Peace at the beach and in the mountains

I will admit I was not looking forward to flying with 3 kids by myself. After waking up an hour later than planned and having to rush to the airport, the flight itself went very smooth. The kids were great.




I love going home to see my family for many reasons. First off, my sister Crystal lives 2 blocks from the beach. I walked with the kids down there and we had a really nice time. I love watching them play in the waves. It reminds me of when I was a kid. Dallin still loves to chase the birds and he is teaching Emily. I learned why it is always helpful to have another adult with you when Emily fell down and I was feeding Bryce. IT was a little tricky but we survived and had a wonderful day.



That night we met up with friends and Tony's parents for a fun barbeque. Emily was in princess heaven and didn't want to leave the girls' room. We watched a movie outdoors and had smores.

I went for a beautiful 10 mile run along the beach in the morning. That is one of my favorite things to do at the beach. Crystal was kind enough to watch my kids so I could run.

On Saturday there was a big pool party for Payge and Ashlynn. It was great to see so many family and friends. Crystal put the party together and did an amazing job. I am always impressed to see how many people love and care about Crystal. When you meet her, you are friends with her for life.



After the party we headed up the mountains. I love the mountains. It is so clean and peaceful. I was anxious to see my dad. He is the reason for coming home. I started my blog after he was diagnosed with brain cancer, so I never really wrote about it. The tumor was found on March 15, 2005. I was completely shocked and horrified when I received the phone call from him. Since then he has had 2 surgeries to remove as much of the cancer as possible, radiation, and chemotherapy. For 2 years he was doing really well, still able to function. In April of this year they found another tumor and he had a gamma knife procedure at the beginning of May. Since that time, the left side of his body has really weakened. He needs a lot of help to get around now. I was so grateful that he was able to come visit me when the baby was blessed at the end of May. He definitely couldn't make that trip now. So, I am going to try to get out here as much as possible. His spirits are so high, when you talk to him you wouldn't know anything is wrong. I am continually amazed by his optimism. There is nothing I enjoy more than a conversation with my dad. I have always felt that way. He is so kind hearted and genuine. He is a teaser and very cute with the kids. He has always been my biggest cheerleader, especially when I didn't believe in myself. I am really enjoying this time with him, but trying to let him rest as much as possible. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. If you haven't met him before, you are missing out. If you have met him, you know exactly what I am talking about. I love him more than words can say and I just hope he knows that.



My good friend Becky and her family came over. Here are our babies!



Becky and I have been friends since we were little and we were roomates at the good old Glenwood where both of us met our hubbies. We were married a month apart and we have had 3 kids all within a few months of each other. It has been great going through these stages of life together.

(I also wanted to thank my great friends taking care of Jeff while we are gone. We are so lucky!)

Bryce is 3 months old

Tuesday was a big day. Our 9th wedding anniversary, and Bryce turned 3 months old. I should be packing and cleaning for our early morning flight tomorrow, and instead I am holding a screaming baby and typing one-handed. I sent Jeff to work out, and I thought blogging about the happy moments with Bryce would help me feel better. So, here goes:



Extremely happy when he first wakes up. Love to see his huge grins and giggles, especially Jeff. The tongue smiles are very fun.

Mostly just chills out and goes with the flow. Great at the park, movies, wherever.

Doesn't keep me up in the middle of the night. I count my blessings on this one every morning when I am able to wake up to run!

Easy to make smile. If I am ever down about something, I can just cuddle him and smile and he will smile back.

Loves to be held. They are little for such a short time that I am trying to enjoy this stage as much as possible.

So, the one negative is that he is a major spitter upper! He doesn't seem too affected by it, and for that I am grateful.

Overall, he has been a joy to have. The kids are cute with him, and he is truly my miracle baby. I am so glad to have him in my family.

Love you, Babe (9 years down, forever to go!)

We had a wonderful night. One of my good friends watched all 3 kids so we could go to dinner and then to the temple. It was a great way to remember the vows we have made to each other and to Heavenly Father. I feel so lucky to be married to Jeff. He makes me laugh so hard. We have so much fun and as one of my Young Women said, we truly are perfect for each other. We have been through a lot in these 9 years, most things awesome, but some things difficult. We have learned a lot about each other, both our strengths and our weaknesses. I know Jeff loves me for who I am, and that is all that matters. He is a wonderful husband and an amazing father. He is extremely supportive of my goals and especially my desire to be a great mother. I look forward to many more memories together.

Lazy days of summer

It has been a nice, relaxing summer so I have no excuse for not keeping up on the blogging. I hope my kids aren't disappointed that we didn't do anything "big" this summer. But there are the little moments I wouldn't trade for anything:

*Trip to Seattle with my mom and the kiddos to visit Aunt Brenda

*Watching Dallin and Emily play together


*playing with friends at the park while Bryce just chills out.



*Dallin reading his first book out loud (a Pokemon book that I didn't want to buy him in the first place!)
*Dallin reading to his sister

*Bryce smiling and giggling




*Emily stripping off her clothes to put on any princess "pretty dress"
*Emily buying a porcelain Cinderella for $1 at a garage sale and not going anywhere without her. (Poor doll was literally loved to death.)

*Many hours singing princess songs
*Many hours doing "math" with Dallin
*Many hours building paper airplanes
*Flying airplanes at the park
*Pulling weeds to help Dallin earn money for his big bike
*Hanging out with my wonderful neighbors in the front yard, in the back yard, wherever


*Going on the boat- always a fun time!


*Dallin's first outdoor soccer practice- he was so excited when he learned a new way to kick the ball in the goal!

*Swimming at the Y with dad

*Dallin trying to come up with any way he can to make money!

We still have many more memories to make and these are just some of our favorites. I will try to post more often, but for now just know I am soaking in these moments with my wonderful children, family and friends!

