Memorial Day

I've had this huge desire to go a beach lately, which seems funny to me. After living on 4 different islands in my adult life, I've had my fill of  beaches. However, my kids have not. After talking to Ardene and the Allens we found a great beach alternative just 35 minutes away...Ceasar Creek State Park.  We had a wonderful time! The kids played and played and played and I tried my best to soak up the sun and engage in relaxing conversation with the Daems and Allens.

The sand wasn't white and the water wasn't blue, but it was a beach non the less and it was just what we needed.

our sun bathing beauty.

For those who know me, know how this picture makes me cringe! Yes, I did let my kids cover themselves with dirt/sand. I was cringing the whole time. Fortunately it didn't last long and they were back in the water.

What a fun day! We will most definitely be back.

Pre-school

 This year for Halle's first year of pre-school, I was invited to join a co-op with other mom's from Church. There were seven kids and seven moms. It was fabulous being able to rotate homes every week. It meant I only had to teach one week out of seven. The kids were all darling and couldn't have gotten along better. It was a wonderful experience for myself and Halle. I was surprised how much she learned. Each mom did a fantastic job with her lessons. I was very impressed with the creativity of these great ladies.

The last day we all went to the Wilson's and had a little party. My daycare kids thought it was great because they were able to join in on the fun that day.

This Cute Boy

Just turned 7!

All Hayden wanted to do was have a bunch of buddies over to play football and eat pizza.

 No action shots of football. I was busy trying to keep competitive boys from fighting over their own made up rules. Who would have thought 7 year olds were so competitive?!

We are super blessed to have Hayden as part of our family. He is very loving, kind, smiley, smart,  helpful, and tries very hard to make good choices. We are very proud of him.

Good People Make Good Friends

Yesterday was my birthday. 36 years old. I'm in my upper thirties now. How is that possible? It was fun to get phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and Facebook messages through out the day. I most certainly felt loved!

As I was reading all the different messages I realized that through out my entire life I have been blessed to be around good people and have good friends. I have never been tempted to do something the would compromise my standards or make me feel uncomfortable. I have never been in a situation or done something I wouldn't tell my parents about. Not because I am some super strong person, but because my friends have always been better than I am.

It was fun yesterday to think of all these friends and what they have taught me.  They have taught me to dance, play, be silly, be brave, study, love country music, cook, bake, be a good mommy, sew, quilt, be patient, love unconditionally, serve, and a million other things. They became my family while I was away from my own.  I have a piece of each of them in me and I really think I am better because of them.

I have lived all over the place and the Lord has ALWAYS surrounded me with wonderful people to help me, love me, show me the way, and be my friend when I needed them most.

For the past 12 years I have been blessed to have Aaron by my side. He brings out the best in me. He inspires me to be better and do better, to be stronger, and to do hard things. He strengthens me when I think I can't do anymore. The Lord loves me and that's why He gave me Aaron and all my other wonderful friends.

Thank you friends! Love to all.

For our BYU fan

 When we moved here Hayden asked for a BYU room. Last year for his birthday he got all kinds of fun BYU decor for his new room. He loved it, but he said he needed a BYU blanket for his bed. I've been working on this for a few months now (in all the spare time I have). Now his room is complete.

Do Hard Things

I've said many times before that I hate exercising. There are 50 other things that always need to get done or I would rather be doing. I started off the year pretty good with the elliptical, but then I fell off the bandwagon for a while...typical for me.

About a month ago my dear friend posted her struggles with weight and how she needed to make some changes. I thought this would be the perfect chance to help each other.  As a result we committed to report our exercising each night via text. It would be so much more fun just to do it together, but a few states separate us. What we both need is to be held accountable. We have been faithful at exercising 5 days a week. I am proud of my friend. She is working on overcoming big obstacles, and she is doing it! Weight loss is happening for her and I couldn't be happier.

I'm not in it for weight loss, I'm in it to be healthy and stronger and conquer a huge weakness. When we started, it's sad to say that I couldn't run a half mile. I'm not sure if it was a physical limitation or mental...just didn't care to do it so I couldn't/didn't. Last night I ran 1.5 miles without stopping. One very small step for most people, but a huge feat for me!

There is a book our Stake has all the Youth Leaders read. It’s called “Do Hard Things”. It is written by teens, for teens. The idea is that teens need to rebel against the low expectations that society has set for them physically, spiritually, and mentally.  When given higher expectations they rise above the norm and become extraordinary people. “Doing hard things is how we build character and competence. It won't drop to meet the low expectations, it won't just do what is easy, and it won't become complacent. It applies no matter who you are or what level you're on, because there's always something harder to do, something that will take you outside your comfort zone and cause you to grow.”

I'm trying to do more hard things. I'm working on learning to like to sweat. I don't like it yet, but I do like the feeling I had last night after I ran. I felt like I did something big, even if it was only a mile and a half. I will keep working. I have a goal to run a 5k this summer with Isaac. He will leave me in the dust, but that's okay as long as I keep running.  Hard is good. It stretches us and makes us better.

Day 4: Air Force Museum

Day 4 we headed up to Dayton to the Air Force Museum. We loved seeing all different planes. They had some of the very first ones, some crazy spy ones, and the several old Air Force Ones. Very cool place to go.

Aaron and Halle in front of one of the first ambulances

this was one of the cool spy planes.
apologies to my Air Force friends, I can not remember the name of this awesome plane.

This is Bockscar. It went back and forth between Japan and Salt Lake City during WWII.



Nana and Papa in front of an Air Force One

The Worlds very first airport, it is a huge open field where the Wright Bros. would take off and land.