Merry Christmas!!

I just thought I'd tell everyone Merry Christmas with this adorable picture I snagged of Rachael this morning in her adorable Christmas jammies my mom made for her. How cute is she in her "wee little bonnet?" (Thanks for the phrase, Britni!) Hope everyone had a great Christmas and you continue to enjoy the rest of the season!!

Bowling

Nate and I had another free two nights stay in Mesquite, NV, but this time no babysitter was available so Rachael got to (had to?) tag along. As stated in the previous Mesquite post, there is not much to do in the city. We went to McDonald's a few times so Rachael could frolic in the playplace while we ate $1 sundaes, but we also took her bowling for the first time. She was really excited to hold one of the huge balls and she lasted a good five frames, taking turns very nicely. In the end, she even got more points than me! (I will say though, that with the last few frames of me and Nate bowling for her, her score was significantly increased) and Nate spanked us both, surprise surprise. I don't know when we'll take her again, but it was a fun new experience!

I don't know where my camera is (huge problem considering we leave for Rexburg for Christmas tomorrow!!) but I managed to snag this adorable picture with my phone. She would "assist" daddy in throwing the ball, then pop a squat right there and watch it roll. Pretty cute!

I was more or less obsessed with our matching shoes. I guess this was a good time for Rachael to have huge feet because they happened to have her size. Well... they were slightly larger, but not too bad.

Post

This is just a short post because I'm assuming my gramsicle is chomping at the bit waiting for a picture of her beautiful great-granddaughter. Well Grams, here you go. My mom snagged this picture with her phone a few weeks ago and I personally love it. It should be in a magazine or something. I don't know when I'll be posting for the next week at least, then the holidays come and life gets crazy. I'm heading to Vegas with my sister to visit our cousins for a few days, and since Nate is done with his semester I'm leaving the babe with him. :) Love you, Nate! Then Nate and I are going to do another two free nights in Mesquite, but Rachael will probably be coming with us because she's had some sleep issues lately, and we don't want to thrust that upon anyone else. Then, next Thursday we are saying bye-bye to So. Utah and hello No. Utah for Nate's cousin, Makenna's, wedding. Then, next Saturday, Nate's little brother, Jordan gets home from his mission in Leon, Mexico. Weird! I can't believe its been two years!! I'm excited for the next couple of weeks, it is a much needed break from the boredom. I'll see you when I see you!!

Mary

Today in Relief Society our lesson was on Mary. It was a really good lesson, and I learned a lot of things I didn't know before. I felt the Spirit really strong and just wanted to share some of the feelings I had, and have been having all season long.
Ever since I was a little girl, the song "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant (and only Amy Grant, in my book) has been a favorite all time Christmas song, and since I've become a mother, even more so. I love thinking about how Mary was feeling, how scared she was, all the responsibility placed on her shoulders to raise the Son of God. "Breath of Heaven, hold me together... lighten my darkness... pour over me Your Holiness."
Another song that I LOVE is "Mary Did You Know?" (my choice? Clay Aiken, weird, I know). My favorite line of that song is, "When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God." When I kiss my little baby, I'm still kissing a child of God, my daughter of God that I have the responsibility to raise. Just as Jesus Christ had His mission on Earth (saving every person to ever live and giving them Eternal Life), my own little daughter has her own mission in life, and it is my calling and responsibility to help her find that.
I like to think of Mary as a person, not as a Saint as some Religions have made her (not that I think that she was under qualified to become a Saint, I just don't personally worship or pray to her). I like (is that weird?) to think of her going out of her mind with her crazy children in their crazy toddler years, because I don't believe that the toddler Jesus just sat around, I think he had a personality and liked to play and be (innocently) mischievous, just like my toddler. I like to think of Mary going out of her mind with worry when she couldn't find Jesus on their way out of the city because He was teaching in the temple. You may recall my own panic mode when I lost Rachael in Wal-Mart and my desire to punish her, I bet Mary, as a mother, wanted to punish Him, but obviously He told her that He had been teaching His Father's words.
I hope you take the time to listen to this song, especially if you haven't ever heard it before. I could take every single line in this song and apply it to my life, but I won't, you'd probably get bored. It makes you think of Mary as a person, which is what she was. Just an imperfect mother with a high calling, but she knew the importance of that.


