Pink Toes

Now THAT was a lot of work! Who knew taking pictures of baby toes could be so hard?

Probably the most difficult thing I've done in awhile! I have about 100 blurry shots to prove it. What a little wiggle worm!!!

Upside down, backwards, sideways, hanging over the side of the chair...I couldn't keep up with her! We finally got a few though!

Cute little toes!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my Dad's 57th birthday! Hope he has a wonderful day! I sure love him and am thankful for him. As with all of our family, we sure don't get to see him nearly enough. My boys think they are in heaven when we get to go to his house. Fishing, shooting, hiking, 4-wheelers, and now there are horses to add to the fun. We probably won't get to make it up this summer but hopefully next year. It's a long trek to Wyoming!

I sure am thankful for my Dad. I have always felt like I had a special connection with him. Sometimes he just "got" me when no one else did. I remember so many times at BYU and on my mission after a blessing people saying, "Wow! Tell me about your Dad" or "You must have a wonderful father" even though his name had never come up. I just always loved that connection. He inspired me, he made me believe I could do anything I tried, he was proud of my accomplishments, and he made me want to work harder and always do my best. He encouraged me and motivated me. He still does today. I remember when I was 2 weeks overdue with Coen, miserable and at the end of my rope, he called up to talk to me and check in at just the time that I needed him the most. He told me just what I needed to hear. He was sympathetic and understanding and motivated me to keep going and not give up. I still remember his words to this day and that was 3 years ago. There are some things that only a Dad can do for his daughter I guess. I still call him for advise. I remember when I was younger there were so many things about my Dad that I wanted my future husband to have. And I am happy to say I found someone...not exactly like him...but with some of his best qualities. I hope someday my children can get to know him even better because he is a great man. Love you Dad! Happy Birthday!

Got Photos

Well I'm still without a computer and since a fixed computer is still in the distant future (looks like it's a motherboard issue and we'll have to wait until we can get a new one of those or get our old one back all nice and fixed up) I decided to download my pictures onto Tory's laptop. Way too many picture-less posts going on around here for my liking. So I've added a few pictures to some of my latest posts if you want to check them out. Don't worry...a pink piggy picture is coming!

The Cute Toofy

What's that?

You want to look at my tooth? In here?

Whoa! Easy does it Dallin! I told you I'd show it to you!

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Nobody said anything about prying my mouth open!

But it's OK. I'm still happy! Did you like my little crooked tooth? I sure like it! Thanks for checking it out! Now I've got to get back to eating my applesauce. I left some right under my eye......

Pink Piggies

I just painted Claire's teeny tiny toenails hot pink! Why did it take me almost 11 months to think to do this? It's too cute for words. Oh my goodness! It's so fun to have a little GIRL!

All in a Day's Work

Tory usually comes home for lunch everyday. It's so nice to be able to see him during the day after so many years of him being gone all day and into the night. His office is really close. Today as he was driving home he saw a 15-year old boy riding his bike up ahead on the opposite side of the road. All of a sudden the boy was flying through the air. Tory watched the entire crash. There were about 8 cars right in the area that must have seen it happen as well but nobody stopped. Tory had to pass him to turn around because of the median. Still no one had stopped to help this poor guy on the side of the road. He came up behind the boy and could tell he was hurt pretty bad. The boy was crying and couldn't even speak. Tory checked him out to make sure he was OK. He was pretty banged up but nothing seemed broken. Tory asked if he needed a ride home and the boy gratefully accepted. Tory loaded up his mangled and twisted bike and drove him home. On the way there the poor boy was trying to make conversation even though he was in serious pain. He said, "So why are you all dressed up anyway?" So funny. Tory told him he was a chiropractor and had been at work. Then the boy said, "You want to know something kind of funny? As soon as I crashed and couldn't get up I said a prayer saying 'Lord help me' and not 3 seconds later you were pulling up to me." I just think that's so neat for a few reasons. First of all I think it's so neat that a 15 year old boy is praying. Second, I think it's so cool that he is willing to tell someone he had prayed. And third, I think it's so neat that Tory was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands and be an answer to that boy's prayer. We never know do we? It's so important to listen to those promptings and feelings that we have. Tory dropped the boy off and checked back in on him on his way back to work after lunch. He was icing his injuries and seemed much better.

