Skills . . .

Brooke's new do.

You know, as Mom's we have opportunities to develop all kinds of skills. This week, I am most proud of my hair cutting skills!

I've been cutting Austin's hair for a long time and it's actually not so bad anymore. (the process or the results) I cut Cameron's hair a few weeks ago, but it's just baby hair and there wasn't much to it. Although, the squirming baby did add an extra dose of trickiness! The boys look cute though and I guess that was enough to give me the confidence to tackle girl hair.

Brooke was starting to look pretty scraggly lately, and we'd both decided it was time for a cut, but I decided I could probably manage it. After all, I get my hair cut often enough, it looks pretty straightforward. I asked myself, "How hard can it be?"

Well, it's a little harder than it looks to get a nice cut on a wiggly little girl! OK, it's A LOT harder than it looks! A little bit of know-how and some experience would have come in pretty handy actually. In the end, it's a little shorter than was originally intended, because I couldn't seem to cut a straight line. (something to do with the tilting head, perhaps?)

It turned out really cute though! She is very happy with it, and honestly, so am I! (It's no small feat for me to be completely happy with something I did, since I tend to be overly critical of almost everything.)

Anyway, the moral of the story is, I'm so glad I'm a Mom and have the chance to develop all kinds of new talents by experimenting on my kids! It's great having skills. :-)

Cheyenne Mt. Zoo

All the years I lived in Coloraado and all the years that we've been visiting my family there, we've never been to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in CO Springs. We've heard that it was wonderful and decided to check it out this past August when we were there. We loved it! It was the nicest zoo we've been to, we all had a great time. The bears were fun to watch, because they were playing in the water and wrestling with each other in front of the window. The wild chipmunks eating out of the kids hands were fun, and the birds that came and sat on our shoulders were cool. We even got to pet a baby wallaby from TX, named Odessa. But, far and away, the giraffes were the highlight of the visit.

The kids had a great time feeding the giraffes and admiring them so closely. It was neat to pet them and admire their babies. The giraffe's were worth the whole day, but ended up just being the icing on the cake. It was a fun day at the zoo!

Colorado trip

After the group thinned and most of the other visitors went home after our family reunion, John and I stayed in Colorado and visited with my Mom for a few more days. We all had a very nice time and the kids especially enjoyed Grandma's company. In Pueblo, they have a great little kiddie park that's open in the summer. We loved the carousel and Cameron did too! He thought it was so s amazing. It was cute.
Every time the kids went by, Cameron would squeal in excitement and follow them around with his eyes. The other kids did encourage it a little too, I'll admit that.
We had lots of fun there.

Brooke had a great day collecting green beans with Grandma, from her garden.
They got quite a stash of greens!
This was the kids roller coaster that Austin and Brooke rode on.

They thought it was great. . . . raised hands and all!
Austin was so proud of the fact that he was TOO TALL to ride so many the rides at the park. Proof that he's growing up!!

Grandma

My Grandma Jan fell today and broke her hip. :-( She's in the hospital and will have surgery tomorrow to try to make some repairs and begin the healing process. She won't be able to walk for a while, and will probably move in at my Mom's house to be taken care of while she gets better. It is sad to watch as hard things happen to people we love. I am so glad she was able to get to the hospital quickly and that she is resting comfortably. We'll be thinking of and praying for her quick recovery.

Austin's Baptism

I can't believe it has already come and gone . . .

my baby is 8 and now he's been baptized.

I couldn't be more proud of Austin.

He told us after his baptism that he had prayed that he would feel the spirit and that "IT HAD WORKED!" (He said . . . excitedly.)

We knew that Austin was really intent on listening and soaking in the moments. He was taking his decision to be baptized very seriously. When Uncle Greg got up and talked to Austin, Austin's eyes actually filled with tears and he put his head down. I could tell he was touched. He told John a few minutes later that they were happy tears and that he was feeling the spirit. He experienced the same thing several more times in the next few minutes. There's nothing I could want more for my son on his baptism day than that.

In all my efforts to make this day special for him, it really just came down to him feeling the spirit and having that desire to do what he knows is right.

What more could I ask for?

I tried to prepare things for Austin's baptism day. We planned a nice program and Austin learned a baptism song on the piano.

We had lots of friends and family come to support him and we had some delicious refreshments. I put together a cute slide show of his life and we even ended up having some pretty flowers . . .

(despite a late start and a bit of a frazzled, frustrated me.)

These things were all nice, but the real preparations for Austin's baptism day have been happening for years. They have been happening at home as we talk to and teach our children. They have happened at church as he attends primary and hears the lessons and songs. They have happened as we've prayed and we read our scriptures as a family. And most importantly, they happened when Austin prayed that he would feel the spirit.