(I just watched the video, its kinda weird, so just listen to the words.)

Christmas Decorating!

Our Christmas decorations are going to be very minimal this year. With our big move to NYC next year, we're trying to sell all of our Christmas decorations before Christmas. How is that going? Not so good, so if you or anyone you know needs some cute but cheap Christmas decor, let me know. But I couldn't let this season pass by without some decorating!
Our tree this year (first time we haven't had a real one) is a loaner from my sister, about 4 feet tall, and is decorated with the decorations we got our first Christmas from the Dollar Store. I actually love these few tiny decorations and have decided not to sell them.

I got a little crafty today! My sister-in-law, Laura, gave me this idea at Halloween to use candy corn, but I neglected my creativity until now. I just used tulle and peppermints on a dollar store Styrofoam wreath. I am obsessed with the way it turned out, and it only took me like 20 minutes! (Minus, the unwrapping of the candies) I just wrapped a long piece of red tulle around the wreath, hot glued the candies on, whipped up a tulle pouf, and tied some more tulle for the bow. UBER cute! And good thing its out of Rachael's reach, she wants to "L, L, L lick" these candies!

MERRY CHRISTMAS SEASON!!

Adam.

I'm finally going to post about this. Rewind the last few posts and insert this one after our picnic in the mountains.
We came down the mountain and went to Wal-Mart for some supplies. Well it was a pretty crazy day at Wally World, crazier than usual, and Rachael was stuck in the cart. We went to the back annex of the store to meander through the Christmas stuff. We figured it was more or less closed off so we let her out to run around, of course keeping a watchful eye out. Then, she bolted. "Nate," I said, "Go grab her please." So off he goes, and 20 seconds later comes back empty handed. "Where did she go?" "I don't know." So we each go our separate ways, in panic mode. I go to the fishy section where we had spent about 20 minutes, Nate went to the toys. After about one minute of looking, I truck it up to the customer service desk, cut in line, and tell them I can't find my daughter. They asked me to describe her. "Two years old, curly hair, black shirt, purple pants." One the intercom comes the announcement, "Attention Wal-Mart associates, we have a Code Adam." Then goes on to describe Rachael. Nate said that as soon as the announcement was made all employees he could see immediately stopped what they were doing and started looking around. About a minute and a half later, some sweet angel wearing a blue shirt brought my little stink bug back to me, still clutching her huge roll of Thomas the Train wrapping paper. She had been hiding in the Men's clothing racks. UGH!! I kid you not, people, she literally bolted across the store in a matter of 20 seconds. I was so scared I had a break down as we walked to find Nate.
Afterwards, as we're driving home, Nate brought up a few thoughts he was having. "I wish she was older so we could punish her." Haha, me too honey, never the less, she is only two and thought we were playing a game. "What if that had been the last time we'd ever seen her?" SO SAD!! But really, to be honest, if I HAD to choose a time, that would be pretty close to my last perfect day with her. A beautiful picnic in the mountains, and then she was pretty dang cute looking at the fish in Wal-Mart. "Shishie!" Obviously I'm glad to have her back, but we'll definitely be leaving her in the cart or on her puppy leash from now on.

Interesting things on Code Adam we learned after we got home:

1. Named for the son of the America's Most Wanted host who was kidnapped
2. Started by Wal-Mart
3. If a child is returned by anyone other than a store employee the police need to be called (so if you ever hear a Code Adam and see the child, maybe don't take him/her up, find an employee. I don't know how strict they are on it...)
4. The exits need to be sealed until the child is found or for ten minutes, then the police are called and Code Adam is lifted (I don't know if they sealed the exits in our case, it would have been interesting to see)

Thankful for Code Adam and thankful to have my princess back!!

Picture taken on Sunday while playing dress up

HARRY!!

