Camping at the Sand Dunes

Here are some photos I took on Friday and Saturday during our Little Sahara camping trip. Our entire family had a wonderful time.

We saw beetles everywhere! I thought they were cute.

Shadow people: Emma and me.

I know I'm weird. I LOVE bugs!

The next day. . .

Emma's Reading Chart

This summer Emma wanted me to create a reading chart for her over the vacation break. She told me that she wants to stay a good reader during the summer so she will be prepared to go to second grade at the end of August. Her goal is to read 60 books over the summer. So far she has read 10 books.

I am supporting Emma's reading chart idea, mainly because I know how much she wants to do well in school. Learning how to read has been a struggle for her in the past, mainly because I think she is a little dyslexic. I try to make things fun for her by throwing in extra surprises so she will keep trying. For example, each time Emma reads 10 books she gets a prize.

Emma finished reading 10 books yesterday and won her first prize: a giant lollipop. She was thrilled and excited to finally make her first goal. She reminds me so much of Brad sometimes, especially when she creates goals for herself and tries her best to accomplish them. She is always willing to improve herself.

I love my little responsible Emma. Here is what she has to say:




"I am so very proud that I am reading books. If I keep on reading books, I can go and learn some more when I am in second grade. Each time when I did not have my 10 books yet, I would always ask Becky if I can read a book. Each time we read one I always asked to read another, but Becky would always say to take a break. After my break I would go and ask Becky to read another book. When I was done reading 10 books we took pictures. I like books because it is very good to read. Becky always gets really good books from the library. She is a really nice step-mom. And that's how I feel about reading books, and I like reading books, and I will maybe not stop. I won't ever say that I do not like reading books."

Second Wedding Anniversary

It's hard to believe that two years have come and gone. I am so comfortable and happy in my new home, and I love my new family. Brad has been a wonderful husband and companion, and I am so grateful to have him with me. I love our marriage and our life together in Utah, and I truly feel I made the best decsion of my life when I chose to marry him. He always knows how to brighten up my day and to help me feel special and loved. He is my best friend.

"We Love Our Daddy!"

Scott and Emma love their daddy very much. He has always been a stable, loving father to them, and I admire his parenting skills greatly. I decided to pay a little photo tribute to him and include a little message I wrote about fathers a while back ago. I wrote this with him in mind:

What is a Dad?

A dad is someone who leads by example. He provides for his home and family, he cherishes his wife and children, he spends quality time with his family each day. He not only teaches good values and morals to his children, but he also demonstrates them through the choices he makes. His children want to be just like him.

A dad knows how to make his children laugh. He knows how to find humor in everyday situations and make hard times seem better. He can lift spirits up, kiss boo-boos goodbye, and listen to a broken heart.

A dad speaks good encouraging words to his wife. He treats the mother of his home with tenderness, love, and respect. She is the most important person in his life and the children feel it and know it. He offers them a feeling of security and stability when he says kind things to his wife.

A dad knows how to push aside the everyday hustles and bustles of life to spend time with his family. He establishes a routine. He spends one-on-one time with each member of his family. He reads books to his children, sings to them at night, and prays with them daily.

A dad is in no way perfect, but he tries his best. He falls short sometimes, but then he gets up and perseveres again. A dad always wants to be a better dad. He tries to find ways to improve himself, and does.

I am very grateful that I married such a wonderful father. I love him very much.

You Stupid Dog!

Don't get me wrong-- I love our Rosie very much. She's cute, pretty, friendly, smart, lovable, fun to play with, and very outgoing, but despite all her good qualities sometimes she drives me CRAZY! For example, here is what she did last night:

Yesterday evening we had ham for dinner. Rosie, our large standard poodle, kept a close eye on us while we were having dinner, and made sure to lie down, sit, and stand anywhere close to us while we ate. She treated us friendlier than usual last night, for obvious reasons: she wanted ham. Normally we do not give her our food as a treat, but those cute puppy eyes kept staring up at us, begging for just a small little helping of food, so Brad took pity on her and gave her a tiny piece of ham over by her food dish. She gobbled it up in an instant.

After dinner I noticed we still had a considerable amount of ham left over, so I pushed the grill back to the middle of the counter, so that Rosie couldn't reach it. My intentions were to leave the ham out for another 40 minutes or so, just in case anyone wanted seconds.

Well, somebody did want seconds. . . but not someone I was expecting.

About a half hour went by, and I was causally going about my evening activities when I noticed Rosie sitting at the bottom of the landing, chewing something enthusiastically. "Rosie! What are you eating?" Rosie stopped chewing and looked up at me with big black guilty eyes, her tail vibrating hesitantly. I saw something pink fall from her mouth and heard the "click" of a small ham bone as it fell onto the tiled floor.

Anger rushed through my body as I realized what Rosie had done with the ham dinner. I yelled at her and grabbed her to lead her back to the dog crate. Rosie, knowing that I was mad at her, felt she needed to submit to me and began peeing on the carpet, leaving a small trail of unpleasantness that I would have to clean up later. Well, that just made me angrier so I smacked her bum and yelled at her again.

After putting Rosie in her crate, I went to check on how much ham was left over on the grill, and was astonished by amount I found. Rosie had eaten at least 10 ounces of ham. I groaned as I put the grill in the sink and washed my hands. I knew that Rosie would probably get sick in the middle of the night, like she often does when she eats things she's not supposed to. Unfortunately, Rosie does not like to be let outside at night and will often bark and whine until someone lets her in. I did not want her to disturb the neighbors so I kept her in her crate in the dining room.

