10 YEARS!

John and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in July. I can't believe that we have arrived at that milestone. When we were newlyweds, anyone who had been married 10 years was ancient in our eyes.

I thank my lucky stars everyday that I get to have this man as my partner in life. He is my best friend. Absolutely my best friend. Sometimes I am just in awe at what a blessing it is to be married to him. The other day, I was talking with him about a current weakness of mine. I was venting and asking his opinion on what steps he thought I could take to overcome it. And he was so sweet and kind. It would have been easy for him to become offended or take things personally or whatever. But he didn't. He showed me compassion and understanding and offered what wisdom he had on the subject. I turned to him later that night and told him how grateful I was for the way he responded. No one else in this world sees my weaknesses as up close and personal as my husband...and he still loves me. More importantly, he still likes me. And I like him too.

*I like that he makes me laugh, even when I'm crying

*I like that he wrestles with our kids every night
*I like that he is forgiving

*I like that he'll come to bed with me even if he isn't tired

*I like that he honors his parents

*I like that he is not rash in his actions or judgments

*I like that he is so incredibly patient

*I like that he helps me let go of all the unimportant stuff in life

*I like that he lets me spend hours at my parent's on Sunday

*I like that he is responsible

*I like that he chuckles when I've locked my keys in for the 3rd time in a week

*I like that he gives me a hug when I bash up his car

*I like that he can be direct and straightforward

*I like that he accepts and fulfills callings

*I like that he holds me when I cry

*I like that he has stood by me when things have been hard

*I like that he has been so understanding of this stage in our life when "I have to get out!"

*I like that he continues to improve his mind

*I like that he is supportive of me in making decisions for our kids, even when those involve homeschooling :)

*I like that he helps me unload all the groceries from the car

*I like that he is okay with our date being dinner and a stroll through the clearance at Target

*I like that he texts me during the day

*I like that he surprises me with gifts

*I like that he encourages me to develop new talents

*I like that I can rely on him for an honest opinion even if it isn't what I want to hear

*I like that he'll watch HGTV with me

*I like that he has high expectations for people

*I like that he is willing to coach a baseball team of 8 year olds

*I like that he has learned how to be a "girl dad" even though it does not come naturally

*I like that he gets excited for the kids to wake up Christmas morning

*I like that he is ambitious

*I like that he supports me staying home

*I like that he tries his best to come up with "feelings" to share with me...it has made for some good laughs

*I like that he is gentle and kind

*I like that he thinks of me when someone gives him chocolate

*I like to hear him sing

*I like to see how much he enjoys our kids

*I like that he still thinks it is funny to tickle me

*I like that he still thinks it is funny to hide in the dark so he can scare me

*I like that he tries to "fix my problems"

*I like that he is always on board for the family activity even if it isn't really his thing, like hiking

*I like that if he doesn't know the solution or answer, he will figure it out

*I like that he has confidence in himself

I know this sounds like some sappy list. But it isn't to me. Not always, but mostly, a happy marriage can be a decision you make. My husband looks at me and sees my strengths. He also sees my weaknesses. But he chooses to view those as areas where I have potential of becoming great. That is the kind of spouse I want to be. We both have weaknesses. We both have things we do that could drive each other crazy from annoyance, or depressed from hurt feelings. I've always responded most to expressions of love through words. That is not John's strength. So I could have been miserable thinking that he didn't love me and feeling like he didn't care (and there were indeed times where that was the case). But in the end, I made a decision to open my eyes and see all the other ways he shows his love for me. And it has made all the difference. My husband is who he is. And I love him. Every single part of him. I am so grateful for him, so grateful for every day we have to spend with each other. I want to live my life cherishing this blessing that is my husband.

Changes are coming...

We are building a house. It has been quite the ordeal to actually get it started. I've been very frustrated and stressed about it at times. But Heavenly Father has helped me and I've learned some valuable lessons. And now....they've started building our house! We are really excited about starting another adventure in our life, and yet we will be sad to leave the house we have now. This house has seen us through a lot of wonderful times and big changes. Our ward has been amazing and I have learned so much as I've watched and served the people in our ward. So I know there will be some waterworks when the move actually happens. But we are excited. We have a great location in Lindon. We will still be close to family (especially my mom and dad :). We will have some amazing neighbors (John's brother and wife and their kids that our kids are CRAZY about). I will have a room right off the kitchen to serve as our school room. We won't have three kids sharing 1 room :) We are excited. We feel very blessed to be able to do it, but we also know that if we couldn't make this move, there would be no reason why we couldn't be perfectly happy in our current home. Right now, the house is scheduled to be done either the end of November or the beginning of December. Here is the progress so far:

Lagoon!