We're off! Nate and I are going to sit outside of the crazy theatre for four hours and hope hope hope to get good-ish seats! I'M SO STINKING EXCITED!! I always get like this before an HP premier, because I feel like I've already seen the new movie, cuz I've seen the others so many times and read the books, but then I realise that this is going to be a completely new experience and I can hardly contain myself. I'm not looking at this movie as the beginning of the end like some people, I'm just looking at it as another experience for me to get the chills when I hear the, "dum, dum, dah dum dum, dum duuum dum" as the smokes makes the WB sign appear and the magic BEGINS!!!

(This is all a joke, I don't really like Harry Potter.)
(That was a complete and utter LIE!)

UGH! school...

I am so sick of school and I'm not even the one in school!! I know, I know... it will be worth it in the end yadda yadda yadda. Of course I'm glad I have a hard working husband who realizes the importance of getting education, even taking it a step further and getting a double masters, but I'm DONE! We've never not known being students. Dating: students, newlyweds: students, newly parents: students, 3.5 years marriage: students. Gaaah!! We're so close to the end and I still feel like these last two semesters are going to go on forever! And please don't tell me I'll miss them when they're gone, cuz I know I will, but really, you can say that about every situation in life. It was hard having a newborn, of course I miss it, it is really hard having a tantrum throwing toddler, and apparently I'm going to miss these days too, but sometimes I just get so sick of hearing the "you'll miss it" speech. Life moves on, that is part of the reason we're here, progression. I'm so excited for what life has in store for us, in NYC, in Timbuktu, wherever we go, I just want to go there and stop having to scrimp and stress and resent my husband for not helping more with the baby because he's sitting on the computer. Do NOT get me wrong, he is not sitting there playing around, he's doing his work, and doing amazing at it, I'm just sick of life standing in one spot. I'm also not so naive as to think that once he's not constantly doing school work and has a career that he'll be around more to relive my maternal duties, he's an accountant, and they're busy, and they have deadlines. But he'll (hopefully) have most Saturdays and Sundays to not stress about taking two two hour long tests before midnight because they just opened up yesterday. He'll have time to just be with us. Ugh. Maybe all of this is just overwhelming me right now because I'm currently babysitting my three nephews while my brother and his wife are in San Fran and I'm so tired because four is definitely more than one, and its only been 4 days, but Nate had school school school, so I had kids kids kids. I'm going to bed, this felt good.

Picnic in the Forest

(Love this shot!!)

This last Friday we went for a picnic to Dixie National Forest. I love being in Cedar because beautiful nature is SO close to us, we only had to drive 15 minutes! We're trying to live it up with the wonderful weather before we're snowed in for the winter. Boo. We were the only ones at the picnic area, swung on the swings, climbed the giant tire, went for a stroll, and threw pebbles in the lake. It was so nice to just let Rachael be free and explore, even get a little dirty. I snapped a few cute shots which I'm excited about! Come visit us and we'll take you on a picnic!! Something rather "exciting" happened after we left the picnic, but that's another blog post...

(In my un-biased opinion, she's the cutest kid on the planet!!)

(Love this smile!)

(Since there was no one around, we had to put the timer on the camera, this it what it gave us. Could have been worse...)

(Pics of the kid and her parental units)

Halloween through the years

I thought it would be fun to post some pictures from past Halloweens. I can't believe Rachael has had THREE already!! Enjoy, we sure did!

Halloween 2006 (don't worry, we won cutest couple at our ward party)

Halloween 2007
(2007, me in beauty school)

Halloween 2008 (Rachael's first)

Halloween 2009

Halloween 1987

Halloween 1991 (?)

Halloween 1987/88

Halloween!!

Here is my little Minnie Mouse! Fun story about this costume, it was one of my dance costumes when I was 5, we just had to take the hem up a little bit and throw a tutu underneath it. I made the ears and pinned on the sleeves. Isn't she THE cutest Minnie Mouse who has ever graced this planet with her presence? I think so too.