Austin's baptism went beautifully. It went beautifully because he was ready and happy to be there. He understood the importance of what he was doing and was spiritually prepared. If no one else was in attendance, if we didn't have a slide show or refreshments or a single flower on the table, Austin's baptism would have gone just as beautifully. It was beautiful because of the ordinance that it is, the spirit that attended and the path that he is choosing for his life.

I am blessed with a wonderful son and I am so proud of him!

Camping Adventure

For Austin's 8th birthday party, we had a backyard adventure and let

Austin plan a campout with his friends.

Not all of them stayed the night, but we had lots of fun while they were there!

Don't be deceived by the girls relaxing in the hammock. . . this party was anything but calm! That's because most of the guests were boys!

And boy oh boy were they wild that night! We brought the cake out in the backyard and the kids enjoyed singing and eating while they ran around.

It was no small task getting everyone to pause their activities and pose for a group shot. We tried a few times and then just moved on to eating cake!
The tire swing is always a hit at our house. They really loaded it up at the party though. Then they twisted it up as high as they could and spun around. This activity didn't keep up too long, because first, they thought it'd be fun to jump off while it was spinning. . . bad idea. Then kids started to feel a little sick from all the spinning. . . go figure!
Paintball gun shooting was a big hit! They all waited patiently in line and then shot at the paper targets we had on a piece of plywood. Fun, fun, fun! If I was an eight year old boy, I'd have been in heaven!
All that running around outside was making everyone thirsty. Here's the birthday boy taking a break for some ice water.
We had a great treasure hunt planned. It got a little foiled by the kids finding things pre-maturely, but they played along anyway! Here they are making their way across the back yard to the next clue . . .

The trampoline was fun for everyone as they went between other activities.
We also made bird feeders, hit a giant frog pinata and had a scavenger hunt. When the other kids left, the ones that were staying to camp had a little shower in the water hose before heading off to bed in the tents. They stayed there all night, with only a few getting covered in exploding light sticks . . . :-)

Everyone was up and at 'em bright and early and enjoyed some fresh cinnamon rolls and orange juice before parents started coming to collect them. It was fun for everyone, especially Austin. He got a great camp out, just like he wanted, and that's what mattered most!

Happy 8th Birthday Austin!

Schedules . . .

Well, according to a conversation I was having with John this week, we need to work on our time management skills. I was baffled at how I never seem to be on top of my housework or other projects that I need to do. It seems like there is never enough time in the day to accomplish the things that I need and want to get done. According to him, time management is the magic key to success, in all areas. Is that my problem??

John suggested implementing a detailed daily schedule for our family but I resisted. "I don't want to feel confined to a specific schedule," I told him. However, I have since changed my mind and we spent some time yesterday putting together our schedule. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel as confining as I thought it might. I actually feel a little bit more like I can think clearly when I know what to expect and plan for. Things are less overwhelming when I don't feel pressure to accomplish everything at once. I guess I'll pat John on the back for his suggestion, we'll see if it's the answer I need to get my life more organized.

Hopefully with this new found time management, I'll schedule in some time to post to my blog and keep it a little more current. We shall see! Well, gotta go, my free time is over! Gotta move along to the next thing on the list . . . :-)

Poor baby, poor mama

My little Cameron is so sick! I feel so sorry for him. He has been having the worst tummy trouble the past few days. I know it's taking it's toll on him and he is sooo fussy and tired. It's taking it's toll on Mommy and Daddy too. We have been up cleaning up throw up and changing diapers and giving baths and washing bedding, and pacing with a sick baby for the past couple of days and nights. Ooh, we're all exhausted around here. I miss almost everything about babies as my kids get older. I am so glad when they get old enough to break the communication barrier though. It's so much easier to help someone feel better when you know exactly what hurts and what would help... :-( Poor baby.

Thank goodness it's Saturday!! We are gonna lay low for a little while, for sure. Can I just say, I am so glad that we aren't doing any Saturday morning sports right now. Hallelujah for that!

oh, the places you'll go

We came across some unique and interesting buildings on our drive back through New Mexico this summer. A few of them were worth snapping a picture of, so I did.

This building was one of many in this town (if you can call it that) that looked like it was about to fall over with the next big gust of wind. It was almost eerie how the whole place, which only consisted of about one stop sign, seemed totally deserted.

Here's a nice one . . .

If you're ever looking to get away and stay in a cabin in the mountains, I bet this place would be available. If you look closely, you'll see the sign on the front that says in large print: GUEST HOUSE. Sounds tempting doesn't it??


As we were driving along a scenic routein the mountains, these adorable cabins just seemed to pop up out of no where. They were so cute and so beautiful, we just had to stop and admire them.












We pulled off the road and John convinced me that they were worth walking through the wet grass to get a picture of. Now I'm really glad he did.

Brookie looking all sassy!

