Utah Trip

Right before Easter our family got to go to Utah because Bill's brother was getting married. We were lucky enough to be able to take our time driving out, due to Bill's flexible schedule. We really enjoyed the scenery along the way, especially once we got to Colorado and Utah.






After hearing about all the snow that Utah had been getting, we were really worried about what the weather would be like, but it was really nice most of the time we were there.

Once we got there, it seemed like we were on a quest to visit as many family and friends as possible in one week. We got to stay with my wonderful mom who loved spoiling and playing with Will and Kayla and was so generous with everything that whole week


We went out to lunch with a few of my high school friends and our kids (Sorry the picture isn't the best, but thanks to Bill for trying to take one)


We had a wonderful dinner and visit with Bill's parents before all the craziness with the wedding happened


We got to visit some family graves at the Provo cemetery, and Will and Kayla got their picture taken by the really cool old tree that is right next to the graves (I can't remember if it's the oldest in Utah or what the record is that it holds, but it's a really neat tree).



We also saw a lot of my cousins and aunts and uncles, but unfortunately didn't have our camera with us at the time. Sorry guys!

One of the days we were there my mom and Bill decided to have a little photo shoot with Will and Kayla in their fancy wedding clothes. There were tons of cute pictures, but here are some of my favorites.




And of course, the most important reason we were there was because of Jonny and Brooke's wedding.


The happy couple. I personally am so excited to have Brooke in the family. She's so fun and nice, and I'm excited to get to know her.


Bil's mom decided to get matching dresses and bow ties for all the grandchildren. They all looked so cute! This picture is missing Robert. A lot of the kids were having meltdowns at one point or another due to lack of naps and other hiccups in their schedules.


I loved their wedding cake. It looked beautiful and tasted delicious.

It was a wonderful trip full of fun, laughs, and lots of craziness. We loved seeing so many people that we love. We wish we could've stayed another month just to do all the things we wanted to do and see all the people we wanted to see. Guess we'll just have to go back again soon!

Worth It

A quote that's been a favorite of mine for a long time says "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." Recently I've applied that to being a mother. I know it sounds cliche, but motherhood is probably the hardest and yet most rewarding job I've ever had. Will and Kayla are two of the most active, hyper, funny, kind, sweet kids I know and I am grateful that I get to be their mother, even on the bad days when I feel like pulling my hair out. They keep me on my toes, they make me laugh, they challenge me, and they inspire me. And despite my weaknesses and faults they love me. Being their mother makes it all worth it.

Sweetness

I just had to quickly share something that happened earlier today, because I don't want to forget it. First a little background and a bit of confession time. Today hasn't been one of my best days. I've been a bit lazy, unmotivated, and down. Every time I get this way (which happens a little too often sometimes), I start to get emotional and feel guilty for how it affects my relationships with my family and my responsibilities as a wife and mother. When I was putting Kayla down for a nap I started to tear up a little. I held her in my arms for a minute, muttering "I'm sorry". When I set her in bed she looked at me and said "Why are you sad?" I decided to be honest and told her "I'm sad because I don't feel like a very good Mommy". To which my sweet little girl replied "You are a good Mommy." So it's nice to know that, even in my worst times, my children still love me and think I'm doing ok.

A Sneak Peek

Here's a peek at one of the many activities our family enjoyed over the last couple of weeks. More pictures and videos to come when I actually have time to sit down and put them together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyxGa0Pb0Vk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz2YLQA2gIU

Challenging myself

I've decided to give myself a challenge. I've noticed that I only blog about really big, important events in mine or my family's life. Which is great, but I seem to forget about the day-to-day activities that are equally as important. Since this blog has become somewhat of a journal for me (which is sad, considering I only post every month or so, if that), I'm going to try and blog at least 1-2 times a week. Hopefully that will motivate me to take more pictures of my kids and write down the funny things they do or say every day. Wish me luck!

Finding hidden treasures

We've had our piano for a while now. Every time we played it there would be keys that would stick or would make strange noises. So the other day Bill decided to take the piano apart to see what was going on.


I've seen the inside of a piano a number of times, but it still amazes me a little bit that someone took the time to put that all together.

