In a nut shell...

Washington DC 2013

 

Z-man's 4th birthday

 

Disneyland 2013

 

Sea World 2013

 

Huntington Beach

 

Mission Beach San Diego

 

Angels' baseball game 

Fireworks

Bear Lake 2013

Zermatt -Midway Utah

First day of School  Lolo-1st, Diva-3rd, Sporty-6th

 

Crazy, yet fun summer.  It went by way too fast :)

 

 

 



Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day at our house is typical-I go shopping for what I want then tell my family "thanks" for the wonderful gifts they gave me, while they all have a perplexed look on their faces.  I'm sure they were thinking, "Mom has officially lost it.  We didn't buy her all those clothes.  We made her this coupon booklet, this certificate for good behavior that I will ignore, and dad bought her flowers.  Yet, we haven't even given them to her yet." :)

The day was a nice one.  We were able to spend some time with my mom and with Trevor's mom, and though it was nice, the soul-touching moment came with the gift we gave my sister.

I have mentioned before how my sister is a birth mom.  While things are going well with Lyndi and the whole adoption, emotions are still raw and very much at the surface.  Sporty and I decided to get her a necklace with a mustard seed in it.

The scripture that goes with it is:  Matthew 17:20 "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

Sometimes I feel my sister loses sight of some promises that were made to her (we are all human) and when I saw this necklace I knew we needed to give it to her and remind her to keep the faith.  Well, on Mother's Day Sporty gave her the necklace and said, "Remember to keep having faith."  Lyndi immediately burst into tears.  Sporty felt AWFUL and came running to me and told me how guilty he felt and he was sorry.  After I explained WHY she was teary and reassured him that he had not done anything wrong, he was able to go on his merry little way, but not before getting a hug from his Auntie.

I had a thought that went through my mind at that moment:  My sister still needs our support and she needs our love and prayers.  After all, we all get caught up in the world and sometimes can't see the big picture of our Heavenly Father's Plan.  I'm no different.  I feel guilty that I'm not that crafty mom, that creative mom, that awesome mom who NEVER yells at her kids.  I'm grateful for a talk that was given in Sacrament Meeting yesterday that did not make me feel like a failure, but instead gave me hope that I don't have to be Martha Stewart to be an awesome mom.  And in all honesty, I've never tried to be Martha Stewart or anyone like that-but I wish I was more apt to "play" with my kids.  I'm the mom that coaches my kids' sport teams, that pitches to my kids to hit, that wants a day all by myself, that loves my kids but am soooooo ready for them to go to bed by 8pm.  I just want to not yell-I'm a yeller.  So maybe I need to take that mustard seed necklace and remind myself to keep the faith and remember the promises that were made to me in the Temple and every time I take the Sacrament on Sunday.  I need to have faith in the bigger picture and just love and appreciate my family. 

So on that note:  Happy Birth Mother's Day and Happy Mother's Day!

Love

    Happy Valentines Day! 

From our family to yours!

ps not sure why I can post pictures now

I am so so so so far behind

I'm like a broken record.  I am so far behind and have so much to say!
First of all, I am ticked that I cannot upload anymore photos.  I shouldn't have to pay to show the world  few people my cute photos.  I just shouldn't have to do it. 

Second, a horrible tragedy struck the United States and very close to home here in Utah.  Sandy Hook Elementary was the site of a mad gunman who shot innocent children and adults.  One of those innocent children was Emilie, and her parents are family friends.  So, like the rest of the State, Country and even world, Trevor and I were praying for a family (and the others) and trying to make sense of a senseless act.  We were able to attend the Wake and Funeral for this little girl and shed tears with her parents, her grandmother and her aunts and uncles that we know.  Horrible-no one should ever have to go through this.  How grateful I am for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge we have of Eternal Families and for the Comforter who is there to, well, comfort them during their time of need. We are still praying for this family and I don't think we are going to stop.

Third, Christmas came and went without too much of a hitch.  No one was sick on Christmas Day like last year, but we were on the surrounding days.  AND Trevor had to coach a basketball tournament all week.  The only time I get my husband during the basketball season and baseball season combined and he is off to Salt Lake City from dawn to dusk coaching.  BLAH.

Fourth, New Year's was pretty chill.  I took the boys skiing and then we came home to a good old fashioned family New Year's Eve Party at home.  We played games and drank sparkling cider.  All the makings of a fabulous PARTAY!

Fifth, Sporty has caught the skiing bug.  OY.  I thought baseball was going to be expensive; skiing is killer.  Thankfully Utah has a program where you pay $25 and your child can ski every resort in Utah three times for free as a fifth grader and once each as a sixth grader.  I can handle that cost.....for now.

Sixth, I hate January in Utah.  It should be changed to Inversionary.  It's icky and ucky and I can't stand the dirty air.  BLAH.

Seventh, February has started out a bit better-massive snow storms that have cleared out the gunk temporarily have helped, Diva will be getting baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I get to take a girls weekend with three of my awesome gal pals :)  CAN'T WAIT!  I don't handle the gloomy weather very well so this will be a nice getaway.

Did you read that last paragraph carefully?    I GET TO GO AWAY FOR A WHOLE WEEKEND!