As for any bike riders who may be riding in the general vicinity of Tory's office on Rufe Snow...I would be very careful. Especially if it's during lunch time. Apparently that is a dangerous time to be biking in this area. This isn't the first bike rider Tory has had to come to the rescue of on his way home for lunch. Another guy actually got hit by a car right in front of Tory. That one ended up with an ambulance (but the guy was walking at least!) Crazy! But if you are going to take your chances, and if you time it just right, you will at least have someone to save you!

Happy Father's Day!

We had a nice day all planned for Tory. We started out by making Tory a fancy breakfast of eggs, cantaloupe, and...the big splurge...glazed donuts. Oh, and don't forget the OJ made by Austin and Dallin all by themselves.

The boys have been working on little projects for Tory while he was gone and had them hidden throughout the family room. Tory had to go on a scavenger hunt to find them.

He found a paper airplane from Coco (made from a page ripped out of a coloring book)

A picture from Dallin wrapped in the biggest box he could find I think (the picture was on a little piece of paper about 3 inches tall and 7 or 8 inches long. So funny!)

And a Lego sculpture from Austin complete with house, car, lawn mower, swimming pool, bushes, and even a 'place to store food'.

We also had a "magic" mystery card that we made for him and his favorite Almond Roca candy. We had a fun time watching him trying to figure out how to open his "magic" card. It probably took him 10 minutes to figure it out. Ha.

At church all of the primary kids sang a couple songs for the dads and then all of the dads got candy leis. For my class we did our lesson and then I brought supplies for them to each make a "magic" card for their dads. They loved it! Here's the link to the tutorial I used. So cool! For Tory's and the kids at church, we wrote "F is for..., A is for..., T is for..., etc. spelling FATHER on the front inside. Then in the "secret" part of the card we wrote words that started with each of those letters-F-A-T-H-E-R like Fun, Amazing, Terrific, Handsome, Exciting, Righteous. They turned out really fun. All of the kids in my class said they're going to make them for all of their friends, birthdays, everything. They just loved them. They are super easy! Give it a try. I just used an 8.5 x 11 size card stock and cut it in half. Hers were a little bigger I think but these worked just fine. Each sheet makes 2.

We then had a nice dinner with shish-k-bobs and Alfredo noodles. For dessert we had something special at Tory's request. Banana splits! And let me tell you, these were banana splits with the WORKS! Strawberry, Rocky Road, and Praline ice cream, strawberry, pineapple, and hot fudge sauces, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, nuts, and even caramel drizzled on top. Tory was in heaven. Definitely not something I would have requested but soooo Tory! Glad he liked it!

Happy Father's Day to the best father I could ever imagine for my children. We love you Tory! And happy Father's Day to my own wonderful Dad and father-in-law, Nolan! We sure love both of you, too, and are so thankful for the influences you've had on both of us. Hope your day was wonderful!

Hard Things

Tory called me early this morning. He hiked up to the top of the tallest hill to get reception. He said their group was coming home early. They were packing up and coming home today. They were supposed to get home tomorrow night so they are cutting almost two days (half the trip) off. I don't know the whole story yet but it didn't turn out the way they had planned. Each day, for four days, they were supposed to hike about 8 miles to their next stopping point and then make camp. They only hiked in about 3 miles Wednesday before all the boys were done in. Yesterday they did a day hike from their base camp and it about brought the boys to tears. So they are coming home today. Too bad. I know how much time and energy went into this. I know the kind of trips Tory went on in scouts and what kind of trips my brothers went on and what kind my Dad planned and took scouts on when he was in the program and for our own family each and every summer. They were tough but they were building moments. They made you feel like you had accomplished something great. I think this is what Tory wanted to do for these young men. Help them do something hard so that they could look back on it and feel that sense of accomplishment. And even if they didn't get to finish their original goal, maybe what they did do was enough to make them realize that they CAN do hard things.

Later this morning as I was washing dishes I started thinking about "hard things". Life is full of hard things. Some of them we choose and some we don't. Sometimes we have to mentally get through it before we can physically get through it. Sometimes the only way we get through it is by not knowing what we're getting into. It's only after we look back that we realize what we did. There are times when we get through something and never want to have to do it again. Other times we realize we were stronger than we thought and find we can push through and go the next level and do something even harder...by choice! And when it's all said and done, I don't think there's ever a time when we say "that was such a waste of time." These experiences, these "hard things", mold us and shape us and turn us into the people we are. Would we be the same people without them? Probably not. No. Definitely not.