We went to Lagoon. Uncle Randy invited us all to join him, and seeing as how we hadn't been to Disneyland and weren't going anytime soon, we thought it would be a nice alternative. We had so much fun. This was the first time we didn't have a baby with us and it changed things a lot. We were able to stay late without kids getting whiny from missing naps. And since Kate is crazy tall for her age, we didn't have to spend the day in Kiddie Land. We were able to go on a bunch of roller coasters as a family. It was awesome.

Savannah and Austin joined us.

This is Kate waiting to go on a fast roller coaster. I didn't know how she was going to react with this one, but I couldn't turn to look at her because the speed of it plastered my head back. When the ride ended, she turned to me and asked if it was all done. When I said yes, she said, "I wanna go one more time pease."

I love these because they show her face progression. This was the little dragon roller coaster in the kid area. By the last time we went around, she had decided that you were supposed to yell when you went on roller coasters. So she started yelling, "Ahhhhhhh...."

The only time Macy had a meltdown was when she was too little to ride one of the roller coasters. She was pretty mad.

4th of July

4th of July
We went to the parade. John hates going to this parade, but it is a tradition I grew up with and it hasn't been able to die. Maybe next year though :) His comments are starting to sink into my brain :) We had a great spot, all thanks to some relatives who slept out there. They ended up puking through the night, sleeping through the parade, and leaving before it was over. I'm thinking that was enough to kill the tradition for them at least.

We had a crazy firework show. Can I just say that my husband and his family scare me when it comes to fireworks? I'm not alone. My mom and sister came this year and almost had a heart attack. And it didn't help that the laws were changed and they could buy crazier ones.

The Zoo!

My mom quit working near the beginning of the year. Can I just say that it has been so awesome? I LOVE it! We all love it. It is the best thing ever. One of the nice perks about it is that she is available to do things, even if they are last minute. She is one of the best Grandmas I know. She loves doing things with my kids, has Grandma Days, spoils them rotten, runs around and plays tag.... She is amazing. She always wanted to do fun things with us (like go to the zoo). Work usually got in the way. Well, not anymore. Near the beginning of the summer we felt the urge to go to the zoo that day. I called up my mom, she was totally in, and we went. And it was fun. I love my mom. I feel a little guilty that I get to live so close to her and have her so accessible like that when my sisters live far away.

Macy waved the whole train ride to anyone and anything.

She was also adamant about waiting forever to sit on this elephant's trunk and get her picture taken. They had a very cute baby elephant by the way.

I can't believe those all belong to me. If I wanted to be cheesy, I could have said, "I can't believe all those monkeys belong to me." But that would just be corny.

This gorilla was AWESOME! He was right up by the glass, playing with us, staring at us, for about ten minutes. It was one of the coolest things ever to happen at the zoo.

Macy Turns 4!

Miss Macy turned 4 on June 29th! She wanted a Hello Kitty party and she got a Hello Kitty Party! Everyone got Kitty Ears and pink bows, we colored Hello Kitty pictures, we tried to pin her nose on the right spot, we had pink balloons and played games with them.... It was a lot of fun.

There is something about making fun birthday cakes that makes me smile. I was pleased with how it turned out since I was scrambling last minute to get it done.

Since Kitties like yarn, the kids followed the yarn to find their treat bags.Macy felt so special on her birthday, and that makes it all worth it. We love you Macy and you're sweet, strong spirit!

Heber Creeper

There is an awesome group for homeschoolers in Utah, WHEN. They organize a lot of cool things for people who homeschool. I've always wanted to take my kids on the Heber Creeper, but it is crazy expensive. Through this group though, we were able to get tickets for around 5 dollars a person. We had a lot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa came with us. We were ambushed by train robbers (apparently they knew my mom :). We enjoyed the view and the breeze. We almost got left behind when we climbed out of the train at the stop. It was fun. I was worried about how well my kids would do when I found out it was 3 hours roundtrip, but they were amazing!

