A stolen moment

Sundays at our house are probably pretty similar to so many other houses.  There is always the lost shoe waiting to be found, showers that come directly after the fit insisting that "they just took one the other day", and the mad rush to get out the door to make it to meetings on time.  But every once in awhile there is a moment that steals my heart and nestles in my mind.  One of those mornings happened this summer.  J.T. has begged Troy to teach him how to play chess and one Sunday morning there was a lull in the regular activities after Troy's morning meetings and before we all had to leave for church.  They sat at the table with the sun streaming in, talking and playing.  How blessed are my kids to have him as a dad.

Moments like this create the memories of yesterday and the hopes for tomorrow.  I love that.

15 years

Fifteen years ago this young man picked me up and took me to the temple where we were married.  I love him, he truly is my best friend, and I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

This is part of the journal entry I made for that day, "Brother Adamson, who performed the ceremony, spoke of three "C"'s consideration, communication, and cultivation.  The last, cultivation, was very interesting, he said, "that which we want to become, we can develop."

I can't think of a more appropriate phrase to describe our marriage.  Our journey has been one of discovering who we want to become, individually and together.  Fifteen years at times sounds like a long time and at the same time I realize how little we have experienced. 

Fifteen years later.  I am glad we chose each other.

I LOVE YOU!!

Happy Birthday Sar Bear!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

14...14...14...14...14...14...14...14...14...14...14...14

Seriously?

When was this chick given permission to grow up?

This year we spent a very low key evening together with grandma and grandpa.

Her expressions when unwrapping gifts have always been my favorite.  When she was little she made the comment once, "I love when Santa gives me something I didn't know that I wanted."  She was always been excited and grateful.

I am taking a year off of elaborate birthday cakes.  We have two birthdays this year on Wednesday.  I should do a post about one of my average Wednesdays, CUURAAZZZY.

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SARA....

1. her ability to talk to people

2. her love of music

3. her smile

4. her crazy talent to speak publicly

5. shopping with her

6.  listening to her laugh with her friends

7.  and so many other things!!!!!

She truly is amazing.

Boise Idaho Temple

We had the chance to travel to Boise for the open house of the Boise Temple before it is rededicated in November.  It was a pretty quick trip, we left on Friday, stayed the night, went through the temple on Saturday morning and then headed home.  But it was very worth the trip.  It was beautiful, and the feeling inside was wonderful.  I love being in the temple with my kids.  My dream is to one day be in one of those beautiful buildings with my children and their spouses.  It is was life is all about, families, forever.

Boise has a special place in my heart, when it was originally built and dedicated in 1984 my mom and dad took me over there for the first open house.  I was in fourth grade and studying Idaho History, so a trip to the state capitol was so very memorable.  They were wonderful, they pretty much let me plan the trip.  We went to the capitol building, a museum, and I had the chance to see in person so many of the things that I had been learning about.  It was fantastic, especially for a budding history lover like myself.  The most memorable moment however occurred in the temple.  We walked past the brides room and my mom pulled me aside to show me the mirrors and the beauty of that tiny little room.  She put her arm around me and whispered to me that one day I could be in a room like that getting ready for my own eternity.  It made an impression on me, one that I have carried close to my heart.  One I hope I shared with my kids on this trip.

1984, me with my sweet dad.

Cross Country

This year Sara and J.T. decided to run on the cross country team.  They have been amazing and it has been so much fun to watch.  They have worked so hard and been so dedicated.  Every meet they did a little better.  I am so very proud of them.

One thing I love about this experience is there are some fantastic kids that are a part of the team.  They have made some really good friends.

J.T. loved the sprint at the end.

They had a great year!!  Here is hoping it happens again next year.

1st day of school, 2012

 It begins again... It blows my mind that I have been doing this first day of school thing for nine year.  That makes me feel really old.  There is something about the first day of school that feels a lot like the new year.  New beginnings, new clothes, new teachers, new routines and new goals.  I love that waking them up is so easy that first day, almost like Christmas morning.  The first day of school we always have "pancake dippers", for some reason my kids think this is really cool.  The funny thing about this little tradition is that it was totally unintentional.  Several years back on the first day of school I tried to figure out a way for them to have pancakes without them spilling on their new clothes,  So I made the pancakes long and skinny and put syrup in a little side container and called them pancake dippers so that it was okay to use their fingers.  For some reason it caught on and on the first day of school this is the request.  I never make them any other time, so apparently I only care about syrup on the clothes on the first day, necessary for pictures I suppose.

Check her out, 8th grade, 13 years old, and a whole lot of boy crazy.  I'm so grateful for her friends and how talented this chick is.  She was busting at the seams to get back to school, so the smile is totally genuine.

Dude, 6th grade, 11 years old, Legos, basketball and the Utah Utes are what occupy his mind almost constantly.  He is an amazing kid, I love how he is so respectful of me and his sisters.  He is fun to work with, I'll miss the talks we had working while he is in school.

Super cute, 3rd grade, 8 years old, painting, playing the piano, and following her older siblings around is what she does best.  She has gained an enormous amount of attitude(the cute kind) and spunk this last year.  She is witty and funny and is a lot of fun to be around.

Need sunglasses?  He saved his money and chose this pair, he loves them.

After school banana bread.  It looks like it was a successful day.  Let's hope the smiles stay for the whole year.

The Lake

The day before school started we decided to end our summer with a bang, or at least something more than watching T.V.  So we packed up and spent the afternoon at the lake.  We met our good friends there and enjoyed the sunshine that will soon leave, I miss summer already.

We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.  I think the kids thought it was pretty cool that we didn't even have to start a fire.

Cambelle took her umbrella, the reason I love this so much is because she used to do this when the sun would stream through our windows in the dining room.

These two were  just as excited for the first day of school as they were for the first day of summer.  Farewell summer, sun, and days with no schedules.  As much as I will miss warm sunny days, I welcome routine, schedules and opportunities to learn and get back into the normal day in and day out kind of things.