After taking apart quite a bit of the piano, we finally found the culprit for part of the problem

I found the one called "Being the Mom" particularly funny.

So now our piano works marginally better. It's still somewhat out of tune, and there are other problems that may or may not get fixed someday, but we are glad we have it.

A sure sign your kids love your FHE treats

Their face and hands are covered in chocolate and they have a huge grin on their face.

A Child's Perspective

I heard a funny story about Will from a friend of mine yesterday and I thought I'd share, because it's a little glimpse of how his mind works. The other day at preschool Will and a couple of his friends were climbing on something they shouldn't have. Their teacher came over and said "Watch out boys or you might climb so high that you'll be as tall as your moms!" Will looked at her and said "I'm already as tall as my mom." To which his teacher replied "Well I'm sure that if your mom stood up she'd be much taller." At this point my friend said that Will just gave his teacher a blank stare. Apparently it didn't occur to him that Mommy could stand up, because he's never seen me do so. Another recent thought from Will that pops up every once in a while: "When Jesus comes you'll be out of your wheelchair." Love this boy!

We Love You Kayla!

Today is Kayla's 2nd birthday. She's grown into such a sweet little girl with a spunky personality. To celebrate her day (and because I feel like bragging about her), here are a few things that make her so wonderful.

-She cheerfully greets us when we go to get her in the morning with a big smile
-She treats her two dolls like real babies. She loves to take them for walks in her stroller, give them hugs, and talk to them
-She's a true girl. She loves to choose out her clothes, comb her hair, and look at herself in the mirror
-She loves to talk to Daddy on the phone when he's at work
-She waves and says hi and bye to everyone she meets
-She has a large vocabulary and is constantly talking
-She's developed a very stubborn streak and wants to do everything herself. Her favorite phrase is "Me too!" which she says very emphatically when she wants to do something
-She loves playing with Will, and defends herself very well when he does something she doesn't like

There are obviously many other things we love about her. We couldn't imagine our home or family without her and are so grateful that she belongs to us. Happy birthday babe!

Midwest Mama meets Pioneer Woman

Have you ever had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity come into your life? I did this past weekend. Anyone who has ever heard of the blog www.thepioneerwoman.com knows that it's a big deal. Not only does she have a blog, but she's written at least two books, and has appeared on shows like "Today" and "Good Morning America." Recently she has been on a book signing tour for her book Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (which my wonderful mother kindly sent to me when I told her about the book signing, and which I'm already about halfway through. Thanks again Mom!), and one of the cities was St. Louis, MO. That just happens to be our temple district, so we decided to stop by after we were done at the temple and check it out. I had never been to a book signing before, so I didn't know what to expect. It started at 6 in the evening, so when we were done at the temple around 4 we drove over to the library where it was being held to make sure we knew where to go. And it was a good thing we did! When we got there the line had already started outside, so Bill dropped me off to wait in line while he graciously took Will and Kayla somewhere for a while. I had fun chatting with other fans of hers while freezing to death for an hour or so. Bill and the kids came back after a while and we all went inside to take our seats for the Q&A they had before the signing. They introduced her and you would've thought we were at a rock concert or something. It was a lot of fun to listen to her and even catch a few glimpses of her husband, whom she affectionately calls "Marlboro Man".

We were probably only about 7-8 rows back. Awesome seats!

After the Q&A we went to another room for the book signing. As we were standing in line, library workers came to each person and asked "Would you like your book personalized?" If we said yes they asked us our name and then wrote it on a post-it-note and stuck it inside our book so that she'd know who we were without having to ask "Who do I make this out to?" 300 times. When we got up to her table, I handed over the book, she signed it, talked for a minute with Will and Kayla, then graciously posed for a picture with us.

This is definitely not one of my favorite pictures of any of us. I look WAY too excited, Kayla was trying to get off my lap at that point, and Bill wasn't originally going to be in the picture. But I still like it because we got our picture taken with The Pioneer Woman (whose real name is Ree, by the way). So needless to say, even though it ended up being a VERY late night (thank goodness we have 11:00 church now), it was definitely a very fun experience that I'll always remember. And if you've never read her blog or seen her books, go do it now!