Signs of Senility

Late last night (or early this morning-I'm not sure which), our oldest woke up with a headache. I got him some ibuprofen, tucked him back in and promptly went back to sleep. Sometime later (it could have been 20 minutes or two hours-I'm not a good judge of time in the dark) he awoke again and this time he was quite upset...he was crying and was mad at me. He said that he had come into my room to ask me a question and I had basically brushed him off. I told him that he didn't come into my room and that it must have been a dream...I answered his question and then we both went back to sleep.


I'm a little troubled this morning because, to be honest, I'm not REALLY sure if he had a bad dream or if I did ignore him(I don't have any recollection of him asking me any question...). I suppose I may never know for sure. Is this a sign that I might truly be losing it...or am I just getting along in years? Never mind...I don't really want to know.

Time Flies

I love to look through my pictures. I can waste spend hours at a time looking through them and remembering...I also like to play around in Photoshop and try to "fix" them. Here is one that caught my eye today. This was back in '02 at a wedding. It doesn't feel like 7 years ago, but I can't deny that my cute kids are much bigger now. Will time pass as quickly over the next seven years???
I'm grateful that by taking a picture, I can freeze time and capture that moment forever.

A Busy Saturday

Our daughter had her big dance competition this morning...I went with her to be the cheering mom in the bleachers.

She came home with a trophy and a big smile! My ears are still ringing from the loud music and screaming girls, but it was fun!

At the same time, our oldest two boys competed in a Three-Position Sectional. Dad went to that event...I offered to trade him, but he declined!

Both of our boys shot very well.

Our oldest won the event! He is so excited!

The Waiting Game-Not So Fun

In a lot of ways I still feel like a kid...I still think like a kid (hopefully only a few kid thoughts escape out my mouth), I have several childlike insecurities, I still have nightmares that make me cry (or almost cry), sometimes I read like a kid (the other day I totally botched the word gargantuan...very embarrassing!), my favorite movie is "The Sound of Music," and I could keep going on and on.....

But what is really making me feel like a kid today is my impatience. Do you remember when you were young (before you could tell time) and you asked your Mom how much longer until church is over. The response could have been ten minutes or less, but to you it felt like HOURS. That is me today. I am having a hard time waiting. Waiting is very hard!

Here are the details: I have injured something in my leg. It hurts, but I really love running. Running keeps me sane, makes me feel free, and it is my little escape, my dream time. I start out my day with a good run (after I get the older kids off to school) and somehow it starts my day off just right. When I first got injured I took a couple days off ...not long enough. So I took almost two weeks off...still not better. I'm now started on my third (and hopefully final) period of rest to try and get this injury healed. I have been told to be patient, that healing takes time...it all makes sense, but for some reason after two days I feel like that kid in church!! Minutes are hours and days are weeks! I am trying to be patient, but inside I'm throwing a little tantrum!!

Jumping Into The Thirties

My younger sister has officially joined me in the waters of thirty something. She is no longer just dipping in her big toe to feel what the water's like...she jumped in this week! Congrats my cute sis...although I'm just a little bit ahead of you, I will say that while the water is initially shocking, you will soon acclimate and it is really okay! Hope your birthday was the best! Love you!!

Whiting Keen

Our youngest is going through a Cars, the movie, obsession. He has his Lightning McQueen car come with him everywhere, including to bed and in the bath. If, by some odd chance, he sets McQueen down and misplaces it, we must all drop everything and search for his lost companion. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he wants to know where his "Whiting Keen" is. When I run on the treadmill in the morning we usually watch whatever kid show that happens to be on, but lately we have been watching Cars, the movie, every single morning. I believe that I know every line by heart now...and either I am starting to dread it...or maybe it's growing on me. I'll let you know in a week or two.

A Feast

"Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2nd Nephi 32:3)

This weekend was our stake conference...and it was fabulous. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was the visiting authority and he is a great teacher!

We attended every possible meeting that we could go to and we were richly rewarded. We learned how to have a proper perspective on trials and hardships, how to be better parents and have a stronger marriage, and we also gained a greater understanding of how we will all be healed through Christ...to name just a few.

It was a feast and we are full! We feel so blessed to have had such an opportunity to learn and grow!

Hiking Y Mountain

In response to BYU's disheartening loss in the first round of March Madness, we decided to rejuvenate our True Blue Spirit with a hike up Y mountain.

Although it is only 1.1 miles from bottom to top, it is quite steep and we were a little uncertain whether our youngest Cougar fans would have the resolve to push through the pain.

We found many reasons along the way to stop and take rests.

We took advantage of every bench!

The view from the top was reward enough for these veteran enthusiasts.


Our youngest fan made it all the way and was only carried once, up the steepest switchback.

He did have lots of encouragement!


It was great to finally reach the giant "Y".

Exploring was the best, although we did leave with a few scraped knees.

The view from the top is spectacular!

Our next generation of Cougar fans are ready to cheer...

after a quick nap!

Signs of Spring

When I was young my Mom would take us on Sunday afternoon walks (when it was warm, of course). They were adventures and I always looked forward to them. During the chilly weeks of March, my Mom would challenge us to keep our eyes peeled for "signs of Spring." We (my siblings and I) would run from discovery to discovery as we found daffodils poking up through flower beds or new pine needles (they are really soft when they first grow) on the pine trees. We felt especially grand when we would find a bird's nest with eggs or a caterpillar chrysalis hanging on a bush. Maybe I still am that youngster looking for signs of Spring, but I truly love this time of year as the gray dullness of winter is forgotten and Spring's colors liven and beautify the scenery!



Welcome, Spring.

Crazer's House

All day long today our youngest two boys have been begging to go back to Crazer's House. Crazer is one of our fun cousins down in St. George. (That isn't his real name, but to our boys that IS his name!) Here are a few things they wish they were doing at Crazer's House:

Catching lizards in his backyard (notice the tail in the first picture and the tail-less lizard in the second.) That's cool to boys. (gross to moms)

Riding his fun 4-wheeler.

Shooting hoops in his backyard.

Shooting bad guys in his back yard.

Playing hide-n-seek in Crazer's sand dunes.

Getting buried in them too!

Playing with Crazer and all his fun toys!

Dressing up like Buzz Lightyear..."to infinity and beyond!"



Everybody likes Crazer's! It's THE place to be!

Sand and Sun

An airplane streaked across the blue sky...

Children ran across the sand, pure joy bubbling out of them in bursts of giggles....

Sand angels appeared,

Sand castles were built,

A beach babe sunbathed,

sand burials became the cool thing,

and a beach umbrella completed the scene.

Someone said "Aloha," and suddenly we were there.

It may not have been authentic Hawaiian sand, but it was pretty darn close.

We all left with a little sun on our cheeks and a lot of sand in our shoes.

and a few smiles too!