I thought these two pictures were funny because the kids are about the same age in them (give or take a few months), they both have spaghetti all over them, and neither one of the really seams to care. Tomorrow is the big day! Gracie and Sammy and I are flying to visit our extended family. We are really really excited. I told Gracie today when we got home from church that I needed her Sunday shoes so that I could pack them. She didn't want to give them up. Then I reminded her that we were taking them to Grandma's house and she handed them right over and her socks too! Then she went and got her pillow and blanket and wanted them packed in the suitcase too. No matter how you slice it, no matter how naughty the kids or during the flight tomorrow, no matter how much I want to pull my hair out, or cry at the end of the day, no matter what... who can stay mad at a couple of faces like that.

I also want to take a second to tell David just how much I love him. I love you sweetheart. I will miss you, and my bed will be awfully lonely at night without you to cuddle with. Hurry up and come out to see us!!! We can't wait!

HELP!!!!

I need help! My trip to St. George is looming very close, and while I am so excited to be there and see all of my friends and family, the getting there part is scaring me to death!!! I have never flown on my own with two kids before. The flight is 4 hours with several hours in the airport. I got some great ideas from Emily (thanks Emily!) but I thought I would see if anyone else has any ideas to go along with them. I know that some of you have a lot more experience than I do with the whole traveling alone with kids thing... So any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! I guess I can be grateful that one of my kids is still safely tucked away in my tummy instead of like the lady pictured below huh? Still I worry I am going to feel like her...

He loves me, he loves me not, he LOVES me!

This is the tree in my front yard. I just want to go out and pick the flowers and play he loves me, he loves me not. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but I really love it. I didn't always love it. Last summer it was just a great big shade tree that made the grass kind of grow patchy underneath it. When fall came the leaves all turned an ugly brown and fell off in one night. During the winter it always had these fuzzy brown buds on it that never fell off. But then this spring it bloomed into the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. I was thinking about that and, you know, it was always the same tree. The only thing that has changed about it is the way I see it. It made me realize that so many times in life, I don't view things they way they really are. I forget when the kids are being naughty or when David is really busy or when the house is messy, how blessed I really am. I have a lot to be grateful for... probably more than my share of blessing actually. I have two great kids with another one on the way. They make everything better and brighter. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and our kids and honors his priesthood. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have great wonderful parents who taught me as a child (and who continue to teach me). I have the beauty that is all around me (including my own front yard) and that is only naming a few! Sometimes when things in life are hard, or when times get busy, or when kids get sick (or when moms get pregnant and feel sick!) I forget to remember my blessings. I am just very thankful for all that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

My not so private, private life...

So this has been a hard decision for me. I have wavered between going private and staying public for quite a while, and last week I was all geared up and ready to go private. I do have a few reasons for doing this which I have told some of you about, but I also have reasons for staying public. I don't remember where I heard it, but Elder Ballard gave a talk about sharing the gospel through the internet. He even specifically mentioned blogs... I know that my blog doesn't/ hasn't necessarily helped anyone to know that the gospel is true, but he also mentioned putting good things on the internet, and making the internet a tool for good rather than evil. I have stayed public, because I believe that family blogs are a tool for good. They can show the joy that comes from being a parent, raising a family, and living the commandments. So maybe you can see my struggle here... Anyway, like I said, I was all geared up and ready to go private. Then I went on splits with the missionaries last week. We went to see a family that Sister Swain and Sister Cramer are teaching. They are a great family!!! Tom, the father in the family, googled the sister missionaries by name while they were trying to find out more about the church online. And they found my blog. They saw a picture of my family with the sisters. It was just a random entry of an encounter that we had with the sisters, and while I am sure it didn't change this man's life or give him a testimony, still it was something positive out there on the internet about our great missionaries. So, yes, my blog is private for the time being, but I am going to do some housecleaning on it, take off information about where we live, and what our last name is, and then I will be going public again. Thanks for being patient with me and also for reading my ramblings on how I feel about my blog. And thanks for making your blogs such a great tool for good and one of the many positive things about the internet.

Private :(

Yep, I am going private. I really like being public, because I have been "found" by a few of my fellow blogging friends over the last year, and love getting back in touch with friends I may not have seen for a while. But I have been thinking about going private for a while and because of several different things have decided to just break down and do it... :( So please, if you, want to be able to view my blog leave your email address in a comment. Sorry and thanks...

I love you Tolman! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Tolman! I can't believe that you are 5!!!! And I can't wait to come and see you in 18 days!!!!

Can we go to the zoo today?

