Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming, the shopping isn't done, the packages (the few there are) aren't wrapped, the cookies haven't been baked, the neighbor gifts aren't finished, the Christmas cards aren't addressed....but seeing this picture of my boys made me smile.

Merry Christmas.

The Annual Christmas Photo or Now, WHY are we doing this?

At this point in our lives you might think that the annual Christmas photo would be a pretty easy task.

Oh, so not true!

Between the dog (who we actually forgot for half of the photos), and the boys who don't know how to just stand and smile, and the Grandfather who wanted to make the grandson smile (Not his job), and a grandson who thought we were taking WAY too long (we were), and a slow camera, I thought I was going to murder someone. (Not the darling grandson, most likely the boys who don't know how to stand and smile.)

It is done.

(This should give you some idea of the boys behavior.)

Fall

I love fall.

I love all of the colors of fall. I love the crunch of leaves under my feet. I love the way leaves smell. I love seeing piles of leaves. I love watching leaves fall as the wind blows.

I love fall.

True Confessions - Big Trouble

I would like to blame the contents of this box for the 10 pounds I need to lose. While in NYC I discovered this fabulous bakery, over and over again. (The LONG line going out the door was a real clue that tasty treats were inside!) Their Red Velvet cupcakes tasted just like the Red Velvet cake we had every Friday at Richland Elementary School in Memphis Tennessee. I used to live for school lunch on Fridays! The frosting isn't the cream cheese frosting you often see on Red Velvet cupcakes, but the same white sauce (sorta') frosting that I always had in the south. (I finally found a recipe like it - from a southern cook- and it is wonderful!) Anyway, I visited the bakery everyday while we were there and never left with just one. (I even brought one home on the plane.)

Alas, they do not do online orders.

Maybe that is a good thing.

Passing time without a computer

I have had a most frustrating fall. My beloved imac has been very sick and finally we had to get a transplant. Fortunately, we don't seem to have any rejection problems. Maybe now I can catch up on photos and events from the past few months. (Sound familiar?) We'll just start with our cute Jack.

Infinite Power of Hope

Inspiration on a Sunday morning.

A glowing report

After seven (yes, seven) years of begging, badgering, and beseeching, I finally got the Man-of-My-Dreams into the doctor for the dreaded test that involves drinking large quantities of nasty tasting clear liquid. (You know what I am talking about!) The prep for the test is much worst than the actual test itself so, for the 48 hours leading up to the big event, we had a bit of whining and complaining at our house. In the middle of the night before the procedure, the MOMD had to wake up at 3:00 am and for over an hour drink more of the delish liquid... may I say, no one really got much sleep. (Even the dog got up.)

The arrival time at the hospital was quite early, so I got up at 6:00 am while granting the MOMD a few precious extra moments of sleep. (Now, please remember that I don't function very well on a few hours of sleep.....) I showered, dressed, and dried my hair, then woke up the patient. While he showered I finished my hair, grabbed the spray can, and promptly covered my head with...spray on tan... of the Sublime Glow variety. (hey, we have a history of skin cancer in my family!) It was early, I was tired and the cans of hair spray and spray on tan look remarkably alike.

Not my finest moment.

By the way, the test results were perfect.

Go Utes!

Peter just left the house headed to his first University of Utah Lacrosse practice. We are so happy that he is playing for the U of U with a lot of his pals. He is working hard to get back into shape after his 2 year mission for our church. He will be great-- I am not sure that I will be. How in the world do you cheer at a U of U/BYU lacrosse game with darling boys on both teams? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Roommates and Teammates

After a long week of tryouts, Rogers Hall, Apt 94, is a happy place. All four boys-Zach, Mike, Andrew, and Jacob- along with Bountiful pals, Ricky and Matt made the final cut and are teammates on the BYU Lacrosse Team. We are so proud of you!

Go Cougars!

The Move

Last week we drove down to Provo to take our last boy to college. We found the right dorm. We patiently waited for a parking space and carried the loads of stuff into the dorm room. We made beds, put away clothes, and found a lost guitar pick. We bought an ethernet cable, a thumb drive, and a desk lamp. We shopped for groceries (beefaroni, ramein, refried beans, tortillas) and we put those groceries in a box under the bed. We kissed our boy and we drove away.

We are sad.

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello - by Jon Schmidt

Okay, I am loving this. I know that I am a little late to the game- (more than 2,216,094 views) but...wow!

So...what have you been doing since May?

After following these guys around with a camera for 3 years, celebrating a second State Lacrosse Championship with "my boys" was oh so sweet!

A Sunday nap with Grandpa.

We had a fabulous time at the NCAA Lacrosse Finals in Boston.  Though we were a bit sad that Cornell lost in the final seconds, Peter and Zach loved being at the big game.

  Seminary Graduation with Zach.

The Boys and their Dads

Zach, Christian Taylor, Jacob Folkerson, Andrew Welling, Joe Lake, Drew Miner, Ricky Rose, Joey Nelson.

