This morning...

...we took a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon with our next door neighbors in tow to see if we could get a few family pictures in the fall foliage. Here's a specimen.


After pictures we had a lovely al fresco lunch and let the kids explore nature while we were surrounded by it. The colors were so breathtaking and the temperature was the perfect balance of cool and warm. It made me wish that I could find time to visit the canyon more often than I do.

Family fun for the 4th

We went to Star Valley, WY for the 4th of July weekend and my WHOLE family was there! Thanks, Matthew and Karen, for flying in at the last minute to make this picture possible!




We had some quality cousin time, lots of volleyball, cards, name games and golf cart rides. We had lots of laughs, a few tears, a few stubbed toes (thanks to the annual sockey game), a little music and a ton of fun. That place truly is Heaven on Earth.

Hand prints

A couple of weeks ago, we had some concrete poured on the side of our new house. When we first talked about putting concrete there, I told Dan that I would REALLY love to get the kids hand prints in the concrete. I told him that since this is our "forever house" I wanted to remember how small our kiddos were when we moved in. I wanted to preserve something of their childhood that could never be lost or washed away.

You see, I'm sentimental like that.

He is not.

He said no.

On the day they poured the concrete, we had great fun watching the big truck spinning and the men wearing those awesome boots, walking around in the muck and smoothing it out. They were there for 5 hours and after 4 and a half, I thought I'd give it one more try.

"I suppose it's too late for hand prints..." I said.

"Yeah." Was his short, full answer.

I gave up and put the baby to bed.

As I left the baby's room and sat down at the table to work on a project, Dan came running in from the garage.

"Come on! Hand prints! Let's go!"

As I stared at him in mute amazement, I thought I could see the touch of a grin on his face. When he started rallying the kids and herding them to the driveway, I knew he was serious and I didn't even hesitate as I ran into the baby's room and snatched him from his crib.

By the time I got to the driveway, our oldest daughter was walking back to the house to wash her hand off and he had our second daughter's hand pressed into the soft, wet rock. Jack was next, and then Dan helped me by holding the baby as I pressed his little hand into the cement.

Then, Dan carefully etched the childrens initials above each of their hand prints.

It was done.

A part of our children was frozen in time.

I don't want to wish the time away, but a part of me is secretly excited for the day when my grandchildren discover the prints and lead their parents by the finger to the spot and ask them to put their hand out to see how they've grown.

So anyway...

I went to lunch today with my darling cousins, my sister, my aunt, my mother and my grandmother and let me tell you: it was good to get some girl time in. These women are amazing and very unique. They inspire me and I love to be around them.

In fact, I want to dedicate this post to them. Thanks for the inspiration, girls. Because of you I want to get back to blogging. So here it is...

I'm back.

I'm not promising daily posts, but I'm recommitting to my blog.

Stay tuned.

Happy one-month birthday and some news

Happy one-month birthday to my sweet Nathan! I call him my little piece of heaven because he is just that. He's so precious and perfect and I LOVE HIM! I just can't get enough of him.

Here are a few pictures from his first month:



Oh, and our news... We're moving back to Utah! Dan got a job with GE Capital in Draper, UT! So we are in the process of selling our home and getting ready to move! Nothing like cramming a few different life changes into a short space of time, eh? (He got the job three days before Nathan was born.) Anyway, we're excited but we love Portland and will really miss our friends here. Such is life, I guess.

Welcome to the world, little one.

Nathan James Wadsworth
August 23rd, 2010
4:45 PM
8 lbs. 14 oz., 21"

I love you, son.

Happy Belated Birthday, Jack. I didn't post on your birthday, but we did celebrate it. We went out of town the next day and the girlies dance recital was that night so it was a bit crazy, but here are some pictures of the occasion.


One of our family birthday traditions is that we have birthday cake for breakfast. Another is that the kids get to put sprinkles on their cake. Jack had a lot of fun with that one... until the sprinkles ran out.


We gave you a bike and a water gun for your birthday as well, but you got those a little early. This race track was the only present you actually opened on your birthday. You loved it though, and you and Daddy played with it for a few hours that morning.