One of the things I want my boys and Claire to learn is how to get through hard things. I want them to be able to roll up their sleeves and get in there. I don't want them to be afraid to do something hard. Something new. Something uncomfortable. We don't have to like everything that comes at us. But sometimes we have to just get it done. We have to learn to finish a thing we've started. I want my kids to CHOOSE to do hard things. Things that will make them stronger, better people. I think doing hard things is something a lot of kids are missing out on today. Sometimes we as parents or leaders try to make things comfortable or easy or fun and forget that it's okay for kids to work hard and to struggle. It's okay for them to clean up their messes, to pull weeds even if it's hot and sunny, to go apologize to someone when they've done something wrong, to accept the consequences for a poor decision. I want my kids to see Tory and I going through hard things and see us GET THROUGH those things.

Which makes me think of my own hard things right now and how I'm handling them. Probably not the best I could be. Sometimes I grumble and complain. There are times when I want to sit over on the sidelines and have someone else do it for me. I want it to be easier or faster or just to go away. Or maybe I want to trade my hard thing with another person. Their hard things don't look nearly as bad as mine. But then I think back to the hard things I HAVE done. Things I chose to do. Things I did to reach a goal. I worked very hard in high school so that I could go to BYU. After four hard years I graduated from BYU! I've run long distances and completed races that were hard. I lived in a foreign country and confronted people every single day in a language that was not my native language. I worked hard jobs to get through school and early marriage. I have moved to new states. I have become a homeowner. I have given birth to four wonderful children. I've gone through six years of Tory being in college all day every single day. I did all those things! I've done things that I didn't think I could do but they got me to where I wanted to be.

There have also been hard things come up that I didn't plan or choose. I had to retake a class in college. I tried out several times to be a cheerleader like both of my sisters but never made it. I had some challenging people and roommates and companions to deal with on my mission and at college. Everything that could go bad did go bad when we bought our home. I had another pregnancy that didn't end with a tiny baby in my arms. Not one of my four children came the way I had planned or dreamed. Each time ended in a major surgery...but with a cute baby. I've been beyond things I thought were not even possible. Things I didn't think I could ever get through. It was hard. It wasn't always fun. But looking back is sometimes the best perspective. I DID it! And now here we are with our next big hard thing-trying to build a successful business now that we're done with school. So we put our heads down and head straight into the storm that we've found ourselves in the middle of. We can do hard things. We've done them before. And the Lord says He will not give us more than we can handle. That's my one reassurance. He knows I can do it or he wouldn't have placed me in it.

So if we find ourselves with a long hike ahead of us, we don't need to turn around. We just need to take one step at a time. Put one foot in front of the other. Do these hard things because we know we will be stronger after. Will we all like the hike? No. A few will find it challenging but realize they like it and maybe they'll sign up for another one. A few will get to the end and say "I did it but I don't think I'll ever do it again." Maybe those young men with Tory will look back and say "I hiked those three miles and they were hard and I didn't think I could do it. But I did! And maybe next time I can go a little further." The important part is getting through it. Thinking of all this makes me want to find something hard to do. Something hard that I CHOOSE to do. Something that I never thought I could do. It's time for a new challenge. I have something in mind and I can't wait to get to the end! It's a hard thing and it's going to take a long time but I'm going to do it. Isn't that why we set goals? To help us accomplish something we think might be hard. One step at a time.

What hard thing will you try?

Rough Start

Tory works with the young men in our church ages 16 and up. It's a busy calling that involves a lot of time. Not only does he teach every Sunday, he also goes to activities every Wednesday night, random meetings during the week, firesides, and the occasional bigger activity. He really loves it and has a great group of guys. He's in his element. Lately, on top of it all, he's had to help the group younger than his plan their big High Adventure backpacking trip for scouts. Meeting after meeting. Research and more research. And then there was shopping and buying groceries and supplies for it all. And when no other leaders would sign up to go except for one, guess who got to go? Tory. He didn't think he'd be able to with starting up a new practice and all. It's a really crazy time for him to go but they wouldn't have been able to go without someone else. Every Sunday they asked if anyone else could possibly go but the answer was no. So off he headed today. He'll be blessed for leaving his practice and family for 4 days, right? (Because, yes, he works every single Saturday, too.)

