SMITH

New Year's Hike

2012-01-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Mark grew up with the tradition of going for a hike on New Year's Day. Some years that's turned into getting outside and shooting some guns, but with the little kids that we have we're sticking with the hiking. This year, we went on Monday to South Mountain with Mark's parents, his brother Ryan, and sister Shauna. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

Here is Dallin enjoying the view from the top of South Mountain:

And some more of us....

And Adam...

We hiked some trails for a while then found another bench at a lookout point where we hung out and surveyed Phoenix, watching planes land and take off at the airport. By this time Owen had fallen asleep.

Everyone else was just relaxing and enjoying the views but Adam, who is quite the little mountain goat, wanted to hike some more. Mark went with him down a little trail to the top of another hill. Here they are on the way back, sprinting to the finish.

Last Wednesday we were enjoying the snow, less than two hours away. Yesterday we were outside in great weather enjoying a hike in Phoenix. That, my friends, is why I love Arizona.

December

2012-01-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Looks like I didn't take a lot of photos in December. It's a balance I struggle with, photographing life, and living life. Sometimes I err on the side of living life and not worrying about the pictures. I don't even have pictures of Christmas, though we do have some of that on video.

December was kind of a crazy month for us. It was great, just very busy. For instance, I was in charge of Dallin's class Christmas party, Mark's sister got home from her mission to Estonia, and my sister Amanda and her daughter Iris came to visit, all in the same day.

Here is Dallin and his class at the party. The teacher had someone come as Santa and visit the kids. Dallin is near Santa's, um... paunch.

Here are the boys and me when we dropped off some donations for a Christmas sponsorship we did with Save the Family, a shelter for women and children leaving abusive situations. I was hoping to get the boys involved by purchasing gifts for some other boys, but we signed up late and got the last family left which was a mother and teenage daughter. Still, Dallin and Adam helped us make the purchases and even got to sniff out some lotions at Bath and Body Works and pick their favorites to give. We loved doing this and definitely want to make it a tradition to give whatever we are capable of each Christmas. Mark worked a lot too with us in researching and gathering gifts, but was at work the day we made the delivery. I loved dropping off the gifts and seeing all of the black bags full of wrapped presents, seeing the happy volunteers, and saying hi to the other families that were there dropping off donations.

Christmas Eve we went to the yearly Skousen Family party (my mom's side of the family). We have dinner, a Christmas program, talent show by the kids, a couple of games, and a visit from Santa. My mom came home with us and stayed at our house, helping us wrap presents and watching the fun Christmas morning. The boys had a great Christmas, in fact we all had a great day. We went to Mark's family's house for a couple of hours, then went to church in the afternoon. For dinner, my family came over and we ate then hung out and played some games until late that night.

Mark took Monday through Wednesday off work that week which was great. He has been working really long hours and we have really enjoyed all being together. Monday we went out for a movie and lunch. Tuesday we got some work done around the house and went to an ultrasound appointment for baby #4. It's another boy! We are happy and love our boy-filled house. I am glad too that I don't have to hear people tell me they hope we are having a girl. We will take whatever the Lord decides to bless us with.

Wednesday we drove up north to play in the snow. The boys all had a blast, though Owen lasted the longest in the cold.

Dallin and Adam had fun sledding.

Mark and Owen even went once or twice.

There was a steep hill some kids were sledding down that Dallin wanted to try. After climbing up to the top he tried to sit down on the sled but the sled went and he slid without it. It ended up working out fine, and the other kids that were there all started sliding down without their sleds, which worked out a little better because it wasn't quite as fast that way down the steep hill.

We had a hard time keeping gloves and a hat on Owen. After throwing a few snowballs with bare hands, he started to understand what the gloves were for and allowed us to put them back on. From then on he was toasty warm and didn't want to leave.

Dallin, posing like a professional snowboarder.

Look! I was there too....

When we got to the snow we handed the kids their snow clothes to put on in the car. Adam had a pair of waterproof pants, not snow pants, to wear over his jeans. After playing for 45 minutes or so he started getting very cold. That's when I realized he wasn't wearing his jeans, he was only wearing the plasticky pants that kept water out, but definitely not the cold. He was frozen and done with the snow so he went back to the van to warm up. Shortly after that, Dallin was sledding when he and his sled turned around and went backwards. The sled knocked into a bank that someone had built up to keep people from running into a pole. It worked. The sled hit the bank and Dallin flew off and fell flat on his back. He was then done with playing in the snow and went to the van to warm up.

Owen, however, was still playing and not ready to go home. He wanted to make a snowman so I started rolling up some snow. After I got one big ball made, he was content with that as our snowman and stuck the hat and carrot on that we brought from home. I went back to the car with the other boys while Mark worked on finishing the snowman, making a snow cat, a snow Batman, and a snow Robin, all at Owen's request. We eventually had to pull him away to leave. While we were loading the car I turned it on to get the heater going. Owen, who was still outside the car turned to us and said, "Bye mom!" and left to go play some more. He wasn't happy when we made him get into the car and out of his snow clothes.

On the way back home we stopped for pizza in Payson.

And got home just in time to get the kids to bed. We had a great day.

Disneyland -- November 2011

2012-01-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we headed to California for a much-anticipated vacation to Disneyland. I've been wanting to take the kids for a long time now. This was our reward for paying off our debt and saving up for our emergency fund. We've worked hard and also seen some incredible blessings as we've committed to our financial goals. Anyway, Disneyland was one of our financial goals and we eventually made it there and had a great time!

Lots of pictures to follow....

I was 15 weeks pregnant at the time and slightly showing, but not enough that the employees at Disneyland would really notice. I rode most of the rides, but don't worry, I did ask my doctor before we left and he said I could.

We were very impressed with Adam's climbing skills. He is beginning to be quite the outdoor enthusiast.

Mark and the boys at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in California Adventure. We loved this area and spent lots of time there.

On Sunday we went to the ward in Anaheim then traveled to Newport Beach to see the Temple there. The Temple is gated and was locked up, so we didn't get too close, we just walked around and took some pictures from outside the gate.

After the Temple visit, we drove to Newport Beach. It took us a while to find a decent spot to park where we could get out and walk down to the water. By that time it was dark, but the kids still enjoyed getting their feet wet. Owen played in the sand and didn't want to leave.

After that, we went back to our hotel room for some microwave meals and some wrestling.

We spent half of Saturday at California Adventure. Monday and Tuesday we were at Disneyland. Then Wednesday, we went to California Adventure again until early afternoon. Then we headed for home.

We arrived at Jedi Training 30 minutes early to sit at the front. We ate our lunch while we waited, had the boys wear their Star Wars shirts, and prepped them about dancing around and getting someone's attention so they would get picked for Jedi Training. It was a bit of a rigamarole, yes, but it was worth it because they got picked and it was the highlight of Disneyland for them.

Here are some pictures of Tom Sawyer's Island:

Owen spent most of his time at Tom Sawyer's Island playing in the dirt. I was laughing because there we were, at Disneyland, and all he wanted to do was play in the dirt. I had to remind myself to sit back and just let him do whatsoever his heart desired.

At Toon Town, the other guys were riding a roller coaster and Owen and I managed to meet Mickey Mouse without waiting.

Owen loved the parade! Well, all three boys did. Owen got some special attention from some of the characters since he was standing in the front and quite cute waving and pointing at everyone. I think Minnie Mouse even blew him some kisses.

We had so much fun. The best part was being able to spend 5 days together -- without all of the normal household chores, errands, or work responsibilities. We were also quite warn out when it was all done. Disneyland is a blast, but takes a lot of work. Mark and I discussed our next vacation on the ride home. Some time at the beach. Relaxing.

Finding Christmas

2011-12-21T00:44:00.002-07:00

At Fiesta Mall tonight I saw something that totally surprised me. Right in the middle of the mall is a lovely nativity display. How cool is that?!! But the scene was incomplete because the little Christ child was missing. Now what do you suppose that means?

Craziness

2011-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little....complicate around here. Nothing much to complain of, seeing as we are all fine and nothing seriously is wrong. I guess it's just that sometimes things go smoothly, and sometimes they don't. It's been one of those not-smooth times. I think it started last Wednesday when the guy that came to stretch our carpets (pull them tighter) and clean them didn't bring either his carpet stretcher nor his work van with the heavy duty carpet cleaner. He thought he could get by with a portable carpet cleaner (his van was in the shop) and a little hand tool to fix our carpets. He cleaned one room with the portable cleaner, wasn't too happy with the result (nor was I), then we decided that he might as well just stretch them. He said they needed to be wet to stretch properly so he used his machine to wet all of our carpets down. After a while of tugging on some carpet in one of the rooms he decided he didn't have the right tool to stretch our carpets. So...I told him that I would talk to my husband and figure out what we wanted to do and we'd get back to him later. That was the nice way of getting him out of my house. At that point, ALL of our furniture and belongings were off the carpet and tucked away in the garage, out on the back porch, or in the dining room. The carpets were all wet and we didn't know who to call to get the job done so we could get the house put back together. We managed to find a couple of referrals, one for a carpet cleaner who thankfully could come the next afternoon, and one for a carpet repair guy who could come on Saturday morning. So, what was suppose to be a one-day project turned into four days. Or more, since I still have a bunch of food storage in my dining room that needs to find it's way back to it's spot. Thursday evening was an interesting night. The carpet cleaner (second one) was running behind and didn't get to our house until 5pm, the same time my boys' music class begins. I let him inside, ran the kids to class, stopped at Trader Joe's for something to cook for dinner, then came home to put the groceries away. Then it was time to pick them back up. In the meantime, Mark got home around 6pm, the same time our home teacher came over. We met him on the back lawn, since there was someone inside still cleaning our carpets. That night the carpets were wet so we made do. Mark and I threw our mattress on the dining room floor where we slept that night, Dallin and Adam slept in a tent in the backyard. Owen was the only one who got a real bed that night. Moving all of the furniture around made it obvious it was time to switch everyone's beds, something we've been planning to get to soon anyway. Owen moved up from his crib and got Adam's old bed. Dallin and Adam need a little more space in their room so we didn't set Dallin's bed back up--the plan was to get a bunk bed ASAP. Plus, the carpet repair guy was coming Saturday so it didn't make sense to put the rest of the beds back into the rooms. Saturday was General Conference, which was great, but between that, getting the carpets stretched in the morning, moving furniture in between sessions, and picking up a bunk bed for the boys that was listed on Craigslist, our house was definitely suffering by the end of the day. I decided to have Dallin and Adam help me put the bunk bed together that night while Mark was gone at the Priesthood (young men and men's) session of Conference. That was quite tricky, but we figured it out. Actually, at one point I couldn't figure out how to bolt some pieces together. Mark took the bed apart to bring it home and I hadn't seen how exactly it was assembled. I thought we wouldn't be able to get the bed set up that night, but then I figured out where everything was suppose to go. Dallin started cheering, saying "Great job, Mom!!" and the other boys joined in with some chanting, "Yay, mom! Yay, mom!." It was quite the moment! Since we hadn't had a chance to buy mattresses and only had one twin size one, Dallin and Adam both shared the top bunk that night. I did make one mistake setting the bed up that night though. One that would be most evident the next night. The bed has two height settings and I forgot to set it on the lower one. Instead, the top bunk ended up much too close to the boys' ceiling fan. Yep. Someone got smacked in the head, pretty good too. Sunday night I heard Dallin yelling for me to come into his room. Mark was holding Adam's head and there was blood dripped here and there. Adam was playing on the bunk bed and got up on his knees and got hit. We thought he would need stitches, but after a few minutes the bleeding stopped, and since it is covered by his hair we weren't as worried about him having a scar. We bandaged it up that night and Adam slept on the floor. That's where he's slept since because I still haven't been able to go to the store and buy a mattress for the bottom bunk. We also lowered the bunk bed that night before Dallin went to sleep. I am still nervous about the bunk bed, since the ceiling is low and there is still a chance the boys could stand on the bed and get hit with it. I'm not sure what we'll do yet. It probably shouldn't make a difference, but we just a couple of months ago bought and installed that ceiling fan, and it's a really cool one that they both really love.

Yesterday and today I have spent lots of hours working on a fall guide for I Heart Mesa. It's going to be pretty awesome, but I am sure glad we are finished with all of that research and writing. I need to clean my house and get this food storage out of my dining room.

A Few Things About Owen

2011-09-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

Owen is at such a fun age. This is my favorite age, from about 1 1/2 til maybe around 3, when they are so incredibly fun but still very innocent. I love hearing him talk, watching him do that awkward but heart-melting little dance he does, and well, every single stinkin' thing about this kid is just CUTE.

Owen loves to eat butter, mayonnaise, syrup, jam, etc., as if those things were meals in and of themselves. Here he is caught red-handed with some ranch dip.

He is a good little helper. He will sing the clean up song but sings it like this, "Me cup, me cup..." He likes to help me put the laundry into the dryer. He will look through the clothes and point at who owns the items he's putting into the dryer. "Is Adam's!"

He is your typical two-year-old mischief-maker. So sometimes I just let him make the messes and I throw him a few measuring spoons and bowls to make dumping more fun.

He loves to "readabook." I love hearing him saying that to me as he brings me a book.

He loves his brothers. He snuck into this picture of Dallin on the first day of first grade.

Playing with Adam.

He had the sweetest curly hair. I just trimmed it and lots of the curl is gone now. {Tear.} I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, look at this guy:

For his second birthday (back in July) we had a homemade ice cream party. It was pretty much amazing, if I do say so myself. I would love another excuse to do it again, anybody wanna come? We had family over and everyone enjoyed seeing little O and eating seven flavors of ice cream and sorbet.

Did I tell you he turned two?

He is obsessed with Batman, whom he calls either Bat-Bat, Superbap, or just Bat. His favorite movie is Finding Nemo. He'll say, "I wan watch Neno, I wan watch Neno" most every day. He loves watching videos of himself and he has learned to answer the question "What's your name?" His answer sounds something like "ow-eh." He loves playing "monkey" with his daddy, which is basically just Mark acting like a monkey and jumping and hollering then picking Owen up and throwing him on the couch. He also likes to get in on the action when Dallin and Adam are wrestling with daddy. Owen is fearless and is a hoot to watch. He will make aggressive faces and jump mercilessly on Mark's face, whatever it takes. Of course he is very loved and brings smiles to our faces every day.

Derby

2011-08-06T23:50:00.002-07:00

We have now experienced roller derby first-hand! What a feeling. Marily's sister plays for an El Paso roller derby team--the Tex Pistols--and tonight they had a bout in Tucson. (That's right. Swimmers "meet", tennis players "match", but derby girls duke it out like boxers. Not exactly. If they hit or push an opponent with the hand or elbow they have to sit in time out).

We're pretty new to the whole derby scene, and one of the first things I noticed is that it is in fact a scene. The sights are kind of a mix between Halloween and hockey...on roller skates. I also learned that it's a lot like city softball league except instead of whacking a ball players attack the opposing player known as the Jammer, each player gets to pick a cool name for herself, and after the bruising's done the opposing teams will still like each other and may even hang out.

We had a lot of fun cheering for her sister.

Go Goldie A-Go-Go!

What's the Deal With Russell Pearce?

2011-07-30T22:56:00.002-07:00

Well, the day is coming and the local media is more excited than a gaggle of tweens at a Justin Bieber concert. Their favorite “lightning rod of controversy” who has been “ensnared in ... controversy” because of his “controversial political stances”, yes even Russell Pearce, “one of the state's most powerful and controversial politicians” is now subject to a recall election in November. (Note to reader: all the preceding quotes came from the Arizona Republic. And no, not from a collection of articles...all from the same article)! While it’s easy fun to laugh at journalists’ overuse of meaningless adjectives, at some point we serious citizens have to take a step back and consider what to do about the whole affair.

After all, hasn’t Russell Pearce been wasting time on illegal immigration bills instead of focusing on more important issues? And what’s the thing with some Fiesta Bowl scandal we keep hearing about? And why does he always look so angry in them photographs?

Before the campaigns get into full swing now may be a good time to consider what Pearce has actually done as a legislator and what this election means in context of other considerations.

Sure, we already know that he gets high ratings from groups for being a “Hero of the Taxpayer” and having a 100% pro-life voting record, but what about dealing with the urgent fiscal issues facing Arizona?

Sometimes the Arizona legislature will have to go into special sessions in order to deal with budget issues that don’t get resolved until the last minute. Kind of like the federal government is doing right now. But under Senate President Pearce’s leadership the budget was finished within 100 days of regular session. Difficult decisions were made to come up with a budget that would put Arizona on more stable financial footing.

