Ask me how I feel about this.

Today Robbie and I are sitting at the kitchen table talking and all of a sudden he yells "Mom, look a wolf".  I spent a split second not wanting to even get up because Rob is totally the kidder of the family.  Then, I jump out of my seat to look out the kitchen window and sure enough this is what I saw walking along the side of our house, past the playset and into the back were our garden is.  Except the foliage is so full I lost him after that.   I don't know if it was a wolf or a coyote--it was a little smaller than this image here, but not much.  I'm going to hope for a coyote.  Either way, not cool.  I told Jack, our nephew and he says, "you guys get all the cool stuff in your backyard.  All we get is blackwidows".  Except the only images going through my head is that our four children play out there by themselves, everyday and wolves are aggressive especially to children.   That is a bear and now a wolf/coyote all in a 6 month period.  I think it's time for that fenced in yard I've been drooling over.

The power of not reading

Hallie has been planning for 4 months to go down the waterslide at the town pool this summer.  It was her motivation during swim lessons and is a rite of passage for all town pool goers.  So, when the first day came and went without a successful slide run, I was surprised.  I could tell she really wanted to, but was internally trying to overcome her fear since she's only been legitimately swimming for a few months.
Enter Aubrie, master of all persuasion (I think my parents would say it comes from her maternal line:).  Hallie bugs Aubrie EVERY time we get into the car to put her book down and listen and play with her.  It bugs her so much to sit in the back with Aubrie and Aubrie just reads the whole time "here we go again".

Aubrie promised Hallie this morning that if she went down the slide by herself she wouldn't read in the car on the way home.  Done and done.

And for the record, Hallie loved it, swam to the side just fine and that's what she did the rest of the time we were at the pool.

Trip of a lifetime

Ismenia and I went to SLC, Utah a few weekends ago.  Some wonderful members of our ward watched the kids Thurs and Fri during the day to help me be able to go.  Ismenia is very special to us and this was a trip she has wanted to make since she was baptized 50 years ago in Sau Paulo, Brazil. There was a lot of effort and prayers from our ward to make it happen.  And because of her sincerity and purity of her testimony and all the prayers in her behalf, it was a very special experience.  

I was so grateful to Jeff and Anna for having us stay at their house and immediately treating Ismenia like she was their own family.  Luckily Anna speaks Spanish too which was very helpful as she could mostly understand her Portuguese.  Ismenia is a light wherever she goes and just a ball of energy.  It's hard to believe she is 84.  She literally hugged and talked to EVERYONE, including all crew members, pilots on our airplanes and any passerbys during the days that we were there.  

We went to both the SLC and Provo temples, and visited all that we could at Temple Square and This is the Place monument. Watching Ismenia see the SLC temple for the first time, after dreaming about it for so long, was one of the neatest things I've experienced recently. She taught me so much on the trip about having faith and just trusting and moving forward in life.  She has such a gift of love and faith. 

Two wonderful sisters, one from India and one from Brazil, giving us tours at Temple Square. By the end of our few days there, they had adopted her as their grandma, gotten her phone number and address and promised to keep in touch.

Uncle Joe clued us in to a Mormon Tabernacle choir practice and mini concert one of the nights and Aunt Linda came up to join us too.  It was an amazing concert--very stirring (alot of the songs were their famous patriotic hymns) and the added bonus is that Joe and Linda lived in Brazil for years and speak Port.

Taken right after Ismenia's pants fell down in the middle of the lobby of the church office building. She makes all experiences, choice experiences. 

Anna and boys joined us for the Conference Center tour

Bo-diddle

Brixton

Jack

Family BBQ on Friday night

Hike to Bridal Veil--I forgot to send the memo prior for her to not bring ONLY high heels.  Madre mia!

Ismenia hadn't ever been in the mountains and so we took the ski lift up at Sundance and then she wanted to hike, in her heels.  And I don't think she knew what she was getting into. It was beautiful and fun and Jeff almost had to piggy back her back down the mountain, but she made it and was such a trooper.  

You let me take it, Anna.

My absolute favorite picture.  We blew it up, framed it and gave it to her to hang in her room. 

DAD...

Happy Father's Day!

Someone recently asked me, "what do you think of when you hear the word, 'DAD'?"  Here was my response:

Clearly, I think of my own dad and all of the following...