Kindergarten is starting to take it's toll on my little daughter. She's getting worn out and it showed today. She had lots of tears this morning and didn't want to go. I'm soooo glad it was Daddy that had to walk her in and hand her off to her teacher in tears. I cried just hearing about it! It was a rough start to the day, but her teacher told me that it only lasted a minute or two and she was in much better spirits the rest of the day. That was very reassuring, of course. She came home happy and decided she was in the mood for a photo shoot this afternoon. She was feeling like a fashion queen in this new school outfit and wanted to pose for a few glamour shots. When she feels really stylin' and cute, she calls it "sassy." She was feeling like that today! I'm a little partial, I know, but I sure think she's a cutie!

road trips and blessings

John and I set off for Colorado with our two youngest kids and a car full of stuff a few weeks ago, and fully expected to arrive there without any trouble. I have a pretty reliable car and don't even remember the last time it "broke down." That's because it really never happens. So, needless to say, it was a little unexpected when we started losing battery power and having our warning lights come on toward the end of our first day of driving. We stopped at a Dairy Queen (which was the only thing around for miles) and got a jump from someone there, which boosted our battery power, but didn't seem to solve the problem. John was worried that the alternator was going out and wanted to get to a town with an auto parts store as soon as possible. So, we said a prayer that we would be safe and be able to fix our problem, then we headed on our way to Amarillo, the closest town. About 5 minutes into the 30 minute drive to Amarillo, we started losing battery power and rapidly lost power to the whole car. It was nighttime, and hot outside, but we turned off our a/c, our lights and every other accessory we could, to feed any last bit of power to the car. We went on like that for another 5 minutes or so until the power cut completely out and we coasted off the road in the dark.

There we were, stranded on the side of the highway, in the middle of no where, at night, with 2 small kids and no friends to call for help. I won't lie, it crossed my mind that we had prayed to make it safely to our destination and to be able to solve our problem, yet here we were in this predicament. I didn't understand why. Couldn't we just have made it a few more miles? Why were we here like this? We started trying to figure out what to do. John remembered that there was a roadside assistance number on the back of the TX drivers licenses, for help from state troopers, so we tried to call several times to no avail. It was busy. Bummer!!

We were getting frustrated. It was very hot, and we were all getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. My kids were hungry and tired and I wanted to solve this problem. I was a little bothered that we couldn't have just made it into town, even to a gas station or some other place to get the kids out of the car and off the side of the highway. I'm a little impatient, I guess, but I wanted it my way and I didn't want this struggle. It wasn't a good time.

John was trying, but it's a difficult task to flag down help from cars that are going 75 miles an hour on a highway at night, especially when we didn't even have our hazard lights on. We had flashlight, so I stood with Brooke on my hip and the light waving back and forth trying to flag someone down (looking as non-threatening as possible.) It didn't seem to work. I finally got her back in the car and was starting to wonder what we were going to do, when John said that someone was stopping up the road a ways. I felt so blessed. It's amazing how much more we appreciate things that we have to wait and work for.

It's also amazing to me how safe we felt loading our family into the car of a complete stranger. There was no question about whether or not this was a good man. We knew that he was just there to help us and he did. He took us into town, where John bought 2 new batteries at the local Wal-Mart. Then he took us back to our car and helped John install a battery while the kids and I waited in his air conditioned vehicle. Along the way, he also reserved us a hotel room and eventually made sure we made it there safely.

This man was an answer to our prayer. Certainly, the Lord could have given our car the power it needed to make it to town. But he chose to bless us instead with kindness from a stranger. The man, Ron, didn't have to stop, he could have gone right by, like so many other cars did. It was late and he was tired, on his way home from a long business trip himself. But he stopped and gave us the help that we needed. When our car was working again, we said goodbye to our good Samaritan, and new friend. We tried to pay him for his help but he refused the money, and told us that it would take away from the blessings he might receive. He hadn't stopped because he wanted to get paid. He said that God told him to stop, and when God tells him to stop, he does it.

It wasn't the outcome I had envisioned when I prayed that we would be kept safe, but I am now grateful that it is the experience that we had. We were so grateful for his help. We were grateful for the hotel that we had to sleep in that night and for our car working well the rest of the trip. I know that we were being watched over and that the Lord answers prayers in his time, and in his way. We may never know what he has in store for us but he knows what we need. I'm grateful for that. I needed a renewed sense of how good and kind people can be. I'm grateful for a kind man in Amarillo, TX who listened to a prompting and became an instrument in the Lord's hands to answer our prayers that night. That frustrating situation was actually a real blessing, as we recignized the hand of the Lord in our life.

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As a follow up, 3 cheers for John and his mechanic skills! He bought and installed a new alternator the next day and then, when it didn't fix the problem, he took it out and installed another new one. Turns out the 1st one was actually no good. Humorous as it sounds, the 2nd one was actually no good either, it was so weird. He actually had them tested and both of them were bad, right out of the box. The third time was the charm though and by the end of the day, we were back on the road again, powered up and running as good as new. We arrived safely in Colorado that night, and ended up having a wonderful trip.