This year we went to St. George so Rachael could go Trick-Or-Treating with her cousins. Thursday night there was a party at Jace, Owen, and Liam's house which Rachael loved!! My Brother cleared out their bedroom, hung black plastic on the walls, put up a black light, and blasted kids Halloween music. So fun!

Rachael loved hitting the pinata, especially when it exploded with candy.

My sister works at a Pre-School and Rachael got to go to their Halloween party with her cousin Owen on Friday. They were pretty cute walking up and down the street getting candy from the old people :)

Classic.
Here is the whole gang in action!
Rachael and Liam, so cute.
Excited about candy!!

It will be interesting to see how Trick-Or-Treating is done next year when we're in NYC! Crazy.

Glare

Our favorite thing to do with Rachael while she's sitting in her high chair. She won't do it unless everyone in the room is doing it with her. Glare and look down, then smile and look up. Pretty funny, if you ask us :)

I'd Pick More Daisies

I'm the 4th Sunday Relief Society teacher in my ward and this week the topic was on Temple work and Family History. I borrowed this huge binder my Grandma Hancock compiled with stories of my Great Grandparents and I found this little poem written by Robert Douglas Rechner read at my great-great-grandma Strate's funeral, and I just thought I'd share.

I'd Pick More Daisies

If I had my life to live over again, I'd try to make more mistakes next time.
I would relax. I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I know of very few things I would take seriously.
I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers and watch more sunsets.
I would do more walking and looking.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I am one of those people who live prophylactically* and sensibly, and sanely, hour after hour, day after day.
Oh, I've had my moments and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day.
I have been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute.
If I had to do over again, I would go places, do things and travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.
I would play hookey more.
I would ride on more merry-go-rounds.
I'd pick more daisies.

*To sum up a definition, prophylactic means cautiously, more or less... so he is one who lives cautiously...

Have a good week and pick more daisies!!

High Chair Fun

I've been on the lookout for fun activities that last more than 10 minutes to prepare me for the winter. And if they keep her in her high chair, even better. So far I've found two. The first one is play dough. I made this recipe about a month ago and she never really wanted anything to do with it. Then the other day I plopped her in while I was making dinner and she literally stayed in there for nearly an hour. Sweet! Clean up isn't too bad, we just need to be careful to not step on any of it.
Second, water colors. Today we tried it because a bunch of businesses in Cedar are having a Halloween Coloring Contest, and since Rachael LOVES to color, I figured this was right up her alley. I wanted to make her drawings stand out a bit more, so we went for water color paints instead of the usual crayons. She loved it, and she's going to win some awesome prizes! Obviously, clean up was not so easy and she needed a tub to rid herself of her artwork... but I think this can be a weekly occurrence.

Next attempt (wish me luck), is a big bucket of rice. I think it will be a hit, but clean up will be not so fun... maybe I'll set her on a tarp and just brush the remnants back into the bucket. I'm waiting until we're literally trapped inside to do this one.

Go COUGS!!

Last week Nate's older sister, Melissa, called and asked us if we wanted to go to a BYU game against SDSU on Saturday. Well of COURSE we wanted to go! Our only issue was the kid. She would not be attending any sort of sporting event due to the fact that one of us wouldn't end up watching the game. My lovely parents came to the rescue (again!) and took her for the weekend. It was weird being in our apartment without her for two nights... We left early Saturday morning and I was SO happy I got to go to the baby shower of one of my oldest and best friends (Congrats, Kris!!) while Nate, Melissa, and her boyfriend Shaun (who is a Grad Assistant coach who has played for the NFL) went to the Locker Room, Trophy Room, weight room, practice field, and football offices. Nate thoroughly enjoyed that. BYU hasn't had the best season, in fact, this was the first game they won, and I'm totally taking all of the credit for it because we attended the game. You're welcome. After the game we were both pooped but had to drive home. Nate drove to Nephi and asked me to drive the next three hours. I told him I would but I had to have my music loud. And it was loud. And I was singing my guts out. But I didn't fall asleep and we didn't die :) Sunday was Stake Conference and it was nice to not have to chase Rachael around that too. Thanks SO much for the fun weekend, Melissa and Shaun! Also moms and pops for helping out!!

