Now let's take a little trip back in time and attempt to get this blog caught up! We will be rewinding to the beginning of September when it felt like we had only just arrived home from our summer in Utah, just for Man Cub and I to head back that way again. My dad's youngest brother, who had spent most of his lifetime being extremely sick, had passed away.

I debated over going up for the funeral. I wasn't particularly close to my uncle, but I felt a strong desire to be there for my dad. The problem- I was only about 3 weeks into teaching preschool and felt horrible about drastically rearranging our school schedule to accommodate my travels. I also wasn't sure how on earth I could afford a flight on such short notice, but I found a killer fare on Allegiant Airlines that had me leaning towards going. Then my brothers in California told me they were both flying out and that sealed the deal. Not only was I going to get to be there for my dad during a difficult time, but all six siblings would be together for the first time in years. 

My preschool parents were beyond agreeable to the funky schedule that week for school, and it just so happened that the days I would be gone were Bruce's days off work so child care for the girls was not an issue. The stars truly did align to make it possible for me to go and I am so, so glad that everything worked out as it did. Man Cub and I had a wonderful visit with my family during which I realized the importance of having that one on one time with my children. In fact, the trip made such an impression in that aspect that Beebs and I recently took a quick weekend trip to Utah to celebrate her 5th birthday. Post to come eventually Ü

The flight up was a breeze. I was super nervous about it as I was flying Allegiant which allows you one personal item that fits under the seat in front of you at no charge. Anything else requires extra fees and I was determined to make this trip work for the least amount of money possible. I crammed everything Man Cub and I would need for 4 days into my gym bag, including my running gear, in hopes that I could get a good training run or two in while I was in a nicer climate.

Once we arrived, my mum picked us up at the airport and we headed to her house. Man Cub was really excited to see familiar faces that he hadn't seen in 6 weeks. He was especially excited to be reunited with my parent's dogs and their cat "ah-wee". My brother T had already arrived and after we got to my mum's, he asked if Man Cub and I would be up for a walk. I was so excited about the cooler Utah temps that I readily agreed. We put Man Cub into the stroller and set out on a 4 mile walk to the Provo Temple and back. Man Cub fell asleep while we were out and T and I enjoyed chatting. There were difficult parts to the conversation as I found that T has made some choices that I myself find hard to swallow, but I love him so much and I was able to express that to him as we enjoyed some quiet time together.

We spent the rest of Sunday hanging out as a family and enjoying a big Sunday dinner, just like when we were all growing up. It was so nice to be with all my siblings and to see everyone there to support and uplift my dad.

Monday was the funeral. I went for a short run before hand and it felt so good to run those familiar streets... in the rain! Man, I love running in Utah. And I was happy to find that my lungs had not completely lost their ability to run at a higher altitude. Then I showered and got ready for the drive to Wyoming for the funeral.

The funeral was difficult... it was hard to see my dad broken up and upset. He's not the type to show tons of emotion, so when he shared some memories of my uncle and started to cry, that was really hard to see. I, along with some of my siblings and cousins, sang "I am a Child of God" at the funeral, and at the cemetery my dad dedicated the grave. It was a wonderful overcast day and I loved the chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Utah and Wyoming as we made the drive to and from the funeral.

My siblings and I may have had a little too much fun at the cemetery... like I said, this was the first time we had all been together in quite some time. We decided to use the cemetery as a backdrop for a quick sibling photo, but things got a little silly, rather fast. This is one of my all time favourite photos EVER... My mum even had this photo blown up and framed and it now hangs on her living room wall. We're all growing up, and in some ways growing apart, as we make different choices and take different paths, but I love these people with all my heart and I'm so glad they are my "little" sisters and brothers.

After the cemetery, the Relief Society from the chapel we were using prepared a very nice dinner for us all before we headed on our way. I thought that was beyond kind of them, as it has been years since any of my dad's family has lived in Lyman, and they had no reason to provide food for a group of strangers who were using their chapel. I hope Heavenly Father blessed them abundantly for their efforts, especially as we lingered longer than necessary, enjoying the chance to be together.

