Love

I always new I loved my family growing up, but when I hit college and started dating, love became an interesting emotion. There were a couple of times I really "liked" someone, but love.....yeah no. So when Grant first told me he loved me (actually he said something to the effect of, "I think I am falling in love with you," I FREAKED! I sat silent, how was I to respond to that???? He did not take offense (at least I do not think) and asked me if that scared me a little. When I responded yes, he said he would try not to bring it up again. He must of not tried very hard because I think the next time we talked on the phone he told me he loved me. To which I simply said, "Thank You." Oh poor guy, I am totally laughing out loud as I type this. This went on for at least a month, him professing love and my offering gratitude. I remember the night I decided I might be in love too, and blurted it out. Holy cow, I could not believe I said it and spent the next week trying to avoid having to say it again. I do not take that word lightly and had never said it to a boy outside of the family. As I exercised the use of the word it became more comfortable and I fell helplessly in love with the most amazing man I have ever known. I know he is not perfect, neither am I...but we always say we are perfect for each other!!! No matter how long we have been married, his hugs make me feel safe, happy, loved and at home. He makes me laugh (and much to his dismay my hardest laughs are at his expense-but he puts up with it.) He welcomes me into his interests and is willing to try mine. He allows me to be my own person, and makes me better in the process. He is my love and my life and I will love him forever, and ever....and ever!
Besides he makes really cute kiddos!

Bless Mom

The kids prayers are great. Sometimes they last a bit long, but they really are sincere. They often pray for the same things, but so do I because they are the things I truly want to say and need. They pray for Jamison and Caleb to have fun at school and to learn, they pray for Asher and Miquelyn to be good helpers at home. They pray for Isaac to not be crabby and Dad to sell lots of cars. Then they end it with bless Mom to do the things that she needs to do. So....the other day I asked them if they knew what it was that mom did. They thought for a second, and then responded, "Nope, I have no idea what you do." I had to laugh. Realistically they will have no idea all that I do until either they are doing it themselves or they watch their wife do it. At least they are blessing me with help, cause heaven knows I need it!

Hippity Flop

So, For Christmas Santa brought the family two new pets. Aquatic African Dwarf frogs. We have loved them. They are funny little creatures. The kids named them Hippity and Hop. We got a bigger tank and put them together with the fish. It has provided great entertainment. Even Isaac loves to watch the frogs and giggles. Well...yesterday I noticed a white growth on the back of Hippity. I took a picture and sent a message to Grant asking if he knew what it might be. He had no clue. Later that night we started looking it up and discovered it was a fungal infection. We immediately went to work. We Quarantined the frog and mixed together a salt water solution that was said to kill the fungus. I was worried about the frog and so were the kids.

I kept checking on the frog and he seemed to be doing ok. I went to watch a show and checked on him a bit later. He was floating upside down in his tank. I freaked, holy cow I killed our frog. I went to pick him up and he started moving. We immediately put him in fresh water and I tried everything to help him and nurse him back (which is really nothing.) It did not take long for him to die. I felt terrible. We were following advice and tried to get rid of the fungus before the fungus killed him, and in the process killed him first. I seriously was on the verge of tears last night. I really liked this frog!
I was telling a friend about it today and she said, well hippity flopped. How can you not laugh at that! Needless to say new frogs are on the way, we now have a disinfectant solution in the tank water, and I am rethinking whether or not I really should have the charge of pets.

Christmas Cheer

This has been a unique Christmas Season. I am lucky to have all my siblings and their kids here in town...all in Farmington. It is mass chaos when all 35 of us are together in one home, but it would not be right any other way. The unique part of it though has not been my favorite. Starting Tuesday the stomach flu hit our home and as of tonight (Saturday) the last person of all seven of us threw up. Poor Isaac did not understand what was happening to him. We all have had it is varying degrees, but this is a nasty one. I am feeling very lucky that we are on the tail end of it though. By tomorrow...by Christmas day we should all have passed through the gammet of sickness and be able to enjoy the day and each other. This has been a memorable Christmas! It has had a unique spirit about it for me as I have thought about particularly Mary and her role in bringing the Savior to the world. My feelings for her are on a completely different level and I hope to take the time to explore them more. It has provided me with a very personal spiritual awakening...one that I need. It will be a very Merry Christmas.