Favorite Word

She's two. Can you guess what the word is?

Try and notice her lips at the end. Lately she's been poking them out when she's mad (or fake mad) and I have to tell her, "Put your lips away." Its one of those things that is so annoying but I still have to hide my smile every time she does it.

This weekend : )

This weekend is going to be so much fun!! Nate's older sister, Melissa, got us some tickets to the BYU game and we're stoked to be going! I'm even more stoked because I get to go to a really good friend's baby shower! (And Michele, if you're reading this, this is my RSVP. And I'll also call you when I get home and find your number) Yes, it is gonna be a good day. The only problem? No babysitter. So I may not end up going to the game because if Rachael has to go it will be like I didn't even go at all because I'll just be chasing her the entire time. Being a parent sure can complicate things... Any volunteers in the Provo area?

Something to do...

I am constantly on the look out for things for Rachael to do during the day that will just keep her busy. My sister works at a Pre-School, so I asked her if she had any fun ideas. She did, and she would tell me about how she would do them with our nephews, ages 7, almost 4, and 2. She would say, "The boys LOVED it," and I'd ask, "Did Liam (the two year old) like/do it?" Her response? "No." Bummer, I guess its just the tough age where attention spans are non existent (except watching a movie) and they just like to follow mom all day saying, "Mom... Mom... Mom... MOM!!" "What??" (She holds up a spatula) "Wow." Yes, that is my world currently, lol. So, in the hopes of finding a suitable creative activity (and to satiate her love of coloring), I have been wanting to make her a chalkboard out of a plain, old, ugly piece of wood and some chalkboard paint. Well... what did my wonderful sister find at the D.I.? Some amazing old cabinet doors for $3 each!! So, blessed woman that she is, bought me one (or should I say bought Rachael one) and even let me use some of her chalkboard paint. Now I have an uber cute chalkboard for my little scribbler to use. She loves it, but I've taken it away for a couple of days to some of its novelty comes back. I usually do that with all of her toys, keep them in separate bins and only take one bin out each day. (Although the other day she was really driving me crazy so I literally took out every single toy she has, along with all of her books, and put them all on the floor of her room. Two minutes later, what does she come to show me? All of the wipes she pulled out of the container. Of course.) So, here's to imagination filled activities! (and please feel free to share any genius ideas you might have!!)

babyshower4jess

So this last Saturday the 25th, my friend, Marissa, and I threw our friend, Jessica, a baby shower. Jess is due on Halloween, which is also the daddy's birthday. So cute! We themed the Shower around Baby Roslyn's UBER cute nursery (see it here and try really hard to not be jealous. I can't help it. I'm pea green with envy.) which is brown and pink and onesies. I was (mostly) in charge of decor, and Rissa was (mostly) in charge of food. Riss made some UH-MAZING chicken salad for the croissants (seriously, the best I've ever, EVER had) and some de-freaking-lectable strawberry frosting for the cupcakes. I got the inspiration for the ruffle decor here and it turned out so cute! The rose-ball was also a tutorial, only I don't remember where I got it from... Both projects turned out so cute, but they took such a long time!! I'm glad I did them because they made the shower that much cuter, but I will not be doing them again until I have a room to decorate. I plan on selling these decorations for 5-10 bucks on Craigslist to pay for the crepe paper because there isn't anything I can do with them... Oh well, they were really cute! Congrats Jess and Jerem, I am SO excited to meet baby Roslyn!!!!

Double Conundrum...

