we saw the elders coming down the escalator. It seemed to take forever for them to get down. If you have never witnessed a reunion of a mother with her returned missionary son, I highly recommend it. But I also highly recommend bringing a lot of tissues. It is such a spiritual experience. Here is a young man or woman - as many girls serve missions too - who has sacrificed everything for two years; time with family, money, friends, college, a comfortable home, free time to do hobbies, free time in general - all to go to an assigned mission, usually somewhere the missionary has never been to share the gospel with people they've never met and many times in a language they've never spoken before. It is miraculous that there are so many young men willing to make this sacrifice - who love the Lord more than themselves. It is awesome! It makes me so proud of our elders and sisters serving all over the world. Then you think about the loved ones of that missionary. What mom wouldn't get teary just thinking of sending her son or daughter somewhere foreign for two years with nothing more than weekly letters or e-mails and phone calls twice a year. Not to mention the financial sacrifice to support them. When you get to witness the return of a faithful missionary with his family, who also sacrificed so much - the moment feels so sacred. It still makes me cry just thinking about it. Such a powerful moment. The only thing that I can think of to compare it with is when witnessing the return of a soldier who has sacrificed for his/her country.

We all felt so proud of Will! He looked so great!

Christine and Will

What a wonderful day! And what an adorable group! Mary (Will's sis), Hailey, Will, Christine and Lauren. Will, Hailey and Christine were all born the same year - a rather fertile year in my extended family! Kaitlin was also born that year, but she couldn't make it to the airport since she lives 5 hours away. I used to babysit all of these kiddos (well, not Lauren (o:, I didn't know her yet - she's Will's girlfriend). I love my family!

After an amazing reunion with Will, we headed back to Dave and Jill's house to just talk and catch up. Will showed us how he sat during his two years on his mission. He said kneeling so much was hard to get used to and hurt at first, but after a while, he got used to it.

We loved looking at maps, pictures and all kinds of souvenirs from Japan as Will told us stories from his mission. Just a side note: This really brought back so many wonderful memories of the day Bart* got home from his mission. I still remember sitting in his parent's living room and hearing so many stories, looking at what he brought home and asking him all kinds of questions. It was so cool to learn about Japan's culture and Will's experiences. I don't know how long we all sat and talked, but I could've listened for hours longer. It was fascinating! Will definitely learned to love the Japanese people and culture. The fact that he got home just a week before the 9.0 earthquake hit Japan really made the whole disaster hit home. My first thoughts were, "Thank heavens Will got home safe before it hit." But my next thoughts were of all the people that were there that he loved so much. Luckily, he was able to hear after a few days that everyone he knew was okay. My heart ached for the beautiful country that we learned so much about through Will just the week before.

Natalie thought Will's Japanese sword was pretty cool.

We worked up quite an appetite with all the talking, so we had to get some good old Cafe Rio!

Sarah got to practice using chopsticks by eating M&M's for dessert! She got pretty good!

We got to listen in when a friend dropped by (who served in Japan as well) as he and Will conversed in Japanese. It was pretty cool to hear how fluent Will was! Just amazing!


Is this the sweetest picture, or what?

We LOVE Will! Welcome Home!! I am so so so glad we got to be part of this amazing day! An awesome perk of being back home.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I love Dr. Seuss and celebrating his birthday every March 2nd has become a tradition for us.

We listened to a CD with Jason Alexander reading Green Eggs and Ham, it's quite funny - he does a great job!

And of course, what else would we have for our snack that day?

Case Lot Sales!

You know one thing I really LOVE about Utah?

Case lot sales!!

This is WAY easier than bringing home individual cans for food storage. And we got lots of good deals. I was so giddy as I placed these in our food storage closet!