And with their Moms.

Our Lacrosse Boys- 

Ricky Rose, Jacob Folkerson, Robbie Derricott, Joe Lake (honorary team mate), Andrew Welling, Joey Nelson , Shawn Carter, Drew Miner, Mike Fabrizio,  and Zach.

Graduation All-night Party

Fourth of July Parade at Brighton

We have no idea who this little guy is, but isn't he cute?

The parade at Brighton- next year we are skipping the breakfast at 

the cabin and having breakfast with the Brighton Ward.

Red Velvet cupcakes on Independence Day!

Our cute Jack in his Jumping Toy.  

Does he ever like it!

Uncle Zach and Jack at Phillip Waite's Wedding Reception.

Maybe, just maybe, I can stay on top of things for the rest of the summer.

Tugs of the Heartstrings

Today, I stood on the porch and watched my Zach drive away to school for the last time.  I followed the car until it disappeared around the corner as a wave of emotions swept over me.  Sadness, hope, joy, love, and loneliness- how can one person feel so much at one time?  

I am sad to see the last of my babies doing something that has been part of our lives for so many years.  The rush and craziness of dragging children out of bed, getting ready for school, checking for assignments, and kisses and prayers before running out the door.  All of the disruptions of quiet mornings, oh, how I will  miss it.

I am filled with hope for his future.  He will spread his wings and fly to new adventures- ones that will mold him into the man he is to become.  Adventures that won't include me or the-man-of-my-dreams.

The joy of life envelopes me.  The funny comments, the dinner conversations, the many lacrosse games, the choir concerts, the family movie nights, the Sunday worship, the family road trips, all of it.  How blessed.

Love overwhelms me as I think of the years that have rushed by.  Not just love for this boy, but for his brothers and sister and the everyday moments that have defined me as a mother.  

And all of these emotions lead to loneliness.  Who am I without them?  If I am not reminding, and encouraging, and checking up on, and cleaning up after these babies who have grown into people, who am I?

I suppose I will find out, one day at a time.  But for now, for this day, I am going to hold in my heart the memory of that car backing down the driveway with one wonderful boy headed to the last day of school.

This Chicken's Toast

When Peter was little his favorite movie was Ghostbusters. The child LOVED this movie.  We would watch it over and over and over again.  One of the lines from the movie that he most repeated was, "this chicken's toast!".  

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, where, exactly,  was that line in the movie?  I don't remember toasted chicken.  Well, that would be because the line wasn't in the movie.  The actual line was "this chick is toast!" (referring to the floating Sigourney Weaver character.)

Okay, cute child.  But, you may ask, what does this have to do with the above picture.   

Let me share.

On Saturday, the man-of-my-dreams and I attended a funeral.   Shortly after the funeral began the MOMD's phone rang.  (On silent, of course, we WERE attending a funeral.)  He checked to see who was calling and it was our Zach.   Now, Zach knew that we were at a funeral and he is not a boy to call and chat so we decided it would be best for MOMD to slip out (fortunately, we were right by a door) and call home.   As he came back in and sat down I asked if everything was alright.  His rely?  "It is now."

It seems that the sweet boy Zach moved the recipe box from the countertop to the stove not realizing that the burner had been turned on, and walked away.  As he was going upstairs to shower he glanced back to the kitchen to see smoke and flames coming from the recipe box. Being the quick thinking child he is, he grabbed the box, dumped the recipes on the counter and put out the flames on the burning recipe box.  (He said later, "I had to save the recipes, Mom.") Disaster averted!

Now we still have a house and the treasured recipes and  except for the slightly burnt smell and the singed edges they just look like ...toast. 

100 Days of Jack

 

Yesterday Jack was 100 days old.  This is a big day for a young man with Korean ancestry.  Tradition calls for a photo session and this little boy was so sweet.  He never complained.  He just endured his Grandma taking picture after picture.   

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

You have got to see this. Dreams come true!

Death of a Fly

This morning I walked into my bathroom and there on my floor was a dead fly.  Now, this is unusual, not because I don't have flies in my house, but because I don't ever recall finding one on my bathroom floor...especially in April.   I remembered, as I recovered from my surprise, that I had seen this fly come in the back door on Sunday while the boys were outside tossing the lacrosse ball. Now, you ask, how do I know that it was this particular fly?  Come on, it wasn't the cute Easter outfit it had on, it's April.  We just don't have that many flies and anyway, I had seen it flying around the house on Monday and Tuesday.   I know that it wasn't there last night when I washed my face, for heaven's sake, I would have stepped on it.  For some reason, it was there, dead on my bathroom floor.  Okay, you may say that it simply had lived all of its days here on the earth but nope, I think I know exactly what happened.   I declare that that fly took one look out the window this morning and when it saw the snow falling, it simply laid on its side and gave up.

         

I know just how it felt.

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

Take a minute and let this wash over you.