Last night as I went to sleep I decided to keep my ears alert in case Rosie started to whine to be let outside. I knew she would want to go out if she felt sick, and I wanted to let her out as quickly as possible so she wouldn't mess up her bed. At about 3:15 in the morning I heard her soft little whimpers and barks enter my ears as I slept. I woke up and jumped out of bed instantly, and rushed into the dining room to her crate, but I was too late. Rosie had soiled her bed and crate and she smelt very bad.

"You stupid dog!" I threw her out into the cold, dark night, not caring how much she would bark and whine for the neighbors. But on the contrary, Rosie kept quiet and did not make a sound, probably because she knew I was mad at her. I tried to go back to sleep, but my mind was too awake by then and I could not return into my lovely state of unconsciousness. Grrrrr!

Daylight finally came and we had to wash Rosie's bed, crate, and the dining room floor, not to mention we had to give her a bath today, even though she just had one yesterday. Stupid, stupid dog! It's a good thing we love her so much.

She's a beautiful dog, but not as innocent as she looks.

Lagoon Day

Brad and I had a delightful time last Saturday at Lagoon. Every year Brad's job has an annual Lagoon Day, where all the employees get free day passes and get treated to a free lunch. This year Brad and I went without kids, so we were able to go on some adult rides and take advantage our freedom. It was nice having the alone-time and being able to feel like newlyweds again. It was fun!


I loved the landscaping at Lagoon and had to take lots of photos of the beautiful plants and flowers. I'm such a nature nut!





One of the courtyards in the park had about forty baby goslings nesting on the lawns with their mothers. I love Canada geese and had to take pictures of the cute little babies to show Scott and Emma later. One mama goose did not like me being so close to her family and spent the whole time staring at me and hissing.

Brad and I missed having Scott and Emma with us this year, but it was nice being alone together as well. Hopefully Scott and Emma will get to join us next summer.




Rattlesnake Rapids was one of our favorite rides. It really was too cold to go on, but we went anyway and got soaked. The waterfall at the end of the ride dumped buckets of water on us right before the ride finished, and it took forever for our jeans to dry up.




Brad and I went on the Sky Ride twice. I liked it mainly because it was relaxing and I could take photos on it easily.

I took so many photos like this one. I love taking photos of pretty things so I kept snapping away with my camera. The clouds drifted away right after lunch and the sky looked particularly gorgeous.

Ferris Wheel. This was the last ride we went on before we left the park. It was neat being on the wheel, because the sky was so beautiful at that time and it was such a clear, pretty day. We had a great view of the Salt Lake Valley.

This isn't Brad being scared of the Ferris Wheel-- honest. He was just very, very cold.

High altitude, cold wind, wet clothes = cold Bradley.

I think he was acting that way to get extra kisses from me.

Singing in the Rain

Scott and Emma had their last day of school yesterday. I took some photos of them yesterday morning before they left home, just for the memories. It was an overcast, rainy morning yesterday, so Scott and Emma had their umbrellas out, prepared for the extra humidity. Emma loves her pink umbrella that her grandmother gave her a few years ago. While I had my camera out, Emma began dancing in the rain, singing “I’m singing in the rain! Just singing in the rain!” She surprised me by how well she remembered Gene Kelly’s dancing moves from the movie “Singing in the Rain.” I did not know she knew the movie so well. She got some of the lyrics and tune mixed up, but overall, she did a really good impression of Gene Kelly and I was impressed, particularly because I cannot remember the last time she or I saw the movie.

33 Years of Bradley

My wonderful husband turned 33 today.

He started out so small.

But he kept getting bigger...


and bigger...

And at 6 foot 2 he's still just as cute as ever!

Gosh, I love my husband! He knows how to make me smile, even when I'm feeling low or troubled. He builds me up each day and always goes out of his way to make me feel beautiful and special. He always says nice things about me to his friends and family. I made the best decision of my life when I decided to marry him. He truly is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

May Flowers

I decided to go walking with Emma and Scott to school every morning during the month of May. I decided I needed the exercise, and the Utah weather has been so gorgeous lately that I felt I needed to get out and enjoy it more fully. The kids liked me joining them on their walk, too. It didn't take too long before we came up with our own walking games every morning, to make the thirty-minute walk more enjoyable and entertaining.

First we made up our own I-Spy alphabet game, in which we had to spot things that started with each letter of the alphabet. My favorite part of the walk was when we reached the letter "Q" and 7-year-old Emma started jumping up and down yelling "quack, quack." I spotted a wild quail once, but it was before we reached the letter "Q," so it didn't count.

After the alphabet game, Scott and Emma came up with a new idea. They started making "nature bouquets" for me during our walk. The children know I love nature and flowers, so they started gathering bits and pieces of natural things for me to give as a gift. I thought it was sweet how they would eagerly try to spot things for me. At the end of the walk I would end up holding all sorts of various wild flowers, lilacs, grass blades, leaves, weeds, dandelions, wheat stalks, and even rocks and pine cones. Every day I took photographs of the bouquets to remember them.

The kids eventually learned how to spot things better as the days progressed, so they were able to gather more and more plants on our trip. On our walks the kids would tell me how much they loved me and how grateful they were that I was their step-mother. It meant a lot to me to hear them say things like, "Becky, I am so glad Daddy married you" and "Becky, I love you so much!" It's sweet and rewarding for me to spend time with them each and every day. I love being their step-mom.