aaron.anica.emily.isabel.claire

Claire's playdate to the Treehouse Museum with her friend 'Baby Olive' Goodbyes are hard, especially when you're leaving a pretty great place with pretty great friends and family that you've lived near and relied on for many years. It generally is easier to be the one to leave, but many times we have had to wonder if we were choosing the right path because the one we were on felt pretty darn comfortable. We left behind a fantastic neighborhood which we felt was a wonderful place for kids to grow up. We often felt we were making a choice between better and best and some days we didn't know which path seemed 'better' and which one was 'best.' Even still, some days we don't know which one would have been better and which one best. I realize that sometimes I spend too much time worrying about the shoulda-woulda-coulda's and have recently found these bits of advice that stop me in my tracks and help me to just keep moving forward: You d...

Gosh I love this job of mine! It has been somewhat of an adjustment for me to be a stay-at-home mom and I will honestly tell you it is the hardest thing I've ever done, but at the end of each exhausting, jam-packed day I look at the lashes that dance across the lids of those beautiful girls eyes and I feel heaven. I feel it smiling down on me letting me know that the tantrums and the messes and the whining and the fighting and every little thing that makes me want to pull-my-hair-out and scream-at-the-top-of-my-lungs is part of this life and my opportunity for learning and growth as God teaches me patience. And boy am I learning them! Thankfully mixed in with all that hard character-building stuff is the beautiful moments I wouldn't trade for the world. The    colored pictures and the notes and giggly grins and hugs and kisses and cuddling and story time and my foot rub punch card and those moments when I really get to teach them something I think is important. Those are t...

If you've read our blog in the past, you know we have issues with Emily and our toothbrushes which you can read about here . Well, unfortunately we haven't resolved those issues. I was putting Izzy and Claire to bed the other night when Em came in with my toothbrush and asked if it was mine. She was in a good mood and sometimes likes to be helpful and set out my toothbrush with toothpaste on it, so I didn't think anything about it until Aaron came home from work and when brushing his teeth before bed asked, "Why is my toothbrush all orange?"  I laughed and told him of the earlier occurrence and then when he looked at mine and told me it was orange too, I didn't think it was so funny anymore.We threw our toothbrushes away and only had one spare on hand that we shared. The next morning Aaron had left already when Em was getting ready and I asked her what she had done to our toothbrushes. Emily: "It was just a joke. April Fools!" Me:    "Um Em...

Things I want to remember about Izzy: I love how she exudes happiness with her contagious giggle. When her daddy tickles her, she giggles and when she's calming down she always exclaims, "Ohhhh Dawdy!" in a little accent that is hers alone. I love how when you tell her you think something, like "Izzy I think you're cute" she responds with "Yuh-doo?" which Aaron and I find ourselves using in our conversations with each other now. Brings a smile. I love how she loves her baby sister and talks 'baby talk' to her. The other day we had preschool at our house and her friends were talking to Claire and she said, "No that's not how you talk to her" and she proceeded to do her high pitched baby talk so that when I walked in later, four little girls were standing in front of Claire talking in high- er pitched voices while shaking their heads back and forth exaggeratedly. I love how she is the family announcer for anytime ...

Emily and her sisters, Izzy 2 and Chloe 4  Emily turned 8 back in March and made the decision to be baptized into our church . We had a Family Home Evening on baptism to prepare her. We invited family and friends and when we showed up to the church it was locked and there had been a miscommunication in the scheduling so the font wasn't filled up and would take a while. We waited and visited and slowly went through the program. My sister and my dad both gave great talks on baptism and the confirmation of the Holy Ghost. They explained to Em that she would have a warm feeling. After she was baptized by her dad I asked her how she felt as she climbed out of the water dripping wet and her answer was, "They said I'd feel warm, and I'm just really cold." When Aaron confirmed her, he had to do it twice and he was teasing her after that she was so special she got the Holy Ghost twice, she just looked at him and replied, "No you just messed up." Overal...

I know I'm a little late, Veteran's Day was a couple days ago, but I need to give a little shout out to my favorite vet. Last year was his first year as a vet and we took advantage of the benefits. A lot of restaurants give free meals to vets, so we found ourselves in Applebee's at the Gateway. It was rather crowded and we were seated in an area where a bunch of tables had been pushed together. As we sat down next to a bunch of people, it was obvious that many of them were homeless, which I must admit made me a little uncomfortable at first. As I thought about it, I realized that many of these people had probably served in Vietnam and could have been suffering as a result of experiences they had had while serving our country. It made me extremely grateful for the circumstances in which Aaron was able to serve and that he had the support of many of our friends and loved ones.  I was glad that these people could get a warm meal and felt emotional as I reflected on the ...

Just a little update on where we're at right now, Aaron completed his generals and just got accepted into the nursing program at Weber State University for the upcoming spring semester. We are excited and thrilled to be moving in a good direction! The plan is for him to complete his Bachelor's degree in nursing within the next few years, get some experience, and get into a Master's program to become a Certified Nurse Anesthetist. He is currently in the Army Reserves and a cadet in Weber's ROTC program, which means he won't be deployed again while he's finishing his Bachelor's degree. I am currently enrolled in the Master of English and Master of Education programs at Weber as I work towards a Master's degree in English along with a secondary teaching license. Other than doing hair in my basement salon, I am staying at home full-time (more on that later). Emily is in 3rd grade! (I know, where did the time go?) She is an awesome soccer player and loved...