So here we are today. Me with the four kids at home. Feels like we just did this a couple weeks ago when he went to Kansas City for boards. Oh, yeah...we did! Only this time we've had a much rougher start. Right after Tory left I went to get on my computer and found out it's got really big problems. Like it won't even turn on to the main screen. Bummer. I think the video card has finally kicked the bucket. I'm not used to having computer problems. I have Tory. He's the computer MAN! He fixes computers for EVERYONE. (I can't even tell you how many people call him for computer problems. Ha.) Boy do I appreciate him! Thank goodness he brought his work laptop home so I have SOMETHING!

The second part of our rough start...about 10:00 this morning Coen walked by me looking quite pale. I had him stand by the trash can just in case. Sure enough he threw up. And he has been throwing up every 30-45 minutes since then. It is now 7:00 pm. That's a lot of throwing up and rinsing out bowls. My hands are raw from washing and sanitizing! I don't know what it is. I'd say he ate too much cake and ice cream last night but he only had about a spoonful of each. And the rest of us have all eaten the same thing he has. Poor little guy hasn't left the couch all day and hasn't had a single bite to eat since breakfast. (I'd post a picture of the cute little guy curled up on the couch but...oh yeah, my computer is broken!) I just hope he gets to feeling better soon and that no one else gets it. That could make for a very long week. So needless to say, we missed the church playgroup and potluck lunch that was this afternoon. And I actually thought I'd make it for once! Ha! I sound a little negative don't I! Whew! It's been a long day. It's always nice to have someone to pass the kids to after a long day. I miss Tory! Hopefully the week gets better! Blessings...remember the blessings...we NEED blessings...we'll be fine...it will get better. It has to, right?

Here is a picture of him trying to open his birthday present from Nana. The package came right after he got sick. He was so excited but could hardly open the present. Poor little guy.

Coen is 3!

Happy Birthday Coen!

Our little Coen Grant is 3 years old today! I can't believe it! Three years ago it was just the two of us in the hospital snuggling with a big thunderstorm outside. So cozy! I couldn't put him down. Our third little boy! He has grown and changed so much since then and especially this last year. He's so cute and so fun and has such a great personality. We sure love having him in our family! We're so thankful Heavenly Father blessed us with such a wonderful boy. Right now Coen really loves cars and especially "Pow Pow Ka-chow" which is what he calls Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars. He also loves wearing his Superman cape and can usually be found flying around the house with it on. He potty trained in one day two months ago. He stays dry all day and all night every single day! He never has accidents...EVER! I don't even have to think about reminding him to go. Amazing! He ran errands with me this afternoon all by himself and he was so funny. A couple times he would ask for something and then he'd say, "Sides...it's my birt-day." (Besides...it's my birthday.) Cracked me up! Special privileges on birthdays, don't you know!

When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said he wanted "a Pow Pow Ka-chow cake and carrots." Easy to please. So I made him his very own car cakes and he got his own bag of teeny, tiny, baby carrots. He also got a race car track that we found on Craigslist for an amazing deal. Cool! He was a very happy boy!
(We celebrated last night since Tory will be gone on his birthday today.)

Playing with his new racetrack.

Blowing out the candles

Watching Dada cut the cake

Yep, that's the piece I want!

Mmmmm....
Coen at age ONE
Coen at age TWO

10 1/2 months

It's official. Claire finally has a tooth at 10 1/2 months. I knew it would be coming sometime this month. It's barely peeking through but there's definitely white showing now. I saw it yesterday. It's really hard to see, let alone take a picture of, so these cute pictures will have to do for now. Like I said, it's BARELY peeking through. I'll try to get a picture of it. It will be a two person job. One person to make her laugh really hard (that gives the best view) and one to snap the picture.

I was looking through older pictures and found one of Austin at exactly the same age-10 1/2 months-with his exact same first tooth coming in. It's even a little crooked just like Claire's. So just picture Claire's face with that tooth and there you have it! Actually Claire's isn't sticking up quite that much yet...but close! And another thing this child was doing at 10 1/2 months was WALKING! Crazy! He was so little! Austin definitely holds the early walking record!

