Special Needs Roadshow.....

At the beginning of this last school year Morgan was called to be a Youth Counselor in the Special Needs Young Women's program. This is a calling you get from the Stake President and it is a year long commitment. She goes every Thursday night and has been assigned her 'buddy' - Jenny is her name and it has not only been a blessing in Morgans life, but it has been a blessing to all of us. She looks forward each week to going to Special Needs and comes home with not only pretty funny stories, but also some inspiring ones.
J.D. and I went and watched the entire group put on their annual Roadshow.....the girls did lots of singing - simple songs like 'Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree' and 'Once their was a Snowman' all the way to 'I know that my Redeemer Lives', Morgans group sang 'I feel my Saviors Love'....the boys really liked doing skits, dressing up like Nephi and swinging swords carrying "CTR" shields. The whole night was emotional for me, not only seeing these special spirits get up and perform, but seeing the youth that have been called be so tender and loving to their new friends. I am so proud of Morgan that she has embraced this calling and made every moment of it count.
This has been a fun year for her, and one that I am sure she will remember for a lifetime.

Is the marriage strong enough??.....

J.D. and I generally don't fight. We may disagree, may argue about different things, but overall we do not fight. Not saying it to brag, it's just the way it is. I am not sure what happened one Sunday a few years back, but on a walk in the early spring we had one of our knock-down, drag-outs!! It got heated enough that we had certain neighbors who heard the yelling and when I got home I actually got in the car and drove away. Enough about that, because obviously, we got better.....but it has made us eerily aware of Sunday afternoon walks and what it can do to us as a couple. Kids getting too tired to finish riding the bikes that they brought along, wanting drinks or the kids whining because we stop and talk with too many neighbors. So this last Sunday when I suggested such a walk, J.D. quickly responded "is the marriage strong enough?"

I laughed at him and off we went..... One thing about my boys, Jensen who used to be an absolute FREAK about what he wore, how his hair looked and if he matched okay has now gone completely opposite since having to wear uniforms to school every day. It makes me a little to sad to have my little fashionista gone. Now he just takes whatever is on top of the pile and puts it on. Drew has always been a little bit that way, now I just have 2 boys who look like they have a mother that doesn't bother to care what they go out in public looking like. Sad.

We luckily came upon some of our best friends that also were out on their porch on this yummy spring day! They got a new swing set in the fall and we were able to let the kids run and play at their house for a while - not to mention homemade chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven...we love you Ostheds!!

Little Ji-man loved the swing!! He is just the happiest, smiliest baby we have had -

Coming to the end of our Sunday stroll Jensen thought it would be funny to lift his shorts up high and do a power walk down the sidewalk - the comic relief we have in that little boy is awesome!! He is always thinking up things to do to make us laugh, he and Brenna are a lot alike in that regard. I am so thankful for funny kids, my mom used to always say to me that if a person could make me laugh I wanted to be their friend - so luckily for me I have silly kids.

Our Sunday walk was a huge success!! Thank heaven. Hopefully there will be many more this Spring after being cooped up all Winter long....

A rite of passage.....

What 8 year old boys life could possibly be complete without the Pinewood Derby?? Wait, did I say that right? I do believe that it is as much for the young scout as it is for the dad of that young scout. This last Saturday, after about 2 1/2 weeks of blood, sweat and tears (not really) our ward had it's Pinewood Derby.

This would usually come and go without much to mention, but this one has a story behind it. My boys, (and Ella) were really excited to participate in the race this year. It was Jensens first time, and Drew and J.D. thought it would be fun to build a car also....knowing they could not race, but why not? (I say why??)

Anyway....they all spent a considerable amount of time sanding, painting, and re-painting their cars...adding decals, adding wheels, and adding the right amount of weight. The night before the race came and it was time to take the cars in for the official weigh-in. J.D. had to take the Deacons on an overnighter camping trip and I was put in charge of the cars...'the responsible one' - I was called. I do believe J.D. must have jinxed me with the title because within moments of being given thethat title I dropped the only car that mattered for the race on the garage floor while getting ready to take it to the neighbors for the weigh-in. The weights that were so carefully place in the bottom of the car popped out and the axel on one of the wheels was bent!! This could not be happening! Oh yes it did, and not only did I know about it, but so did Drew and Morgan who watched the whole thing happen (I most likely said a few choice words out loud because I know for a fact I thought them). J.D. was on his way with the boys for a camping trip that he wasn't exactly thrilled about so there was no way in the world I was going to add the pressure of a broken car to the mix. I begged Drew not to say anything, I begged the guy in my ward to give it a once over and do whatever he could to fix the car - explaining to the both of them that they were looking at a dead woman at this point....

