Pure joy

Saturday was Brigham City's Peach Days. I've said before it has always been something I look forward to. When I was younger, I loved the parade, candy, carnival, dancing to the music and family time. When I was a teenager, I loved the good food, and checking out boys (sorry honey). And now that I'm a mom, I love Peach Days for a totally different reason. I get to see my boy shriek with excitement at the site of the carnival and Ferris Wheel . Tyler laughed, almost uncontrollably, while riding a little train. For that reason alone, I will always make the effort to attend at least one carnival a year. Thank you Tyler for helping see things through a child's eye again.

Another source of pure joy for me is Hannah. I guess you could say she has been testing my patience lately. She has discovered that she can yell and scream at the top of her lungs, and is determined to do that as often as possible. It makes my ears ring. I can't imagine that scream coming out of my sweet baby girl, but it does. I know it is a phase, Tyler went through it too, but his voice was never this high or shrill.

I sometimes think that babies can tell when you need them to "turn on the sweetness". Hannah did that for me when we put her on the grass the other night. She wouldn't let both feet touch at the same time. She would switch legs and make the silliest faces. I laughed so hard I was crying. She got used to the feel and then sat there, not wanting to crawl and make her hands touch the grass. Again, she made the cutest faces. Oh, how I love her!

I look forward

I am the kind of person that likes to have something to look forward to every few weeks. All summer long I have had family reunions, family visits, and vacations to look forward to. Now that summer is coming to a close, I sort of felt like life was going to be boring. WRONG! I realized I have so many wonderful things to look forward to this fall. So, in no particular order, here are some of the things I am excited about:

Tyler going to pre-school twice a week. He started this morning and while he was gone, I was able to do the dishes, go to the post office and the grocery store. I'm going to love it and he already loves it. It's a win-win for us!

Driving through the canyon to see the changing fall colors. It is so beautiful and peaceful. It has always been a tradition for our family.

Brigham City Peach Days. I've gone for as many years as I can remember and probably before that too! I love the booths, carnival, eating at Maddox and of course, fresh peaches.

Seeing all the things that Hannah will discover. Her little (or should I say big) personality is already developing each day. She thinks any running water means bath time and she wants to do everything herself and usually makes a mess doing it.

October's General Conference. Enough said!

Pumpkin patches and corn mazes. It isn't fall until you've walked around a pumpkin patch looking for the perfect carving pumpkin and found cute little decorative pumpkins. I'm smiling just thinking about it!

BYU football. Now, I'll admit, I couldn't tell you much about the team or their likelihood of winning, but I just love vegging on the couch and cheering.

There are many more things I could list, but I'll save that for another time. I love this time of year and everything it brings!

Have I mentioned?

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE California? Because I do. This past week we were able to go to Steve's parent's house in Los Gatos. Steve and his dad were going on their annual Fish Creek trip, and I invited myself to come play with his mom while the boys were gone. It is beautiful, sunny, has an ocean breeze, and cool fog rolls in most nights. Their home is close to Icing on the Cake and Gayle's Bakery. Perfection!

After driving to California three times since Christmas, we decided it was time to fly. The kids did wonderfully and thanks to Dramamine I did great too! We then drove out to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for some fun family time. A few rides for Tyler, a quick ride on the Giant Dipper for Steve and me, and we were all as happy as could be.

Once the boys left for fishing, we wasted no time getting to the girly stuff. I read These Is My Words again. We watched Jane Eyre, Emma, went shopping, ate cheesecake and stayed up way too late visiting. Thank you Kathy for a wonderful time! One evening, we went to a great park with a full size fire truck and airplane for the kids to play on. Tyler was in heaven. Since we had just been at the airport Tyler said he was flying the airplane to Grandma's house!

The next day we went to Happy Hollow. It is an awesome park in San Jose. This place is worth multiple visits. It has a petting zoo, rides, an actual zoo and the largest play structure I have ever seen. The picture doesn't even show the back part of it. Tyler was beyond excited and Hannah was content to chill in the stroller. That was a great day!

The rest of the days were spent around town, playing outside and relaxing. Tyler played in the sandbox for hours, watched the deer eat apples up on the hill, ran through the sprinkler in his underwear, and followed either Grandma or Grandpa around like their shadow.

While we were there Hannah turned ten months old. She is getting so big. My girl pulls herself to standing, gets into everything she shouldn't and is the sweetest thing you'll meet. Lately she has been so vocal. If she gets upset you can tell she's trying to tell you all about it. I love her!

It is so pleasant there that it makes it even harder coming back to the reality of work, law school, bills and cleaning. It was a true vacation for us!

In the end

Just over a year ago, Steve was called to serve in a BYU singles student ward Bishopric. At the time I sort of thought is was the end of the world and I cried a lot. I couldn't see how Steve being in law school, being an editor of a law journal, a father, working, in a bishopric and me having a new baby would all come together. Many of you will remember THIS post. Well, just yesterday Steve was released. Let me just say it was a very emotional day for us. I cried a lot too, just because I was so sad to leave them. I guess things have really changed in a year.

So many wonderful blessings were poured out upon us during the past year, that I don't know where to begin. I can't put my finger on specific blessings, but I could feel them in every aspect of my life. Steve's service seemed a small sacrifice compared to the abundance of blessings we know we received. Those students are amazing. Their love for the gospel, each other and our family was often overwhelming. They love to serve and still have a blast doing it. My testimony was strengthened just from being with them. We also got to attend some seriously awesome activities too. Here are just a few of the things I'm going to miss:

• A 75 foot long slip-n-slide down a huge hill

• Grass volleyball tournaments

• Our door being "attacked" with kind notes

• Being judges for their dessert Iron Chef challenge (the secret ingredient was Peanut Butter Captain Crunch cereal!)

• Attending wedding receptions of students who met in the ward

• The endless supply of babysitters

• Our children being treated like rock stars

• Staying after Relief Society to answer the girl's questions about what it is like to be a mom

• Asking Steve who he could see flirting with each other from the stand

• Teaching Temple Prep to such eager good people

But most of all, I'll just miss my association with such wonderful, faithful people. All of it was a privilege. I feel blessed beyond measure that I was able to be in a small chapter of their lives. In the end, I will always look back on this past year with thankfulness. I guess I'm also thankful that I will now have Steve's help getting the kids ready for church and during Sacrament meeting. That part will be nice!

This is why

Being a mom is hard. I often think to myself, "I have a college degree and yet the extent of my energy each day is spent making macaroni and cheese, scrubbing hands, counters and dishes, and locate missing Batman sunglasses." Is it the outright disobedience, the whining, or the ability a three year old has to make a complete mess of something I just spent two hours cleaning that does me in? Take your pick. I have to remind myself that I'm the adult and can only control how I respond to the chaos. At the end of some days I am just so grateful to be able to go to sleep and hopefully start out fresh again the next morning.

Like I said, being a mom is hard. At the same time, it is so awesome. I wouldn't want to miss any of their firsts or silly things they say. This is why I have kids:

To see the random positions Hannah can sleep in. You'll notice Hannah's 'plumber' diaper, and yes, she puts the blanket over her face every night despite my efforts.


Marvel at her ability to learn to crawl up the stairs.

Kiss Hannah's cheeks when she makes silly and cute faces.


Praise Tyler when he does such a great job at swimming lessons.

Let him ride what can only be called an unsanitary "Duckephant" because he was such a trooper shopping with me all day.

Help him make "crazy" hair.

Let Tyler make a mess eating a treat just to hear him laugh.


Thank you Tyler and Hannah for always forgiving me when I'm the one that has a hard day. You both are the reason I have great days. I love you!