Long Days and Short Sweet Moments

I feel like Saturday is our only family day. Sunday’s Ryan has meetings, then church, then tithing settlement. It makes for a long day, especially when my focus is not on the right things... I need to learn to live and appreciate the moment, not think of what’s coming on my list or fret about the quarrels the kids have had. Well, I had a moment today, when Jake who was having a tantrum fell asleep in a little pile on the bathroom floor while I was bathing John Paul and Lily. And I looked at him, and his angry face had turned so angelic, and I thought “He’s not going to be this little for long. Just breathe this little moment in and cherish it.” (I also like how he sang O Christmas Tree loud during a quiet part in church. ‘O Kissmatee O Kissmatee!’ ;)

Early December

 This looked like a dog pile, but Ryan wasn’t squishing the baby ;). Ryan’s so good with the kids. I love candid moments I capture. We went to Poland with Rachelle Allen. I’m glad we can travel with food again now that we have a job. Jake and I made cookies one day. The past week was stressful with the car, but we took the kids to the Christkindlmarkt in SLC. We had a good time.

My Sweetheart

This man is so wonderful. I’m a blessed woman to be sealed to him forever.

Sledding

We took the kids sledding since it dumped a load of snow for Thanksgiving (almost 15 inches). Jake was so cute. He kept saying “I’m having a fun time” each time I’d take him down. Then he pointed to the large hill, so the girls plodded over through the snow to the big hill with me and Jake. We went down and caught a bump. Then Jake said, “This is NOT fun.” He didn’t like the big hill, but loved when we went to the other hill again. Though it was sleeting, the kids loved sledding and sledding.

Caption

Monta said when she gave me this picture: “Mom, it’s me bumping along in my car to bring you groceries when you are old.” I love this picture. I framed it in a red frame.

My creative girls

 Esther drew these pictures of her sisters. I think it captured a certain something of each of them. Amy created the LEGO “Taj Mahal” she said. ;) I love my creative kids.

Focus on blessings

 Remembering what my body has been through this last delivery and how it still affects me, I realize that I need to focus on the positive. I’ve had another breast infection. They hit harder and faster, and it’s easy to get discouraged, but if I think about how I’ve been able to feed JohnPaul for 9 months, that’s better and makes me grateful.

Field trip to Fossil Museum

 Brigham City has a gem of a museum: a little fossil museum that’s free in an old elementary school building. We drove to see a friend, and enjoyed seeing this too.

Small Moments

 Sometimes I have to remember the small moments... the adorable pictures, the marker on the skin, the chocolate on the sleeping face... I know these kids are growing up fast. Sometimes I am okay if they’d slow down.

November happenings and overcoming fears

 The girls made German lanterns and got a cute cookie that looked like a fat gingerbread man, but made out of roll dough. It tasted slightly orange like. Lily and Jake like to play at the park at the sisters’ school.

 Lena had a shark tooth, just like Esther had several years ago. We finally got the top one pulled. It was quite an ordeal, but it’s great now to see her new front tooth.

 Amy has made such progress with rock climbing. She’s had to overcome her fear of heights. I’m impressed and proud of how she’s overcome that.

Peace

 I love where we live. When Ryan found out he’d lose his job with them moving support to Ukraine, we prayed about what we should do: we felt peace that we’d be able to stay here. There were times that it seemed like the way would hedge up, but we’d still feel peace. I’m so grateful that through this ordeal God has buoyed us up. Now that Ryan has a job that will start Monday I am so grateful to God that we will be able to stay here in this beautiful land. God is good, so good. His promises are sure.

Halloween 2019

I wrote Halloween wrong on the calendar, so we dressed up twice. This picture was from the 30th and Lily was sad at me that we wouldn’t go trick or treating, but we did go show my Grandpa’s brother Mike and his wife Vera the kid's costumes. He is 97. I think she’s 93.

Perfect Day

Sometimes you have a perfect day. I had one today. The kids listened well to scriptures in the morning, did their homeschool assignments quickly, took care of the animals, played educational games, picked up their messes, played well together and were grateful for their meals. Amy made two types of bread, gave her little siblings piggy back rides, Esther played with play dough with Lily and shoveled the walkways without being asked. Monta picked up her legos after playing with them and helped around with other things. It was a gift from God, a reminder of what family can be and how home really can be a heaven on earth.