Up at the Cabin

We always love going up to the cabin. Especially right now, when we're in the middle of trying to move and always have to worry about how the house looks, and if the kids are keeping their rooms clean, and making sure all of us remember not to walk on the newly cleaned carpets with their shoes on, it was nice to just get away from everything and relax for a weekend up at the cabin. I got to read, Russell got to sleep and read, and the kids played games, watched movies, and ran around outside exploring nature. Russ was even sweet enough to take them on a much needed nature hike and they loved it. I got to sit back and relax and read my book (The Host, by Stephenie Meyer) which I'd been trying to read since May when it came out. Josh was equipped with the GPS and ready to tell everyone where they needed to be. We had walkie-talkies and every once in a while, I'd get to hear the report on how great the view was and how much fun they were having. It was a short, but much needed weekend away.

Thanksgiving Point

We had such a great time when my nieces Maddi & Kennedi came into town. We started out on our 'field trip' at the Children's Garden, took a nice little walk around the gardens and then the kids loved getting wet by Noah's Ark. Then we had lunch and even with all their different appetites, we found something for all of them to eat. We went on to the Museum of Ancient Life and they all loved the dinosaurs and the cute, fun activities they had for them there. Finally, we ended at the Farm where they found food to feed all the animals and best of all, they got to ride on the horses. They all really loved that, of course. It was awesome getting to see the girls and letting the cousins spend some fun time time together.

Not such a happy occasion

I had the opportunity to go to Washington state this last week for my grandmother's funeral. She was 82 years old and passed away due to complications with her diabetes. She was my dad's mother, and I'll really miss her in my life. My grandpa wrote a beautiful obituary, and my Uncle Tom gave a really nice eulogy and gave a lot of history about her life, which was amazing. I knew she was a wonderful, sweet lady, but I had no idea she had accomplished so many great things in her life. She was very musical, and I always remember her singing while she cleaned the house or cooked. I found out that she was also very educated - when she graduated from college, she had enough credits for about 3 different majors, so it's no wonder she always knew about so many different things and sounded so educated. She loved literature and reading and gave her sons & grandchildren a real love and appreciation for literature & poetry.

It was really nice to see a lot of family that I hadn't seen for years, even if it was for a sad occasion. I always like going to the Yakima valley, because even though I've lived in Utah for about 15 yrs. now, it always feels like a part of home is there. My parents were great to take me with them all across Washington for the various parts of the funeral. I really enjoyed spending time with them all by myself, which doesn't get to happen very often. I also had the chance to see my sister and her oh so cute identical twins, Harrison & Henry. They really are the sweetest babies, and they were really good throughout the whole time we were there. I'm glad we all got the chance to say good bye to my grandma and see her one last time before she passed away. She was a very special lady and we'll all miss her.

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a great birthday I had this year! I pretty much try to stretch it out and celebrate for the whole month of May since Mother's Day is just a couple of weeks away from my birthday, and that just makes it all that much more fun. A big group of us went to see Indiana Jones 4, which of course, was awesome. They did a great job of carrying that "Indy" feeling through this one too, so we loved it. Then we went over to Dan & Shellie's for a BBQ, cake, & ice cream. Even though it wasn't for the most happy occasion, Matt & Amanda were in town and got to come to the party, so it was really great to see them. We finished off the night talking and playing some really fun games, so all in all, it was an amazing birthday.

My toe hurts Mommy

Our latest surprise was Josh breaking his toe on Sunday. He was running around at full speed downstairs when we heard him wailing that he had hurt his foot. After he had a few doses of Tylenol and a nap, he still wasn't feeling much better, and since Josh isn't really the complaining type, we decided it was probably time to take him to the doctor. Sure enough, after an x-ray, we found out it was broken. Poor little guy! Well, he's been hobbling around and crawling because he really can't stand sitting still, so hopefully he'll recover soon and be back to his old active self.

Welcome to the blogging

Welcome to our family blog! At the suggestion of my sister in law Rebecca, I thought I'd give it a shot and try to keep everyone somewhat updated as to the happenings in our family.

We're always really busy, so that's nothing new, but hopefully I'll be able to update this pretty regularly. My husband Russ & I have three kids - Tori (10), Isabel (6), and Josh (3). They are all really involved in their various activities and so of course, WE are really involved in all their activities. Luckily, I love my new SUV that we got last month, so I really don't mind being the taxi service for my kids. Tori loves soccer, goes to piano because I hope someday she'll thank me for making her go, and of course she has all of her friends' various parties to attend also - she's definitely starting to be the little social butterfly tween. Isabel really loves dance, and wants to start a sport too, so we're thinking swimming and tumbling next. Josh is about to turn 4 in a couple of months, and he'll be old enough to start T-ball, soccer, and whatever else my active little boy can think of to do.

Well, that's our family in a nutshell. I'm sure with the summer vacation just around the corner, there will be lots more things to write about, so stay tuned!