my battle

I have been embroiled in an epic battle...I have a worthy opponent. She breaks left, I seek left, she breaks right, I seek right. She grabs her feet, I pull them down. She turns on her belly, I flip her back...

Seconds tick by, then minutes. I struggle for control, I arm myself with trinkets and toys...my opponent cannot be distracted. Her focus is sure. The minutes are adding, adding...she cannot be contained, she begins to shout louder and louder to frustrate my efforts even further...she is a cunning one. She begins to struggle even harder and harder still to test my endurance, yet, my focus is sure...then at the breaking point, I have become fast enough. My reflexes have become fine tuned. I accomplished a simple, yet sometimes most insurmountable task of changing Sadie's diaper.

my FHE

Notice my baby carrier digging into my belly fat....how attractive!

I love all these little streams with the old "bridges".


The kids ALWAYS want to climb trees! We will have to plant some in our new house.

The other day for family home evening we "hiked" the Zintel Canyon trail. Does any of the family remember playing down there behind grandma's house? There is a little stream with board bridges and lots of trees. It was fun being down there again. They have a nice little trail. It is kind of scary at some points tho. (I remember thinking that when I was younger too) I would look at all the thickets and overgrow and think to myself "Gee, I hope we don't find a dead body." The kids loved the "hike" and enjoyed being able to run free. There was one part of the trail, very close to the end, where we went off the path and discovered 2 teenage boys smoking some dubie. That was quite interesting. They were trying to hide, but we heard them and saw them and smelled something:) So we turned around and headed back. It was a pretty fun activity (aside from that)!

my dads

We had a great father's day. Luckily, I have 3 fathers that are so absolutely wonderful and are amazing examples of manhood and fatherhood.

I love my dad so much for his tenacity and sense of humor and intelligence. He is fun to have around and he has always been a great example of obedience and faith to the gospel. He has 7 amazing children and he has always been such a hard worker to provide for them. I love that he used to be a stellar athlete and that he has pride in his children. I have many fond memories of my father's tenderness and sensitivity.


I love my husband so much because he is such a good father. He constantly strives to be better and he is so willing to help and solve any problem. He is a great person and partner. He loves his children and strives to provide for them. I am so glad that they have a steadfast father who is so involved in their lives. He is so committed to the gospel and he is so willing to serve others. He ALWAYS tries to make me happy.

I love my father in law for being such a kind man. He has amazing integrity. He has such a calming presence. And for also raising Michael and teaching him how to be a great man by leading with example.


"Father's are so special, with a special kind of love...they watch us and protect us. They guide us and direct us, back to our home above. "
Sorry, that primary song has been in my head all day!!!!

my favorite things today

One of my favorite things lately is watching Reese run fast. It is hilarious and obviously these pictures cannot capture the essence of his stride. He has just such little legs and he tries to book it at the speed of light...all the while, pumping his little arms. It just makes me laugh when I see him.


Sadie is ALMOST crawling. She is picking herself up and scooting around. She is just so cute. And you can see her two little bottom teeth...

Michael and I have gotten into the bad habit of scaring our children. Michael plays a game called "cheetah" with the kids, where he hides in different places then jumps out at them and roars like a cheetah and chases them. Sometimes when they are playing quietly in their room, I sneak up on them and yell, "GOTCHA!" Is this demented? I love to see their scared looks and then they usually laugh and all is well. I know that one day, I will be severely repaid for all of the frights, and pinched/tapped bums (baby bums are so funny and cute to me) that I have doled out over these few short years.


Reese wanted to be part of the trendy "poppers"....(thanks michele and haley!)

Kozo the dancing hippo edit:

This is how i feel i look when i dance sometimes

my celebrity look alike

So, I really liked all those brat pack movies. I think my favorite is Sixteen Candles, then Breakfast Club, then Pretty in Pink. Michael and I just recently watched Pretty in Pink. It was one of my least favorite, but watching it again, definitely moved it up on my list. These movies are so fantastically cheesy, but I love to watch the love triangles unfold. Am I the only one, or is the pink prom dress that 'Andie' made totally hideous? Was it suppose to be innovative and stylish? I thought it was ugly back in the 80's and I still think it is ugly now.

I was NOT a Duckie sympathizer...he was so obsessed, I thought it was borderline restraining order. And the richy boy 'Blane' ("that's a major appliance, not a name") was trying too hard to be deep in thought. He was constantly looking off into the distance. My favorite character was the other richy boy 'Steff'...what a great name! He was such a dirtbag and oh so arrogant!

I have to mention that I have been told by a few people that I look like Molly Ringwald. Not for a while mind you, more when I was younger. I used to think she was ugly, and therefore devastated at that comment. But now, I can just respect her acting abilities and depth of her soul.

My husband Michael's look-a-like would be Kevin Bacon who was in another one of my favorite 80's movies....Footloose!

Who are your look-a-like's??

my house

So, the inspection was great. There are no major problems with the house (we weren't really expecting any). The biggest problem for me was that it was so dirty. I think that it has been vacant for a while. The carpets desperatly need to be cleaned and the walls are horribly painted. I like the colors, but they just did one VERY SLOPPY coat. There is paint on baseboards and they painted over outlet covers. That is my biggest complaint, but that is all fixable. So we LOVE it and we are so excited to move in and get working on it. It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath w/a living and family room, walk in closets...ect...did I already write this? oh well!