I'm currently struggling with two dilemmas.
1) Rachael is in that awkward stage between taking a nap but staying up later, or staying up all day (with sporadic bouts of Narcolepsy from the 6-8 p.m. hours) but going to bed like a princess at 8:30 and sleeping until 8. I do love my ME time during the day that I get to spend cleaning or crafting or reading (sleeping? yes.), but I do also love time with just me and Nate in the evenings, to watch a movie or play a rousing game of Yahtzee. Hmmm...2) This may have had something to do with Rachael's lack-of-nap yesterday, but I didn't spend my day fretting over tiny little messes and picking up her toys as the day progressed and I really did enjoy my day, built a few forts, scribbled on the chalkboard, it was a lot more relaxing. However, at the end of the day, the apartment was a mess. Not a disaster, a mess, and I was too tired/lazy to tidy it up (hey, playing all day with a crazy two year old wears you out). Hence, when I woke up this morning, the Cleaning Fairy skipped my home (again!) and it was still a mess.

I just don't know what to do!!

Strange Child...

This is a picture of dinner the other night. Spaghetti Pie and broccoli (and juice). Which bowl is empty? Yep, the broccoli bowl. Rachael. Loves. Vegetables. A lot. Seriously, this kid is a veggie eater like no other. If she had her way, she'd eat broccoli and green peppers ALL DAY LONG. The other night I made chicken caeser salad wrapped in a home made pita bread wrap. Delicious right? Right, its my new favorite (I love anything caeser salad). Rachael ate all of the lettuce. Not the cheese, not the chicken, not even the delicious wrap. Just the lettuce. Tonight I made AMAZING sweet and spicy pork tacos. Rachael picked out all of the iceberg lettuce, ate a few slices of green peppers, and was done. No pork, no cheese, no tortilla. And she finished off her meal with a nice heap of... iceberg lettuce, plain (and some green grapes, what's with the green??). Seriously weird. Not bad, and I'm not complaining, just weird.

(On a side note, Nate and I both hate tomatoes (we've tried them, we just can't do it.) but we want our children to like them because they're so good for you. Rachael wants nothing to do with them. I also hate, hate, hate beans (except for green beans and jelly beans). This nutritionist we went to told me to try a bean dip for Rachael so she could get iron and protein and stuff. I only gagged twice while I was making it (seriously) and Rachael put the chip and dip in her mouth, gagged, and pulled it out. No bueno. She really is my child, as Nate keeps reminding me.)

Amazing Luck!!

So we were all out shopping today, grocery shopping to be more specific, and we had 2/4 stores done (yes, we hit up all three grocery stores PLUS Wal-Mart to get all the sales, we're starving students, sometimes literally) and were about to walk out of "Fresh Market" when over the intercom comes the announcement, "Attention customers, this is just a reminder that we will be having our nightly drawing of a $100 gift card in about 20 minutes, so put your name in the box on aisle three!" Well, Nate and I can't turn down a chance to win $100, so he put our names in (triple folded our papers so they would be easier to grab) while Rachael and I went on a stroll for 15 minutes. We came back (after I said a few little prayers, we could really use that money) and what do you know... they didn't call our names. Ah well, what can you do... JUST KIDDING!! They totally called my name! I was (needless to say...) PSYCHED!! So I did a little jig up to the register, showed my driver's license, received my card, had my picture taken (I almost gave the card back when they told me about this part) and let my little princess pick out a treat. (Well... daddy helped her pick a "clean" treat, Skittles) I'm still loving my luck today!

Here is Rachael enjoying her good luck! (She didn't finish the whole pack, in fact, she put about 1/4 of it into her mouth, sucked it into a big ball, then put it in my hand. Motherhood is full of little joys like that)

Why We Love Children

My grandma sent me this e-mail, and I thought it was funny so I'm sharing my little chuckle with you. I don't know if kids really said these things, but they're so funny!I'm excited for when Rachael says silly, innocent things like this.

NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'

KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'

MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'

POLICE # 1
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right ,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'

POLICE # 2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, 'What'd he do?'

ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'

DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Father, and unto the Son, and into the hole he goes.'

SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school.. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'

BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out.
'What have you got there, dear?'
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam's underwear!'