And while we're at it...here is Dallin at 10 1/2 months old with TWO teeth already and top ones about to show. He holds the record for earliest teeth. He didn't walk until about 13 months though.

Coen got his teeth earlier than Austin and Claire but not quite as early as Dallin. Here he is at about 10 1/2 months with two bottom teeth. Just a few weeks after this picture he was walking, too! He walked at just a little after 11 months not quite a year old though.

So anyway...kind of fun to look back and see what everyone else was doing (for me anyway.) Austin and Claire are the same with teeth. Dallin and Coen were the same with their teeth. Austin and Coen were my earlier walkers and Dallin and Claire weren't even pulling up to standing yet at this point! Funny how they're all so different. What a bunch of cute little 10 month old faces! That's all I know!

A Boy With a Cape

This little boy has a new obsession. The red Superman cape. I can't say "his" because technically it is Dallin's but Coen has definitely taken over. He wears it everywhere.

He plays in it. It goes with him outside. He eats with it and would sleep with it if I didn't demonstrate how it could choke him. He hooks it to the side of his bed instead.

If he needs to wear other accessories for playtime...like a backpack for instance...the cape stays. He even wears it to the grocery store. I told him he could wear it to Wal-mart if he held it up off the ground. It's about a foot longer than he is so it drags everywhere. The cape is always on. It's been almost a week now. I thought the novelty would wear off but he's still going strong. I don't mind. It's awfully cute.

Lost in a Book

This is a common site around our house lately. Austin is completely absorbed with his books. I've never seen him like this but I think it's so great! Something clicked this last week. He has to do some reading everyday while the rest of the kids are taking their two hour naps. He'd usually get in a chapter or two each day. He's been reading the Magic Tree House books. He used his birthday money and we chipped in the rest to buy a huge set of them from a Scholastic Book order at school. It was an amazing deal. The Magic Tree House books are great. I love how each one is like a history or geography lesson. He's read about 7 since his birthday in January (plus a few more that we checked out from the library before then). But now...and I'm not kidding...he's reading one book a DAY! I have to pull him away to do chores and to eat. He wants to stay up late to finish a chapter. And one night he went into his closet, shut the door, turned off the light and read away (he told me the next morning.) What happened?! I love it! I saw him outside in the backyard walking back and forth in the grass with his book open reading! So funny! And today Dallin called him from their room and Austin walked down the hall while reading his book. Oh my goodness! He just can't put them down.

Oh, and the other thing that's happened with this reading kick...he can read SILENTLY! Normally he would read "out loud" to himself. He said he just couldn't read silently. One day he was reading along and I was in the kitchen doing something...dishes or cooking probably. I usually listen to the story as he reads just because, well, he reads out loud and they are kind of interesting! Ha! All of a sudden he stopped. I peeked around the corner to see where he went but he was still in his book and his mouth was still slightly moving...but no sound was coming out! Amazing! He can now officially read to himself. Ha! It's nice because now when I'm reading my book while he's reading, I can focus a little better. :) But at the same time, how am I going to find out what happens next in the Magic Tree House series? I've heard them all! Am I going to have to start reading them? LOL So we now have a serious little reader on our hands. So fun! And actually I think the thing that is motivating him is that Tory said he would read the Harry Potter books with Austin when he finished reading all of his Magic Tree House books. (He has over 35!) At this rate it should only take a couple months! Go Austin!

Slip 'N Slide Info

There have been a few questions about where I got my slip 'n slide. I bought it a few weeks ago at Wal-mart for $5.00. It is the Banzai 16' Soak 'N Splash Water Slide. They had a different one for $9 or $10. The next model up. :) I think it had an inflatable thing you could use to slide on and a little bigger splash zone at the end. I don't know if they are still on sale for that amount though. I saw them advertised in a newspaper insert and snatched one up. They might still be that price. Seems like I bought mine a week before Memorial Day or so. Not too long ago. I couldn't find it on Wal-mart's website today (I bought mine in store) but I did see the same one on Toys 'R Us for $9.99. It is $23.99 on Amazon.com. Guess I did get a good deal! Hurry and check your Wal-mart! Hope that helps and hope you find one!

