Merry Christmas

Wishing you and yours all the joy and happiness that this wonderous day has to offer as you celebrate the birth and the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sneak a Peak

I admit... I'm one of those people who just can't wait. If there's a way for me to sneak a peak at a gift and discover what it is- I'll find it. It's kinda a two edged sword though because I LOVE surprises and my curiousity just ruins the surprise by peaking! Back to the point, because of some health issues- I have had quite a few ultrasounds in the last few weeks. And just a few days ago, when I was almost 17 weeks, the ultrasound confirmed the gender of our babies. The tech said because she was completely POSITIVE she would write it in the charts. So we were able to sneak a peak almost a full month early. We're delighted to announce we are expecting:

















(I am really tempted to buy these shirts for the babies at www.trendsintwos.com Aren't they adorable?)


We are so delighted! Nate is the most ecstatic out of all of us because he can hardly believe he is really getting a brother. As we were doing the ultrasound, we could see Baby B (the girl) was poking her finger at Baby A (the boy). We took it as a sign of things to come!

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.

Tulips at the Temple

We have been enjoying the most phenomenal weather. We couldn't pass up taking the kids to the Portland temple to see all the beautiful tulips in bloom. Tulips are my favorite and the ones at the temple were GORGEOUS! We had a great afternoon.

60th Birthday Party

Reed's dad turned 60 last weekend. Reed's mom threw a surprise party for him that was a huge hit. The weather was PERFECT- high 70's in oregon in APRIL!!! Doesn't get better than that. Everyone brought memories or sent them ahead of time and then I put them together in a memory book for him. It was a great day celebrating a great man. I feel really lucky to have him as a father-in-law.

Happy Easter

Here are my attempts at getting one decent photo of three lovely children.














Nope.














Nada.














Not a chance.














As good as it's gonna get.

Spring Break

We spent Spring Break in Coeur de Laine, ID with some of our favorite people in the world- the Roth family. One of the days we went to a indoor water park and had the BEST time.













Jocy loved the waterslides!














How could you not love this girl?














Nate and his supercool goggles!

Every time Laynie sees the camera, she makes this face and says 'CHEESE." Gotta love her!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picutre. Ben is only a few months older than Laynie. He is the most stoic child I have ever met. It took me months of him coming over to convince him he liked me. About that time, the Roth's moved! But I love this picture because Laynie's all delighted that Ben has his arm around her and Ben's looking down like he's just a tad uncomfortable with the situation but doesn't know how to disengage. I feel like I could take the picture 15 years from now and have it look exactly the same. :)

Nate's Birthday

It is hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that my Nate is seven. Here are seven things I adore about him.

1. He is adventuresome -willing to try anything.


2. He still thinks his mom and dad are "cool" and loves to be with us.


3. He has a tender heart and is concerned for others.


4. He is creative and artistic and loves to draw.


5. He is a great big brother and loves to help with his sisters.


6. He has a strong desire to do what is right.


7. He LOVES all sports and it is so fun to watch him excel.


8. He loves to laugh and his contagious laugh makes the rest of us giggle.

Bursting that Bubble

So this weekend Nate attended the "It's great to be 8" fireside for all the kids who will turn 8 in the next 12 months. He actually doesn't turn 7 for another week and a half but being in Primary affords me a little wiggle room. I just really want him to be excited and prepared for this special event. Anyways, one of the dad's was giving a talk on Baptism and was reading from the New Testament the story of Jesus' baptism. He read this scripture:

Matthew 3:13-14"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be a baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"

The speaker then asked what John meant by this. Nate raised his hand and very adult like said, "He didn't understand why Jesus needed to be baptized because Jesus was perfect." Ok so honestly at that moment my heart swelled with pride that my son so completely understood this story. I was feeling pretty pleased with him and naturally my stellar parenting skills. :) But wait, it gets better.

