Thursday, August 4, 2011

Hmm...where to start

A few pictures I thought I would share from our summer. What a bittersweet summer! Kodey moved out and moved to Michigan to Nanny. Josh enlisted in the US Army reserves and leaves Oct 3. My youngest turned 5 and starts kindergarten. What is a mom to do? We have so many things happening here. It has sure been a sad/happy/excited/scary/proud summer for this mom! Josh graduates
enlistment day



Abby turns 5 witha candyland cake







the last time this summer all of my kiddos are together...taking Kodey to the airport






Last day of school 2011








A sideways...graduate












Friday, May 13, 2011

Graduation Time




Well another school year is coming to an end. This school year has had its share of heartaches, trials, health scares,laughter and all around fun times. But as this year comes to a close I am thinking particularly about my 3 older children. Kodey 18 3/4 is graduating from Utah College of Massage therapy and has decided to follow her dream of becoming a nanny. Once her application was posted through some LDS agencies, she has had 3 interviews and I believe that she has chosen a family in Pennsylvania with 3 small children and another home on the Jersey shore (where they will be moving to for the summer). Josh is a graduating senior from Timpanogos High school. A know right? a senior? he was justa warded a GEAR UP scholarship of $26,000 as well as the Pell Grant. He has taken the ASVAB test and scored wonderfully for a medical job in (hopefully) the National Guard. He has plans to become a EMT in the civilian world or a medic in the Army after his mission. he was accepted to Utah Valley University.He is just 17 so his mission will wait until he is 19, of course. And not to be outdone there is Aleceeya who is graduating from Timpview High school. She already graduated with her CNA in January. now, it is school and working. aleceeya plans on attending Utah valley University and continuing her nursing career. she is also a budding seamstress and photographer. She would like to serve an LDS mission and thinks by next year she wants to do something similar to the Peace corp and go to a foreign land and help local villagers and such. what ambition!
i remember the times I thought those three were never going to grow up. now, that they have, I am reluctant to let the past few years go. what a wake up call for me with my younger children. i have the opportunity to make each day better as I know that it truly does go by so incredibly fast. soon, my household will be lighter by three. sad...I know. well, I am excited that I still can be the mom of my dreams with my younger children and forge on ahead blindly while I negotiate this next stage with my young adults.
We have exciting things planned for this summer. my parents are coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. We are visiting Yellowstone, have plans for our usual activities plus some new adventures. there will be camping involved and many scouting activities as we have 5 boys in Boy Scouts now. i believe there is a 50 miler in there somewhere this summer too. Never a dull moment and that is just the way I like it.
John and I are going on a cruise in September and we can't wait! our first time alone for a week! But for now, I am going to relish the final weeks of having my whole family under one roof. I am going to cry some, and laugh more knowing that the days are fleeting. Why did I ever wish away those days of babies, diapers, early bedtimes, sweet smelling hugs, and children toddling around? well, I won't be writing this way when my other children graduate because i will know that i was the best mom possible and I lived every moment with them with full enjoyment. Knowing like I said that time does truly go by way too fast.

Monday, March 28, 2011

I have been thinking about positive thinking and can it really change your life? Can you really accomplish that which you think you can't do by saying that you can? i think the difference comes in your attitude. Did I ever think I could raise 15 kids? Ummm...NO! But here I am doing the impossible every day. Okay, maybe not impossible but the difficult and challenging and the most rewarding.
So, I reflect on the things that I have experienced in my life. Well, I often think that my attitude either helped or hurt what was happening. Positive thinking helps you to feel good about where you are but can you do better on a paper or succeed in the work place just by positive energy? I think people reward you differently just based on your attitude but does it make you more competent or just pleased with the results? do you know what I mean?
The end result is that I like to be around happy positive people. I don't like to be an Eeyore or hang around one. I want to be like a Tigger and hang around more Tigger's. I may not perform any better but I am sure happier.
So, what do I need to do to be better and improve more? The truth is change takes time. So find one thing and be better at it! My one thing this week? Engaging with my children more. I can do this and have fun doing it!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

What do you do in the winter time?

I don't know about you...but we headed to Disneyland! We escaped from the snow, cold weather with the highs of 7. And headed on over to Anaheim for a little Disney magic and what we found was even better! On our way, we enjoyed a brief respite and some naps until...Boom! the tread from a tire blew off the bus. We stopped and while inspecting the tire noticed that our luggage was on fire! We were blessed to put that it out and only lose the clothes from 1 child (YIPEE!). We continued on our way after a brief stop at an amazing Shell gas station in Beaver (andrew loves that name...) A nice man from Montana bought each of the kids a candy bar from the store while we waited. then he invited us to his horse ranch in Montana "to put everyone of those kids on a horse" :) Next we drove onto St George and our battery blew up. This was well timed as there was an autozone less than a mile down the street and John was able to replace it. Then the regulator in the alternator was acting weird. We said our 8th prayer and knew who to call to get help. Unfortunately, Papa lives in Michigan and he was plowing snow. Then, we called our mechanic at Doug's Auto and he helped us limp our bus to Covina, CA (our first official stop).
Here are some of the pictures from our wonderful stay....





It's a small world


Big Thunder railroad full of Thill's

Our friends the Boyd's showing us around for 3 days.They also got some friends together and comp'd our whole trip to Disneyland!

Tom Sawyer's treasure