Time to come out of hiding

I know it's been forever since I've posted. Life has just gotten away from me and honestly at some point I got so far behind, I just didn't have the energy to catch up. So with that being said, I'm not catching up. You'll just have to imagine the great summer we had, Laynie turning 2, Reed graduating, and all the other fun moments in between.
But just so this post is about something other than my lack of posting... here's our most recent news.



So yeah... sometime in May we will be expecting not one baby but two... we're delighted, excited, anxious, and terrified all at once. That's normal right?
We won't find out until after Christmas what the genders are but Nate is already pushing for two boys. I told him to just be grateful if we get one- like he originally prayed for. But he quickly amends his thoughts and says, "But I'll still love them even if their both girls." Phew.

Anyways, here's to hoping I post again before the twins are born. But don't hold your breath. :)

She is her Daddy's Daughter

You how sometimes life just needs a little more excitement? Well we got ours today. This afternoon, while I was cleaning the kitchen, Jocy was out playing on the swingset. All of a sudden I heard her screaming. And not your typical scream. My first thought when I heard the blood curtling scream was, "This is bad. She must have broken something," When she came running in holding her arm, my second thought was a brief prayer that it wouldn't be a compound fracture with any protruding bones. I just knew that if it was protruding, that Jocy wouldn't be the only one requiring medical attention. I cautiously examined her arm and was relieved that it looked fine. But even with resting, ice, tylenol, and popscicles she was still complaining and crying. Really it was the disinterest in the popsicles that confirmed the diagnosis for me. So off to the doctor's office we went. After taking x-rays, he confirmed that she had broken both bones in her lower arm, the raduis and the ulna, and would need a cast. As she was picking out her cast color, she was asking me questions about what was going to happen. I told her that I wasn't sure because I'd never had a cast. She looked at me and said, "I bet daddy has." Yeah... he has definately had a cast before. I think I'll wait to tell her how he once had one broken arm in a cast and the other arm in a sling with a dislocated shoulder. Both at the same time, caused by two seperate incidents....Yes I think that is a story for another day. Don't want to give her any ideas. :)

50th Birthday

So the greatest woman I've ever known turns 50 today. Can you believe it? She doesn't look 50. Whenever we are out shopping together, someone often comments on how we must be sisters. I'm not sure if that is a compliment to her or a dig to me. ;) But my mom really is the best. She understands me, she listens to me, she encourages me. She is a great example to me of sacrifice and service. She is a hands on, get down on the ground & play, make every outing exciting kind of grandma. My kids are lucky to have her and so am I. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Boston

A quick update. Reed is getting his MBA from Babson. It is a school located near Boston, MA. The school flies professors out here to POrtland once a month and the students attend classes all day Friday and all day Saturday. The rest of the classes are done via conference calls and the internet. Anyways, Reed graduates in September but like many other schools they only have one graduation so his class was invited to attend (30 of the 40 students in his class were there.) So long story short :) We both went to Boston in May.
Honestly, Boston wasn't on my list of places I HAD to see before I died. But I was SO AMAZED. I loved it. It was a beautiful city, rich in history, and traditions. We had great food and so much fun being together- just the two of us.
Here's a few quick pictures. I won't bore you with my entire travelog but if you haven't been to Boston you really should add it to your list of places to see.

Utah & a wedding

At the beginning of May, I drove with the girls (& Kevin & Aslyn) to Utah for my cousin's wedding. We had a great time. Whenever I go to Utah, I have my list of places I have to go to before I leave. I got my fill of Pebbles in my Pocket, (Reed calls it Rocks in my Socks) Robert's Craft, Rodworks, and Tai Pan. I also spent time with some of my favorite women ever. I love spending time with my grandma, aunts and cousins.














I also made my annual mecca to my alma mater. We left BYU seven years ago but I've managed to come back at least yearly. That's only because there are so many other things that bring me to Utah but it's always fun to visit and remember all the great times we had there.

















And what's a trip to BYU without the creamery? My kids gorged themselves on icecream and loved every minute of it.













P.S. This is MY 73 year old Grandpa playing chase with my girls for a good half hour? He's amazing.

Playing catch up

I'm not sure where time goes. Life just has been rushing by lately. So I'm playing a little catch up tonight and posting everything that happened in the last month. I really prefer to post as things are happening but that just couldn't happen last month. So I'm up to date and back on track. I'd like to say May will be different but I tend to "eat my words" alot. So I'm keeping my mouth closed. :)

Things I learn from my kids

A few weeks ago, I was folding clothes, and being the mean mom that I am, was making my kids fold their own clothes. It's something they are totally capable of doing. It has nothing to do with me disliking it. (actually truth be told, I like folding. I despise putting away though. So I never want to fold because I know what the next step is.)

Anyways, Nate starts to grumble about how hard his life is, about how miserable it is. Me-- being the mature parent that I am-- scoffed and said, "Buddy this is not hard. You have no idea what hard is and if you want to continue whining I can show you how hard it can be."

Fast forward a few weeks, to a particularly hard day when I am feeling particularly sorry for myself and the trials I face. I had skyped my dad-- knowing that if anyone could tell me how it is and help me count my blessings, it was probably him. And he did. He told me how it was and reminded me I had a MILLION things to be thankful for and the things I was facing down really weren't the mountains I had made them out to be. But the surprise lesson in all of this came from my son, Nate, who I didn't realize was listening to me wallow in self pity. Nate from the hallway said, "How come I'm not allowed to complain about how hard my life is but you can?"

Touche'

And really he's right. And what's more, I started thinking of my conversation with him a few weeks prior. I thought of it, in context of me and my Heavenly Father. I'm sure at times when I'm whining He really just wants to say, "Really, this is all you can take?" But instead He is patient with me and gives me hope that things will get better and strength to find joy in the present. I really believe by the time Nate is grown and on his own, I will have learned more from him than he could ever learn from me.