But what about the cuts to education and health care? Here’s where it gets interesting and makes it look like Pearce has been onto something for a long time. Education—overall enrollments are down so it’s a reasonable move (even though painful) to make during hard economic times. Health Care—AHCCCS paid for 20,000 births in 2007 but only for 7,000 in 2010. Why the sudden drop in state-funded births and students? At least part of the answer is SB 1070, the immigration bill that has made Pearce so notorious.

Pearce has helped the state reduce its costs by pushing an immigration law that prompted many illegals to voluntarily leave. What’s not to like about that?

Hot Roddin'

2011-07-15T23:31:00.002-07:00

We finally took the boys to the Hot Wheels races tonight. These races take place every Friday night in the Ace Hardware parking lot on the southwest corner of Gilbert and Baseline.
The way it works is that they set up a really long, 2-lane track and participants race their Hot Wheels cars. The races go in heats with the winners moving onto the next race. The winner and runners-up get prizes! To participate, you pay $1 and the organizers give you a brand new, in-the-box Hot Wheels car. You must only use that car in the race, and the cars are randomly assigned to
the racers.

One of the gentlmen there kept giving out cars to the kids so although we showed up with just one car that Dallin had in his pocket we came home with about 10. Even Owen got into the act. The most difficult thing was to keep him away from the track when it wasn't his turn to race. And even though his car litterally wobbled down the track for a loss he was so excited to see the cars go.

People start showing up after 6pm, but the actual racing doesn't start until about 7:30-8:00pm.

it's an attempt to kind of catch up around here

2011-06-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

So instead of saying too much, we'll just dump a bunch of pictures in a post.

Sound good?

We had a little party for our co-op preschool I've been doing with Adam.

Adam, Elsie, Ainsley, and Wrigley

Dallin's kindergarten celebration. He (we) loved his teacher, Mrs. Brown. She was very attentive to her individual students and made sure to give Dallin what he needed to grow and learn this last year.

In order to make sure we schedule in enough fun this summer, the boys and I came up with this summer checklist:

Here are the items:

Play kick the can, go to Amazing Jakes, summer reading program, swimming at a cool pool (City pool), splash pad, Dallin started writing 'go to Legoland' but I made him scratch that one out, go see a movie, go bowling, go to Bass Pro Shop (their summer kids camp activities), road trip, farmers market (at Superstition Farms), Hot Wheels races, lemonade stand, rock selling (Dallin wants to paint rocks and sell them), make popsicles, go to Golden Hills Park (brand new Mesa park with shaded playground), and play at the Salt River.

These pictures below are out of order, but it's too much work to shuffle them around. Here are Owen and Adam at their 'toddler time' at Westwood basketball camp. Dallin did basketball camp, but I missed getting his photo.

Playing in the water

Oh look, basketball again. This is owen dreaming big:

Homemade rasberry pudding pops:

It makes me happy--and proud--to see my little guy in a Westwood shirt. We might have to move back to west Mesa someday.

These pictures were from our debt-free celebration dinner at Waldo's BBQ. We are happy to announce we have paid off our last loan and for the first time in our marriage we have no consumer debt. Although we didn't have a mortgage when we got married and now we do, so are we really better off than we were eight years ago? Anyway, we've worked really hard and have also seen HUGE blessings come our way as we've committed ourselves to getting out of debt. Yay! Also, we left the waitress a $20 tip that night, and it felt good.

Adam at Golden Hills Park. (It's shaded, see?) You CAN go to a park in the summertime around here if you go early enough.

This is Mr. T. He stares at us from the floor in our bedroom because he knows he should be up on the wall in Mark's office. Mark's best friend Coy gave this print to him and Mark has had it up in his office. When he switched jobs he took it down, and just hasn't gotten the courage to hang Mr. T. back up in the new office for everyone to see.

We went to downtown Mesa and here is proof. Gotta love the Ghostbuster guys.

...and Queen's Pizzeria...

...and fresh peaches from the Backyard Farmer (he delivers to your door)...

The annual Skousen trip to the cemetery for Memorial Day. This year breakfast was at our house. We had a good 60+ people over here that morning. Here's Adam and Dallin by my grandpa Pete Skousen's grave:

Eating dinner at the Superstition farmers market. The food was really good by the way. The president of Mesa's chamber of commerce was there to do a ribbon cutting ceremony for the market. He saw us eating and asked me if I was from I Heart Mesa. I was flattered and pretty surprised, that he'd recognized me. He's the only one that has as far as I know.

Dallin at the petting zoo at the farm:

Hey, it looks like I'm out of pictures. I guess that's all for now.

What's going on

2011-03-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

Let's start oldest to youngest. Save the best (all three of them) for last.

Mark started his new job yesterday. Things are looking good, and he thinks it will be a good experience. Not so good: it took him an hour to drive home yesterday in the rain. But, he should be working more reasonable hours than his last job, so we're thinking he'll be home about the same amount and still in time for dinner most of the time. We have been awed at how the Lord has guided us in our lives and how we can look back over the years and see His hand and how he's led us to where we are. When Mark told me he was getting laid off I told him I was looking forward to seeing what happens. Those big life changes are when we've seen the Lord's hand in a big way and it's awesome to get those experiences from time to time.

Mark had three days off work last week between jobs. It was also spring break and he got paid for all the vacation days he never took from his last job. I was really wanting to use that money to go to Disneyland. Something materialistic in me has been yearning to go. But, long ago we already had mapped out our plan for what to do with our money including savings and paying off debt and after those things are done, then Disneyland is on the list. Instead we were practical and only used $200 to "vacation" for those three days. We went camping at Lost Dutchman State Park one night and took a road trip to Tucson to go to Old Tucson Studios for another day. We had a good time, though the kids were pretty whiny, especially at Old Tucson, but I still kinda wish we'd done Disneyland. Sometimes I get tired of being patient. I've been patient long enough. :)

Here are a few pictures of Old Tucson. My newer camera got dropped by a kid with the lens out. A 1-foot drop to the counter right on the lens can ruin a camera for good. So now I am glad I never got rid of my old camera, but I don't tend to pull it out very often because I'm not happy with the pictures. Any suggestions for a good point-and-shoot? Anyway...

I am trying to get us more organized around here, both in creating some schedules and in physically organizing our space. I've had some successes but most my efforts are still at the beginning stages. One thing that has been a success is getting the boys on a morning and evening routine. They have this chart that shows them the things they need to do in the morning and the things they need to do at bedtime. They can do these in whatever order they want so that gives them a little freedom to do it their way. At bedtime we usually read scriptures and pray as a family first, then we decide with the kids how much time they need to get their bedtime routines done. We set a timer (10-15 minutes) and when it beeps it's storytime. Mark reads or tells a story to whoever is ready for bed, or he just reads a book to himself some nights when neither Dallin nor Adam are ready. After storytime is over, whether the kids are ready for bed or not, they go into their rooms. If they are ready for bed they get a song and a backscratch from Mom and then good night. If they're not ready for bed, no song from mom. This has worked out great for us because we don't nag at bedtime anymore. We still have some nights where kids don't cooperated and they cry and cry because they miss stories or songs. I want to sing to my kids every night and have that time with them, but I know overall we'll have more quality time if I stick to my guns and don't nag and yell at them to get dressed, brush their teeth, etc.

Dallin is loving kindergarten. He has some great friends and loves to play board games. His favorite games are Stratego and Chess. I don't play chess with him, I don't know if I've ever played a full game, but he'll try to get the older neighbor boys to play or he'll play with Mark, and when we're at Grandma's house for Sunday dinner he'll play with Uncle Ryan or maybe Grandpa. He loves to read and is always telling us about the things he's learned about bugs or animals or outer space from his books and magazines.

We're kind of goofy around here. Last night at dinner Adam wasn't wearing a shirt. Mark asked Adam why he wasn't wearing a shirt. Then Mark and I must have been looking in the other direction because the next thing we knew Dallin's shirt was gone too. One of the things Dallin likes to do is put a blanket over your head and breath into your face. It's really weird and a little gross, so he thinks it's hilarious.

Adam has the best smile ever. He is very interested in writing these days and will ask how to spell things so he can write words. I've learned a trick I've used on him--when he gets tired and grumpy I get him involved in singing songs and he cheers up. I've used this lately when we've gone hiking and after so long he's gotten tired, so we sing songs and he forgets he's tired. He is a great helper and is always eager to bring the groceries in the house or help me cook. He also loves juicing citrus. I love to hear Adam talk because he has the cutest voice. He'll explain things that happened, "a long time ago," or "a really, really, really, really long time ago" which means last month, or earlier today, or yesterday. The boys love wrestling with Mark, and even Owen gets in on it, though he's learned to be cautious.

Owen is 20 months. I'm kinda not liking the fact that 20 months makes me think of 24 months which is 2 years old. He is the sunshine in our home. He is hilarious, and makes everyone laugh and smile all day. When he is mad at me he growls like an angry dog, when he is happy he does a little happy trot, when he is sad his sad face is so darn cute it even makes me smile. He is not super talkative, but he is saying more all the time. He says, "baboop" for book, "ada" for Adam, "Dada" for Dallin, "shzzz" for shoes. His curly hair is awesome. When he sees a dog or a picture of a dog he sticks his tongue out and pants. Dallin trained him this way: You ask, "Who tempted Adam and Eve?" and Owen raises his hand and yells, "ME!"

That is all for now. Now I feel a little better getting some blogging done.

Update

2011-03-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to get back into blogging when I haven't written in a while. There's too much to say, and I don't have time to say it all, so where to start?

Mark took yesterday and today off from work. He has too many vacation days, since his current job (which ends Tuesday) he had a hard time taking a break from. So, for my birthday yesterday he told me he'd be my personal slave. I tried to come up with something good, but all I wanted him to do was clean. I didn't have to do any dishes at all yesterday--and they all still got cleaned. It was wonderful. I had a really nice day with calls and visits from family and friends.

Today Mark accepted a job offer! We have been very, very fortunate. We know a lot of people that are looking for work and have been looking for a long time and somehow we got lucky enough that what Mark does is in demand and so the job search went well even in this economy. He is an accountant and for the last 6 years has been managing an accounting team for a company that owns physician groups. Since health care is growing, he was able to find another job in the health care industry doing about what he's been doing. The job is farther away and the commute will be longer than he hoped for, so it took us a few days to figure out if this was the right thing for us. The more we learned about the company the more we liked it. And it looks like he'll be working more regular (read: fewer) hours and will get lots of vacation days so we think we'll have as much and likely more family time than before. We are really excited. The Lord has really blessed us and it is easy to see that now looking back over the last several years how different decisions have led us to where we are now. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have helped with the job search in whatever way, especially in prayer and love for our family!

Today's been a great day. This morning we went for a hike to the wind caves in Usery Park, had lunch in the car on the way back, and got home in time to get Dallin to afternoon kindergarten. Thanks Danny and Lachelle for letting us borrow the backpack for Owen. He slept in it most of the way up and enjoyed his elevated view on the way back.

I'll have to post some updates on the boys and what they have been up to, but that will be another time.

Things on My Mind

2011-01-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

I kinda feel like unloading a bit of what is on my mind lately. A few thoughts:

1. My heart has been heavy lately thinking about someone I love. This person is going through a really, really rough time and lives far away from me and that makes me feel hopeless. Today we had a lesson in Relief Society that made me think of this person and I totally lost it. When I got home from church I could still feel this physical heaviness weighing on me. What do you do when there isn't much you can do?

2. Mark is looking for a new job. His company got bought out several months ago. Supposedly, things were going to stay the same for everybody but now they have decided that the accounting would all be done at the corporate level so no need for Mark and the other accountants that work with him. So, we're looking around, Mark has until March 15th until he's let go. We are not worried. We have savings but we have worked super hard to build our emergency fund and it would be nice to not have to dip into that if we didn't have to. Mark is a hard worker and has always without complaining worked hard for our family. A friend said to me, "Well, at least you'll get to see more of him if he's out of work," and I said, no that's not the plan. If Mark is out of work he will wake up at a normal time in the morning, shower, shave, get dressed in slacks and a collared shirt and look for a job for eight hours. I actually heard Dr. Phil talk about this once years ago and it has stuck with me: "If you don't have a job your job is looking for a job." That's how it's going to happen around here, and it's going to take my own dedication just as much as it will take Mark's to make sure that happens. Friday, Mark's family watched the boys so we could go out suit shopping so he'll have a nice suit for job interviews. I've never been suit shopping before, and it was kinda fun seeing my attractive guy modeling suits. We were pretty happy with the one we picked out.

3. I feel like we are pretty frugal folk. Sometimes I look around and wonder how people have the money to spend on certain things. I shouldn't compare, but I do. Sometimes I just have to tell myself that perhaps they don't really have the money to spend on this thing or that thing after all or that they choose to spend their money and maybe they don't have any money in the bank.

4. We have some debt still from when we were first married. Mark had a little and I had a little when we got married and then we had a little more that first year or so when money was super tight. It wasn't gigantic but it's been a slow process paying it off. When Mark was getting his masters degree a few years ago we used a student loan to pay off the credit card and the loan of one of our cars because the interest rate of the student loan was less. We've slowly been ticking away at that over the last few years and if the stars align and Mark is able to find a new job that will start right away when his old job ends in March we will be able to pay all of that off this summer and we will be totally debt free except for our mortgage. We will also have a good chunk of money set aside for emergencies. We're praying that things will work out that way but who knows what the Lord has in store for us.

5. If you don't mind, if you know any accountants that might have a connection for Mark, please let us know. He figures the best way to find a job is by knowing the right people, so I feel like it is my responsibility to spread the word. He is not a tax accountant, he does corporate accounting. He is a CPA, has a masters in accounting and has been a controller for a small company for the last 5 years. He's also very nice and looks good in his suit.

We did have Christmas around here

2011-01-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm not quite a month behind yet. Better late than never.

One night for Family Home Evening we acted out the nativity. We pulled out some fabric, towels, and other items and let Dallin and Adam choose which part they wanted to play. Owen didn't get to choose. He's already an angel so that worked out.

Dallin was a wise man. (The angel disrobing in the background).

Adam was a shepherd.

Mark and I were Mary and Joseph and we don't have any baby dolls (we are a family of boys) so some sort of animal was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a serving tray. Mark read from Luke 2 while we acted out the scene. Afterward, Adam was looking outside. The neighbors across the street has put up a lighted nativity scene that day and now it was dark and lit for the first time. Adam exclaimed, "Hey! That's the same play that we were doing!" So it was the perfect opportunity to take the kids across the street and reinforce the message. Sometimes those moments just fall into your lap and it was a sweet night with the boys.

Here's a few other pictures from other things we did:

Mark and his jazz band played at the temple visitor's center one night. Looks like this might become an annual tradition.

Owen and I watching the performance.

We went with the Melzers to a free "Media Night" for Zoolights. Finally all this work for I Heart Mesa is starting to have some perks.

There's a neighborhood in Mesa we have visited for the last few years where an older couple dresses up like Santa and Mrs. Claus and visits with kids in this bench that they set up in front of their yard. They collect donations of food and cash for the Child Crisis Center. Aren't you glad there are good people in this world?

I love this picture below, partly because of the look Adam is giving his little brother. The paper in the tree is one that Adam wrote. He asked me how to spell, "I love my baby brother" then he put the paper up in the Christmas tree. It says "I LOEV MY BABY BROTHER. LOEV ADAM." Dallin and Adam were happy they got "warm pajamas" for Christmas like Owen has. They wear these every night if they are clean.

And you can't tell from this picture, but it was snowing when I took it. We got a good 15 minutes of snow at our house the week after and the boys were running around with our neighbor Jack signing, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." The snow was big enough that it would land on our clothes and on the ground for a few seconds. That's a big deal around here. I think I've only ever seen snow fall once in my life, on a band trip to northern Arizona.

I figured I'd better post because Mark has scared my from leaving the blog blank for too long. You never know what he is going to put on here.

Owen Lately

2011-01-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last week Owen turned 18 months old. This picture is from his first day of nursery. Mark and I were joking that it was his second big milestone in the Church. The baby blessing is first, then going to nursery is second. Overall all though, he has been our easiest to handle during church which is surprising because he is a busy little guy.

