Memorial Day at Wheeler Farm

The best way to celebrate Memorial Day weekend is with family!
This year we had a Memorial Day picnic at Wheeler Farm with Bruce & Loralee's family and Grandpa North.

Jessica, Rachel, and Kaylie spent the night at our house Sunday night while Scott got to sleep over with his boy cousins. There were a lot of giggles in the back seat of the van as we headed over to Wheeler Farm.

As soon as I plopped Lizzy down on the green lawn she took off at full speed! She apparently had places to go that I was not aware of.

Lizzy loved seeing the variety of fowl near our picnic table. She had a great time waving at them.

Lizzy was also entertained by Grandpa and Papa throwing the football back and forth at each other. When Grandpa let her hold the ball she wouldn't give it back.

'There's no way I'm keeping this thing on my head, Mama!'

Big sisters and cousins are the best!

Watermelon, homemade potato salad, chips, drinks, Loralee's shredded pork, homemade rolls, peanut butter for picky eaters... YUMMY!!!

After lunch we headed over to the farm to look at the animals.

I think it was all agreed that although male turkeys have pretty iridescent feathers they also have the ugliest faces of all the farm animals.

Lizzy absolutely LOVED the piglets! At first she seemed uninterested in all the previous farm animals, but when she saw the pigs she sat up in her stroller and starting talking and waving her hands at the pigs. She wanted a better look at them. I'm sure she would have crawled right up to them if given the chance.

The horses were a big hit. All the girls wanted to pet the horses, including Lizzy.

Lizzy called the cows 'dog.' She wanted to touch them, but they were too far away.

The girls had a wonderful time playing in the tree house. I think that may have been their favorite spot at Wheeler Farm.

While the girls were looking at farm animals the boys stayed behind and played Bocce Ball.

Hooray for FAMILY!

Emma's Class Program

Emma's 3rd Grade class put on a program today to celebrate the end of the school year. They performed musical numbers and a very cute theatrical production of the "Three Billy Goats Gruff." Emma played the part of the Nanny Goat, as well as a cheerleader and a hula dancer.






My favorite part of the program was when Emma danced the Hukilau dance with several other girls. It reminded me of my sisters and I dancing the Hukilau when we were kids.

"Oh, we're going to the Hukilau. A huki huki huki huki huki hukilau..."

Joy in Creating Life

This is what I looked like a year ago.

Why in the world do I want to be pregnant again? The nine months I carried Lizzy were physically the hardest months of my life. The days went by so slowly and felt so endless, I couldn't wait for it to be over. Yet I'm willing and wanting to do it all over again, and it hasn't even been a full year yet. I miss the excitement of creating a new life. I miss feeling my baby move inside me. What a joy it is to hear a baby's little heartbeat for the first time! How marvelous it is to feel a baby kick! I want to experience that all over again. It's amazing how the backaches, sore hips, nauseousness, fatigue, contractions, and labor pains don't really deter me from wanting to have another baby. Why is that? Perhaps because the joy I felt while I was pregnant, and the joy I feel today being a mother, outshines the physical challenges I encountered back then. Perhaps because she was totally and completely worth it.

Yes, I would do it all over again. And again...

Kite Poem

A Poem by Scott
Artwork by Rebecca (me)

I was high, high up looking down at a tall purple mountain, glimmering with snow. White, puffy clouds, with the sun shining behind them, were drifting across the sky. Little green trees were pointing to the top of the mountain. Slowly a little boy tugged on my string and I went lower and lower until the little boy caught me in his arms laughing all the while with his family.

Lizzy's First Time on a Slide

Mother's Day Weekend

Today was our first Mother's Day without Brad's mother. In remembrance of her, we stopped by the cemetery Saturday afternoon and put some lilacs on her grave. It was good being there to see the brand new grave marker. I loved seeing the image of the Salt Lake Temple and knowing that her absence is only temporary. We are all sealed together for time and all eternity and we will be reunited together as a family someday.