JULY Sayings

CARSTON
*Carston loves baseball. When his regular season ended, someone called about putting together a special team. He was really excited about it and practiced everyday for the tryouts. The night before, I decided to have John call and get some more information. It wasn't good news. The team would have practice two nights a week, and then games on 2 other nights. As much as Carston loves baseball, we knew that it wasn't a good move for our family. He was pretty heartbroken when we told him in the morning. It was a hard thing. I was pleased that he tried to understand and he did his best to not be upset. We signed him up for a basketball camp to help ease the disappointment.
AVERY
*"Mom, you're the best mom in the WHOLE world! Not the best mom in the whole universe though. Heavenly Mother is the best mom in the whole universe."
*Avery was having a hard time deciding on what kind of a party she wanted this year. I finally pulled up a search on the computer and let her browse through. She was very excited when she found the one she wanted. It was a Tinkerbelle/Lightning Bug party. I had to laugh because most of the description was purely about the decorations. It had nothing to offer in the way of games or activities, but she was enamored with all the decorating ideas.
MACY
*Macy has been ready for a long time to start reading. I finally pulled the books out and she has been crazy excited to start reading. Whenever a relative came over, she'd read them her Sam Books :)
KATE
*Apparently Kate's addiction to pick the chocolate off the donuts and eat only that extends to other food categories. I gave her a chocolate chip granola bar. She picked out all the chocolate chips and threw the rest on the ground.
*Kate calls her flip flops her "bip flops." We think it is pretty cute. She is also into dragging out my name: "muuuuooooom."

August Sayings

CARSTON
*After Carston was baptized, he made a decision (all on his own) to write in his journal every night. I would sneak in each night after he was asleep and read what he wrote for the day. I got a good chuckle when I read his first entry from his baptism day when he wrote about how he almost peed his pants because he was nervous.
*Grandpa Danny gave Carston some new scriptures for his baptism and he was so excited he read 8 chapters in the New Testament that night. He thought it was pretty exciting to read stories he was familiar with.
*Carston talks alot in his sleep. One night he started yelling, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" I asked him if he was dreaming and he said, "No, I yelled that because I almost fell asleep."
*One night, Carston decided he wanted to put Kate to bed. He did the whole routine for her with books, prayers, water, blanket...And she went to bed nicely.
*Carston started machine pitch this summer. He really enjoyed playing, although he wasn't too sure about being the catcher after a ball hit his arm. But it was a lot of fun to see him out there actually making plays, getting outs, and scoring runs. He loves to play baseball.
*Carston had to get a cavity drilled. I was still with Avery getting her work done when they were ready to start with him. He was so awesome and brave and went in and did it with the dentist all by himself. I was so pleased with how much he has grown in his ability to do things even if he is a little nervous.
*Carston is a bit enraptured with the whole Kid History thing. He can't get over how John gets stopped for pictures and autographs everytime they go out. One day he said, "Kid History is more famous than vanilla ice cream." Don't worry, we set him straight.
*The night before the Kid History Premiere Carston said, "I'm going to try and not get too excited for Kid History or I won't be able to sleep!"
AVERY
*Sweet little Avery wasn't in a very good mood the day Carston got baptized. She woke up a little grumpy, didn't want to sing the song she had been practicing, didn't have any interest in playing with her cousins at the park. We found out why when we took her to the doctor that night at 9:30 and found out she had strep throat. Getting some alone time with mommy to take her to the doctor and the store for her medicine sure cheered her up though :)
*Avery loves to come up with new imaginary characters to play. One day she decided that she was going to be The Mask Maker. She spent a lot of time cutting out and coloring different masks that were pretty good. Macy wanted one. And Avery wanted some of Macy's candy. So she said, "You'll have to give me something for it." When Macy tried something besides her candy Avery told her, "No. Something great requires something great...like candy or gum." Luckily for everyone, Macy agreed.
*Carston put Kate to bed one night so Avery decided she wanted to give it a try. It didn't turn out quite like she expected. After awhile Kate ran out of the room with Avery right behind her. "It's just not working very good! I already read her three books and she won't go to bed!"
*Avery is wanting to do bigger things lately. Sometimes she is hesitant to try things because she knows she won't be as good as everyone else. But lately, she is wanting to do them because she knows it makes her bigger. One of those things was RockBand. She decided to do the drums even though she had never done them before. And she did great! I love to see her deciding it is more important to try than it is to not let people see you are just learning.
*I took all the kids to the dentist. Before we left, I made sure everyone had shoes (you'd think that would be a no-brainer, but no). Well, between kids going in and out while I was getting everyone in the car, she took her shoes off in the house. When we got the the office (30 minutes away) she was a little embarrassed about it. I tried to get her to see the humor in it. So the first thing she did was tell the assistant that she forgot her shoes :) She had to go back a couple weeks later and the first words out of her mouth: "I remembered my shoes this time."
*At the dentist we found out that all of the antibiotics from Avery's ear infections had caused her permanent teeth to form incorrectly. The enamel is all messed up, so she had to go in and get some stuff put on her teeth to help prevent cavities. We also found out that she has an extra tooth in her upper gum that will need to get extracted through surgery.
*Emma came to play after a long absence. Avery made the cutest list of all the things they wanted to play. She filled up an entire page with things for them to do.
*Avery had me laughing so hard. She and her friend found some rings to wear, and then they followed Carston and all his boy friends around the house, holding their rings out to them and singing Beyonce's song: "If you like it then you should've put a ring on it!" Their version was a little more opera than it was R&B :)
MACY
*Macy loves to dance. She takes it very seriously and she is always experimenting to come up with some new moves. She cannot wait to start dance lessons!
*I had to play the closing song for Carston's baptism because the pianist had to leave early. Macy followed me up and leaned all over the keys while I was playing...it pretty much summed up our family life :)
*Macy ran around Grandma's house saying, "We have to save the day or it will be DOOMED!"
*One morning Macy woke up in the mood to please. She was telling me all the things on her list that had been checked: go potty, wash hands, etc. "But farts are NOT on the list! Farts are NOT checked!"
*Macy said, "Some rock stars do THIS!" and she flipped her hair back.
KATE
*Kate loves to join in when her sisters are dancing. She leans more toward the graceful side, swaying her arms up and down. It is pretty adorable.
*Kate likes to sing the ABC's and I Am a Child of God. I can't get enough of her sweet little voice.
*Kate asked Daddy where he was going and he said church. "You gonna have cookies?" Apparently, the best part of church is the cookies in nursery.
*Kate always says, "Pease go swimming? Pease go swimming?" and "Pease go park!" whenever we pass one in the car.
*Kate like to be a little nurturer. She will always come up and say, "What's wong? What's wong sweetie?" while she strokes our arm or our back.
*One of my favorite things each day is when Kate comes in each morning with her sweet smile and sweet voice and says, "Goo Morning Momma!"
*Kate was not digging Macy being around her at the moment so she was yelling at her to "Go way (away)!" Daddy told her to be nice so she changed it to, "Go way pease. Pease go way!"