He is spunky and crazy just like the rest of the family. Owen is our sunshine. If one of the boys is upset I have found myself pointing out something silly Owen is doing to change the mood--it works like a charm. A few things about Owen lately:

He gets into everything. His favorite is using chairs to get up to the table or counter. Owen is usually finished with dinner first so he is down running around and if anyone gets up out of their seat Owen sprints over to climb up on the chair and try to eat or play with what he finds on the table. He also moves chairs from the dining area into the kitchen to get things on the counter. This is pretty dangerous since there are sometimes knives or hot stoves up there so we have to keep on our guard. He also is now tall enough to reach into the kitchen drawers. He'll open them up, stand on his tiptoes and reach his hand over blindly fishing for something interesting. Also dangerous.
He can say several words but a lot of them are hard to identify. He doesn't enunciate very well yet, but we are learning to decipher what he says: "dee" for drink, "mah" for more, etc. He does have a very cute little head/full body nod. When I ask him if he wants a certain snack or toy he will nod his whole little self and it makes me smile every time.
He has fast little legs and makes the greatest pitter patter sound around our house.
He is waking up early again, which is making it difficult for mom to have a little time to herself in the morning. What to do?
He loves to read books. He'll grab one and walk over to me then turn backwards about a foot from my lap and back up til he reaches me to drop in my lap to read. Sweet.
Dallin and Adam love the little nicknames we've come up with for him. O's is the most common. When he's happy, it's Cheery-O's, when he's sad it's Woes. They think it's funny when he vacillates between the two: Now he's Cheery-O's! Now he's Woes!

On the brink

2011-01-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am on the verge of changing my life. My biggest fear: geting in my own way.

Deep down in my bones I know that I really need to learn how to be a morning person--welcoming those quiet, peaceful hours praying, reading scriptures, and planning my day out before the chaos of the day begins (i.e. the kids wake up.) I tried forcing myself up early before. I woke up at 6am but a funny thing happened and the kids started waking up earlier. They could sense that I was looking for quiet. I sometimes shrug my shoulders and think being spiritual and being the mother of small children aren't compatible. I know that it's not true, but it feels that way sometimes. It feels that way when I can't focus on the Savior during the Sacrament because I'm quieting the older two and trying to keep my toddler from screaming or escaping. It feels that way when I miss out on the rest of a lesson at church that I really needed because Owen (sweet little guy) isn't old enough to sit and be quiet.

I try to remember that being a mother offers different kinds of opportunities to feel close to heaven. There is a joy in loving children that can't be felt doing anything else in this world and feeling that joy is a transcendent experience. If you let it, it will let you feel God in your life in a powerful way. Holding your children is a spiritual experience if you let it be one. This especially is true when they are sleeping.

I know that I need to get some personal time to feel close to God on my own, in some peace and quiet. I have been reading a couple of blogs of women that have really inspired me to get my life in order. I have a lot of goals and a lot of things I want to change but my only resolution this year is to learn to be a morning person and to wake up at 6am. It seems like it shouldn't be that hard, I've done it before when one or more of the boys have gone through a phase where they would wake early. This time though, it will be my choice. And if I can learn to do that I can find the peace and motivation to do anything else I want to do. But, it will be hard--really hard--to take control over when I wake up, to find internal motivation to get out of bed instead of a crying or hungry child forcing me to rise. Trying to change old habits is hard.

Inspired to Action:
This gal has some great insight and inspiration for getting up early to "be with God" and planning your day so you are living more consciously. Her advice really spoke to my soul. Subscribe to her emails and from the emails you can read her article about establishing a morning routine.

Passionate Homemaking
I first got to this site from my friend Kathryn's link to this page about making a home notebook. I love Lindsey's wisdom. She knows where priorities should be and writes about building a home and loving her husband and children so beautifully. Click on "Making a Home" for some really great posts from Lindsey and other guest bloggers. I love the ideas of simplifying homemaking, shopping, having a home notebook, etc, to free up my brain for more important things. Some of the changes I am making are these:

I have set my alarm for 6am.
I still haven't actually got out of bed at that time, but three out of five days this week I have woken up before my kids, with time to pray, read my scriptures, and plan out my day all in peace and quiet. Owen is a little unpredictable and sometimes wakes up close to 6am sometimes as late as 7am, but those days he wakes up early I've tried to leave him in his room so I could finish what I needed to do. Waking early is a work in progress because this is the hardest change for me. Hopefully I will follow through with this until it's a habit.

I have made a home notebook.
I love, love my home notebook. It is still a work in progress and some of the sections are blank, but I am so attached to it even in the first week I put it together.

I just started monthly menu planning and grocery shopping.
We are on the third week out of the month and all is going great. I did a monster trip to the grocery store to stock up for the month. I ended up needing another cart at checkout to take all the food to my car. The plan is to take one big trip every month then at the end of each week stock up on things like milk, produce and maybe a couple other things that we have run out of. I printed out a page from here and have it taped inside a cabinet with the meals: breakfast, lunch, a snack, and dinner for every day of the month. I keep another copy inside my notebook so on Sundays I can go over it and revise the week's meals if needed. There are four breakfasts for the week and maybe five different lunches and five different snacks, and each Monday we have the same breakfast and lunch. The dinners get rotated monthly, though there are some that we have twice a month because they are favorites or inexpensive dinners. On Saturday and Sunday I don't have a lunch or dinner written in. This gives us room to eat leftovers or use up something from the freezer, etc.

I have felt lately that my head was full of chaos. Swimming, swirling, incomplete thoughts. Too many things to think about, too many things to do that my mind couldn't focus on one thing for a second. In the past I have dismissed the thoughts of being more organized and scheduled because I thought it was too strict. Now I am realizing I need to do this to really live. The thought of what to make my kids for lunch, for instance, no longer occupies my head. It's on the list. Of course sometimes we've run out of something or need to use up leftovers so plans do change, but at least we have a starting point now. A long while before Christmas Mark and I made up a list of people we were going to buy gifts for, budgeted amounts for each person, ideas for gifts, etc. But, when we needed the list we didn't know where it was. For days we searched and finally found it. The next day it was missing again. Then, I made my home planning notebook, found the paper and stuck in the "Holidays" section. It was never lost again. I love how my notebook is the perfect place for all of that important paper clutter. It clears my mind to think of other things. I love to make lists and now I have a place to put them. Makes me want to go hug my notebook right now.

And when my mind isn't all muddied up I am more at peace and I can be a better wife and a better mother. I feel like I can let myself spend time with my kids when I have my day planned out better and I know where I am going that day. Putting God first will change my life too, if I follow through with what I know I need to do. Wish me luck, this is going to take a total brain-rewire to shift from night owl to morning person.

What works for you? I would love to hear what you do to simplify your life.

Temple Jazz

2010-12-02T00:33:00.003-07:00

That's right. This Tuesday, December 7th at the Mesa, AZ Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints there will be a performance by Yeah Man Jazz from 7:00-7:30pm. Jazz at the Temple. What could be cooler? I'll tell you what--Christmas Jazz at the Temple. Now that is fully awesome!

Enjoy your Christmas favorites delivered fresh in a deep, swingin' groove. The program will feature Coy Johnston on saxophone, Paul Anderson on drums, Jeff VanDusen on bass, and Julie Peterson and Erica Soelberg on vocals. And even though I will be on the piano this is gonna be a great show.

If you do miss the show you can still check out Yeah Man Jazz Christmas CDs at www.yamanjazz.com.

Hello Ladies

2010-12-01T23:45:00.006-07:00

How are you?Fantastic!

Seeing that this blog has sadly fallen into disrepair I have taken it upon myself to repair the dis-repairedness. After all, it's nothing that a power drill and an endless supply of duct tape can't fix.

As my first contribution I offer the coolest thing I've seen this week:

So cool.

Second, you will witness the fate of those who corrupt perfectly good art forms; who confuse the general public into thinking that elevator music should be called "jazz"; who shamelessly douse us with endless pentatonic scales and cheap turn/mordent riffs. In this video metaphor the chick with the poofy hair represents Kenny G, while the bear plays the role of Cosmic Justice. Enjoy.

Good Bobo.

A Busy Day

2010-11-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, yesterday, was a busy day for us. Mark and I woke up around 5:30 to get ready to go to the race. We woke the kids up around 6am and helped them change their clothes then we all got in the car with some granola bars for breakfast. You see, back in January for a family night we had all come up with goals. Now, it's November and everyone else had long-since accomplished theirs.

Owen--sit up all by himself
Adam--button his own pants
Dallin--read a book all by himself

Mark--100% home teaching (many of the men in our church are assigned to visit families once a month to share a spiritual message and check and see how they are doing)

Marily--Run a 5k.

Spring went by and I didn't sign up for a race. Of course there are no races going on in the valley in the summer and so when fall rolled around it was on my mind to accomplish what I said I would do. I pulled down our goals list from time to time and Dallin noticed that I was the only one who hadn't accomplished my goal. When my good friend Kathryn decided to do a 5k I knew this was my chance so I signed up and trained. My friend Becca trained diligently with me for over a month. She was patient with me and nice enough to go at my speed and endurance. The last couple of weeks I did some running with a few other neighbors too. I've never been a runner or done much running (or exercise sadly) so this was a big deal for me.

As I was running the race Saturday morning and was feeling tired and wondering why I was doing this I remembered my kids and I knew that I had to run the whole thing because that is what I intended to do and I wanted them to see that Mom accomplished her goal. I ended up even getting 3rd in my age division, with a time of 28:28. Not stellar, but still pretty good for my first race. Mark stood by the finish line with the boys and they got to cheer me on as I ran in.

After the race we stayed at the event for a while and the boys got a chance to play and enjoy some free food. I am definitely wanting to do Shun the Sun again next year. My neighbor Monica is trying to get me to do a 10k with her in January. We'll see. I'm still trying to decide if I'm a runner.

We let the time get away from us a bit and we had to rush home and change for a baptism for a sweet girl named Eryn in our ward. Mark played the piano for the service so he ran off while I got myself and the boys ready to go. Eryn and her sister had taken some photos of our boys a couple of months ago and so the boys knew her too. Baptisms are some of the best meetings in the church. By the way, you might want to click on that link above because the photos are worth seeing. Also, here's their photography website and blog if you are looking for someone who is fabulous with kids. Both sisters had their cameras and were shooting from different angles. At another time they each took one of the boys and got individual shots done in double time. Plus, they were so complimentary to Dallin and Adam that they behaved extra well to please the pretty girls behind the camera. Anyway, we love Eryn and her sister Rosemary is our neighbor and is also fabulous.

So, after the baptism we came home, changed our clothes, then went to the Fall Festival at Dallin's school. They had a bunch of fun stuff to do--lots of bouncy things, carnival games, and some really loud techno pop. Justin Bieber, anyone?

The boys stood in line at jousting like this. This is why you don't need to stand right next to your kids. Because I am sure if we were standing right next to them they wouldn't have been doing this.

Fall photo op gone "decent enough"

Daddy and Owen

I don't normally take pictures of strangers (or post pictures of strangers for that matter), but the highlight of the Fall Festival for Mark and I was seeing the Weasley twins. These kids looked and acted so much like them (in the early movies) it was awesome. I don't even think they were actually twins, but they dressed like the Weasleys, had the same hairdo and goofed off like the Weasleys too.

Not great shots, but here's twin #1

And twin #2

So, after the Fall Festival we went home. I made Mark a list for the grocery store and sent him off so I could get a little nap in before our next activity. Remember I ran a 5k that morning? Plus, I hadn't gotten so much sleep the night before and I was feeling quite useless. When Mark got home we whipped up a fruit platter and rushed over to my sister's for our little niece Heidi's 2nd birthday party. Heidi is the cutest little thing and talks and talks. It is hilarious to hear someone so tiny saying stuff like "could I get some ketchup?"

Then, we went home and got everyone to bed. I fell asleep on the couch and stayed there all night. Other than sleeping on the couch it was a good day.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween we resurrected a few old costumes from 5 years ago when Dallin was a toddler. We had to add a couple of extra characters of course because now we have two more little people in our family. Thanks to a couple of friends (the Cotters and Shumways) for being gracious enough to loan the Jedi and Yoda costumes. Next year we'll do the work all on our own--I think. At least I did make the Yoda hat.

Hope you had a good one!

couple of things we did

2010-10-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

To update what we've been up to:

Last month we went with our ward on a campout to Potato Lake (near Strawberry). Made me think we need to actually get a tent to fit our whole family so we can go camping more often. The second day a lot of people took a walk from the campsite down to the lake.

The kids had a lot of fun getting dirty in the mud. Dallin had brought his notebook and some colored pencils. After playing for a while he retreated to a spot by himself to sketch the lake. He's six years old, people. If you want something entertaining, you should ask to see his notebook sometime. It's full of diagrams of robots, rockets, etc. I think this guy could end up in design someday--engineering, product design, robotics--anything like that could suit him.

Myself, I've been busy with home and motherhood. Things are busy with three kids. After Owen was born I thought things would eventually settle down and I'd get the hang of it all but 15 months later it's still chaos sometimes. I love it though. Somehow I managed to do some canning lately. I canned several cans of peaches and a giant pot of spaghetti sauce. I made the sauce from fresh tomatoes, something I've never done before. I've done some pressure canning before but canning the peaches in a water bath canner was new to me.

These make me proud:

I've also been working on I Heart Mesa. We've got some plans in the works for our next step. It's been a lot of fun to have a project like this to work on. We're trying to get more readers and make it bigger and better. Any suggestions?

Last night we went to the state fair. Mark's family goes every year to see the Figure Eight Races. Beat up cars racing round a dirt figure eight track. Running into eachother and nearly crashing on the intersection. Mark says his Grandma got the tradition started though I still need to hear that story.

Dallin and Shauna

Owen and Grandma

Grandpa, Grandma, and Adam

Cheers for now,
Marily

And Adam is Four

2010-09-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

We love Adam. And he had a birthday. Here are some things that we love about Adam:

Adam has the greatest smile ever. Ever, I tell you.

When he is upset it is easy to make him feel better by doing something to make him laugh. We'll tell him something funny Owen did or if he's throwing a tantrum we might say, "You must be joking," and lots of times he'll smile and laugh at himself.

He is a great little singer. His teachers have told us he is the loudest singer in junior primary (kids 3-8), though he is one of the youngest. He remembers songs easily and is almost nonstop singing throughout the day. He can even sing most of the Fifty Nifty United States song. You should ask him sometime, I'm sure he would love to sing it to you.

We had a little party with a few of his friends. A few weeks prior Adam had told us he wanted to do a "Race Car Water Party." He said, "The race car team goes 'zoom!' and the water team goes 'swish!'" In my mind I couldn't figure out how to do that but as time went on he was still insisted that he wanted a Race Car Water Party so we figured out a way to make it work. Mainly, it was race cars. I got most of my ideas from other blogs I searched. I wish I had saved the links to credit but I didn't. (I love using Google Blog Search for this kind of stuff.)

The game below is where we incorporated Adam's dream of having a race car team and a water team. The goal: race car team runs around the "track" while the water team tries to pelt them with water balloons. Simple, strange, but surprisingly fun.

This is one of the fun things I did: I printed out little labels for the kids' drinks.

And that is the conclusion. Thanks for stopping by.

Dallin is 6

2010-09-09T21:43:00.001-07:00

Hi folks. So, I hear Dallin had a birthday early this week. Here's how it went down.

Dallin was born on Labor Day, September 6, 2004 at 11:57 pm. I'm pretty sure my doctor thinks it's great to deliver a baby on Labor Day. He probably hopes for at least one each year. Fast forward six years later and it's Labor Day on September 6th yet again.

Dallin decided he wanted a robot party this year. I had a bit of a hard time coming up with games and activities for this party but was just happy it wasn't Transformers or some other character. We had a good 12 guests plus our own little boys and it was rowdy, but I think they all had fun.

Dallin and his robot cake.

The decorations. I asked Dallin if he could build some robots to use as decorations for the party and he told me something like, "You know that I'm pretty creative, so I can make some good robots." We had "Nuts and Bolts" (Chex Mix) and I made labels for the water bottles that said, "Machine Oil."

This is a relay game we played. The kids had to wear a robot breastplate and use the grabber to transfer the power cells (balls) from the basket to the power pack.

Mark's sister Stacey made this robot costume for Halloween a couple of years ago (sorry the picture's not great.) She came out to attack the kids and they were suppose to throw balls at her to defeat her. This is the part of the party that got a little out of control. Note to self: next time you have fourteen little kids wild at a party you might want to sit them down and explain just exactly what "attack the robot" means and what it doesn't mean.