At the girlies dance recital that night.

And finally, some random pictures of you:


I thought I would take this opportunity to list a few of the things I love about you:

I love your freckles and the cleft in your chin - the only physical traits that you got from your daddy.

I love it when you look at me with your big cheesy grin and your squinty eyes say "Mommy happy?" It inevitably makes me happy.

I love your little brown back with a distinct line at your waist just above your little white bum.

I love that you love Beethoven.

I love that you love your sisters.

I love that you love babies. (It's a good thing you do, too, with baby brother on the way!)

I love your sound effects.

I love that since before you were two, you could hear the difference between an airplane and a helicopter flying overhead.

I love it when you say "take me" - which means you want to be held.

I love that you still love to snuggle.

I love that you call toilet paper "toppa pitcher."

I love your hilarious little laugh.

I love your pudgy hands and feet.

I love your dramatic facial expressions.

I love that you recognize how others are feeling and are concerned when someone is sad.

I love how you line up your cars (and other toys) in a row.

I love that you put your toys under your chair at the dinner table.

I love that when you want to go swimming, you say "I want to paddo paddo."

I love that you were brave enough to try tubing this summer.

I love that the on the night of your birthday, when Daddy was putting you to bed, you said to him: "Thank you for my birthday."

You are such a sweet boy, and such a blessing in my life. You are so happy and joyful that you are like a little ray of sunshine. I guess it was prophetic when I used to call you "my little sunshine boy" from the time you were born.

I love you, son.

Love,
Mommy

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful fathers out there!

To all fathers who take their role as a father seriously - Thank you for understanding how important you are to the successful rearing of the rising generation. Your steady influence and gentle guidance is of immeasurable value.

To my own Dad, and my wonderful father-in-law - Thanks for all you have done and continue to do for me and my little family. I'm so grateful for you and your love and support.

To the father of my children - Thanks, honey, for all you do for our family. Our kiddos love you and have a wonderful example in you of a person who knows how to work hard and loves what is right and good. Thank you for honoring the priesthood that you hold and exercising it in the guiding of our family.

And as Molly said this morning, "Thanks for getting money for us." Love you, babe.

Spring?

These are the tulips that bloomed in my front yard....

...in March.

I know I live in the Pacific NW, but really, the rain this year has been a little out of control. We had the 3rd wettest May in Oregon's recorded history....

I have always loved the rain here. It has never bothered me.

But this year?

Yeah... I'm ready for summer.

Oh Garbage

The other day I asked Jack if he had finished his corndog. He said yes. His plate was clear, but just moments before I had seen half of a corndog still on his plate....

"Jack, what did you do with the rest of your corndog?"

"I frowed it a duh gahbage"

"Really?"... I hadn't seen him leave the table...

On the counter next to his chair, I found his little toy garbage can, (that goes with his toy garbage truck)...


...and guess what was inside...

When it rains, it pours

Do you remember that 80's movie "Splash" with Tom Hanks and that blonde girl Darryl something - the mermaid? Do you remember that guy when he falls down the stairs and says, "What a WEEK I'm having!!" I could hear that exact line playing in my head today as I was driving home from taking Emma to the ER to get staples in her head.

I know there are SO many people out there with harder lives than mine, but this week has been a doozy in my book.

After a bout with the stomach flu followed by a day in the hospital getting rehydrated, (all while Dan was out of town,) this week has been a long road of recovery, topped with a trip to the ER.

Welcome weekend. Glad to see you.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma had a great 6th birthday today; complete with a field trip to the zoo with her Kindergarten class, a water fight in the backyard and a "Pinkalicious" birthday cake topped with M&Ms (at her request).

She is such a fun-loving girl who is full... no wait... FULL of energy. She is extremely smart and is great at creating her own fun. Her imagination runs wild and she runs with it. She is a surprise every day and it is so great to be her mom.

Love you, Emma Joan! I'm so glad you're mine!

Like Father Like Son

For some reason, Jack was wearing his hat last Sunday as we were getting ready for lunch after church. When we called him to the table, he took his hat off and hung it on his chair to get ready for prayer...