Its Like Ridin' a Bike

So I have been searching the entire planet (or Rexburg/Cedar City) for a used toddler bike seat for cheap. And I found one, for FREE!! Yep, on freecycle.org, I have been given the bike seat AND a beautiful lamp for free. Amazing. Well the reason for the bike seat is that Nate typically takes the car all day (which is good for me because I usually spend money if I take the car) and there isn't much goin' on this side of town because Rachael refuses to play at the playground at our complex (because of the sand, she is not a fan) and we just need OUT! So the last two days we've had some little excursions, you know, going to the Elementary School playground after hours, hittin' up Arctic Circle for a 60 cent cone, those fun things. Rachael loves it and even loves her helmet, and she looks super cute in it! Much to my dismay, however, going up hill is killer on my poor legs, especially with the 31 pound child on the back. Ugh. But its good for me, right? Right? Right. And its good for Rachael to get outside. Here's to more happy pedaling!!

She was complaining about the shoes, not the helmet, contrary to her body language.

I love this classic Rachael face

I can do hard things

A friend shared this blog with me and I was literally bawling as I was reading their story. Find their blog here, and be prepared to cry. (The link is only the most recent on Preslee, read the older posts, or try to scroll to the beginning)
Their story is about their little girl, Preslee, who fell into a canal in Rigby, ID, about 10 minutes away from Rexburg. She was life flighted to Idaho Falls, and then to Primary Children's. Preslee was about the same age as Rachael, which is why this story hit so close to home. As I was reading this, my own sweet little girl was over in the family room crying for something, and at first I started to get annoyed, but then I remembered what I was reading. I stopped, went to help her, then brought her to the computer with me where she was doodling on my lap. As I was bawling, my sweet little angel would gently caress my face or give me a little kiss, which made me cry harder. I cannot imagine what this mother is going through. I hope and pray that I will never have to go through something like this, because in this case, I don't think I could do the hard thing. I would break. My little princess is my entire world (not saying Preslee wasn't to her mother). This story has given me a new outlook on motherhood. It will always be hard, but I would rather do it than not.
(Even though I say I couldn't do it, deep down I know I could. Because of the Gospel and because of Jesus Christ, but I don't ever want to find out if I can or cannot)

Camping!

Camping this weekend was tons of fun! We got up to my parent's trailer on Friday afternoon, and long story short, my parents had left their trailer in a sweet spot (totally allowed) and some bums came and parked THEIR trailers and four wheelers all around it. So annoying. Anyways, my brother came up and found a spot and we all set up camp. Nate, Rachael, and I stayed Friday night and Sunday night but not Saturday cuz Nate had homework to do, lameo. It was nice to get a break and a bath though :)

Here is my cute hubby settin' up the tent. My dad was shocked when he found out we didn't even have an air mattress to sleep on. Yeah, we roughed it. It was Nate's first time camping this summer so he had fun starting fires w/OUT matches, reading, and going on the four wheelers.

On Saturday we went to Bryce Canyon, so beautiful!

Rachael and Liam. About 30 seconds after this was taken Rachael was on the other side of this barricade. Ugh! The stinker. She literally doesn't stay still for more than 10 seconds.

We also went on a spur of the moment 1.3 mile hike. Our little family had half a bottle of powerade, Shane and Laura had one bottle of water, the Morgan's had a big bottle of water, and my poor parents had didilly squat. Good thing I had some gum to share :) Nate went temporarily insane and had Rachael on his shoulders the whole time, and even practically ran the whole way out. No thank you, I walked and almost died.

Then we got some ice cream with Curt and Mel's family. This is Rachael rubbing her belly saying, "Mmmm!!"

Back at camp, Rachael and Liam had a sand throwing war. Her tub that night was seriously dark brown when she was through. The next day my sister in law, Laura, told me Liam started playing in the sand and she told him not to throw it and he said, "Yeah, no no, Rachael, no dump," because she literally was dumping buckets of sand on his head. Poor Liam was still camping and didn't get a bath, just a hose down :)

This was the only shot I could get of her filth, and it doesn't even do it justice.

It was a great weekend, and it is SO much nicer camping with Nate, especially when Rachael wouldn't stop crying for like 30 minutes last night and I could ask him to get me stuff. What an adventure :)