After the party we went to Mark's grandma's house to see Mark's aunt Penny and her daughter Adeline. Adeline is Mark's cousin but she is Adam's age. They were visiting from out of town and apparently Adeline was telling Grandma she "wanted to see her people," meaning she wanted to hang out with some kids. We went swimming and had lunch. Adam and Adeline are in this blurry photo here.

After swimming and getting dressed Owen discovered the fun of the slide. He would climb up the steps all by himself, get to the top and twist his legs under him precariously until he could scoot forward and slide down. He did this over and over and it was lots of fun to watch. All those parks apparently have influenced him.

For dinner later that night I pulled out our birthday plate for Dallin to eat off of. I painted this with Mark's mom and sisters at As You Wish.

Next up, Adam is four next week. Wow. Just keep the birthday plate on the counter.

Some Photos and Stuff

2010-09-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the ever-popular catch-up post.

The boys were over at a neighbor's house on voting day. I hadn't voted yet so I took the opportunity to take just one kid with me to the polls. On the way back it started to sprinkle. By the time I got into the house it was raining and soon it was pouring. Then it actually hailed for a couple of minutes. It was 110 degrees that day and a couple of hours later ice was falling from the sky. After the storm calmed down I called my friend to let her know my boys were welcome to go outside and play in the rain. Her kids came outside as well. Did I tell you that I love my neighborhood?

Owen had to watch most of it from inside.

Then it cleared up and we got to go out.

Adam is doing Joy School with a few neighbor kids. There are four kids and the moms take turns teaching preschool. All of them are almost four, with Adam's birthday next week and the others turning four the same week in October. A couple of weeks ago preschool was at our house.

Here are the kids doing a sorting activity with beans, rice, pasta, and cheerios. This kept them interested for a really long time.

This is chocolate pudding "finger painting"

Did you see Owen back there?

He got in on the action as well.

This summer we have been participants with Kaboom in a challenge to visit 50 parks or playspaces around our town. Tomorrow is our very last park!! If you have any questions about Mesa parks, feel free to ask. :)

Here's Dallin at Quail Run Park:

Owen is a different kid now than he was when we started this challenge in the beginning of July. At that time he would mostly play in the sand or I'd push him in a swing. Now he is up and all over the playground equipment, crawling around, climbing up, and even sliding down slides of his own accord.

At Red Mountain Park:

And someone special (the older guy) had a birthday last week. I have the greatest husband. Amazing, I tell ya.

The boys helped me come up with "33 Things We Love About You" for Mark and we wrote them on balloons that we threw around the house.

This is what Owen does when Daddy gets home from work:

And a short video of some of Owen's first steps.

This was taken about 2 weeks ago. He is getting more and more confident all the time! He's walking of his own accord now and can get pretty far before he falls down. Could there be anything cuter? I submit that there cannot.

Westwood Reunion

2010-09-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Warriors through and through. Mark class of '96, Marily class of 2000.

This last weekend was my high school 10 year reunion. Time to catch up with old friends and see people I haven't seen for years. It was a long, fun, weekend packed with three different events. On Friday night was the family event. My friend Kathryn put it together. She asked me a couple of months ago if she decided to put a family event together for the reunion if I would be interested in helping. I said something like, "uh.....maybe?" So, I wasn't the most supportive friend because frankly, life has been kinda crazy lately. But I helped out a bit. She had a great idea for a photo booth at the event and the photo above was taken by a fellow classmate in the photography business.

Saturday lunchtime we went to a pool party with a smaller group of Westwood Warriors. After our senior year of high school several of us drove to the outskirts of town and buried a time capsule to be opened in 10 years. Our friend Thomas was pretty technologically savvy at the time because he had a GPS to coordinate the whereabouts of the capsule. Ten years later it was dug up and hauled back to the pool. I got back a couple of Westwood soccer memorabilia, several photos from school dances, my high school IDs and a letter I wrote to myself. It's a lot about where I wanted to be in ten years and fortunately I didn't disappoint myself. Go me.

Amanda, Kathryn and me at the pool. Picture swiped from Kathryn's blog. (We should have gotten a group shot with everyone, dangit)

Back in junior high, at one time it was just the three of us. Eventually we made some other good friends, then even got brave enough to sit with the boys at lunchtime. It started with the group of girls sitting next to the group of boys then one day we devised an infiltration. At the signal we all got up and each squeezed in between a couple of guys until we were no longer girls on one side boys on the other. Big step.

That night was the actual reunion. Our friend Josh (the night's photographer) handed his camera off to Kim to take this photo:

And yes, here is a picture actually from my very own camera: See? Mark was there too.

Go Warriors!

Primary Election - Republican

2010-08-22T21:06:00.003-07:00

How I intend to vote on Tuesday 8/24/10:

U.S. Senate - J.D. Hayworth
McCain has got to to go. Sure he loves conservatives when a primary election is near, but then he spends the next five years of each senate term sticking his finger in their eye. Whether trying to grant amnesty for illegal aliens, impairing our economy with silly environmental laws, submarining conservative judicial appointments, or failing to stand up and defend marriage McCain has repeatedly proven that he will make the wrong choice on many of the key issues facing us today.

Hayworth, on the other hand, has a good record as a congressman, and has a better understanding than McCain of what needs to be done to fix problems perpetuated by our federal government. Don't believe what the slick attack ads say. J.D. will be a huge improvement over McCain.

U.S. Representative in Congress
District 6 - Jeff SMITH
Once upon a time I was an enthusiastic supporter of Flake; he's done some good things as congressman. But after seeing his support for amnesty and an ENDA I have slowly changed my opinion. I'm glad there's a choice this time around. Smith says he'll support all the good things that Flake supports and simply leave out the kooky stuff.

(If I were still in) District 5 - David Schweikert
Schweikert has a record (as a state legislator) of actually cutting taxes and reducing the size of government. I expect he'll do the same as a federal legislator. For fun tidbits about his opponents check out here and here.

Governor - It don't matter
Brewer has opponents on the ballot but the reality is that they've all dropped out of the race.

Attorney General - Tom Horne
I think Horne's done a respectable job as Superintendent of Public Instruction and as a state legislator before that. The decision on who to vote for got really easy because over the last 12 months the list of evidence showing Thomas' and Sheriff Joe's corruption has gotten bigger and bigger.

This video opened my eyes. Arpaio's courtroom deputy obviously did something wrong. The ensuing complaint from the affected attorney made its way to Judge Gary Donahoe, who gave the offending deputy an opportunity to have the complaint dropped if he would simply apologize. In reaction to this Sheriff Joe and his buddy Andrew Thomas charged Judge Donahoe with criminal corruption. That's right, mess with Arpaio's turf and you'll find yourself as a defendant in a criminal trial--courtesy of Andrew Thomas. Using one's office of authority to prosecute political opponents, my friends, is corruption. As it turns out, several other county judges and supervisors found themselves politically on the wrong side of the Arpaio/Thomas combination; however, the charges had to be dropped because the accusations were baseless. There wasn't enough evidence to even take the cases to a full trial!

Please understand--I like the positions that Arpaio and Thomas take on the issues. I agree with many of the things they say. But we Republicans now have to ask ourselves the uncomfortable question--How far are we willing to support corrupt politicians even though we agree with their political views?

State Treasurer - Thayer Verschoor
As a state legislator Verschoor has a good track record. He's been tested in elected office before and can be trusted to make wise decisions.

Superintendent of Public Instruction - John Huppenthal
Like Verschoor, Huppenthal has a record of making good decisions while in elected office.

Corporation Commissioner (pick 2)
-Gary Pierce
-Brenda Burns
Wong may be a nice enough guy, but he was originally a Napolitano appointee. Do any of us need another reason?

County Attorney - Bill Montgomery
Montgomery appears to have his priorities together, although it's always a little tough to discern which candidate is the real deal when they are all emphasizing the same talking points. Check out Montgomery's website and see what you think.

One thing I noticed was that Montgomery was endorsed by folks I respect such as Russel Pearce, Len Munsil, and Thayer Verschoor. Oh yeah, he is also endorsed by Arpaio, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's corrupt, too, does it? Who endorses Romley? McCain. Mesa Mayor Scott Smith. I think I'll take my chances with Montgomery.

Conclusion
Please feel free to contribute additional insight in the comments section.

Motherhood

2010-08-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Just watched this video. I'm hoping to remember to watch this when I am having a hard day as a mom.

Owen's One

2010-07-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

Owen had a birthday on the thirteenth. We were in San Diego and spent his birthday at Sea World. He seemed to have a good day at Sea World at least. A couple of days ago we had our family over for his party.

We borrowed the baby gate from some friends and bought some balls to go in it for a ball party.

Banner...

Birthday cake...

Cousins...

Family...

We're so grateful for our family and how many awesome people our boys have to love them.

My little Owen. I was really happy that at Owen's last doctor visit he weighed in the 5th percentile. The last couple of visits he has been below the charts and I have been worried about making sure he eats enough. He's still scrawny, but gaining weight. He is not walking yet, but he is just starting to try and sign one or two things. He shakes his hands for "all done" and says, "dah dah" although so far he's just copying me when I do it. When I sign more he claps his hands and says, "mah." He is good at throwing and likes to grab a ball out of the ball pit, stand up, and throw it and repeat. He is eating mostly table foods now and loves beans, salmon, bread, cheese, and berries. When we hold a sippy cup or bottle for him to drink he will take a few swallows then swat the cup out of his face really fast, look around, then he's ready for some more until he swats it away again. Mark and I like to joke he's saying, "Get that thing outta my face!" from Nacho Libre.

And because I couldn't resist, a few more cake shots. It's my favorite part of a first birthday, can you blame me?

Kindergarten!

2010-07-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

Dallin started school today. He was so excited and so ready. And so cute. He chose to wear his shirt we bought in San Diego so when I did his hair I told him I'd make it look like a wave to go with his San Diego shirt.

Dallin is such a smart kid and I am looking forward to him getting the opportunity to learn some new things at school. He loves to learn. His preschool years he has either been taught by me or in joy school where other moms have rotated turns to teach. This is his first experience getting outside of the home for school. It was easy to see him go to school though because we actually considered putting him in kindergarten last year since his birthday is in September. We decided to wait another year so kindergarten has been on my mind and his mind for a long time now. It's time. Plus, it's only half day: 2 1/2 hours.

Here are Dallin and Adam in front of the school:

We got out of the car and started walking across the front of the campus toward the kindergarten playground and Adam started yelling into space, "Get out of here you crazy neighborhood!!" I've heard him yell this before a long while ago but hadn't heard it since. Pretty soon both Dallin and Adam were yelling pretty loudly, "Get out of here you crazy neighborhood!!" Other parents that were walking their kids into school were laughing at us. I asked Dallin what that was suppose to mean and he reminded me that they were yelling at the cicada bugs that were really loud around the school. That must have been the last time I heard it: last cicada season.

Gotta love these kids.

San Diego 2010

2010-07-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

It's funny how it says "San Diego 2010." Apparently I am trying to make it sound like we go there more often than twice in my life ever.

We had a great time on our family vacation last week!! Here's the lowdown.

Monday: Mark and I woke up early. Our goal was to be out the door about 6am and we pulled away at 6:15. It felt very much like a win. We drove straight to Balboa Park in San Diego and got there about 12:15. The boys got out of the car and felt the breezy 70 degree weather and demanded their jackets. They did look a little silly at the park as the only ones wearing jackets. After a picnic at the park we drove to our hotel to check in then headed to La Jolla. We saw seals hanging out in one cove and although we weren't dressed for playing at the beach the boys couldn't help themselves but play in the other cove. La Jolla was beautiful and pretty ritzy. The coastline there is gorgeous with the rocks and cliffs.

Tuesday: This was Owen's first birthday. My sister Dawn her husband and four kids met up with us in San Diego after their visit to Disneyland for a few days. They live in Dallas which is a 14 hour drive from here and San Diego is only 6. So when Dawn told me they were going to San Diego this summer I knew we had to make it. We went to Sea World that day and Owen actually sat and watched the animal shows. He loved the animals so that was quite nice. Dallin's favorite was the Atlantis ride which he went on twice. Adam loved everything--especially the aquariums.

Wednesday: Beach day. These days were the best. I had to keep reminding myself after we got to the beach on Wednesday that we didn't have someplace to be or anything to do and really, I didn't even need to know what time it was. The weather was PERFECT for us. The ladies at the hotel kept telling us it was going to be a hot day. Hot for San Diego is 80 degrees--HA! So, it was not freezing cold at the beach like normal--thank goodness. I was so grateful for that because I am sure we all had more fun--especially the kids. We went to Pacific Beach and spent our time playing in the water and sand, boogey boarding, and flying kites. It turns out I am quite good at boogey boarding, by the way. I was totally schooling most of the other folks out there. The kids had fun boogey boarding too. Jack and Wyatt went several times (14 and 12) and Savannah (7) and Dallin (5) got in on the action too. Mark and I would hold a board for them and tow it in as the wave pushed them to shore.

Thursday: The McHalffeys (my sister's fam) went to the zoo and we took our kids to Legoland. It is a fun park for little kids with actually a lot to see and do. There was even a baby care area where I could go and warm up some baby food for Owen and use a high chair, change his diaper, etc. The kids had a great time at Legoland, I think it was Dallin's favorite part of the trip. My favorite part about Legoland was seeing MiniLand with all of the lego buildings. That was awesome. Lots of things at Legoland are interactive, either there are guns for shooting targets on the rides or pedals to keep your skyride moving faster, or the fountain below which was playing music. Whatever instrument you stood in front, it would add that part to the music already playing. We just finished waiting 45 minutes in line and riding the skyride when they closed it and many other rides down because of lightning. So we went to a shop and an indoor activity. By the time we were done with that many people had left the park and some of the rides opened up again for the last hour til they closed. We still hadn't eaten dinner by the time Legoland closed so we drove around Carlsbad looking for a kid-friendly place that was open. Mark somehow found us a Denny's and Owen was asleep so it worked out perfectly. The boys had hot chocolate and macaroni and cheese. During his meal Dallin kept putting his thumbs up and muttering things like, "Yeah. Definitely two thumbs up." Kraft mac and cheese at its finest apparently.

Friday: Another beach day. We started at La Jolla again. We wanted to show the McHalffeys the seals, but the seals were all lounging on a rock a further distance out into the water. So we played for a while and enjoyed the beautiful, clean water there and managed to find a juice and sandwich shop that wasn't so hoity toity. After lunch we drove to Oceanside Beach where we finished the day lounging and playing. There were a lot of families at Oceanside and even several playgrounds right on the beach. The kids had a great time here boogey boarding and playing and finding sand crabs in the wet sand. Owen was ecstatic about the wet sand. He loved how it felt and had so much fun moving it around and playing in it. We walked out on the pier where at the end, about 1/2 mile down is Ruby's Diner where we had dinner too late that night. From here on I have to credit my sister Dawn, because I got lazy with my camera and so I stole several of her pictures from Facebook.

Saturday: We went to the Mormon Battalion Museum in Old Town San Diego. It is quite an impressive museum and the tour is amazing. After the tour we panned for gold and checked out the other stuff they had outside. Then since we were in Old Town San Diego which is jam packed with great-looking Mexican restaurants we had to have Mexican food for lunch. It was good too. The McHalffeys were happy to have Mexican food and not Tex-Mex. After lunch we gave hugs and said goodbye. We headed back home to Arizona and the McHalffeys stayed in CA for another couple of days.

It was a great week, but it is nice to be home where baby Owen can sleep in his own bed. He did well on the trip, excluding sleeping, which actually accounts for a lot. I finished my Mexican food in the car on the way out of town because I spent my time in the restaurant holding little Owen who had just had more than he could take.

We were in route to arrive home Saturday night about 8:30 or so. A couple of hours outside of San Diego, "in the hottest region of the entire country" (Mark's quote) is where our car's air conditioning went out. We kept driving while the kids sweated in the backseat. It wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have to worry about the little guys getting warm. It was 5:30 on Saturday night so it just made the most sense to just drive home in the heat. But we decided to stop in Yuma and find an ice cream shop. Mark and I were a little frustrated at the delay in our travel home but as we walked towards the shops Adam starting singing, "We LOVE eachother so MUCH!" over and over. How could that not lighten the mood? The Cold Stone Creamery was right by a movie theater which happened to be showing Toy Story 3 which we hadn't seen yet and it was going to start in 15 minutes. It seemed too perfect to pass up. We bought tickets and watched the movie. I was out in the halls with Owen for a while but eventually he fell asleep so I got to see most of it. When the movie was over it was dark and only 99 degrees instead of 112. The boys slept most of the way after that.

We miss the McHalffeys already. Dallin was so funny because he couldn't keep his arms off Savannah and Madeline. He had his arms around them or was hugging them nearly nonstop. If they weren't his cousins I'd have told him to chill out. I'm glad we bothered someone on the Oceanside Pier to stop and take this one and only picture of all of us:

We love you guys!!

stick a caption under there and call it good

2010-06-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Weapons to defeat uncle Ryan

Adam's Day with Dad

Cute kid doing art project at Arizona Museum for Youth

Here's the cute kid again eating an ice cream cone for Family Night treat

Dallin says, "Owen's a Wascal. Not a 'rascal,' he's a Wascal." Cute wascal though.

Making a Banner

Finished Project

And let's do another one for Grandpa.

The End.

Geek Squad

2010-06-22T21:28:00.002-07:00

IT guys. Love 'em or hate 'em, we all need them. In the early days computers were crude, clunky, and would encounter severe problems at unpredictable times. Nowadays computers are far more predictable. A standard modern PC is designed to encounter severe problems precisely 7 times each year--usually when the user is working on an important Relief Society hand out or trying to catch the Biggest Loser finale on Hulu. Hence the need for those brave souls known affectionately as "IT guys".

Our family is fortunate to have our own IT guy. Like many geeks he's generally good-natured and and attracted to anything that glows; he also shares the all-too-common trait of sometimes smelling funny and is often found with food stains on his shirt. But we love him for it. After all he's only 11 months old.

Which may explain why his repretoire of computer fixes is limited. When there is a problem Owen will usually pound his hand repeatedly on the keboard, throw the mouse, or perform multiple hard restarts by pressing the PC power button again and again. That's his favorite trick.

Take the other week, for example. Marily had been laboring over a blog post and stepped away from the computer for a minute. Something in Owen's highly technical brain must have sensed that a virus was threatening our computer at that very moment because he crawled over to the computer--nearly at light speed--and promptly pushed the power button initiating an immediate hard shut down of the computer. I tried getting an explanation from the little guy as to what type of emergency warranted such swift action, but like many of his techno brethren his verbal skills are--shall we say--somewhat lacking. Some IT guys have trouble forming complete sentences. Owen struggles with forming intelligible words. I remain convinced he had his reasons, though.

Although our family appreciates Owen's generosity of taking upon himself the task of keeping the computer healthly, some members have expressed doubt that he knows what the heck he's doing. Some have even taken measures to physically impede our adorable geek from even touching the computer. But his enthusiasm remains unabated. He luuuuuuuvs fixing that computer, and we luuuuuuv our little IT guy.

Simplify

2010-06-13T22:55:00.001-07:00

This has been on my mind lately. Funny, because I am starting to notice it has been on other people's minds also. What could that mean?

I seem to be getting the message to simplify my life. To be honest, I think my life is not that complicated when I compare to others(which I shouldn't be doing, I know)--that there are a lot of things that we don't spend time and money on already. Our kids are not involved in many activities, we haven't yet ventured into sports for them, we try to keep our stuff to a minimum, and we are not really ones to go out and spend money on more things that we don't need. But I have realized that there are a lot of ways that I can simplify my life to make more time for more important things and not waste energy and worry about things that don't matter. I had been thinking a lot about this and started to write down some of my thoughts in my journal when my dear friend Kathryn added this quote from Marjorie Hinckley to her blog:

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are. As you create a home, don't get distracted with a lot of things that have no meaning for you or your family. Don't dwell on your failures, but think about your successes. Have joy in your home. Have joy in your children. Have joy in your husband. Be grateful for the journey."

The other week I was at the library checking out books with the kids. It was time to go so I decided we'd just swing through the adults' section and I quickly grabbed a couple of books that caught my eye. One of them was this one:

I have really enjoyed reading this book and have gotten a lot out of it. Mostly I have benefited from trying to change my way of thinking about what is really essential and what is merely optional. I am trying to reevaluate lots of different things. We are going to get rid of lots of toys and other things. We are going to scale back on the amount of clothes and toys that we store in the house. I am going to go through every last corner of this house and rid it off the excess stuff that is cluttering up our lives. I am going to recommit myself to my morning and evening cleaning routines.

One major change that I am working on is that I have decided that I spend way too much time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. I know that not everyone has this problem, so you might laugh at me for it. But I have told myself that cooking is the only hobby I have left. I enjoy it but the whole process of looking up new recipes, making grocery lists, going shopping, cooking meals, and then cleaning up after them is taking too much of my time that I could be spending on more important things like playing with my kids, mostly. I have decided I need to simplify this area of my life. I am kicking around the idea of doing something like this for dinners:

Monday: meatless

Tuesday: 2X Tuesday (Make double of something that can be frozen for later or eaten the next night)

Wednesday: Freezer meal

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Movie night (eat pizza or hotdogs or something easy)

Saturday: sandwiches (paninis, subs, grilled cheese, etc)

Sunday: who knows

I think having some type of schedule will make meal planning take less time. I like to be more flexible with meals, to cook whatever sounds good, or whatever sounds fun to prepare, but I think this is what we need right now. I realized when I don't have to cook dinner or I do something super easy I have so much more time, partly saving time from cooking, but also all the time saved not having to clean up as much.

The cooking thing is my first step. What do you do to simplify your life? I am just barely getting started--give me your ideas.

11 Months

2010-06-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

Dear little Owen,

You are 11 months! Wow. How can I say this except you are a handful. You get into lots of trouble, and that might be why you were built so cute. We get lots of comments on your beautiful blue eyes and your daddy and I are often saying that you are the cutest thing in the world. To us it's true. Daddy likes it when he picks you up that you will pat your little hand over and over on his arm. I asked your dad what you are up to and he says, "He's squirmy, he's grabby. That pretty much sums it up."

You love to push the button to turn the computer on and off and somehow you can sense when someone has forgotten to close the bathroom door and you will bolt to it. I have been stressed over you this last month because you went through a good three or four weeks of not eating or drinking very well. You were sick for a while then after you seemed better your appetite didn't improve and so I took you to the doctor who said your throat was sore. Finally you are eating and drinking again. It's been a long month. Also, your blood was drawn again and instead of your triglycerides being crazy high, they were only slightly high. The doctor says this is likely because you were not able to fast for long enough to make them totally normal. He is not worried anymore, but we will do another blood test when you are old enough to go without food for a longer period of time.

You are standing up holding on to things and will probably stand all on your own soon. You are a speedy little crawler (especially if the computer hutch is open or the bathroom door is open.)

Today at 11 months we went to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's ward to hear your Aunt Courtney speak before she leaves for her mission on Wednesday. She is going to the Baltic States mission, Estonian speaking. She will be in the cold--Estonia borders western Russia. We are so proud of Courtney and hope you will have a testimony and a desire to serve the Lord someday like she does. Also during sacrament meeting four teenage boys sang a musical number. After they were finished I said to your dad, "We need to teach our boys to sing." I hope you will be able to feel the influence of righteous music in your life.

You guys are so fortunate to have such great family. Look how sweet Courtney is.

Love you little guy,

Mom

Smith Family Staycation

2010-06-10T17:55:00.003-07:00

couple of weeks ago we went on vacation with Mark's family. But, we slept in our own beds at our own homes, or at least most nights we did. Everyone took a week off work and other responsibilities to party together as a family for a week.

Day One: Temple, bowling, family pictures, and 5 Guys Burgers for dinner

Day Two: A day trip to Four Peaks. (I stayed home with Owen who was sick, so no pictures from my camera) That night we got babysitters for the kids and the adults all enjoyed a nice dinner at Caffe Boa in Ahwatukee.

Day Three: Fishing with Grandpa (Though we didn't end up with any pictures of grandpa)

Arizona Science Center. lunch at Mi Amigo's in downtown Phoenix, came back and some went swimming and then we set this thing up in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. (Okay, we is incorrect. The guys did this, with the help of Uncle Gary and cousin Brandon.)

This tipi belongs to Mark's uncle who is scout master extraordinare. On the other side of the back wall is a street that many people in the neighborhood have to use to get to their homes. This gigantic tipi sticking up over the wall was quite a sight. But we were pretty certain that the HOA wouldn't have a rule about tipis and it would only be up for a few days anyway.

Day Four: A trip to Flagstaff to go to the Skylift at Snowbowl. This was the highlight of the vacation for me.

The skilift takes 25 minutes each way. Here is the view going up:

After you get to the top you can take a short little hike to the summit of the mountain.

From there the view is incredible.

You can see as far as 70 miles, looking down on several mountains, and you can even see the rim of the Grand Canyon which is 60 miles away.

This is everyone except Mark's sister Lachelle and her husband and little boy.

This is the view riding back down the skyride.

If you are looking for a daytrip idea, you should definitely check this out.

After the ride we went to a place in Flagstaff called Salsa Brava. It had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network. I'd been telling everyone I wanted to go to someplace during our vacation that had been featured on the show. So I guess I was to blame that the food wasn't good. Some people thought theirs was good, but most were not impressed. The restaurant was featured for their Navajo tacos and stuffed sopapillas, not even their specialties. I think it just made for good tv. Oh well.

Day Five: Sunday we all went to church at a somewhat-random ward that none of us belonged to. Then we gathered at home base (the parents' home) to make dutch oven dinners, hang out, and sleep overnight in the tipi.

Day Six: In the morning the guys (Mark, his dad, his brother Ryan, and bro-in-law Danny) left to go play a round of golf. The gals took the kids to a splash pad and park in Chandler.

After lunch the guys came back and hung out with the kids while the ladies went out. We ended up seeing "Letters to Juliet" and painting pottery at As You Wish. It was a fun evening out and although most of us seemed to think the movie was cheesy, we all still left with smiles on our faces and a spring in our step. That's what chick-flicks are for.

Day Seven: Wet n Wild and pizza. This was a fun day too, but no pictures.

And Wednesday life went back to normal, except a mound of laundry to catch up on.

And good grief, no wonder why I don't do this more often anymore--blogging takes too long.

been busy this week

2010-06-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

Our in-town vacation was over on Tuesday. We had a great time and did some really fun things like the AZ Science Center, Wet n Wild and a trip to Flagstaff. Also, there was a very large teepee involved. More to come on that later. Then, once life got back to normal on Wednesday I have been busy doing laundry I have missed, taking care of a sick baby, and working on our giveaway week at I Heart Mesa. Giveaways open til Sunday-- so don't miss it.

Kinda on vacation

2010-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started the beginning of Smith Family Staycation. Mark's parents and siblings are all in on it--a week off from work and other responsibilities and time spent together. We have Wet 'n' Wild, a trip to Flagstaff, the AZ Science Center, and much more planned. Yesterday those able to went to the temple in the morning, then we all went bowling, took some family pictures, and had Five Guys for dinner. Today the group is driving up Four Peaks and then off to some other activity before tonight when the adults only are going out to a nice dinner. Blogging was kinda off limits for the week. But since I am stuck at home with a sick baby I get to do whatever I want anyway. I was hoping to be able to watch some TV and eat some junk food but since we don't have cable and I got tired of watching Julia Child on PBS Create and I don't really have junk food I am on the computer watching the first season of Design Star on Hulu and eating some dried cherries. I would complain about having to eat the cherries instead of some ice cream or potato chips with french onion dip, but actually the cherries are pretty darn good.

Sounds like Owen settled down for a nap. That is good news. He does not seem to be horribly sick, just has a slight fever and he won't eat much. It seemed best to let him stay home and sleep so he could be well enough for the rest of the activities this week, and hopefully later today. I sent Mark and the boys off this morning not feeling too sorry for myself. I had visions of taking a nap and working on some crafting while watching something on TV. I already told you what happened to the TV and junk food dream, and since Owen hasn't really been sleeping until now the nap thing didn't work out either.

Now that it's quiet around here I'm left with the decision

Catch up on my sleep? (I'm horribly deprived)

Or Design Star and crafting? (I'm pretty craft-deprived also)

Which would you choose?

Do you heart mesa?

2010-05-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half ago my dear friend Kathryn started a blog called I Heart Mesa. The blog is a place for people that live here in Mesa to find out what is going on around town and to grow in their love for where they live. Our family has benefited from it several times by getting information about fun events. A good six months ago Kathryn asked if I was interested in helping out with the blog and I have been writing (kind of secretly) on there since. Lately we have been working hard improving the blog and are in the process of making it bigger and better. There will be some special changes starting May 31st. We are planning a giveaway week, a new layout, and some guest posts by local bloggers.

If you heart Mesa too here are some ways you can get involved in helping the I Heart Mesa community:

Go and grab a button for your blog (The code to copy and paste is on the right side)
Send emails about things you know of that are going on around town to iheartmesa@gmail.com
Write up a restaurant review for a favorite place around town. Email us the review.

this one's for me

2010-05-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder whether or not to write on the blog because I don't think anyone really wants to hear about all of the details of our lives. This is one of those posts. And not a single picture.

The boys went with Mark on a church father and sons campout over Friday night. It makes my heart swell to think of these boys spending quality time with their dad. Dallin and Adam got sleeping bags and a tent from their Grandpa Smith for Christmas and they were excited to have a chance to use them. On Wednesday night Mark pulled the tent out and the boys had a practice run sleeping in it overnight in the backyard. It's a 2-man tent so Mark figured he'd not sleep in it that night, but he slept on the couch in the back room with the door open. After they'd been asleep for a couple of hours Adam woke up screaming and crying frantically. Mark ran out to the tent and called out to Adam as he unzipped the door to reassure Adam that Dad was there. When Mark opened the tent door he couldn't see Adam. In the dark he saw just a writhing sleeping bag. Mark reached for it to find Adams feet at the top. Somehow Adam had turned himself completely around and woke up with his head at the foot of the sleeping bag. Traumatic if you're three. We hope he'll laugh about it later.

Friday afternoon Mark and the boys headed off for the campout. Sounds like they had a great time. Mark brought hot dogs and marshmallows to roast over a fire for dinner that night. Apparently that night all of the little boys at the camp were running around in the dark with their flashlights playing lightsabers. The next morning they had some breakfast and played games with everyone, and played in the creek. Then after they packed up the three of them went to Jack in the Box for lunch and drove home. I think Mark's favorite part was listening to Adam sing to himself wherever they went. He said Adam was like Kronk on Emperor's New Groove, singing his own personal soundtrack. Mark loves music so he really likes to see how much Adam is interested in and has a knack for music.

I think I had a pretty successful time with myself and Owen while the others were gone. I got some girl time. I got some Owen time. And I got some me time. Actually I did a bit of cleaning too, so that helps me feel even better about my time. Friday evening I got together with two friends from church who each had husbands and sons gone and a toddler left behind. We had dinner together and worked on some craft and sewing projects. I am trying to get back into doing some creative projects. I feel out of it--I use to really enjoy doing crafts and stuff and I just don't do it anymore. After I got home I stayed up way too late watching a movie all by myself and eating ice cream. I paid for that in the morning because of course Owen was up early. But the two of us had some good time just the two of us. For a while we just sat on the couch together. I let Owen crawl all over me and contort my face with his hands. In exchange he let me snack on his neck and tummy.

Saturday afternoon Mark and the boys got home. We washed the cars and then went to Chik-fil-A because I'd cleaned the house while they were gone and didn’t feel like dirtying the kitchen again. Overall--successful weekend. It's fun to have family time all together but I could get use to splitting up for some one-on-ones from time to time.

Ten Months

2010-05-13T20:23:00.001-07:00

Today Owen, you are ten months old. Ten months is getting quite close to a year which is hard to believe.

Of course we love and adore you just as much as ever. You are finally crawling around now, and just barely in the last couple of days really crawling across the house. All of the sudden you are getting into things and making messes. It's great actually. Maybe because you were slower at crawling than your brothers, but I really am enjoying watching you move and even enjoying watching you get into stuff--for now.

A few days ago I was feeding you in the living room and Dallin walked in. You turned from what you were doing, saw him, and said, "da-ih" and all that were there--me, Dallin, and Dad--were pretty certain you were trying to say Dallin. Sometimes I wonder if I am reading too much into things. And sometimes I wonder if I am not giving you enough credit.

You are tired of baby food already. Apparently I gave you table foods too fast because that is almost all you will eat now. Tonight you had spaghetti for dinner and last night you had potatoes with cheese and sour cream.

That gets us to the next point: you no longer seem to have a dairy allergy. Yay! I have really been enjoying myself eating things I haven't been able to eat for a good seven months. This is a tangent but last weekend for date night Daddy and I watched a movie at home after you were in bed. I drove down to Nielson's Frozen Custard and got us a quart of vanilla custard. I was going to get berries in it then I saw butterscotch on the list and decided to try that. Oh, my, it was awesome. I definitely have a new favorite. And fortunately you will someday be able to have some too.

Monday we are going in for another blood test and hopefully this one will be normal. Hopefully too you will have gained some weight in the last month. All the dairy should have helped that one at least.

You are loved little man, and you are like sunshine around here.

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T01:05:00.001-07:00

Tonight as the boys were getting ready for bed Dallin came and found me to give me a hug and ask me, "How was your happy Mother's Day?" I told him it was a great day. Then I grabbed his hand and we walked into the front yard and laid down on the grass to look at the stars for a minute. Adam and Mark came and joined us then we corralled back inside for the rest of getting ready for bed.

I was spoiled today. I got 4 cards from 2 boys, jewelry from the husband. Actually as I was unwrapping the gift Adam says, "It's a necklace." And Dallin adds, "Prettier than your other necklaces." I got massaged, hugged, kissed, and smiled and excited-arm- waved at from the baby. Dallin and Adam were really sweet today, with a few spontaneous "I love you's" mixed at random throughout the day. Mark even made muffins the night before since we have early church and don't usually end up with lots of time for breakfast. And I got a nap. Sweet. But most of all, I've got these guys:

I love being a mom. Yes, I get frustrated and am impatient and short-tempered, but those feelings can always be put in perspective by the absolute joyousness of motherhood. It's an incredible thing to watch a little person learn something new or experience something for the first time that you don't think twice about. Children have a way of opening our eyes to the awesomeness that is all around us. And that feeling of love you have for your child, what's more amazing than that?

As a mom I have some things that I am proud of and other things that I need to improve on. Sometimes I can be a control-freak for instance (but you knew that, right). I need to learn to keep my cool and not get so frazzled when my kids aren't doing what I told them to do because I told them to do it for crying out loud. I need to learn to diffuse conflict better. I pray for help in being more calm.

But still I can look around my home and at my children and take pride in who I am as a mother. My kids know that I love them--I am sure of that. They get home-cooked meals and book-readings and hugs and kisses and a song and back tickle or massage (per request at bedtime) daily. They get cooking lessons and craft activities and games like Chutes and Ladders or Hide and Seek with mom from time to time and lots of time to play and be kids. They get lessons in putting laundry away and cleaning windows and being strong helpers by taking groceries in from the car. They know that going to church and reading scriptures and praying are important parts of my life.

We're quite happy thank you. And a shout out to Mark the dad who makes us all complete.

A big day for little O

2010-05-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for Owen. First, I noticed he had grown a new tooth, on the bottom next to the other two. Then, he was trying to get something away from him on the tile floor and he outright crawled on hands and knees a foot and a half to get it. That evening Mark left for a church meeting and Owen waved goodbye. Oh my, my heart melts just thinking of that little wave.

These last couple of weeks Owen has gotten a lot stronger. He can sit up easily from lying down. If he has just the right thing to grab onto he can pull himself up to a shaky standing position. He can pull himself across the floor army-crawl style. I think if he gets a little more time on the tile he will crawl more--for some reason he is more likely to be on his hands and knees on the tile instead of the carpet.

Owen's follow-up visit to the doctor is in about two weeks. No update yet. Just hoping and praying that tests results next time come back normal. Feel free to pray for little O! I feel like everything will be normal, but if he does end up having high triglycerides already as an infant we could have a lot to worry about in the future (heart disease, diabetes, etc).

There was one morning when I had just nursed Owen and I was holding him on my lap, he was facing me. I was just trying to soak him in and love him. Dallin and Adam both came in the room and squeezed in as close as they could get to me on the couch, talking to their baby brother, stroking his head, grabbing his hands, and saying sweet things. One of the older boys laughed about something and Owen started laughing. For a couple of minutes we all took turns laughing and every time Owen would copy. It's a simple thing but moments like that are the best moments of my life.

UR BLAWG IS BEEN HACEKD

2010-05-04T12:46:00.005-07:00

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LOVE YOU BUNCHES!!!

-Mark

We kind of went crazy this boy and I

2010-04-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

But of course, I am the only one that can be blamed. My visiting teacher brought by a dozen of those big, delicious cookies from Paradise Bakery today. Just out of the blue she stopped and dropped them off, it was a very nice thing for her to do. She mentioned that the lemon ones on the bottom of the bag were especially delicious. I thanked her and she left and I was thinking how much my family would enjoy these cookies that I would not get to eat because like 98% of desserts and treats I am certain there is some type of dairy in these: butter the most obvious. But the thought of a delicious lemon cookie was more than I could take. I pulled one out of the bag and stared at it. I have been thinking that Owen might have grown out of his milk allergy and I gave him a cube of cheese and a couple bites of yogurt a couple of weeks ago and hadn't noticed any problems. But then the ear infection came so I figured it was a bad time to test for a milk allergy. He finished his antibiotics for the ear infection yesterday. And man, I have been really missing sweets and baked goods. All of that reasoning was enough to send me over the edge. It felt like sinning, and I really enjoyed that lemon cookie. I was in the mood of throwing caution to the wind so I declared to the boys that we were eating cookies and milk for lunch. And while I was at it, I might as well test Owen directly. I gave him a good serving of yogurt, enough I figured so I could be totally sure if he was allergic. After he ate he promptly went to bed without a fuss. He actuall slept a good two plus hours, the longest nap he's had in several days.

I haven't noticed a reaction yet, and cross-my-fingers we may be over this dairy allergy. Most babies do outgrow a dairy allergy, so fortunately Owen has too. Tonight we had paninis for dinner. I had pesto sauce on mine (contains parm cheese) with some big slices of monterey jack. I haven't had cheese for seven months. Oh how I have missed cheese. We'll see how Owen sleeps tonight and in the next coule of days hopefully he doesn't have any eczema break outs. There are so many things I look forward to eating!

{A hesitant hooray!}

Just to be clear, he doesn't get a severe reaction to dairy. He use to get eczema, but hasn't lately when I've slipped and had dairy on accident. Sometimes it seemed like it bothered his tummy, but never a terrible amount. That's why it's been difficult to tell if he's still got a dairy issue. And that's why I felt warranted in going so far with this allergy test. I wanted to be sure. Well, and those cookies of course, definitely played a part.

Finally a Swingset

2010-04-26T23:46:00.001-07:00

We are happy owners of a swingset.

Last week Mark and my brother-in-law Daryl picked this up from a lady in Paradise Valley who'd posted it on Craigslist. I've spent a lot of time looking at swingsets on Craigslist for nearly six months now, so I kind of knew what to look for. We went to Dana Playground to look at new ones before Christmas and saw this set there. It's their smallest steel set at about $1,000. We snagged it, 5 years old, for $200. The deal with finding a deal on Craigslist: Get familiar with what you're looking for, then strike fast. Oh, and don't be a sucker. Mark and the neighbor cleared the rocks in the area and planted the thing in the ground with some cement on Saturday. This morning Mark woke early to put the slide and swings on before work. Things are wet in the picture because we'd just hosed it all down. Someday we'll have some type of playground material on the ground. For now it's dirt, but hooray! We've been waiting for this swingset for a long time.

A long story

2010-04-26T23:25:00.001-07:00

I have heard that wives are suppose to ask for what they want from their husbands. I hear that husbands like that, or more importantly, they need that. So one day, maybe two months ago, I casually told Mark, "You know, it would really be nice if someday you'd stop by Angel Sweet on your way home from work and bring me some gelato." Being banned from ice cream and most other desserts for the sake of my nursing child, I was most excited to find out that there are many flavors of gelato that don't contain any dairy. It was a little too far away for a night-time craving. But it was on the way home from Mark's work. I thought I'd ask for what I wanted, but not too directly, as to leave a little room for the husband to be thoughtful.
Weeks went by and no gelato. After a while I started thinking. Some of these thoughts were dangerous: "I have been off dairy for the last seven months, and the least he can do is buy me some gelato," or, "Don't I do nice things for him?" These thoughts brewed a little until one night as we were going to sleep we said our goodnights and Mark stated, "I hope you're happy." It was not a sarcastic statement, but a loving one, kind of a question about how our life was going. I responded, "Yes. But I'm still waiting for my gelato." And in spite of all that effort I put in to thinking about Mark bringing me home some gelato, he had no idea what I was talking about. Exasperated, I filled him in on that conversation from, I don't know, a month or two ago. He chuckled. That was a bad idea for him to chuckle. And he didn't remember that I'd ever said anything about that lovely, delicious gelato that they sell at Angel Sweet. That night's conversation ended up being a bit dramatic (tears, yes) on my account, because wives--don't you know?--it's not about gelato.

Several more days went by. It was a Wednesday. Mark and I were doing dishes after the boys went to bed. The conversation was about someone we love and he said something like, "Isn't it frustrating when we know exactly what a person should be doing but they're not doing it? Don't you wish you could just tell them what it is they should be doing?" To Mark's dismay I replied with: "Yeah, like WHAT DOES A GIRL HAVE TO DO TO GET SOME GELATO?!"

Then I proceeded to tell him what he should have done after sad me told him that he never got me some gelato. I told him that he should have bought me the largest container of gelato that they sell at dear Angel Sweet--budget be darned!

The next two nights there was absolutely no way for him to fulfill the gelato request because we were in the process of a Craigslist purchase that needed fast acting. We finally bought a swingset. Wednesday I picked Mark up from work and drove out so we could look at the thing. Thursday night he picked it up with the aid of the ever-helpful Daryl, my sister's husband.

Friday Mark went to his brothers house with a few guys for a game of Axis and Allies. He called to let me know that there was something hidden for me in the freezer. A huge tub of gelato, half pineapple, half berries of the forest. Because he knows that I like to get a berry alongside something more mild. I enjoyed quite a bit of gelato that night as I watched Extreme Home Makeover on Hulu. For the next few nights obviously I continued to have some of this delicious goodness.

All the while something strange was happening. Saturday I noticed a few little bumps on my left forearm. They felt like tiny bug bites. I figured that's what they were, but later that day and into the next there were more and more of them on both of my arms. By Monday I had a full-blown rash covering my arms and hands and on the bottom of my feet, but only places that weren't covered by clothing. It looked like a mild version of chicken pox, and felt like that too, minus any other symptoms like fever. Tuesday morning I was worried I had a disease or something that I could spread to people around me. I looked up all sorts of crazy things about rashes and bed bugs and viruses like chicken pox and shingles. I ruled out each one. I was itching like crazy and very uncomfortable. That night I finally agreed with Mark's request that I needed to see a doctor. Mark slept on the couch just to be safe. Wednesday I called the doctor and made an appointment for a full two days away, Friday afternoon. One of these nights Mark and I prayed for my rash to heal. Later when I knelt down to say my personal prayer, my mind was focused on something else when very clearly came the thought, "pineapple gelato." I'd had some that very night, just as I had every night since Friday. There was actually one day in there that I thought the rash was healing only for it to return later that night. I'd snuck in a few bites of the pineapple gelato in the middle of the day. I don't know if I have all of the sudden become allergic to pineapple or if there was something else in that gelato that I am allergic to. Mark did have some of this gelato and has not had any reaction, just to be clear. Also on Wednesday I started to notice a couple of canker sores in my mouth. Eating a hot dinner made the problem much, much more painful. Thursday I woke up to a mouthful of canker sores--looks like the reaction had spread to my mouth. I had a horrible time eating, or even talking. I got a flashlight to look into my mouth to see why it was so incredibly painful. Guess how many I counted? 24. No, that's not an exaggeration. And that doesn't include the sores that were out of sight. Canker sores unfortunately don't go away quickly. I was heartbroken that Saturday was the Salsa Challenge and I was in no shape at all to be eating any chips and salsa. The Salsa Challenge is a fundraising event in Tempe where all-you-can eat chips and salsa are dished out from nearly 100 different booths--contestants trying to win the prize for best salsa. It's the greatest day of my life. If you don't know, chips and salsa is a part of my identity. Love to make it, and love to eat it, and love that Mark shares that with me. I look forward to the Salsa Challenge for longer than I look forward to Christmas. I prayed Friday night to be able to 1)Eat chips and salsa at the Salsa Challenge and 2)Be able to talk well enough on Sunday to teach my lesson in Relief Society at church. I made sure to add that it was more important to me that I teach the lesson. :) Also Friday I went to the doctor, but that was uneventful because she didn't know what to say except to rule out some scary diseases and tell me to come back if it happens again. Also Friday my rash wasn't itchy anymore. It had been just over a day since I stopped eating the gelato.

Saturday morning I felt worse than ever. My mouth burned without even moving it. I was thinking I'd tell Mark to invite someone else to go with him to the Salsa Challenge and use my ticket. But somehow by midday I was feeling well enough to at least go. I told Mark on the way, "I hope you don't think poorly of me, but I am going to try to eat some chips and salsa." And so I did. It hurt like heck, but it was worth it. I stuck to the milder salsas but funny thing, the more I ate the better my mouth felt.

Owen asleep on our way out of the Salsa Challenge

Adam and Mark (wait, is that him? Yeah, it's hard to tell, but it's Mark)

This picture makes me laugh. There were some games for the kids at the Salsa Challenge.

Adam had a hard time even holding the beater thing up. This match lasted a long time.

What a merciful Heavenly Father we have. I think it was the salty chips that helped to heal things a bit. Goes to show me that it does help to pray about all things that are important to us, even if they sound silly. Sunday came and my lesson went fine, I think I was lisping but I was able to talk. Today the rash is nearly gone and the mouth sores are on a very slow downhill. They still hurt pretty bad, but there are not so many of them. Though I am pretty certain I have a few down my throat now.

I can't help but laugh at how nagging about gelato brought about all of this. What lesson is this suppose to teach me? Or is there one? What's the best way for a wife to let her husband know what she'd like without making it seem like she's dictating him to do something nice for her?

I don't know about that, but I do have some advice to husbands: If your wife ever hints at wanting something or even implies liking something, especially if she is not the kind of girl to ask for things a lot, YOU'D BETTER TAKE NOTE. Literally, write it down or engrave it on your skin or whatever it takes and then, here's the important part--do that or buy that. Got it?

P.S. I wrote this post not to complain about my husband who I love dearly, but partly because I don't want to leave too much of reality out and only write about the good stuff. I feel a little dishonest if I have come across like June Cleaver to anyone. I am a wreck several times a day! But that's not very fun for me to post about--it's better to showcase the good times most of the times.

Prognosis

2010-04-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

The pediatrician called today with the results of Owen's blood work from yesterday. I was surprised to hear the pediatrician's voice on the phone instead of a nurse. He said that Owen's C O 2 levels were a bit low which might mean he was dehydrated, and also that his triglyceride levels were really high, 729 instead of 150 or below. So we are going back for another blood test in a few weeks and hoping this one was a fluke. If the next set of results are similar then we will be referred to a specialist. I don't still know what it all means, but what I have gathered is high tryglicerides usually go along with high cholesterol (which Owen doesn't have). It seems to be a symptom of, and lumped in with, other ailments that are often caused by being overweight (which Owen obviously isn't) like heart disease and diabetes. Sometimes high triglycerides are hereditary and have to be monitored for life, and I don't know what that all entails so hopefully that's not the case here. The websites I've read about this say a person can lower their triglycerides by eating healthier: less fat, especially saturated fats. But obviously that's not exactly meant to be advice for an infant, let alone one that is below the growth chart.
Well, maybe the prognosis of Owen's blood test that was done yesterday is bad mothering? Not that I would go so far as to say that I am a bad mother, but I am feeling a little bit that way today. Mark reminded me that the night before Owen's blood was drawn we'd eaten at Chik-fil-A and we'd given him some little pieces of the meat of the fried chicken strips, perhaps the most fatty meal he's eaten yet. So maybe this was just a spike because of the chicken. And I am going to start supplementing with a little formula (which also feels a little like a failure) to make sure he has enough milk. We're going to have to be a bit more cautious about Owen's meals in general, making sure he eats at fairly regular times and has plenty to eat each time.

Anyway, boring post, but thanks for listening.