... just like he's seen Dan do a million times.

It warmed my heart and made me laugh. I hope he grows up to be just like his Dad.

Jack's posse

Jack has a little playgroup with three other 2-yr-old boys in our ward. We have it once a week for 2 hours and rotate houses. It has been a great social experiment and I think all the boys are loving it. They are just so cute I had to take a picture the last time it was at my house. They will all be turning 3 sometime between May and September. Cute boys.

When the sun gets in your eyes...

Jack was riding his bike in our circle this afternoon as the sun sank lower towards the horizon. He'd been out there for a good while when suddenly he stopped riding and started crying with his "hurt" cry. I went to him and asked what was wrong.

His response: "Da sun ud duh bonk ud duh eyes."

Translation: "The sun bonked me in the eyes."

I just had to laugh as I went to find his hat. I put it on under his helmet and he stayed out to ride for another hour.



A note about the bike: Yes, I know it's a girls bike. We just weren't prepared for him to be into bike riding when he was 2 1/2, or for him to get so good at it so quickly. By mid-summer we'll probably have to take off the training wheels. It scares me a little. I can see dirtbiking in his not-so-distant future...

Cleaning out the attic

Since we found out we're having a boy, we decided to get rid of all of our girl clothes that we've been hanging on to "just in case." This is what we got to sort through.


We have 5 garbage bags full of clothes going to the Goodwill (or DI if we can find one - Goodwill is just closer and easier), and the rest we're trying to sell on Craigslist. Except for the things that I'm keeping for my nieces, or for my girls for their girls. What a project!

It was so fun seeing clothes the girlies wore when they were tiny. Surprisingly, it's the clothes that they just grew out of that are the hardest to part with. Perhaps it's because it's proof that they are growing and there's nothing I can do about it. And would I change it if I could? No.... but still....

Such conflicting emotions. Just from cleaning out the attic.

Sigh.

Because I want to remember...

Hi honey,

I want you to know that I heard you doing the dishes for me last night, as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep at 8:30.

It made me cry.

I had walked past that sink-full of dishes, knowing it was my night, and consciously made the decision to put it off until the morning (and you know how much I hate doing that....seriously). I didn't have one shred of energy left and I was aching all over. So when I heard you open the dishwasher and pull the rack out, I was overcome with gratitude.

And when you decided to stay and read to the girls instead of going to the church early to enter your stats....

And when I heard you coming in the house at 8:15.....That you hurried back for me.....

There aren't words.... but I'll try anyway.

Thank you for understanding how hard this insomnia has been for me this week. 14 hours of sleep in a week is just not enough.

Thank you so much for all you did last night to let me rest. I needed it so much.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

I love you,

Michelle

Tea parties

The girls had a tea party a couple of weeks ago when they each had a friend over.
Jack really wanted to join in on the fun, but the tea set only had 4 place settings. So he had a tea party with Mommy all by himself and LOVED it!

My own little Mr. Darcy!

We're having a....

BOY!!!

And we're SO excited about it!!! Now for a name...

Fun Sabbath Day Activities

Wow, do I have a lot of catching up to do!! I just uploaded a bunch of pictures, so hopefully this week will be conducive to blogging.

I just wanted to post about a little project I did this morning. This came to me after receiving the spiritual equivalent to a slap in the face. I was thumbing through the March Ensign the other day and came across a quote by a prophet (Pres. Spencer W. Kimball) about how the Sabbath day should be treated. It goes like this:

“The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts, and if one merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath, he is breaking it.”

Whoa.... I'm the one you can usually find in their pjs within 5 minutes of getting home from church. Lounging is my favorite Sabbath activity, so you can imagine how this quote shook me to the core!

Well, I decided to make a change and found a list of fun family activities that are appropriate for the Sabbath. Then I found a jar and decorated it. I cut the list of activities into strips, folded them and put them in the jar. Now when the kids ask "What can we do today?" on a Sunday, I have a place for them to turn to!

Jar before:

Jar after:

I put the quote on the back of the jar as a gentle reminder of what prompted this in the first place: