first day

It is official.  We have a 1st and a 3rd grader in our home, well actually, at the school.

I have always loved the first day of school.  The excitement of seeing your friends again, meeting the new teacher, the bus stop, the crisp cool air in the morning, the upcoming fall.  Everything about it is magical.

It was so fun this morning to see and feel that same excitement in Sam and Mary.  With lunches packed, breakfast in the bellies, new clothes on, hair combed, bangs combed and curled over and over again, to get "just right", last minute hugs,  and family prayer said, they blasted out the door to a word of learning, friends,  and fun.

I am excited for them.  Good luck Mary and Sam!  The babies and I will miss you.

Here's to a new school year!

final result...almost

OK, remember that post forever ago, where I painted our bonus room in grey stripes.  Well, purple first, and then grey.

I keep forgetting to post the completed project.  And then I remember to post it, but the room is messy, or there is still one more picture to hang, or the reading nook isn't done, and so on.

But, it will be a while before the room is totally complete, so here is a picture of the "almost" final look for the loft/bonus room.

Please keep in mind that it is Sunday, Ben is gone until bedtime, and for a few minutes of sanity, I gladly let my kids build a fort right in the middle of the room. 

So here is the room...and the fort.


the reading nook will be in the wall that you can't see, to the right.  And yes, that is an infant bath tub, apparently, it makes a great door to a fort.

All of the artwork is done by my kids.  I have a lot more to hang, I just don't have them all framed yet.

More pictures coming in a few weeks, when the reading nook is all done...yeah!!!

the yard saga

Our goal was to have our yard in, and completed by the first week of August. 

We had it all planned out, and even gave ourselves some extra time, in case of a few setbacks.

Well, it is August 18th, and guess what.  We just got the trenching done yesterday.  Yup, yesterday.

Allow me...

Three months ago, or more, we called a landscaping company, who said they were backed up 3 weeks, and would come trench our yard at that point.  It seemed like a long wait, but we did it.

3 weeks came, and went.  Nothing.  Ben called them, and we got a, "Oh, well, um, we decided not to do your yard anymore.  We are on to bigger jobs."

Oh the rage.  Seriously people, was there not any minute of time during those 3 weeks that you could have told us that.  There goes 3 weeks, wasted.

We spent the next 2 weeks finding a new landscaper.  We called.  He said he would be here in 2 weeks.  He came 2.5 weeks later, told us our yard was too rocky for his equipment, and went on his way.

For crying out loud!!!!  Maybe you could have come and looked at our yard during that 2.5 week wait, and told us then.  Another 2.5 weeks wasted.

So, we called another landscaper, who said he would come in a week. 
Never showed up, never called, never heard from again.

Are you feeling the rage yet???  Oh, my blood was boiling, to say the least.

We called another guy, and got a quote so outrageous, I can't believe he even dared tell it to us.

In the main time, we are trying to get our cement patio extended out.  We called a cement guy.  He gave us a quote, and a date.  He never showed up.

We called another cement guy.  He gave us a quote, DOUBLE what that last guy gave us, and oh yea, he is backed up a month or so.

We called another guy, he measured, and never gave us a quote, or called back.

We called another guy, he quoted us 3 times more than any other quote...but he did show up.

We are now awaiting another guy, who will do our yard, as soon as "he finds a few more to do in our area."

I am not holding my breath.

BOO!  Boo! BOO!  Boo!  RRRAAARRRR.

Back to the trenching.  We called another guy.  He actually showed up!  He actually seemed honest.  He actually knew what the heck he was doing, and had the right equipment.  He was booked out 2 weeks, but we waited.  He never showed up.

I think I actually cried at this point.

Ben called him.  He was "out of town," and didn't bother to tell us, but promised us he would come this weekend.

And he did.  FINALLY!  They never called to tell us when they were coming, we just looked out our window Friday morning, and there they were.  I was not about to complain, and the boys loved all of the tractors.

Our yard is now rough graded and trenched and waiting for us to put in the sprinkler system tomorrow.

 

Then it is the hole for the trampoline, the dry riverbed foundation, top soil, leveling the top soil, and finally...

HYDRO SEED!!!!  GRASS!!!!  GRASS!!!  GRASS!!!

Just in time for fall and winter.  Oh yeah, go us.  I guess we can enjoy it next spring.

Next year will be the fun stuff!

The playground, the fire pit, trees, flowers, the dry river bed...complete with a bridge, and probably the patio, because I am seriously doubting anyone will actually do it this year.

Shame on all of those landscaping people.  Shame, shame, shame. 

In the words of the Lorax.... FOR SHAME!

young love

William and Annabell, the girl next door.  They walked to our house, hand in hand, ate a bowl of Apple Jacks,  and then ate popsicles on the porch and talked. 

I laugh hysterically every time I see this picture.  William's face tells it all.  "Got the girl mom...got the girl."

a weekend at grandmas

Bops boat rules!!!!

sweet rewards

Mary has been working on something for months now.  It was a very big goal, and was not one that was easy to obtain.  It had to do with working through some internal things, and learning to conquer her mind.

In order for her to reach her big goal, she had to take small steps.  For each step she accomplished, we set up a reward.  The bigger the step, the bigger the reward.

A few rewards were getting 2 pieces of jewelry, getting her nails done (the real deal), getting a snow cone, swimming, and so on.

Mary finally hit her goal a few weeks ago, and her big reward (chosen by her) was to ride a horse.

So, I checked around, and found someone in our ward that was more than willing to let Mary ride her horse.  She invited Sam as well.