9 months

2010-04-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

Owen is nine months old (two days ago). Today he went in for his checkup at the doctor's office. Diagnosis: ear infection. Who knew? He's been happy and sleeping fine too. Also he is tracking low on his growth curve so they drew his blood for an analysis. We went through a few tests with Adam too because of his weight. But Owen weighs even less, currently he is not on the charts at just over 16 pounds. Darn. For his sake we'd better get some more fat in our diets the both of us.

Currently Owen has two teeth on the bottom, but the top ones are trying really hard to get through. He rolls all around on the floor but is not crawling or scooting yet. We guess that is coming soon because he is really trying hard now to get places. If he's really motivated he'll turn over onto his back and he can push with his feet against the carpet to get himself forward a few inches. Yes, this is pretty funny to watch.

Owen's nicknames:

O's: Mark and Dallin

Dallin likes the nickname Mark has been using so he decided to use it too. The other day Dallin said to Owen "hey buds," then he added to me, "I was going to call him buddy, but then I just decided to call him buds."

I tend to use various nicknames or terms of endearment for little O. I realized that basically I take one prefix from column A and one suffix from column B and merge them.

Column A:

Owen

Sweet

Angel

Baby

Column B:

babe

cake

sweet

So we end up with stuff like these: Owenbabe, Sweetcake, Angelcake or Angelsweet, you get the idea.

This little guy is sure loved around here.

Adam's Jams

2010-04-07T14:30:00.001-07:00

Last night, Adam decided, "I want to to wear five shirts and five pants" to bed. After a slight internal struggle I simply remained silent. He proceeded to layer his pajamas one on top of another until he ended up surpassing his goal--seven shirts and six pants.

Apparently he has TOO many pairs of pajamas. At one point when he was somewhere between four or six of each I softly mentioned that he might be hot with all of those clothes on. He replied with, "I like the hot because the hot tickles my tummy." Oh, yes, sure, of course.

So I took his blankets off his bed and Mark and I discussed that we will need to make sure to check on him after he went to bed to be sure that he doesn't get overheated. Kissed the boys goodnight.

Ten minutes later Adam came out of his room, his face was flushed and his cheeks were pink as if he'd spent a summer afternoon outside. He told me, "I think I just want one shirt and one pants." So layer by layer we took off the extra clothes. Here he is with the leftovers.

Though in the end he ended up with one shirt and two pairs of shorts on, but at least he learned for himself why it's not a good idea to wear so many layers to bed.

Easter Happenings

2010-04-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter, hope you did too.
Here's the one picture of us "at" the Easter Pageant. Except it is when Owen and I stayed behind in the car for a feeding and a diaper change. He was accidently looking very stylish this particular day. Somehow random pieces of gifted or clearance items came together quite well and I took a picture before I changed him into his warm jams for the pageant.

We went to the neighborhood egg hunt where children wash down the water retention area and clean it of the thousands of eggs scattered about.

We pulled our couch into the dining room where the computer is to watch General Conference online.

Dallin took this one:

And we ate dinner with the Smith family. Aunt Stacey and Grandpa were doing their best to help me get a shot of the little guys on Easter.

Owen was not cooperative.

And Adam was not cooperative.

Owen got an egg to distract him.

And Grandpa was hilarious waving a hose over there.

Does this one work? Two out of three kids smiling at the camera isn't so bad, right?

Pictures can be deceiving anyway.

Out and About

2010-04-07T13:29:00.002-07:00

Lately we have had some very nice Saturdays without many commitments. We've enjoyed spending time together as a family and getting out to enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

Recently we went to the Chandler Jazz Festival for a short while. If you didn't know, jazz is Mark's passion and he has a quartet that he plays with from time to time. Looking for a classy addition to a wedding reception or company party--you should give him a call. The boys got to participate with the kids in the kazoo band. The guy here would play a line on his trumpet and the kids would repeat it on their kazoos. It was pretty great.

Here we are sitting and enjoying some music.

We didn't stay much longer after that because frankly, kids aren't so into, you know, sitting.

Easter weekend we checked out a new park.

We are hoping to get out on some more adventures before it heats up too much. Any suggestions?

Update

2010-03-21T13:42:00.003-07:00

Here's the week:

We have had a good week. Although none of our kids are in school we still benefited from spring break. Well, we didn't do preschool lessons with Dallin or a playgroup with Adam like normal but those don't take much of our time anyway. We ended up having quite a busy week. On Monday my mom came over and watched the boys while I went down to the sewing machine shop to get oriented on the new machine I got for my birthday. I have had an old machine that needed a tune-up and it wasn't really worth the cost to keep it maintained. Several weeks before my birthday Mark left the house on a Saturday to "get his hair cut." After two hours of him being gone I begun to wonder what was taking him so long. After three hours I thought things were getting ridiculous and called to see what was up. So he had to tell me he'd been out and about for my birthday. Kudos to Mark for planning early, I was impressed (this doesn't usually happen--usually he leaves the house the day before a holiday to go and "run errands.") So I got a new machine and now I am ready to actually begin some sewing. Baby steps, like maybe some Easter ties for the boys like I made last year.

Tuesday Dallin got to go to a birthday party. Wednesday we went to the zoo with neighbors from three other homes on our street. We have some great neighbors and my kids love having kids to play with all the time. After the zoo we came home and the boys all took naps (even Dallin). That evening was sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's. Mark's sisters had been wanting to have Dallin and Adam over for a sleepover for a long time but Adam was still having occasional (and sometimes frequent) accidents so we waited a few months for him to get the chance to sleep over. Mark and I had a night with just the one little babe. We went out to Waldo's BBQ and Owen fell asleep on the way home and slept pretty much all night long. Good baby.

Thursday I picked Dallin and Adam up from Grandma's for a gathering at the park with some friends in the ward. There was suppose to be a group of people getting together but we ended up being the only ones that showed up so we went for a walk just the four of us and had our own picnic. Halfway through the picnic we saw a friend (not from our ward) who we hung out with for a while till it was time to go. Dallin was not too happy that there were no friends to begin with and kept asking me who I invited and wanting to know why no one else was there.

Friday a couple of friends from high school came over for lunch. We use to get together once a month for a "Salad Day" but hadn't since Owen was born and another friend had twins last summer. Not everyone could make it, but it's always fun to get together with old friends. Even though I don't see them enough, I still feel like these friends understand me better in many ways than anyone I've known since. Mark and I went to the temple that night while some friends watched our kids.

Yesterday was a great day! That morning we spent some time cleaning the house together. We set a timer for five minutes for each room and cleaned until it beeped then moved on to the next room. After we were done with that we went hiking at South Mountain. The weather has been gorgeous and the mountain was green and covered in yellow wildflowers. Aside from each of Dallin and Adam falling and scraping up their arms and/or forehead we had a great time. If you live around here you should go ASAP before it gets too hot. We came home and tended to a few more chores then returned the favor and watched our friends' kids that night.

About Dallin
Dallin is five and a half. He will start kindergarten later this year. He is reading pretty well now and writes and does really well at coloring detailed pictures. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being an engineer, or an architect, or some other design profession. A few months ago he had made several space ships or robots or something and I told him to put his toys away. He decided to draw diagrams of each one in a notebook complete with arrows showing which peices connected where. He also named each one with names like "LNX" (linx) or the name he was most proud of, "BLTESE" (like the sandwich). Like I've said before he is very social and loves to have a friend to play with. He loves board games and could tell you several facts about the planets.

I taught Dallin the Fifty Nifty United States song and was really shocked to find that Adam in the process had learned most of it. I know it's not essential or even necessary to teach little kids this kind of stuff, but I like that they have heard of all of the states. Now when they hear someone talking about Minnesota or Florida it doesn't all go over their heads, they at least know that those are some of the states.

About Adam
Adam is three and a half. He likes to sing and change the lyrics of songs to try and be silly. He memorizes songs really easily and even just a few weeks after being in Primary for the first time he was singing some of the songs at home that he'd just learned. He seems to have gotten past a rough, rebellious stage and is much easier to discipline and spends less time in time-out. He is a sweet boy and still often tells me he loves me throughout the day or wants to hug and kiss his baby brother. He smothers Owen sometimes and loves to get things like toys for Owen. Adam loves to play with his wooden trains, dress up in his Pikachu costume, play with his stuffed animals and ride his tricycle.

Lately Dallin and Adam have been arguing and fighting a lot. I have been at a loss with what to do. For a while I tried not to intervene because I wanted them to learn to work things out for themselves. It sounds silly now, seeing as they are three and five years old. Then I remembered the scripture about not letting your children fight and quarrel with each other and realized I needed to do something else. My newest strategy is to wait a while and see if they can resolve the problem and when it is clear that won't happen I will stop them and say that since they are fighting then they will have to think of something nice to do for each other and if they need some time to think about it they can go into their room until they come up with something. So far (It's only been a week or two) this is working. This idea came from a Relief Society lesson a few weeks ago on service. One lady said that she noticed another family whose children always seemed to get along with each other and she asked the mother what her secret was. The mom said that they taught their children to serve each other. I am trying to change and start teaching that principle to my children. I was happy that just yesterday out of nowhere Adam decided to make Dallin's bed for him. I told Dallin what Adam had done and Dallin was really happy about it and commented on how straight his blanket was on the bed. Progress.

About Owen
Owen is rolling all over the floor. He has two bottom teeth now. Still sweet and cute and sunshiney. He can grab little bites of graham crackers and feed himself. And he there is not too much more to say except that he is loved a lot around here.

Did you make it to the end of this ultra-long-post-without pictures? Wow, I am impressed. And now we are signing out.

Adam's Quotes

2010-03-16T20:28:00.006-07:00

Marily: Dad is coming back with a new light bulb for your nightlight

Dallin: But I want my room totally dark

Marily: Adam doesn't want it dark, so the nightlight is going to be on

Dallin: I want my own room so I can have it totally dark!

Marily: Well, maybe you can buy another house so you can have your own room

Dallin: But, I don't even have enough money to buy a house.

Marily: Bummer.

Adam: Sometime I want to go to the brick store and buy Dallin some bricks for his new house.

~What a thoughtful little brother~

On Sunday morning Mark was getting Adam dressed for church.
Mark: Are you going to Primary today?
Adam: Yeah!
Mark: What do you do in Primary?
Adam: Hold still!

Owen was chewing on something like always and Adam says, "Owen is an eaty baby, 'cuz he eats all sorts of stuff. If Owen was in a battle he would swallow the robots all up."

"We went to the park lasterday."

The word "lasterday" pretty much means any day before today. And I refuse to correct him on this one because it's so funny and cute when he says it.

Eight Months

2010-03-14T14:59:00.006-07:00

Owen, you are eight months old!
This month Owen, you...

Starting making several new sounds. D was first at just after seven months, then T, S, and Z.
Rolled all the way across the living room floor to play with the handle on the TV hutch. You are not crawling, but you can roll around to get something if you are motivated enough
Got lots of comments about your pretty blue eyes.
Were not so happy with teething. You have had a hard time cutting teeth. But finally yesterday when you turned eight months your first tooth broke through!
Like to play with people by shaking your head back and forth really fast

I think we won't do photo shoots on the bare grass anymore.

Hmmm. What's down here?

It looks crunchy.

Drooling over crunchy thing.

Tasting crunchy thing.

Crunchy thing doesn't taste so good.

"Mark, could you grab the leaf out of Owen's mouth?"

And 20 more shots just like those.

I think I am enjoying having a baby just a little bit more this time. The good times aren't necessarily any better than with the other two it's more like the hard times don't phase me as much. I have gotten the advice about children numberless times, "Enjoy them. They grow up too fast." Mostly it's been from strangers at the grocery store. I always thought that I was doing that, but now I know that I still have more to work on in that area. Now that I've had two other babies I think I am really getting it. It's not just the good times that go by too fast, but actually the hard times go by fast too. When the baby is up in the middle of the night (again) and you are tired and helpless and don't know what to do it feels like there is no end in sight. But those moments pass and baby moves on to another stage. It all passes quickly, the good and the bad. That is what I am still learning. And little Owen, you are teaching me to be more patient, to enjoy all of your sweetness and not let get so frustrated when things don't go smoothly.

It was a good weekend

2010-03-14T13:37:00.005-07:00

Pictures from Friday:

Words from Saturday:

On Saturday Mark took Dallin and Adam to work at the church farm early in the morning. He woke up at 5:00am and I got up shortly after that to help get the boys ready and into the car. They were suppose to be at the farm at 6:30 and it's an hour or so away. We were all going to go then we figured I wouldn't be much use anyways since I'd have to feed Owen sometime and hold him while I worked. So it ended up being a Dad and sons activity. The job was shoveling mud out of some ditches at the farm. Mark brought the boys' shovels and also one for himself though he ended up loaning his out because he was too busy supervising the boys, teaching them how to shovel, and taking Adam to find a secluded spot to go potty outside every twenty minutes.

Did I tell you I like being a mom? I made hot chocolate for the boys and brought it to the car that morning before they left. It was dark and cold and early and they thought I was the greatest. Then Dad drove them to the farm to teach them how to work. We're not a perfect family, but every now and then we get things right.

They came back later that morning and Dallin and Adam spent most of the day outside playing with the neighbors. We have a great neighborhood and there are often kids playing outside which Dallin especially loves. He is a social guy.

The weather was perfect. When the weather is nice I can't help but have a great day. Plus, Owen had a great long naps and Mark got our doorbell fixed. So now can be better hosts and not make people think we are hiding from them.

Then today as I was writing this post a couple of kids in the neighborhood knocked on the door. They are having a contest at school collecting plastic bags for recycling. I asked them if they were sure that they wanted ALL of my plastic bags and they said yes. So, I unloaded on them and that made me happy. In our laundry closet, the area between the wall and the dryer (about a foot wide)has been the place where I stow used plastic bags. I know I should get some reusable bags, but I do at least recycle my bags. Or, I do when I get around to it. The bags were smushed in that area up to level with the clothes dryer. I was a little embarrassed but happy to get them off my hands. And, the neighbor kids told me I was their best customer.

The Good and the Bad of Pot Stickers

2010-03-04T22:24:00.004-07:00

Tonight for dinner I made these pot stickers. I served them with this sauce. They were delicious. The adults in our family really enjoyed them. Short and sweet--that is the good of the pot stickers.

But still, the pot stickers bit me in the rear tonight. It seems like I should have a better handle on things than I do. I sometimes feel like everyone else with little children has things under control way better than I do. Does anyone else feel this way? Sometimes when I try and do something a little extra everything else explodes.

So, I started assembling my pot stickers early and let my children tear up the house and bicker at each other while I did so. The baby was playing in a laundry basket on the kitchen floor and only cried through the filling of the last three pot stickers. Then, I tended to some motherly duties and eventually forced my children to clean up their toys in an embarrassing display of impatience. After that, Mark arrived home late just the same as every other night (not complaining, Mark, just saying it how it is). Adam had just slipped on a pad of construction paper that he should have already put away and whacked his head quite good on the floor. I had a bag of peas to his head because we don't have any ice in the house and the baby was starting to cry. After Adam was calmed and Mark took the baby I started cooking the things and dropped a plate on the floor. The thing about natural stone is that it is really hard and unforgiving.

By the time dinner got to the table it was about 7:00 and the kids were too hungry and cranky to even think of eating something flavorful. Dallin gave them an honest try. Adam was sent to his room for his rude disrespect of mom's hard work (it was for him! No, actually, I guess it was for me). Eventually we gave into making peanut butter and honey sandwiches for the boys. Worked out because then there were more pot stickers for Mark and I. I had spent too much time on the things to really consider making something else to go with them and several of them had fallen on the floor with the broken plate so the supply was a little limited. We ate herded the kids through the nighttime ritual and got them all to bed.

Mark is having a potluck for lunch at work tomorrow. We made a pasta salad after the kids were in bed and I dropped another plate on the floor in the process. More time sweeping the floor again.

I like to cook. I have really scaled down on what I do since having kids. Every now and then I feel like doing a little more than the normal quick dinner. But alas, it might have been the wrong choice tonight. And this wasn't even that involved of a dish.

Good thing my kids are forgiving even when I put pot stickers ahead of them for a night.

And in spite of my experience, I bet you'd like the pot stickers. Don't you want to try them after all that?

Still Going Strong

2010-03-03T23:47:00.002-07:00

February 28th Mark and I celebrated our seventh anniversary. I have a great husband. Did you know that he rubs my shoulders at least every other night? Don't get jealous.

