Tender mercies and my brown-eyed boy

Owen talks about my dad a lot, which is interesting since he's never met him.  My dad passed away over 10 years ago.  We do talk about him, because I want my kids to know all they can about their grandpa.  We eat his favorite sandwich on his birthday and laugh at the way Jason describes how intimidated he felt the first time he met the very protective Gunnery Sergeant Jones.  I know they would have loved being around him, because everyone did.  A couple days ago I was putting Owen's shoes on, getting ready to rush off somewhere when Owen stopped me in my tracks.  Suddenly his adorable brown eyes got big and he said, "Grandpa Jones"...and something I couldn't understand over Matthew's sudden yelling about who-knows-what.  After Matt left the room I asked Owen what he said about Grandpa Jones.  He smiled and said, "He drives a truck."  My dad loved trucks, was a truck driver, and had an enormous collection of model trucks in his office.  I'm sure I've mentioned my dad's love of trucks to my kids, I know I have, but I love moments like this when Owen randomly talks about my dad.  It helps me feel close to him and reminds me that he's still part of my life.  I can't see him right now, but I believe he's not far away and I know I'll see him again.  I miss him more than words can express and I look forward to hugging him tightly one day.  I love my sweet brown-eyed boy for reminding me to occasionally stop and remember how lucky I am to have been blessed with such a wonderful father.

Being thankful

I have always loved Thanksgiving.  I love gathering my family around our table for a huge feast of turkey, rolls, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and my grandma's broccoli salad. I love eating creamy pumpkin pie with a steaming cup of caramel apple cider or hot chocolate.

This year I made a banner of brown, green, orange, and yellow leaves that hangs in our front room to remind us of the things we're grateful for.  Whenever we feel like it, we write something we're grateful for on a paper leaf and add it to the banner.  The kids love it and I feel like it's helping all of us focus on what really matters this time of year.

My visiting teacher brought me a message of thanksgiving this month.  She read a quote from Abraham Lincoln.  Did you know Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a National holiday?  I wasn't taught that in school.  I was only taught that Indians and Pilgrims ate a feast together and we celebrate that each year with a feast of our own.  Anyway, I wanted to share some of Lincoln's message about Thanksgiving.  He said, "The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.  I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. "

As I read this I realized that sometimes I get too caught up in the excitement of having the kids home from school, eating yummy food, and getting ready for Christmas.  I need to remember the many blessings provided to me from a loving Father in Heaven.  

Pathway of Faith

For years I honestly didn't think I'd ever finish college because I couldn't find an affordable program that fit into my busy, stay at home mom schedule.  During a special fireside last year, BYU-Idaho's President (and our Area Authority), Elder Clark, spoke about the Pathway program. As I sat listening to him, I knew it was inspired and a perfect fit for me and my family.  Pathway was an answer to many, many prayers.

I thought the Pathway year would take forever, but it went by incredibly fast.  I'm immensely grateful for all that I've gained.  I met many wonderful people and learned so much about myself.  Last month I was accepted into BYU-Idaho.  I chose Business Management as my major, but after a lot of prayer and discussion with friends and family, that will change as soon as possible.  Currently there are not a ton of options for online students and I don't have time to go to campus.  What I want to study isn't on the list at all.  One thing Pathway taught me, though, is to have faith that the Lord will open doors and help me succeed.  So I have no doubt I'll be able to study what I want, eventually.  For now, I'm working on foundation classes and getting them out of the way.

Last week the kids and I went to campus so I could rent and purchase books for Fall Semester.  They thought the bookstore was nothing short of exciting and wanted a BYU-Idaho pencil for school.  William carried my books for me as we got lost toured campus (yes, I've trained him well), and we spent over an hour in the Ricks Gardens.  It was a perfect day and I'm grateful for such supportive kids.