They learned to how to get the horse to come to them, brush the horse, put on the saddle, and then ride it.

I knew my kids would enjoy the experience, but I had no idea they would LOVE it.  I think the word passion would be adequate to describe what I saw written all over Mary and Sam.

LOVE this picture of my little Heber cowboy with the gorgeous Timp. in the background.

Mary was allowed to ride the horse completely alone and in charge of the reins.  She grinned and grinned and grinned.

Luke and William came along as well. 
William wanted nothing to do with the horse.  He kept saying that he just wanted to ride a bull.  ha!  Someone loved the rodeo, especially the bull riding. He enjoyed cheering his older siblings on though.

Luke just wanted to play in the water.  He threw his binky in there, in hopes of me putting him in there to get it out.  No such luck.  Sorry Lukie.

The morning was a huge success.  Mary and Sam talked about it the entire way home, and both are begging for riding lessons.  hhhmmm, how far away is Christmas???

this is my town

This past week has been Fair Day's here in Heber.  It was our first time experiencing this, and it was pretty cool.

There was stuff going on all week, but we narrowed it down to just a few things.

We went to our first Heber parade, and it was a serious small town, candy throwing, band playing, horse riding, prom queen waving, cool car driving, good time.  In my opinion, it was how a parade should be.

We went to a parade in Park City on the 4th of July, and were so disappointed.  No candy, HUGE crowd, boiling hot, we had to walk or ride a shuttle forever  just to get to it, and it was not a good parade.  It felt to restricted and boring.  I figured that the days of good ol' fashion parades were over.

I was thrilled that the parade here was so much how I remember parades growing up.  The kids were enchanted with all of the noise, horses, fire trucks, cars and candy.  I loved how everyone knew at least someone on every float, there was a lot of clapping and cheering, and it was easy to find a spot to watch. We all had a great time!  Heber rocks!

Right after the parade, we dropped Luke at off at home with a babysitter and headed off to the Mountain Valley Stampeded Rodeo.

IT WAS AWEOMSOME!

They had sky divers drop in with the flag.
They started the rodeo with a prayer.
There was a guy on a motorcycle that jumped over a truck and a horse trailer.
There were 18 bull riders...much to Sam's delight.
There were calf ropers, barrel racers, clowns, and everything rodeo you can imagine.


It is actually one of the bigger pro rodeos in the circuit, and it did not disappoint.  It was so much fun.  It made me want to sell everything, move to a ranch, and have all us of become cowboys and cowgirls.  It was that cool!

The rodeo ended with an incredible firework show right over our heads.  I have been sad that most shows I go to now, don't have patriotic music to them anymore. 
This one did, and it was so cool.  It was a huge production, and we all loved it!

I smell a new tradition blooming for us.  This hit the top of the awesome list for our whole family.  Mary and Sam fell asleep talking about cowboys, bull riders, and fireworks.
I went to bed feeling rich, wholesome and fulfilled... and so grateful that my children were able to experience this feeling that is so quickly being lost in society.  The feeling of respect, patriotism, hard work, love for people and God, and strong commitments.
 Wow, we live in such an awesome town! 

I'm ok

Only a handful of people know, but I feel the obligation to write my experience down, so I am doing it.

On Monday, I was 5 weeks pregnant, and VERY excited.  By Tuesday night, I was not pregnant anymore.  On Wednesday, with a big hug, and a kiss on the head, my Dr. confirmed what I already knew.

Miscarriages, are very common, and a lot of women have them, (somewhere around 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage) but it doesn't take away from the emotional toll and frustration they can take. 

To be honest, I am actually doing really well.  Of course, I am sad, and my heart dropped when I realized what was going on, but I am also OK.

I attribute it to a few things. 

#1  I was struggling, and I received a priesthood blessing from Ben. I immediately received a huge hug from my Heavenly Father, and a deep, sweet peace in my heart.  I knew that my baby was being taken care of, and that it was much better off being taken back home, than staying here.  It just wasn't the right time. The peace I received that night has stayed with me, and for that, I am extremely grateful.

#2  I have been through a horrible miscarriage experience when I was 16 weeks pregnant.  Through direct prompting from the Lord, I blogged about it as I went through it, starting here. 
Everything that could have gone wrong did.  Bleeding out, ambulance ride, passing out in hospital, MRI, D & C that went wrong, 35% blood loss, contracting mono from the hospital stay, and so on.  It took months to heal from that physically, even longer emotionally.  It was an experience that rocked me to the core.  I am so grateful that, if this baby was not going to make it, that it was taken early this time.

#3 I now know that with all of the crazy things my body is doing, I can still get pregnant.  This has given me a lot of hope and joy.  We weren't sure this would still be possible.  Now I know that it is.  It is now a matter of my body being able to carry a baby.

#4 Ben.  He is amazing.  This happened right after a talk we had about how his job is getting a little more busy/stressful.  He has missed work the past few days, without a word of complaint.  He has given me hugs, strength, hope, and a cookie dough milkshake.  He has taken the kids, let me rest and let me talk.  He has cleaned the house and helped feed the minions. He is my everything, and I love him so much.

Of course I am sad, and I mourn what could have been.  It is not comfortable physically, at all, but that will pass soon I hope.  I am extremely nervous about this happening again as well.  I don't know how many miscarriages a girl can take.

I am also at peace though, and know that this baby will come at the right time.  God has a plan for this child of ours, and he will bring it about when the time is right. This child has been a LONG time coming, and has a big purpose here in our home and in our lives.  Of that, I have no doubt.

I just hope it is sooner than later.  I want to bring my angel home.