A peculiar people

The people of our church are at times called a peculiar people. Our kids are peculiar, not just because of their religious beliefs...but because they are simply not normal. Three things come to mind. 1. They love to watch Michael Buble concerts. I know that does not sound that weird, who doesn't like to watch him. But, they are 8,6,5,3, and 1 1/2, and they like it just as much as any cartoon. They have been watching his concerts for about 4 years. They would pick that over movies sometimes. Not typical. 2. Asher had a school party this week. There was a table full of goodies. There were donuts, big cupcakes, little cupcakes, chocolate cookies, white chocolate popcorn, etc. I asked Mique what she wanted and with all of the sugar laid out before her she picked pretzels and olives. What kid prefers that? 3. The other day I was at hobby lobby and the lady helping me asked Asher what he wanted Santa to bring him. He did not hesitate before saying hand sanitizer. She looked at me and half whispered, "Did he say sanitizer?" I kinda chuckled as I told her, "Yep, he sure did." All I want for Christmas are clean hands!!! We breed them a bit peculiar!

We did it again!

We did it again. We read the book of Mormon as a family again. This time the kids were super excited! They have come to love to read it. We have used our Family Book of Mormon so much it fell apart....literally. It was in about 3 pieces. I took it to a printing place and had them cut the old binding and put a new binding on it. They were nice enough to copy the cover and put it on nice cardstock for me. It is not as pretty as the original, but every time I pick it up I love it even more. This worn and patched together Book of Mormon has been read, used, loved and is now treasured. It is a symbol of family time together and accomplishment. It is a huge accomplishment for the kids, I am so proud of them!

(As a side not...When I walked into the printing place I saw a guy that used to be in our old ward. He owns the printing shop, which I did not know previous to walking in the store. He is no longer active, but remembered me and was very helpful. When I went to pick it up and pay he would not let me. He told me he was donating the work and had done it himself. I am sure it was really easy for him to do and not terribly time consuming, but it meant a lot to me. It felt like a simple little blessing for our efforts as a family.)

Down Under

A week ago today Grant and I got back from a WONDERFUL trip to Sydney, Australia. It was amazing. Anyone that knows me knows I love to travel, and love it I did! After a 3 hour drive to ABQ, a 2 hour wait at the airport, 2 hour flight to L.A,. a four hour layover and then 15 and a half hour flight to Sydney we were half way across the world. Grant and I could not get enough of this view. It was unreal that we were seeing it in person.This Opera house is unreal. It was so fun to go inside and look at it up close and personal.
We honestly did not take that many pictures, and this might very well be the only one with both of us in it. I think we were enjoying too much and did not even really think about pulling the camera out.
This Cathedral was across from our hotel. Grant had never been in a big cathedral like this before and was in awe at the size and the beauty. It never escapes me when I go into these amazing works of art how different it feels than our small simple chapels and relatively simple temples. The spirit is discernibly different.
We walked A LOT. Really we walked anywhere we could. One day we were able to account for at least 6 miles of walking. One day we found this fun fountain in the middle of the wharf, stopped, took off our shoes, and just enjoyed!
One of the things that surprised me about Sydney in particular was the mix of historical and modern. This picture shows that blend right in the middle of downtown. It was that way every where.
This was our view from our hotel room. We seriously always get the last room in a very long hall no matter where we stay. We were laughing about it as we were walking to our room. But then we opened the curtains, and not complaint was ever again uttered!
Things we did:

• Did a city tour by bus
• Hung out at the Rocks Market (a fun local Market on the weekends)
• Explored downtown
• Watched our first Opera in the amazing Opera House
• Took a ferry to Manly beach to scuba dive for the day
• Went to the Famous Bondi Beach and body boarded for half a day
• Went to Local art Museums and Churches
• Walked in several of their parks (beautiful, huge, and full of very active adults working out not matter what day or time of the day...seriously does no one work?)
• Explored two different harbors
• Ate amazing food (very fresh sea food)
• Gained some weight
• Took a few naps
• Read a couple of books

I do have to say that the best thing about the trip was being with Grant 24-7, uninterrupted! We have so much fun together and love the same things. It was a most wonderful time!