After going to the cemetery we headed over to the West Jordan City Park. Lizzy loved being on her papa's shoulders and seeing the world from his perspective. She also LOVED swinging on the swing and would have stayed there longer if we had let her. She also went down the slide for the first time with a little help from Papa. She loved it!

Brad made me a delicious Mother's Day breakfast Sunday morning. French toast, sausage, orange juice, and eggs. Yummy!

After church, Brad took some mother/daughter shots of Lizzy and me. I LOVE my baby girl!

My first Mother's Day present from Lizzy. SO CUTE! Thanks, Papa.

Brad and I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend with Lizzy. She brightens up our lives so much, it made not having Scott and Emma with us so much easier. I love being her mother! She is my little treasure. She's my darling, sweet baby.

A Teeny Tooth

Somebody cute has a little tooth!

It feels bigger than it looks. Trust me.

The Many Voices of Twinkle

Lizzy LOVES the sound of her own voice. She is a very vocal baby and loves to try out new sounds constantly. She has a LOT to say. She doesn't say many words clearly yet (except "Mama") but she's definitely getting there. She tries to say "kitty" and "hello" often, but she hasn't mastered them. What she HAS mastered, though, are her yells. She loves to yell.

My favorite yell is her Tarzan call. She often does this one first thing in the morning when she wakes up, or if she's in the high chair for too long. It's her "come take me out" yell. She's really quite good at it, too. I can't help but laugh at her sometimes when I hear her. She sounds like a baby version of Tarzan.

Her other yell is her cockatoo cry. It sounds something like a screechy "Ah...Ah...Ah.. Ahh!" If you've ever heard a cockatoo you'll know exactly what I mean. She often does this when she just wakes up for a nap and wants me to get her out, or if she's playing.

Her other yell is her bloody murder scream. And no, she doesn't do this when she's angry, frustrated, or sad (at least not most of the time). She does it simply when she wants to hear her voice. She loves testing her voice out to see how loud she can get. She can get pretty loud sometimes!

None of these yells mean "I'm hurt" or "I'm sad." She has those, too, of course.

The Highlight of My Day: April 2010

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in April:

Thu 4/1/10: I went to the dentist this morning and they told me I had 8 cavities. I was like, NO WAY! Then they quickly reminded me it was April 1st. No cavities for me! *phew!*

Fri 4/2/10: We have 11 children at our home tonight, but it's all good. :) Scott and Emma love playing with their cousins, and it's fun spending time with all of them, too. Tonight we dyed Easter Eggs.

Sat 4/3/10: Today we watched General Conference and went over to Bruce and Loralee's house. The children had an Easter egg hunt there, and we watched "Once Upon a Mattress." Loralee made some very yummy homemade sweet rolls.

Sun 4/4/10: We watched more of General Conference today. I made a ham dinner and some potato salad with dyed eggs. Marilyn and James had dinner with us and brought a large stack of "Shaun the Sheep" DVDs and "Wallace and Grommit."

Mon 4/5/10: I took Scott and Emma to the dentist this afternoon and they didn't have any cavities! YAY! On the way home we stopped at the library and picked up some more "Battlestar Galactica" for Brad and me to watch.

Tue 4/6/10: I started my exercise routine today. A couple of weeks ago Brad made a DVD of my old exercise video I used to do as a teenager and when I was in my early twenties. Amazing, I still know the video by heart.

Wed 4/7/10: I made taco salad for dinner tonight. Yummy!

Thu 4/8/10: Lizzy decided to dump Rosie's huge water dish all over herself today. She was drenched from head to toe. She started laughing as soon as she saw me laughing. It was a very funny sight.

Fri 4/9/10: Brad and I went to dinner at Carino's Italian Restaurant tonight. It was lovely! Lizzy had fun flirting with the guy waiters and an elderly gentleman. I'm afraid she's going to break men's hearts someday.