We went to the Zoo again, in fact Gracie begs me every day to go to the Zoo. We are hoping that it stays sunny enough that we can go again today! Gracie thought it was really fun to watch the polar bear taking a bath! They have this really fun kids zone at the zoo where you can see in the picture above Gracie is watering some plants (yes they are fake). We actually spent like an hour in this one little room and neither Sammy or Gracie wanted to leave it even then! The only way I could get Gracie to come with me was to tell her she could go jump on the chimes.




I totally want one of these in my backyard!!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I wanna see the elephant!

I had a great idea today. Okay, actually I kind of stole the idea from the ward's playgroup (sorry we didn't make it in time to go with you girls!) David got off school early (at 1:00) and even though he really needed to study we decided to kidnap him and take him to the funny farm. Okay actually it was the zoo, but still we had a great time. We bought a zoo pass (I know it is about time!) and took a picnic. Actually it worked out perfectly. We met the missionaries there minutes after we finished eating. It was P-day and they decided to go visit the zoo. We hung around with them almost the whole time we were there. It was so fun (except for the scary ruffed lemurs that yelled at Gracie and me). The zoo isn't open in the winter here, so it just barely opened again and the weather was a balmy 55 degrees and the sun was shining (mostly). I think because the zoo is closed all winter the animals actually might have gotten lonely because I have never been to a zoo where the animals actually came to the front of their cages so much! Gracie kept running from exhibit to exhibit looking for different animals. She kept asking where the elephants were (sadly there were none). I don't know, but I hope the missionaries had fun hanging out with us. I think going to the zoo is so much more fun with children because you get to see everything through their eyes. Like this HUGE daddy Orangutan that walked right up to the glass and pulled his blanket up over his head so only his face was showing. Gracie LOVED him. He kept putting his face against the glass on one side and she was putting hers against the glass on the other side. I don't know how many of you have seen great big daddy Orangutans, but this guy was HUGE. His face had these jowl-like things on it that were... the only word I can think of to describe them is HUGE!!!! (Sorry, I am still kicking myself for forgetting the camera). But it was so fun to see him kind of playing with Gracie. I am looking forward to many more trips to the zoo this year! Wish you all could have been there with us.

5 running steps ahead of me...

So I think my kids have been running 5 steps ahead of me lately!! I have just been so TIRED with this pregnancy! There was one day last week when I really wasn't sure that by the time David got home from school were all still going to be alive and well. Sammy's new favorite trick is getting a box of cereal from the pantry and pouring it on the floor. After barely keeping the new box of Life from spilling on the floor about 3 times I had to give Gracie a little talk about keeping the pantry door shut. Gracie stuck her fingers all through the german chocolate brownies. She got sent to her room for that one. But she won't stay in. Those child proof door knobs don't work for her. Sammy stuck his hand in the toilet and tried to grab Gracie's poop (ewwww so gross... that one almost made me throw up)! Then the straw that broke the camels back... I went to change Sammy's diaper in the bedroom. Gracie had been playing with her toys in the kitchen. I heard a crash and about 10 seconds later Gracie started crying. I called her in to me and when she came in she was totally naked! She had taken of every article of clothing she was wearing. I asked her where her clothes were and she said they were in the kitchen. Then I noticed that her skin was all wet and shiny and... oily! I ran into the kitchen and there on the floor was a big puddle of oil and an empty vegetable oil bottle. And not only that, she had tracked it all through the kitchen, down the hall and into the bedroom. I took Gracie into the bathroom, dropped her in the tub, put Sammy in his crib (I needed some place that he couldn't escape and come get into the oil). Then I mopped the floor. Twice. It was not a happy mommy moment. It reminded me of the naughty little Pace twins that lived down the street from me when I was a kid. They put socks on and then skated on sticks of butter while there mom wasn't home. I have to admit, I wasn't very patient about it either. I made Gracie go to her room and stay there for like half an hour after I was finished. I was so mad that I couldn't even take a picture (sorry). I wondered for a few hours what I was thinking wanting another little munchkin! But as always, a big hug and kiss and an I love you mom is all it took and I forgave her. I mean who can resist?

Sammy has been really grumpy today. His first molar just broke through today. Poor kid! He wanted me to hold him every second this morning. It makes it hard to get anything done. I was feeling a little stressed about it this morning because I was trying to get ready to go to a humanitarian aid project that the relief society is doing in our ward. Anyway, when I got home I was laying on the floor so David could pop my neck. Sammy kept coming up to me and just laying on me and hugging me. It was so sweet and I just love him so much!

Really, I am truly blessed! We really have a great life. What more could a mommy want then a wonderful husband and two sweet, brilliant, fantastic children?