Saturday comes, I can't go to the Pinewood Derby because of a baby shower, (and partially because if I wasn't there, maybe I couldn't be blamed for the car). I called J.D. and he was quick to inform me that someone must have dropped Jensens car because it didn't even make it down the track the first time....oh snap! I instantly had a stomach ache and could not relax at the shower. I had to get out of there, I had to come clean with both of my boys....it was their moms dumb fault that the car sucked!

To make a long story short, after a little TLC by the dad at the race and another try down the track my cutie Jensen came in 2nd place out of all the boys in the ward. He got an awesome trophy to prove it and a change to compete on a stake level later on that night.

Jensen was able to race his car with 28 other winners from the other wards. He came in 14th out of the 28 cars - not bad for what we had gone through to get it to that point.

Who knows, maybe the drop did the car some good - I like to tell myself that - we will never know. J.D. is sure he would have 'smoked' everyone else if it had been in it's original awesome state...

I am just the lucky mom that was able to have both my boys forgive me for making a mess of the Pinewood Derby car - maybe next time I won't get the job as the 'responsible one'...after the 24 hours that I spent stewing about it I would be happy to give that title to anyone else.

Baby steps.....

My little Ji-man is 11 months old today and he is trying to learn to walk. He is in no way there, only taking a few steps at a time before he gets chicken and sits down. This is not my favorite idea, in fact, I encourage the sitting. Walking is good, it just makes it real. He is growing up and there is not a darn thing I can do about it. With each new accomplishment he is proud of himself and we all love watching him grow, I just love the babies, everyone knows that and I am not quite ready to give that up! I know I have said it before, but I truly don't know where the time has gone. He is an amazing boy and adds such happiness to our family. I can't imagine our life without the little bundle. I think he helps to keep J.D. and I young - (that's what I tell myself anyway)

Zions.....

We decided we all needed to get out of the gloom earlier this month so we thought it would be a great idea to head down to Southern Utah - Zions, to be exact. Little did I realize that just because you go 'south' doesn't mean that you go 'warm'. I found a cabin on the Internet to rent and it was awesome, all except for the 5 feet of snow and the cold weather that surrounded us!!

We went with some neighbors of ours who also are blessed with 6 kids - so the grand total of those traveling was 16!! They have kids that range from 16 all the way down to 2, so we match up pretty well.

Driving through Zions we went from tons of snow to no snow by the time we left the park. It was interesting to see how much it changes during the 30 minute drive. It was beautiful in any weather.....

Blue, blue, blue skies!!!! Just what the doctor ordered.

Brenna did a great job taking pictures of the canyon - all of these pictures were taken on the same day, same drive...just goes to show you how fast things can change.

The cabin we stayed at had a hot tub, so that is where you could find the little kids 3 to 4 times a day. By the time we left 3 days later the dirt and grime ring around the edge of the water was enough to make anyone queasy!!

Ella and Jensen with the friends, Adam, Josh and Sam Chandler.

This is what happens the minute we would get in the car - she would crash!! I think it was due to lack of sleep and probably way too much sugar (notice the chocolate covered pretzels).

We drove into St. George one afternoon and went bowling at the most GHETTO bowling alley I have ever seen. It was small and dingy - and you had to push the reset button every time someone would bowl -

I am pretty sure St. George is a big enough town that it warrants a new bowling alley....

My cute guys - J.D. Jiles and Jensen

Like the shirts?? The big kids all bought these funny shirts at the outlet, apparently they are cool?? Shows you how much a mom knows because I would have never, ever, picked any of these shirts for any of my kids to wear.

Also, I don't think Drew got the memo to make a crusty face for the camera, love my smiley boy!

We spent our weekend doing alot of nothing. Playing games, sitting in the hot tub and most importantly eating - the amounts of food that we took and consumed were disturbing!
We stayed up way past all of our bedtimes and had 3 solid days of partying!!

The Chandlers brought their 4 wheelers and that was alot of fun for all the kids!! Ella loved riding with her big sister and for the most part that is where Drew spent most of his time. I let Brenna take me for a ride, and I think she tried to dump me over on purpose! I couldn't spend too much time out there because it was Freezing!!

Jiles got his very first Oreo cookie - he looks about as happy as I do when I eat Oreos (they were mint filled - even better than the original if you ask me)

Jiles also cut his very first tooth the day we left for our trip - what a handsome little devil.