My mom was nice enough to come watch the boys on Friday night so we could go out on a big date: dinner at Serrano's and the musical Guys and Dolls at Hale Centre Theatre. Both Mark and I thought the musical was awesome by the way if you are interested in seeing it. The best part about the musical though must have been being able to hold my husband's hand for a good two hours or more.

Although this may tarnish Mark's good name, I will tell you the story of how we came to be engaged. Perhaps you've heard it? It doesn't get told often, so you're a special soul if you have heard it.

Mark asked me to marry him in the basement of his parents' house while we were watching an ASU football game. He had the ring and everything. Actually, he'd expected some of his friends to be there too when he casually whipped a ring out and surprised his girlfriend who he's never had the "marriage talk" with. Good thing his friends weren't there, because it would have been quite embarrassing for everyone when I didn't say yes. Is this confusing? Let's start over.

We went over to Mark's parents' house to watch the football game. We were sitting downstairs alone with the game on as we chatted over it. Somehow, the subject got onto "if we got married." It was all silly talk about funny themes for a wedding reception (clowns?) and bad color choices etcetera. We had never talked about whether or not we might get married before so this was a funny/awkward/nervous/exciting conversation (at least that's how I remember feeling). He pulled out a huge toy ring with a big blue gem and slid it onto my finger. I was trying to figure out where that ring came from, because Mark has younger sisters but the youngest was maybe 12 at the time and too old to have dress-up clothes. I thought he must have planned this and not just picked up the ring somewhere around their house. I think I remember saying something about him getting a blue tuxedo to match the ring. He started saying the ring wasn't going to work and then he pulled out a diamond ring from his pocket and said, "Maybe this one would be better." It was obvious what was happening, but I said nothing because I was trying to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions. I remember sitting in silence for a while as I tried to compute it all. He must have asked me to marry him sometime during that time but I don't remember the words he used. And no, he didn't kneel, he just sat there on the couch in front of the football game. Silence from me still until I finally said, "I just thought we'd talk about it first." And so we decided that we'd talk about it and we left the house to go for a walk around the neighborhood. I don't remember that conversation. Probably a good thing.

This was Veteran's Day weekend, November of 2002. This gave me an extra day before having to go back to work and school to figure out if I was going to marry Mark. I remember having an emotional couple of days. I pulled out old journals and looked for lists I'd made as a teenager of what I wanted in a husband and comparing them to Mark. I prayed a lot. I don't know what I was waiting for, a big epiphany, or hammer on the head of divine guidance, I don't know. But something. I was waiting for something. Then Monday morning came and I knew. Something happened and that morning I just knew that marrying Mark would be a great thing. I realized that I had been guided in my relationship with Mark from the start and I had been getting divine guidance all along the way. I remember talking to my good friend Rebekah about this that day. Do you remember this conversation Bekah? It seems so long ago. Mark had a long day working two jobs and I didn't get to see him until after 10pm that night. We were in the front of my house when I put my arms around his neck and told him "Let's get married." He said, "Really?" and I said, "yes." Then he asked me at least once or twice more to make sure I was serious. We drove back to his apartment so he could get the ring and I waited outside by his car in the parking lot while he snuck around his roommates to get the ring and bring it back. He knelt down on the asphalt by his little green Hyundai and asked me to marry him. This time I said yes.

Thank goodness I made the right choice. And I don't really feel too bad for leaving Mark feeling totally lost for three days because come on, he might have done a better job with a serious proposal to help things out. And lest you think he is not romantic nor creative, let me assure you that he has many times proven otherwise. But could you ask him what he was thinking asking me to marry him in his parents' basement with a football game going in the backround? I still don't really understand.

I've looked back on that experience and shivered at the thought of not making the right choice. Though actually, if I'd not known at that moment I should marry Mark it would have eventually become clear I am sure. We are just perfect for each other. I couldn't have known then how wonderful our life would be together. What an awesome thing it is to be married to your best friend who supports you and loves you and thinks the world of you. If more marriages were like that this world would be a much better place.

Here's to many, many more years!

And I forgot about the snow.

2010-02-17T20:56:00.003-07:00

We did this too. It was Saturday, January 30th. We all had fun.

We drove up past Strawberry to find a place to play in. We actually had a hard time because there was so much snow that all of the little roads to turn off the highway were snowed over and there was no place at all to park. After a while of driving we finally found a decent-sized shoulder of the road that had been cleared of snow. We parked there and did some playing and sledding down the side of the hill away from the road. While we were there a few more families stopped and played alongside us. After the snow we changed the kids' clothes in the car then drove back to Payson to go to Chili's. Eating at Chili's when we are in northern Arizona has kind of become a tradition for us--apparently. Sometimes those traditions just sneak up on you. Maybe they're better that way anyway.

Let's at least try to fill in the gaps

2010-02-17T09:25:00.002-07:00

There have been a few events from January to now that never got recorded. So now we will do a catch-up post. Because obviously I really like my catch-up posts. Warning: picture overload.

On New Year's Day we went on a little nature walk at Merkle Trail in Usury Pass. This was our third time walking Merkle Trail and we really are fond of taking little ones there. A mile long walk around a hill with a park in between and picnic tables for lunch and a decent bathroom. Perfect balance of nature and convenience. If you have little kids you should go. Stroller friendly even.

Mark's mom and uncle Arlen walked with us and the rest of Mark's family did some mountain biking along the trails. Later, Shauna and the rest of them watched the kids at the playground while Mark and I borrowed the bikes for a little while.

Adam at Sonic after the "hike":

Here are some photos taken from my Grampa's funeral. My handsome guys below.

Dallin and Adam love their cousin Iris. In fact, my siblings including Iris were at our house. Dallin and Iris were playing then we all got in our cars to go eat at Pete's Fish and Chips (for the out-of-towners you know). On the way there Dallin said, "I miss Iris." Pause. "I know I just saw her and that we are all going to Pete's."

Owen at the luncheon:

Me and my cousins:

Great-grandchildren of Albert and Edna Christensen:

I'm going to go with my five-year-old thought it was funny to suck on his thumb for the above picture.

The day after the funeral we drove just across the AZ border into Verdon, New Mexico for my grandfather's burial. This is the town my grandma grew up in. My grandpa, too, grew up nearby in the neighboring town of Franklin, AZ. Dallin, Adam, and I in front of the graves of my great-grandparents Junius and Sarah Payne.

My dad and my boys in Verdon.

Fast forward to Valentine's.

The boys and I surprised Mark at work the Friday before. We ate lunch outside and dropped off some Valentine's cookies for the office.

I actually did just a little Valentine decor around here and actually did a little something for the boys. They each got a balloon, some heart-shaped pink Rice Krispy Treats, and a homemade card telling them some of the things mom and dad love about each of them. Well, the gifts were just for these two this year.

And this is what I do with Owen when I am cooking and need something to occupy him. He gets some cereal slapped on his tray and he is a happy, messy little camper.

And when things are a little "pull-your-hair-out" over here, my house actually reminds me what it's all about. There is a magical hour in the evening when the light shines just right through the beveled glass in the front door and a message is revealed on the wall.

Is it just me or does anyone else read what I am seeing?

Seven Months

2010-02-13T14:05:00.002-07:00

Owen and I followed Dallin and Adam outside today to enjoy the beautiful weather. A few minutes later they ended up back inside so we had a few moments to snap some photos and smile at eachother.

Dear little Owen is sitting up by himself well now. He is enjoying his solid foods and is a good little eater. A couple of days ago I put some frozen diced bananas on his tray and he tried so hard but as far as I know he couldn't get one to his mouth.

Though I must admit that I wasn't watching too well so I don't really know. If you have a baby, here is a tip: when your bananas get just a little too ripe dice them up and spread them out on wax paper and freeze. Once frozen transfer them to a freezer bag and you have a great treat for baby. Throw them on a tray or mix them up with some cereal. No need to defrost because they get mushy almost on contact with baby's mouth. (That's my experience anyway, you know best for yours.)

Anyway, back to this cute kid:

Owen has gotten more playful. He thinks it's fun to shake his head back and forth really fast at you. He is an awesome little sleeper and takes great naps. He is occasionally still up once in the middle of the night, but most nights sleeps all night. Basically, he's perfect. And his brothers wouldn't even be jealous of me saying so because they are beside themselves with how much they love their baby brother. Someday I intend to write down every nice thing either Dallin or Adam says about Owen. It would included multiple comments like these:

Isn't Owen so cute?
Owen's being silly, mom
I love my baby brother
Owen laughed at me
Owen, you're a sweet baby
It's okay, I'm right here Owen (Adam's been saying this one recently)

And on and on and repeat. Oh, the love a baby brings into a house.

Gramps

2010-02-02T16:56:00.007-07:00

These pictures were taken last June when we went to visit my grandparents in Sunflower, AZ.

Last Friday my Grandpa Christensen--Gramps--passed away. Gramps was a positive, happy, and friendly person. He knew how to bring a smile to someone's face--especially if that person was a little kid. He was well-known for his one-liners. At his 80th birthday celebration his children passed out papers with maybe a hundred or two of his classic one-liners or "Albert-isms." We went to visit my grandparents a few years ago and noticed gramps had a black eye. Mark joked something about "What did the other guy look like?" And gramps replied with, "No, I'm a lover, not a fighter." He says it jokingly, but it's true. Gramps crocheted beanies for the Church Humanitarian Center and for his grandkids and great grandkids. The day after he passed away Mark and I took the kids to the snow. It wasn't until we got there that I noticed we were nearly all wearing the beanies gramps had made for us and I had to smile thinking of an old man who crocheted hundreds and hundreds of beanies.

For a couple of years Mark and I have been talking about doing some video interviews of our grandparents. Long ago we sketched out some questions but we never got around to doing the interviews. In December of last year we started talking about it again and I began to get kind of antsy thinking about how we hadn't done this yet. I listened to the Mormon Channel (Latter-Day Saint online radio) one Sunday and the speakers were talking about living history videos. At the time I felt like the Spirit was pressing me to get these videos started, but even though I knew I needed to listen, I still wanted to be wrong that there was a reason we needed to videotape our grandparents soon. So, just before Christmas, amid the chaos and craziness that is that time of year I went with my brother to Gramps and Grams' home to videotape them talking about their lives. I learned so much about each of them and am so, so, grateful that we went and did that.

My gramps lived a hard life as a kid. When he was eight his father died leaving the poor family (his mom with six kids) even more poor. He told us about not having running water and trying to dig a well by hand to have fresh water by the house. They finally reached water only to discover it was salt water. Much later, the brothers were able to save the money to have a well drilled deeper than the first. The deeper well reached fresh water, but the family didn't have the money to put a pump on it. As time went on and enough money was raised to be able to afford a pump, they found the salt water had leached down into the fresh water and spoiled their well.

As gramps talked about having to leave school before graduating to support his family it seemed like there might have been a little embarrassment that he never finished. After the interview was over I thought about how my gramps had a hard life and he sacrificied and worked incredibly hard so that his children would have a better life. His children did the same for their children and that is why my life today is really so easy. Many of the blessings I have are because of him and others who have come before me and have made the real sacrifices. I wanted to tell gramps that but I was a little shy about saying so. When I visited him in the Hospice Center last week I gave him a hug before I left the room. I thought to myself it likely was the last time I would see gramps alive in this life. I wanted to tell him then that I was grateful for all that he had sacrificed, but I was too embarrassed about the other people in the room. But haven't I already learned not to care about what other people think? I am so grateful that since my grandparents have lived in Mesa these last several years I have been able to spend much more time with them and I am grateful that I am not looking back wishing I would have done better about visiting with them and seeing them. And mostly I am grateful for listening to that voice that told me to interview my grandparents. Two weeks after that interview my grandfather got very sick and never recovered. Thank you Gramps, hope you know how much you mean to me.

Quotables

2010-01-14T01:09:00.003-07:00

Dallin, Adam, and I were sitting on the couch looking through a Thomas the Train pamphlet/ad and Adam says, "Thomas is coo--Thomas is awesome." He has been calling things awesome ever since, it's like he decided in that moment to make the conscious decision that he now wants to call things awesome instead of cool. And what's really great is that he says it so matter-of-fact without too much emphasis or emotion. That's just how it is.

Thomas is awesome.

After hearing Adam say "Thomas is awesome" a couple of times Dallin smiles and jokes, "Thomas S. Monson?"

And I have to laugh at Mark for this one. This was actually said a couple of months ago but I just came across the scrap of paper I wrote it on and laughed again.

Mark to Dallin: "That was funny like the first two times. And you did it six times. So how many times was it not funny? Like four times. That's called subtraction."

And lastly, I asked Dallin to take Owen's dirty bib to the laundry today and as he did he said in a robotic voice: " I do not want any spit up on me. I am not programmed for spit up."

My kids are seriously hilarious. They get it from their dad.

Six Months

2010-01-13T22:29:00.002-07:00

Half a year, can it be so?

Oh how I love my little Owen.

What a sweet, sweet, baby you are. I often hear people call you beautiful, followed by some sort of disclaimer or explanation that baby boys can be beautiful too. And I agree, and don't mind people saying so, because you are beautiful.

You are not too anxious to exert yourself physically and that is just fine with me. Though I am trying to remember to let you have some tummy time because you need to work those little muscles. You hate tummy time and still sometimes your arms get in the way of you rolling over onto your back. For Family Home Evening last week we all made goals. Yours was to sit up all by yourself. We are working on it.

Your brothers love when I let you sit up on your own for a second or two until you timber over to one side or another to be caught by me. We like to call that game Owen Topple Tower.

You have been eating rice cereal for the last couple of weeks and you love it. You eat a lot of it and your little thighs are filling out because of it. I love those squeezable thighs. Once I can manage to get to the store we will start trying you on some other foods.

You suck on the first two fingers of your right hand.

You are playing with toys a lot, watching everything and everyone and getting quite grabby. Your brothers think you are the most entertaining thing ever. They love it when you smile or laugh at them and they think the little things you do are so funny. We love you Owen!

The Last of 2009

2010-01-05T09:24:00.003-07:00

Here we go. We'd better finish off last year before it's December again.

This December...

We posed like a little model in our dirty bib.

We hired servants to work around the house for Christmas money. (And no, our kitchen is not usually this clean--I won't show you what it looks like now, for instance.)

We watched Santa arrive in a helicopter.

We noticed Adam's eyes are kind of starting to look green.

We snuggled under covers.

We worried our little brother.
This picture is pretty telling because Adam wants to give Owen hugs and kisses probably six to ten times in a day and Owen isn't always happy about it.

We enjoyed the long-awaited harvest of our five tangerines and five tangelos. I was worried that some teenagers would walk by our front yard and destroy these little guys before we had a chance to eat them, but they all survived.

Here I am relishing in my childhood dream coming true.
I never had dreams about what I wanted my wedding to be like or how many children I would have, but I new I wanted my own citrus trees when I grew up. Actually, my friend Rebekah's family had some and they let me get fruit at my pleasure, so I sometimes would sneak over there in the early morning or night and take some oranges off their tree and replace the trees with bananas or pears or little stuffed animals or whatnot.

We had a very nice Christmas.
"Thomas the Train!"
Adam had plenty of wooden trains before, but he got another set to add on for Christmas. He has been playing with his trains for hours every day since Christmas.

Owen says, "What? You must have spent like twenty bucks on me."

We kind of got deja vu after seeing this picture.

Christmas day 2009. Owen and Grandma Smith

Christmas day 2006. Adam and Grandma Smith

We kept finding the little guy with socks stuck in his mouth.
Dallin laughed for several minutes straight when he saw this. Owen grabs the socks off his feet then tries to eat them.

We um, took this picture.

And this one.

We did some fun Christmasy stuff.

And spent some time with family.

Mark's aunt Penny who lives in Colorado was in town so we took the opportunity to get his grandma and all the daughters (including Mark's mom) together to do a video interview. It's always a blast when these ladies get together, and inevitably they end up crying from laughing too hard. I don't know if we got that on video, but we got some good stories about their growing up.

And that, dear folks is about all for now.

Evolution of a Photo

2010-01-05T09:00:00.002-07:00

Taking pictures of kids is...tricky.

Dallin wanted to hold Owen.

Dallin wanted Mom to take a picture.

It took a while to get the right shot.

Because instead of smiling sweetly, we got playing guitar on baby

and a baby that was more cooperative than his older brother

but eventually we got two smiles, though they were a little fuzzy

and then a shot that was a little better.

Then, "Adam! Come in here!"

And then, there you go.