• Playing catch with him (specifically, the endless hours he spent crouched down in the catcher's position in our backyard in Gilbert) and how he taught me to be accurate in my pitching.  
• The late nights he stayed up with me to help with homework and school projects. 
• How he could make me laugh harder than anyone else I know quoting Bill Cosby or movies or anything else funny on his mind.  He's a GREAT story-teller. 
• How he honored his priesthood and how he always put on a white shirt and tie to give a father's blessing of comfort or healing (even if it was at 3:00 AM).  
• The nights spent talking long into the night about anything and everything that I needed to say or get advice on.
• How he treated my mom with complete respect.
• Father/Son date nights going to the batting cages and listening to LA Dodger games with Vin Scully (Quick story:  I'll never forget Game 1 of the 1988 World Series when my dad let me, a 10-year old kid, stay up late on a school night to watch the game with him and witnessing one of the greatest game-winning clutch hits in World Series history.  I distinctly remember my dad and I tackling each other in sheer excitement and disbelief when Kirk Gibson hit that famous walk-off homerun.  More important than the game itself was the fact that I felt so lucky to have been able to enjoy that moment with my dad.  To this day, I think of that memory with my dad whenever I see the replay.)

• His love of country as shown by his service in the military and unending passion for freedom and conservative values.
• His work ethic - my dad taught me how to work hard and the importance of learning resilience.  He never stops working.  
• His love of learning - my dad taught me to embrace continual learning.  He was and is very well educated - always reading, always listening to NPR, always writing, always thinking, always trying to be innovative and put his instructional design mind to work.  
• His love of sports and exercise - he has run 10 marathons in his lifetime and has gotten up early to do the same routine of exercises ever since he was 20 years old.
• His love of the scriptures - my dad reads every morning and set that pattern for all of his family.
• His love of Heavenly Father and his incredible testimony/conversion story. 

Love you, Dad!



Ryan

Amen!!!

And it's not just other people's comments to me that so often make me feel inferior for my choice to stay home with our kids.  I feel like society as a whole (many stay at home mom's, and sometimes me included)  has that mentality.  I am always fighting those feelings unfortunately.  It doesn't mean that I want to change my choice.  I know in my heart that Ryan and I have made a great decision for our family for Ryan only to be working full time.  

But sometimes I have other thoughts of how gratifying it would be  to create, manage or work on a more visible stage.   And there are a lot of cheerleaders out there for us as women to do just that, and that if we choose not to; we cannot be completely fulfilled.  For me, it can be hard to not listen to those voices. 

That said, there are so many days where I end the day exhausted and completely full inside because I got to see and be a part of some really cool things that day all related to being a mother.  And I feel pretty lucky I was there and not somewhere else. 

New Jersey - "The Last Hurrah" (Memorial Day Weekend)

We ventured down to Vineland, New Jersey to spend Memorial Day with the Doxey clan for what would be our (sniff, sniff) last trip before they head west to the paradise that is Reno, NV.  We're excited for them to enter this next long-awaited phase of life, but it is still very bittersweet for us as we will miss having them within a day's drive.  There have been lots of good times with the Doxey Family over the past five years out here on the East coast and this past Memorial Day Weekend was no different.  It was one of the most enjoyable weekends we've had with them down in the Garden State.  Here's a sampling of our activities - the primary one being...having fun with cousins.

Hallie and Paige are inseparable - except when riding bikes together.    :) 

Aubrie gave Leah a hand (and sometimes two) while throwing down some mean roller-skating tricks. 

The day after we got home, Blake woke up asking for Sydney.  At church the next week, he still thought Sydney would be coming with him to Nursery.   They were real so cute to watch playing together. 

As Dave says, "to the couches!"   :) 

Posing on the hay maze - this provided lots of entertainment. 

Bob showing off his mad hops. 

The strawberries were so perfect that we didn't even have to worry about the kids picking bad ones.  As one of the farmers said to us who ran this field, "You came strawberry-picking at the perfect time." 

You could just smell the goodness!

Nothing like getting your hands a little dirty.

Lil' Helper:  Blake's fascination with anything that has four wheels has its occasional payoffs.

Strawberry-picking was awesome.  A perfect day.

Making a Year-Supply of Strawberry Jam

After strawberry-picking, we ate at the Amish Market (best ribs and glazed donuts money can buy!)

No time for naps when there is too much fun to be had! 

From lunch, we headed to the zoo - free, no crowds, and great weather.

Bob strikes a pose with the monkeys.

Helping hands.

Date Night:  Our favorite sushi place followed by... Cowtown Rodeo

Awesome Sunset at Cowtown Rodeo   (PS - There are some seriously competitive parents at this place!)

Sunday Afternoon Coloring Party

Paper Airplane Contest

Sunday Walk - Hallie Wallie and Paigie Waigie

Sunday Walk

"Cousin's Gang"

Sunday Walk w/ the Geese

Valley Forge Bike Ride - Picnic

Valley Forge Bike Ride - Blake Discovers His Over-sized Frisbee Skills

The kids tried out these bunk beds at Valley Forge and didn't last too long. 

Pulling over for a quick respite - this place is beautiful!

Blake walking along the wall near George Washington's house at Valley Forge.