Tuesday and Wednesday were low key days full of hanging out... Man Cub and I just enjoyed the chance to be together. We played outside in the rain, we went out for cupcakes and got lunch with my brothers. Man Cub even tried his first bites of sushi. He liked!We snuggled and enjoyed Nana and Papa time. I just felt like I couldn't get enough of my little guy and I came home from this trip with an even greater love for him and a stronger bond with him. Ever since about April/May, Man Cub has been all about Bruce, but having him to myself for 4 days helped the two of us to reconnect and he's back to loving his mama just as much as his daddy-o.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday morning I went on a long run past both Provo temples, then met my dad for lunch before boarding a plane back to Arizona. I was so excited to see my girls and Bruce (and I had managed to fit a donut from our favourite donut store in my bag for each of the girlies). Man Cub enjoyed playing cars as we waited to board our plane, and once we had found our seat, he curled up against me and slept the entire flight home. It was heaven.

I hate that it was a funeral that brought us all home for a quick weekend in September, but boy do I cherish the memories of those 4 short days with Man Cub, my siblings and my parents. We had a blast, despite the sad circumstances. I am so very very grateful for families... both the one I was born into, and the one that Bruce and I are creating.

Oh Christmas Card, Oh Christmas Card

I am behind on blogging. Again. I am very well aware of this. I thought that after the rush of the holidays, life would slow down, but that has proven to be absolutely untrue! And I have lots of blog posts planned that will illustrate just how hectic life has been! But for now, I thought I would share our family Christmas card before we get any farther into 2015... and then I'll back up to September and start to fill in the holes of what our crew has been up to!

Happy 5th Birthday Beebs!

Happy, happy birthday Sweet Beebs!

Five today... you have been anticipating this birthday for quite some time now. Five is such an exciting age. Five means Kindergarten, and for awhile, you thought that as soon as you turned five, your preschool days were over. You've since figured out just how things work, and now you are feeling a bit apprehensive about leaving Mom to go to school, but at the same time you are so excited to be a big girl and you think you might even want to go all day, so you can stay at school for lunch!

You are just as social as ever, asking each and every day if you can have a friend over to play. Your best friend is Christian, a little boy from church and preschool. You adore him and the he adores you. You love playing together and both have very active imaginations. The two of you come up with some very elaborate games of pretend and can play together for hours on end.

You are doing excellent in preschool this year- you know all your letters and love to practice writing them. You also love practicing your scissor skills. Luckily, only with paper at this point! Hopefully it stays that way! You love to do projects and create. You also love books and are starting to show signs of wanting to read. Sometimes Sunshine will help you sound out words in some of her early reader books and you think it is the greatest thing in the world to show us how you can read. It won't be long before you are reading everything you can get your hands on.

This past year you have really blossomed and matured so very much. You are definitely not our baby anymore, and some days you don't even seem like a little girl! But when it comes down to it, you still love your toys and snuggles with your mama. I hope those two qualities stick around for a long time to come.

As you've grown over the past year, you've also become much more cautious. You use to be so fearless, willing to try anything. These days, you are a little more hesitant and sometimes it takes some coaxing to get you to try new things. But with a little help, and mom or dad by your side, you are willing to take on almost anything. We are so proud of you for being so brave! 

You are a great big sister, always watching out for Man Cub. The two of you sure know how to push each others buttons, but when it boils down to it, you love each other fiercely. You really look up to Sunshine and while you take your role as little sister seriously and enjoy pestering her at times, she is also one of your favourite people in the world and you count down the hours until she is home from school to play with you.

You are such a wonderful part of our family. We absolutely cannot imagine life without you. You keep us all laughing and love to goof around with Daddy. You and Dad have had a special connection since the day you were born, and though you insist you like Mommy snuggles the best, Daddy is still your number one guy.

We love you so much sweet Beebs. We are so grateful you are ours! Enjoy this year of being five. You have been looking forward to it for so long. We hope it is every bit as magical as you have been dreaming!

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Man Cub came up with his pose in the first photo all by himself, in response to me promising a treat if he'd cooperate for just one picture... so then, after family had left and I wanted a photo of just my three next to the Christmas tree, the girls decided they needed to copy their little brother.

It has been a wonderful Christmas Eve and we are so excited to see what is in store for tomorrow. Reindeer food has been scattered in the driveway, Santa's cookies are waiting by the tree and stockings are empty, anxious to be filled. These three did a surprisingly good job of falling asleep... It took a little while, but not nearly as long as I thought it would! So now I'm off to finish tidying up so Santa doesn't break a leg when he comes to our house. I have always loved Christmas, but these three make it even more magical than ever before. I hope I can manage to not wake them all up and open all the presents before Bruce gets home from work Ü

Merry Christmas to all!

Road Trip 2014 | The Final Week

Are you ready for this series to come to an end?? This should be it... the last blog post about our epic road trip to Utah this past summer. It's only taken like 8 posts to cover the entire 3 weeks we were gone. And once this final post is over, I can get back to the gazillion other posts I want to catch up on!