Mother's Day 2013

I walked into my room one day and saw an orange evelope on my pillow with my name written on it.  Inside I found a colorful, smiley face card from my amazing husband.  Inside the card was my early Mother's Day gift- a sweet note and an all expense paid trip for 4 or 5 days to anywhere I wanted to go.  One of his friends (an old college roommate), Cory, did the same for his wife, DeeAnn.  DeeAnn and I have been joking with our husbands for a long time about sending us on a trip to make up for all the time they're away hunting and fishing.  I guess they got the hint :)

DeeAnn and I chose to go to LA and take a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico.  The cruise was relaxing and so much fun.  The best part of the ship was the serenity deck.  It's an area that tends to be quiet, because there are no kids allowed.  It also offered one of the best views of the ocean because it's on the end of the ship.  We loved laying out on the deck for some much needed R & R.  We took advantage of serenity's relaxing hot tubs each night after dinner.  We went to some shows and ate a ton of yummy food.  I splurged and bought a couple of virgin pina coladas.  They were worth every penny.  I crave them just thinking about it.

In Ensenada we went with a local tour guide to go horseback riding on the beach, visit La Bufadora (a marine geyser), and shop at Ensenada's flea market. The beach was beautiful! I loved watching the waves crash and the birds flying around.  As I was riding I kept looking down at all the seashells that had collected in the sand.  La Bufadora was quite impressive.  It's a huge geyser that explodes every few minutes.  It's a good thing I had my waterproof camera with me because the water went everywhere.  The flea market is right next to La Bufadora and we spent a lot of time sampling food and bartering with shopkeepers.  The food was to die for!  Everywhere we looked were samples of pina coladas, strawberry daquiries, and churros. Ensenada doesn't allow alcoholic beverages on their public streets, so everything was non-alcoholic.  We bought fresh fruit from a fruit stand and it was like I had never tasted fruit before.  We had mango, pineapple, watermelon and coconut- sprinkled with fresh lime juice and chili powder.  Ensenada is a colorful, lively city.  I definitely want to go there again someday.

When we got back to the port in Long Beach, I picked up our rental car and we headed to our hotel in Santa Monica.  It was a beautiful hotel on the beach.  The Santa Monica pier is lovely and the weather was perfect.  We went to Hollywood's Walk of Fame and had cupcakes at the Magnolia bakery.  Unfortunately we didn't put enough money into the parking meter, so I got my very first ticket.  On our last day we had breakfast on the hotel's patio, overlooking the ocean.  As I sat there in the cool ocean breeze, I was excited to get home, but sad to leave such a beautiful place.
It was an awesome trip and I'm so grateful for Jason giving me such an amazing Mother's Day gift.  Now I need to figure out what to give him for Father's Day.  He set the bar high this year!
                                           

 Some of my favorites:

Nursery and Germs

Anyone else have sick children for over a month?  For the past few years we have been so healthy and haven't been very sick at all.  Now all of a sudden we can't seem to avoid all the bugs going around.  I was contemplating all the sickness that's been going on in our house, trying to figure out what the heck is going on and I think I figured it out.  Owen is in nursery and it's as simple as that.  The reason why we avoided getting sick for a few years is because of the time between Rachel and Owen being in nursery.  I just want to have one week of full health.  No coughing, wheezing, or puking allowed. That's not going to be this week, as Matt has caught the nasty cough William had last week.  So right now I'm going out of my mind and I have to blame it on something.  For now it's the nursery.  Here's hoping for next week!

Reindeer Pancakes and Sugar Cookies

We had a great Christmas this year!  This was the first Christmas in years that we were able to have extended family visiting with us.  My mom, stepfather and stepbrother were all able to be here.  We had so much fun and the kids really loved having their grandparents and an uncle to play with.  On Christmas Eve the guys went skiing, while my mom, the kids and I stayed home making cookies for Santa, playing in the snow outside and getting ready for our big Christmas Eve dinner.  We were so happy to have a beautiful, white Christmas.

Here are some pages from our scrapbook...