Sat 4/10/10: A nice Saturday-- just Brad, me, and Twinkle. We got done chores, watched some more "Battlestar Galactic," ran errands, went out to dinner, and had a pleasant drive to Layton.

Sun 4/11/10: I had a fun time at church with Lizzy. She stayed with me the whole time. She was one of five young children in Young Womens. Sister Lignell brought her tiny baby kitten, too.

Mon 4/12/10: I tried to make steak tonight, but an unexpected storm came out of nowhere and made it too windy to keep a fire going on the grill. I ended up cooking on the indoor grill, which was still yummy, but it took a long time before dinner was ready. My funeral potatoes came out perfect, though.

Tue 4/13/10: Lizzy was so thrilled to see me when I got back from Young Womens tonight. It made my day.

Wed 4/14/10: I am learning how to double crochet. I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Thu 4/15/10: I picked up Susie at the airport today! She'll be staying all weekend until Tuesday morning.

Fri 4/16/10: Susie and I did a lot of walking today. After dropping off the Odyssey at the mechanics we headed over to the dog park in Taylorsville and went walking at the Jordan River Parkway. In the evening we picked up the Odyssey again and the expense was a lot less than we anticipated which made Brad very happy.

Sat 4/17/10: Susie ran in the SLC Marathon today. We drove over to the Gateway to see her cross the finish line and cheered for her. We went to Panda Express for lunch afterward.

Sun 5/18/10: We had a birthday party for me tonight. Brad got me a special edition DVD of "My Fair Lady," and Susie bought me two novels by Gail Carson Levine: "Fairest" and "Ever."

Mon 4/19/10: Susie and I had a very yummy sushi lunch today. Eating sushi has become a regular habit when I'm with my sisters. Love it!

Tue 4/20/10: I put together a CD of pictures from Susie's visit all together for her to take home. I love taking pictures.

Wed 4/21/10: Today is my birthday! I turned 30 years old. Brad took me to the Cheesecake Factory tonight. We brought home some yummy cheesecake and watched more Battlestar Galactica.

Thu 4/22/10: Brad and I took the Legacy to our auto mechanic's this morning to find out why it was making a strange humming noise. We thought it was near the end of its "life" and were expecting the worst. The mechanics found out what was wrong and only charged us $275 to get it fixed, which was a lot less than we thought.

Fri 4/23/10: I went to watch Brad play volleyball at the Stake Center tonight. Brad's team won both games. Yay! Brad and I enjoyed some time alone and watched two more episodes of Battlestar Galactic tonight. They were both really good episodes.

Sat 4/24/10: I bought a half pound of Boarshead's Cracked Peppermill Turkey today from the Harmon's grocery store near our house. Boarshead is my absolute favorite brand of deli sandwich meat. So, so good!

Sun 4/25/10: I set up my visiting teaching appointments today before the end of the month. Hooray for me!

Mon 4/26/10: We went to the park tonight and played tennis for FHE. It was a blast! Lizzy loved watching us hit the balls. Oh, and David approved our request to get a kitten! HOORAY!

Tue 4/27/10: My husband made me feel loved and appreciated tonight. :) I love him. I'm grateful that we have each other to lean on during rough times.

Wed 4/28/10: Lizzy has a tooth coming in! I can barely see it, but I felt it just fine. It's little and sharp and pointy. Pretty soon she's going to have an adorable one-tooth smile.

Thu 4/29/10: I caught Lizzy today eating dog food. What puzzles me the most is that she has become extra picky the last few weeks and won't eat yummy foods like chicken or eggs and yet she LIKES dog food. Gross!

Fri 4/30/10: Brad and I had Taco Bell for dinner tonight while we finished watching the last episode of "Battlestar Galactica." What a terrific ending! I loved it. I'm sad it's over, but at least we have the 1st season to watch together. I haven't seen the first 1st season yet. We skipped it since Brad had already seen it a few years ago.