I've been busy...

...just enjoying this sweet face! Can you blame me?! I really have been trying to take life a little slower and savor each moment. This is not an easy thing for me, and I am not always successful, but I think I have been doing alright. Having 3 kids is not easy for me. I was always late before, now I am just later. :-) I have been trying to do fun things, but maybe not as often. Here are some of our favorite moments:



4th of July- We live in a wonderful neighborhood and our favorite holiday is 4th of July. We have not always been able to participate in this big party due to Lake Powell trips or other plans, so I was looking forward to this one. We all rented one of those huge slides which was a big hit. We had a water balloon launcher and a great potluck barbeque. Suzie and her family even joined us! Lots of fun!! I think the dads enjoy the fireworks show more than the kids!






Camping Trip with friends- Last week we went on a camping trip. I was a little nervous to take a 7 week old, but I decided to give it a try! We planned this trip last year, but then one of the moms was very pregnant sick and I was overscheduled (big shocker) so we cancelled it. I am so glad it worked out this year. We had a fun time boating, roasting marshmellows, swimming, and just relaxing. The baby was great, it was my 2 year old screaming in the middle of the night! Other than that, we had a wonderful time. The kids got along really well, and we even got a late night game of Settlers in!

I have also just been enjoying playing with my kids. We have gone to the free movies, had friends over for fun in the sun, been to Oaks Park with Suzie and the gang, and we also went to Chuck E. Cheese. It is amazing how fast Dallin can blow through tokens playing ski ball!! Lots of fun!!




I love seeing their different personalities emerge. Emily still loves anything princess. (This is actually a 3/6 month onesie she found when I was going through clothes!)


Dallin still loves X box monkey ball and reading books with me. Here is one of his quiet time projects. Can you see his obsession with money?

Bryce is getting cuter and cuter. He is smiling more often, and started really cooing last week. He is still just a pretty happy baby, just don't make him mad. I am so grateful for my baby bjorn. I don't think I could get anything done without it! I will post more about him tomorrow on his 2 month birthday. :-)

The last thing that I have been doing is I am definitely back to running. It is still hard for me, but I love it! Please visit my other blog (Marathon Mommies) and meet these other amazing moms. And if anyone would like to post on that site just let me know!

You know you need a new post when...

...you realize your last post was all about breastfeeding. :-) Sorry about that. Anyway, here is an update of the fun things my new "freedom" has allowed me to do.

1. Go to the park for many hours with good friends. (Does this surprise you?)



We also played a lot in our own front yard. I love that I feel comfortable letting Dallin just ride his bike with the neighbor kids. We live on a great street with many kids. It is so much fun, especially in the summer.

2. Chase a balloon festival with Suzie's daughter Wavy Gravy.



We bought passes to the balloon festival. On Saturday morning at 6am we woke up all the kids and went to see the balloons take off. We were disappointed when the weather kept this from happening. We had an all you can eat pancake breakfast and walked around an empty field. We decided to try again that night for the night glow. Still kind of a disappointment but we had fun listening to "Elvis." Sunday morning at 6am, Dallin, Wavy Gravy and I tried one more time to see the balloons launch, and again they were sidelined by the weather. We were lucky enough to ride in a tethered balloon and it was still cool to see all the balloons. The kids were great sports. I am glad Wavy Gravy could come with us. I have always felt a special kinship with her.

3. Spend time with my sweet, fun daughter Emily.



Dallin was in soccer camp this week at the YMCA, so while he was playing with his 2 good buddies,


Emily and I had some fun. We played at open gym time, went to see Clifford at the free movies, and just played with her friends. I love spending time with just her and enjoying her craziness. She loves to dress herself up(as you can tell) and she is still so sweet with Bryce.


4. Hang out with my cool sister Crystal and her boyfriend Tony while they came to visit for the weekend.




I love when Crystal comes to visit. We always have a fun time together. She is such a great aunt and the kids are always excited to see her. I am glad she was able to meet Bryce. We took the boat out which was a lot of fun. I was a little nervous to see how Bryce would like the life jacket, but he did really well, sleeping most of the time. I guess he has no choice in our boat loving family! We also went to a baseball game and rode the train downtown. It was the happiest I have seen Bryce and he was smiling a lot while Crystal was holding him. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera, so I have still not been able to catch a "real" smile. I will keep trying, I promise! We had a great time playing Settlers(a lot! Thanks guys, I will win sometime) and just relaxing. It was a perfect weekend. We even had visitors today, good friends from home and BYU. Then Suzie and her family came over for games and dessert. Whew! We feel lucky to have such amazing family and friends. Thank you!!



We were also able to have a wonderful Father's Day. I love when we have a chance to honor Jeff. I really do feel truly blessed to have a husband who is not only my best friend, but a great father. The kids love their dad! (Isn't Bryce's outfit adorable?! It was sent to us by my good friend, Angi, who just had a sweet baby girl. (Angi, start a blog so I can see more pics of your cute family!)

The kids picked out a present they could play with their dad. Dallin wanted to buy another video game, but I nixed that idea! So, they picked out rockets. They love playing with their dad.

I also feel grateful to have a great father. Bryce is named after him (middle name) and I can't think of anyone I would rather him strive to be like. He is kind, generous, thoughtful, strong and faithful. He taught me to love and serve everyone. He is my personal cheerleader and I never feel prouder than when I am able to share an accomplishment with him. I love you dad!!

Bryce is a month old and I can't believe how fast it has gone. I hope I am doing a good job and making sure all my kids feel loved. I am glad that we don't have school right now so we can all be together. I love reading books with the kids and watching them learn. Babies are such a miracle, and especially my little Bryce. What a blessing he has been to our family.