The next speaker was talking about the Holy Ghost and the feelings that come from the Holy Ghost. He asked if anyone ever felt that warm and happy feeling inside when they made a good choice or sang a beautiful song in Primary. All the other kids were nodding their heads and Nate blurts out very matter-a-factly, "Nope. Never." The teacher tried to give another example and Nate just shook his head. Yeah... obviously my stellar parenting skills need to focus a bit more on helping him recognize the Holy Ghost because I know he has felt it but just hasn't grasped that that is what he is feeling. But mostly I was just reminded how often in parenting situations when I'm getting puffed up with pride about how really great I am and what a great parent I am .... I am quickly reminded that it's really not me. And don't get me wrong, this isn't a pity party... I do think I do many things well as a parent and that I work hard to teach my children the gospel and to love our Savior. What I'm trying to say is in that moment when Nate gave his perfect answer I felt joy for what a great boy he is and that he is getting it but honestly a part of me felt satisfaction in knowing that others there might also be impressed with MY child. So I think it was fitting that just a few minutes later my little bubble burst. I don't know, maybe this doesn't happen to anyone else, but it was a perfect reminder for me that we should be "stripped of pride" like Alma says in ch.5 vs.28.

"Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life."

Anyways, I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to strip us of our pride.

Valentine's Day

Reed works tonight. I know on Valentine's Day. Don't feel too bad for me. I don't. Valentine's day has never really been my thing. I think at first when I was single- it was always a poignant reminder that I was single. But even now that I have the love of my life- I'm still not that into it. Besides, Reed HATES crowds and waiting in line and the pressure to buy just the right gift. Can't really get away from any of those things on V-day. So for the most part our Valentine's Day celebrations are always pretty low key. With that little disclaimer... I'm totally not against valentine's activities. I LOVE the little valentine's day traditions I'm making with my sweet family. This year... we spent it with the Roth family. We love this family and are heart sick that they are moving next week to Coeur d'Alene (let's not talk about that right now. That's a post for another day... one when I can get composed enough to not ball about how much I'll miss my dear friends.) Anyways, we had a great dinner. We squeezed it in before Reed had to go to work. We had shrimp scampi and chicken fettucine, salad, red jello (seriously I think this is the only time I have jello but I can't imagine a V-day dinner without it) and strawberry shortcake for dinner. It was wonderful and the company was even better. Everyone had a heart at their seat that said "I love you because..." that we each wrote something nice about that person. While we got dessert together the kids played "love bingo". I just LOVE LOVE LOVE how little Laynie is just joining in-- convinced she is just as big as everyone else. What a great Valentine's-- I couldn't be luckier to have the family and friends I have. That is something to celebrate.

Valentines- loving the decor

So I've been wanting some Valentine's Day decoration. Nothing big and fancy... just a few things to celebrate with. I wasn't finding anything I really loved and also was trying to keep to a budget. In my mind I knew what I wanted- I just couldn't find it- so I decided I was just going to make them myself. And I don't mean to toot my own horn-- well okay I guess I do :) -- but I think they turned out pretty cute. Plus I spent a whopping $1.27 since I had everything else I needed. Now I just need some Easter decorations....


This is my favorite. I got the idea from a Making Memories ad in CK magazine. The hearts and flowers are all made out of felt. Can I tell you how much I {heart} felt. Yes, I'm in love.

lost my groove

Have you seen Emperor's New Groove? You know the part, where the old guy tells Pacha that he through off the Emperor's groove? Well, that's how I feel about blogging. Something's thrown off my groove. Honestly, there isn't a great reason for my absence. I just haven't been feeling it. I've still been keeping up on everyone else's blog but just haven't wanted to blog about anything myself. Not like we're lacking material here.... I could post about christmas (it was wonderful.) I could post about ALL the snow we've received (please, tell me we're done). I could post about all that has happened in January (it seems like there has been enough happening to write a small novel). But I just don't have it in me. So here's your post to let you know we are alive, well, and happy. Just enjoying life. Here's to hoping I find my groove.

P.S. Just had to include my favorite quote from this movie. If you haven't seen it- it's a good one.

Pacha: Uh-oh.
Kuzco: Don't tell me. We're about to go over a huge waterfall.
Pacha: Yep.
Kuzco: Sharp rocks at the bottom?
Pacha: Most likely.
Kuzco: Bring it on.