Our final week in Utah began with a trip to Logan to see Utah State University, the school my youngest sister was attending at the time. I've been to Logan a few other times before, but this was my first time stopping by USU and I fell in love. It reminded me so much of Michigan State, which is where I went to school and where Bruce and I met. It was fun to walk around the campus with my wee ones and dream about the day I can take them to walk the grounds of MSU.

Tressie showed us around her school, including a stop for chocolate croissants, a visit to the library where we saw the B.A.R.N. in action. The B.A.R.N. is a book storage system the USU library uses that is modeled after the door retrieval system in Monsters, Inc. We were all pretty captivated! We also saw the window of Tressie's dorm room from the previous semester and there were some hugs and kisses atop the A.

We also drove up into the canyon, paddled in the river, stopped by the Logan temple (love!!) and then the Providence cemetery where we saw the grave stones of my great grandparents. We had a great day up in Logan.

On Tuesday, Tressie and I decided to hike the Y in Provo, with all my wee ones in tow. The kiddos have hiked plenty of times and I stupidly believed an internet site that claimed the Y hike to be very family friendly. LIES! It was a really difficult hike and I am beyond impressed that my kiddos survived it without a massive melt down. The donuts we took to the top might have been the only thing that saved us from a melt down. And those donuts tasted darn good after all that hard work to get to the stupid Y. Note to self... the hike is not worth it. Don't do it again. Never, ever again! P.S. Do you love Man Cub's soaking wet pants? That was from me sweating so bad hiking with him on my back. Poor boy!

Wednesday, we  headed up to Salt Lake to finish our list of things to do there... we met up with some friends from back home and walked around Temple Square, then toured the conference center. My girls loved that... and they were so excited to watch Conference at the beginning of October because "we've been to that building!!" We also stopped by the Children's museum, browsed City Creek and ran by Scheels before following a large rain storm into Provo. Sunshine and my nephew Bodhi convinced Tressie to ride the indoor ferris wheel with them at Scheels and I stocked up on fuel for my fast approaching half marathon.

Thursday and Friday were pretty low key. My brother and I took the kiddos to the Provo Rec Center, I picked up my race packet and drove as much of the course as I could so I would be mentally prepared. I also carb loaded... cupcakes count right!? I was definitely stress eating! It rained a bit one evening and Beebs was in need of some loves, so the two of us went for a walk in the rain and enjoyed splashing in puddles and hunting for snails. And before I knew it, Saturday had arrived and it was time for my big race!

Once the race was over, our trip seemed to wrap up pretty quickly. Sunday I was in recovery mode... stiff and sore and barely able to move. Monday Bruce flew in with my gorgeous diamond earrings in hand and we enjoyed the day with him. Tuesday we repaired a flat tire on the Jolly Roger then said our goodbyes before piling into the car and headed back to Arizona. Everyone was especially sad to say goodbye to Mollie, my sister's ragdoll cat. We stopped several times on our way home- the Provo Temple, my dad's work for one last hug goodbye, Beaver for ice cream (and Eva found an itty bitty baby grasshopper that she named Lizzie and still talks about today), the St George temple where we walked the visitors center and the kiddos each drew a picture of their favourite Book of Mormon story, and then Las Vegas, to touch our final temple of the trip. The drive home was an adventure in itself!

We enjoyed our trip to Utah so very much. The girls still talk about it all the time and even Man Cub seems to have great memories of our time at Nana and Papa's. He loves to talk about all of my parents pets. Ü I am so very grateful for all the fun memories we've made during our Utah Road Trips the past two summers.

Road Trip 2014 | The Ranch

One of our favourite places to visit in Utah is "The Ranch". The Ranch is an absolutely gorgeous property along the Provo River where my youngest sister worked as a ranch hand for a couple of summers. It is by far one of the most beautiful pieces of land I have ever walked on... mountain views to the north and east, trees to the south and the Provo River to the west. It is seriously breathtaking. The buildings on the property are constructed from the most beautiful stone... there are loads of flowers and enormous trees and fun gates and fences. There is a chance the property could go up for sale in the spring and it seriously makes my heart ache that there is no way in heaven or hell I could come up with the $5+ million it would cost to buy. I love that place!

And since there is a very high probability that I won't be able to use it for photos ever again, if the current owner does in fact sell, I am so glad that we were able to spend a few hours there while in Utah over the summer. And the updated portraits of my wee ones are just an added bonus.