Dear Avery

Dear Avery,

You recently turned six and I thought it would be a great time to write you another letter. You are such a sweet little girl Avery. You truly try to serve other people. Yesterday, you were out in the backyard helping Daddy for about an hour. You are always helping other people with their jobs, or doing nice things for me. You are a sweetie. You are also great at being kind to people. You are nice to your brother and sisters, you usually share whatever treats you get from parties or school, you share your toys, you are kind to friends who come over. You want other people to be happy.

You still have a great imagination. If you were trapped somewhere anyone else would find boring, I know within a few short minutes, you'd be able to have everyone fully engrossed in some kind of fun you created from your imagination. I love it. Your little sisters have learned from your example and look to you for great ideas of what to play.

Something you love doing right now is plays. You found some masks at Grandma's house and you and Macy have loved practicing and then having everyone come in and watch the play. You also got all ready the other day for the neighbors to come and watch.

I love hearing you sing. You have a beautiful, pure voice. I love watching you dance. I love that you are addicted to snuggles with mommy. I love that you enjoy cooking and cleaning. I love to see you engrossed in a good book. You have worked hard to become such a good little reader, and you keep pushing yourself with bigger and bigger books. When we go to the library, you quickly fill your bag to overflowing. You found some great fairy chapter books that you are loving right now.

You have a bit of an adventurous side. We recently went to Lagoon and you were totally into a bunch of the big rollercoasters. I loved seeing the little grin on your face when you were riding and when you got off. You were a little scared of the big swings for some reason, but I sat by you and you loved it as soon as we started pretending to be fairies :) You also love swimming and being in the water. We went to a splashpad yesterday and you were our first kid out there getting drenched. I love to see your face when you are having fun.

Avery, I love that your little sisters have you to be such a good example for them. They look to you and want to follow your lead. You are patient and kind with them. You teach them things you learn, whether it is from school, church, or dance class. You are in the position I was when I was growing up. I was the oldest of three girls. It makes me happy to know that you will set a good example for them.

Every time I put you in bed, I either chuckle or feel a little disgusted :) Your bed hardly has room for you in it! You treasure so many things and you want them close to you....so your bed is quite full of papers and stuffed animals and dolls and barbies etc. I make you clear it all out, but it fills right back up before the day is over :) You never want to get rid of anything.

I am looking forward to homeschooling you most of the time for next year. I missed you this last year when you were at Kindergarten. I'm excited to be more involved in helping you learn and watching you as you develop yourself and your talents. And I know you will LOVE not having to get up at 8 for school! You are our only kid who will sleep in. When you have to get out of bed before you are ready.....well, let's just say that is one of the few times you are GRUMPY! You are a girl who definitely likes to get her sleep :)

You are such a beautiful girl Avery. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I have loved every minute of being your mother. Being your mother inspires me to be a better person. I love you Avery.

Love, Mom