All in all the getaway was just fabulous...minus almost breaking into the wrong cabin (a whole different story) and having loads of snow instead of sun, we had a great time. It is fun to travel with friends, luckily we have been blessed in our lives with many of them.

Purple flowers, purple dresses.....

I learned a lesson today.....taking advice from your 5 year old daughter can really pay off. Ella and I had been in the house all morning, me doing loads and loads of laundry trying to play catch up from our weekend away and I had stuck Ella in front of video after video. Jiles slept all morning and we were both going a little stir crazy. We drove to the gas station to get our daily drink (and donut for Ella) and on the way home Ella said to me "Mom, remember when we had a picnic outside?" Well - yes I do remember and it was then her suggestion that we do it again today. To be honest, it was not my favorite idea, I still felt like I had alot to do, and after all it is only March 1st, still a little cold for a picnic. I agreed to sit on the front porch and eat our lunch and to be quite honest I was so grateful for my little Ella at that moment.

The sun shone on our faces, we took off our shoes and ate our lunch. The time-out from being inside and doing laundry was just what we both needed.

Seeing the world through my babies eyes today was fabulous. He had a few first's...

First fist full of dirt, quickly followed by his first MOUTH full of dirt....

First tickle on the face with a dried up flower from last fall

followed by a great shiver caught on film.....

First touch of the grass, and to my surprise he didn't mind it....hopefully he will like GREEN grass just as well.

Today I was reminded, that taking time out to have moments with my babies are far more important than any load of laundry....

Today I was reminded with the purple flower that bloomed in my yard that, thank heaven, it will be spring again someday....

Hopefully that someday is sooner rather than later.

20 years and counting.....

Just a side note before anyone goes on to read this post - I don't know if I have proper words or feelings adequate to express the way I feel about my guy - I tried my hardest to put it down on paper, so to speak.... I don't know if I have ever said this before on my blog or not, but I have the best husband in the whole world!! He is always wonderful and amazing, but this last weekend he went above and beyond for me!! He is a blessing in my life that I am thankful every day for - my life would not be the same without him in it. He is my dream come true and I feel so lucky to have him all to myself! This last Saturday, Feb.20th was our 20th anniversary. It is unbelievable to me that we have been together for so long and that I am as happy today as I was on the day when I married him all those years ago.

We went to Cancun a month or so ago, I thought for our anniversary celebrations, but he also planned out a small weekend getaway for us. Saturday morning we got up and left the house early, 10:00 and headed out the door - How lucky am I that I know that I can leave and my babies will be in good hands with the 2 big girls. Morgan and Brenna are awesome!! We spent our day shopping at Gateway, eating a delicious lunch and having a couples massage. Later on that day we checked into 'Little America' where we spent our honeymoon night, just 2 decades ago (yikes!!) J.D. spent the whole day surprising me with little gifts, a short book about the 20 years we have spent together through his eyes and a bottle of my favorite perfume (all the way from New York). He told me that we had dinner reservations that night and off we went. Much to my surprise - probably the biggest one of my life with him - he had invited 20 of the people that I love most in this world to spend the evening having dinner with us. I cried like a baby when I walked into the restaurant and saw my whole family sitting there waiting to celebrate with us. You would have thought from my reaction that I never see any of them! He is just usually not able to keep any secrets from me and so this was unusual for him. We had a great dinner together and enjoyed our night out!

These are the pictures of all the people who joined us... My uncle Bob and aunt Sandy and my cute mom and dad.

Janeen and Corey Anderson, Jana and Trent Williams
Both of my sisters were just little girls when we got married!

Mike and Jill Wahlquist and our good friends Adam and Becky Osthed

Blake (who was only 6 months old on our wedding day) and Brad and Christina Hackwell

Brian and J.D.'s mom, Pat. She brought a whole album full of pictures of us on our wedding day - what a fun thing to look at and needless to say, we have changed!!

My cute cousin Michelle (who was my maid of honor) and her husband Nate. They are so fun to be around, she was the first person that I saw when we got to the restaurant - I looked through the window behind her and thought to myself - 'weird, I wonder what she is doing here??'

Chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling cider in our room - one of my favorite treats!! We brought the yellow rose home to Ella and that made her day, this is a girl that loves flowers. Hopefully her husband can keep up with her girly-girl taste!!

I can only hope and pray that each of my girls get their Prince Charmings like I have. I hope that they are learning how they deserve to be treated when they grow up and I hope my boys are learning valuable lessons on how to treat women. J.D. is an amazing example of love to all of us.

I hope I have another 20+ years with him!