Moments to Remember

How we rely on our techincal equipment to work!  I haven't posted anything for so long because my beloved imac has refused to allow the usb ports to work and I can't download any pictures.  I have an appointment with the Genius Bar at Apple today and I just hope that my pal can be repaired...and repaired quickly.  

So much has happened in the past few weeks.  We had the blessing of having my mom, Mamaw to the kids, here with us for about 6 weeks.  What a gentleness she brings to our home.  The boys are so tender with her and everyone loves to be around her. She left on Saturday and we are missing her.   Our little dog, Scout, is in withdrawals.  She got lots of attention from Mamaw and is missing her cuddle time.  Scout has followed me around for the last 3 days and even at this moment is insistent that she sit in my lap with her head resting on my arm as I try to type.  Mom says that she is getting too old to come back out for another visit, but none of us are willing to accept that decision.  We will cross our fingers for another visit this summer!

We also had a fun spring break at the cabin with a ton of snow.  I am not sure spring will ever come to Pine Tree, Utah.  (A little homage to White Christmas!)  It was delightful to have all of the kids there with little baby Jack at the cabin for the first time.  We built fires, snow forts, and puzzles.  We played games and watched movies and slept in late.  We broke, and then repaired a vacuum cleaner (actually, I repaired the vacuum- the man of my dreams had gone to the valley to work) and broke and prayed over a dryer.  (Little miracle there-- it now works and we can't explain it.)  We ate lots of food and did a lot of dishes and were really sad to have to return to the world of responsibility. 

 

Last weekend was General Conference for our church.  What a privilege it is to feast on the words of men and women called of God.  We felt inspired and uplifted and motivated to be more faithful, more temple-going, more hopeful, and more Christ-like.  

Deep Breath

Imagine my surprise when I got an email today telling me that I owed $2201.85 on our wireless bill.  Okay... deep breath.   I then go to our billing details and discover that our darling Zach is the one to point a finger at.  Another deep breath and a little more digging into the bill and I realize that the problem is not with Zach but a mistake with our wireless carrier.  Instead of unlimited text messages, (is there any other way with a senior in high school???) we are being charged by the text.   Eighty minutes on the phone with a very nice young man (from Ogden, Utah) and all is well.    Does Zach have any idea what wrath he side-stepped today?  

Jack. Does it get any better?

This is Jack.  He is two months old.  He loves his Grandmother.  ( I should know, he told me.)  He is also very fond of his Uncle Zach, who returns the sentiment.

 

 We are loving this baby.

HOME

He's home.  

He is really home. He has no clothes, he plays the piano (didn't do that when he left), he opens doors for his mom (he might have done that before he left?), and he is crazy antsy.  He says sweet prayers, he bear hugs his friends,  and he kisses his mom goodnight.  We feel blessed.  

He's home. 

Sixteen Days!!!!!

Sixteen days-- Can you believe it?  Sixteen days and this mom will have her arms around her little Peter Rabbit.  I am so proud of him and amazed at the growth we have seen through his email the past two years.  St. Louis will miss him.  We have missed him.  I know that life will be different when he gets here.  I know that my laundry will more than double, my food bill will more than double, my noise level will more than double..you get the picture, but the laughter will double, the singing will double, the teasing will double, and the hugs...ohhhh!  The hugs will double!  I can't wait...Sixteen Days!

Our Little Oompa Loompa

No, he really isn't this color, it was the lighting in the room - I was trying not to use the flash.  He is the sweetest little baby, and this was our first night to tend him while his parents ran an errand.  We loved it!  His darling great-grandmother made the cute sweater and hat.  Isn't it great?

I promise, every blog will not be about this wonderful child, but while I am recovering from a little surgery, he gets the attention.

A Lacrosse Player is Born

The man of my dreams is pretty happy these days.  His visions of a new generation of lacrosse players is coming to pass... (and dodge and roll.)  Poor Jack, here's hoping he likes the sport.

Sweet Land of Liberty

Today history happened and I witnessed it.  Though I wasn't physically in Washington DC, through the magic of technology, I was front and center sitting in my bed.  No, I didn't vote for this African American Senator from Illinois, and I don't agree with some of his politics, but in the moment, I was proud to be an American.  We have seen beyond color and, as a nation, elected a man the majority thought to be the best choice to lead our country.  The transfer of power was done peacefully and full of grace from both the Obama's and the Bush's.  The choice was made and I am ready to support this man, President Barack Obama, full of hope for the future of our country.  Our new president says that he is ready to change politics in Washington, and I am ready to take him at his word.  May God bless this land and may God bless President Obama.

A Day In the New Life

Announcing the arrival of 

Jackson Azariah 

January 16, 2009

12:31 pm

Waiting for Jack

Uncle Zach passing the time

Tender Mercies

Cleaning up

Weighing in at 7 pounds 4 ounces

Measuring in at 21 inches

Footprints

Being poked and prodded

Doctor Hall with Andrew and Jenn

Oh happy day!

Evidence of my new title as Grandmother

The very, very proud Grandfather

Holding onto Daddy in the nursery

First Bath

Glad all that's over