Slip 'n' Slide

The boys welcomed summer with an afternoon on the new slip 'n' slide. They had a blast and our lawn got some nice watering. I knew when I saw the slide that it was just the thing for three little boys who love to run and crash even on dry land! Mix it with water and you have an activity that keeps them busy for HOURS! Best $5 ever spent! Break out the sunscreen!

AUSTIN:






DALLIN:






COEN:

School's Out!

Yesterday, June 3, was Austin's last day of 1st Grade! They only had a half day and out of the whole year it was the only day he forgot his lunch. OK...he didn't actually forget it but he said he didn't need one and then I got a call from his teacher with a message to bring money or a lunch for him. One more good old PBJ for good luck.

Austin had a great year and he really loved his teacher Mrs. del Valle. I asked him at the end of the year if he could pick any 1st grade teacher to be his teacher who would he pick and he said he would definitely pick Mrs. del Valle. In fact he wishes she could be his 2nd Grade teacher, too. (Hey! It can happen! I had the same teacher for 3rd and 4th grade!)

The classroom "mom" had each student make a 12x12 scrapbook page to give to Mrs. del Valle. This is the one Austin made. I love it! So colorful and creative. He's loving art right now and loves to draw and create things. (He wanted me to take a picture of it out in the flower garden since it has flowers on it. He set it all up and propped it up against some flowers for the photo.)

We also made some clothespin magnets for her. They were really fun to make and very easy. I just embellished the front of the clothespin and then put a magnet strip on the back. I made the little red box out of cardstock to pack them in and wrapped it with cellophane. In the bottom of the box is a fun quote I found. It says: "In every single moment there is significance. Wonder is sprinkled all around us." -Flavia Don't you just love that quote? I'm sure being a teacher you would get so many of these glimpses of wonder and significance each and every day. I know that's how it is being a mother.

It was all very red, white, and black and I really wanted to sprinkle in some green. Tory was reading next to me while I was working on this project and that gave me an idea! He is a great paper frog folder. I passed him a square and he whipped one up for me. Isn't it cute? I just love it!

Austin received many awards this year. The award ceremony was actually May 28th. Tory and the kids and I all got to go. Unfortunately, Tory had a patient come in at the last moment. We rushed as fast as we could and as we were walking toward the auditorium we saw one of our friends from church who has a daughter in the 1st grade, too. She was standing outside the door and said, "Oh! You JUST missed him! He's just sitting down!" Oh my gosh! I was so sad! You see we missed the award ceremony last semester. I didn't get the reminder somehow and had no idea it was happening let alone when it was. I felt bad when Austin came home asking why I didn't come and promised I would come to his next one. I put it on my calendar as soon as I heard the date. And then to get there and just barely miss it. It was terrible. Rachel gave us a quick summary of his awards. I saw Austin looking all around for us. He finally spotted us and waved and seemed happy that we were there. I hate to say this, but we let him think we were there all along. After it was over he came and talked with us and kind of felt bad that he "only got one" award. I told him that even if he only got one award or not even a single award we were still very proud of him and all his hard work. And then (thanks to Rachel) I told him a few other awards that he had received that he apparently didn't realize.

His awards:

• Outstanding Student Award for achieving excellence in Science/Social Studies

• Participation in the 1st Grade Reading Initiative

• Outstanding Math Award

• Art Achievement Award

• Outstanding Citizenship Award

• Gold Medal for the Reading Olympics (reading at least 100 books)

• Bronze Medal for participating in Eagle Math Program

He has enough coupons for free dinners, meals, popcorn, snow cones, and even a free pass to Six Flags to last through summer I think! I told Tory I'd be happy to take him to Six Flags ;)

Here's Austin with his friend Austin P. from his class. The only other Austin in 1st grade and they were in the same class. Crazy! (Here's another funny thing...Austin's wearing the same shirt he wore on the FIRST day of 1st grade. LOL We didn't plan that one. Promise!) We're sure proud of Austin and the good boy he is. He really loved school this year and just seemed to blossom with math, reading, spelling, and his handwriting. I am so thankful for Mrs. del Valle and the good teaching and influence she must have had on Austin. And now...................
SCHOOL'S OUT! LET THE FUN BEGIN! SUMMER IS HERE!