Family Time

Getting family together all at the same time is just not that easy.

We are at the stage where even sitting down for dinner with all of us at the same time rarely happens. What usually happens is I cook dinner for whomever is home and then I leave it sitting out for those that come home after so they can still eat but have to be okay with heating it up. Yet some of my favorite moments is when everyone is together.

When Greg and I married we agreed to try to make family time with ALL our kids a priority. We recognize that this time in our kids lives is going by quickly. As it stands we hate missing any moments. We also knew this would be an extra challenge with his kids living in Arizona and my kids crazy schedules.

With that said, we have been super happy because we have been seeing Natalie, Andy and Steve almost every month. It has been awesome. But even when they are here it still has been a challenge to coordinate my kids schedule. It seems like someone is always missing from a dinner or a movie or whatever excursion has been decided on to take due to a game, work, school function or a previous committed too social event.

It does happen though...we have moments. And I LOVE those moments. And usually I try to capture those moments by taking pictures. The kids love it so much when I pull my camera out. Okay not really...maybe just Kendall...but kudos to them for being good sports. (I did give them all a break in the month of March. See I'm thoughtful like that.)

This past weekend we had a moment when everyone was around at the same time. Natalie, her boyfriend Nick, Andy and Steve came for a quick visit. Greg went to Arizona Friday to watch Steve in his final play of his junior year and then drove back with them. Sandon became an official Teacher on Sunday. That Sunday afternoon after work for one and church for the rest we were all together. And of course the camera came out. Thanks guys for letting me capture the moment. Love to all of you.

*****For the record, there is another side to having everyone together, especially for a Sunday dinner. There is a huge amount of food that is consumed. This past Sunday, just for dinner for example...10 pounds of mashed potatoes and 4 marinated flank steaks cut into strips was not quite enough for those who like seconds and thirds...

Happy Birthday Sandon!

Sandon turned 14 years old today...

What? Seriously...my kids are getting older so quickly. Whats up with that?

Sandon was my trickiest birthing experience. He was my only c-section, make that emergency c-section. Certain things happened the few weeks leading up to his birth that at the time seemed confusing. We were living in a different country. I had planned to have Sandon in Madrid, Spain. But unexpected job changes and easy re-location back to the states that should have been complicated all fell into place. We did not think much of it until the day Sandon was born. I was where I needed to be to birth him... at the right place and the right time, with an English speaking doctor who could communicate with me. If I had been any where else Sandon and I might not be here today...

And I would have never known what a great guy Sandon is turning out to be...the easiest going boy...who loves steak...tells us how great we are looking almost everyday...he can make all of us laugh with his funny personality...who is addicted to XBOX live (grrr)...a natural athlete...smart...loves staying up late...is learning to work the system...:)

We would have also missed out on good friends dropping off birthday cake to him...thanks Tess and Cassie!

Cassie and Tess and their version of a birthday cake! Yum!

Love you Sandon. :)

Spring Break

Last week was spring break...

I love spring break...I love no schedules...I love not driving to early morning seminary...I love not having to rush home from work to take a kid to a practice or game...

What made this spring break even more fun for me was that I had Friday off to spend with the kids...the last two years I had to work the whole week...Kendall and I with one of her best buddies Krista and her mom and aunt went to see Hannah Montana the movie...very cute...for some reason the boys turned us down when we invited them to come...:)

The day before Easter presented us with a very unusual Saturday...only one kid had a game...and it was in the morning hours...yep awesome...with a Saturday afternoon without a set schedule Kendall and I decided to be creative and make some Easter cake pops that I had seen on Bakerella's website...we learned a lot and discovered that it is much harder than one might think...but we had a lot of fun trying...It turns out that Kendall can be very creative when trying to solve a challenge...now I just need some of her energy...please.

The object was to make some chicks and Easter eggs...


We decided to make the chicks first...


We were feeling pretty good with ourselves after making the chick pops...we thought we were experts...so we started making the Easter egg pops...

Mmmm...I could not get them to look like Easter eggs and our cake pops were having trouble staying on the stick...Kendall decided that maybe using two sticks would be better...and she definitely ended up with the most awesome cake pop...

I did not have as much patience as Kendall did so I started making "cake balls" instead of "cake pops"...


In the mean time Greg was enjoying his book and watching the Masters...


That is until Kendall discovered that if you dip a strawberry into the melted candies it tastes pretty darn good...of course Greg had to come check it out too...:)


In the end, after creating a mess, we had fun trying something new...they turned out tasty and rich and it was fun doing something different with Kendall...it was a good way to spend an afternoon with no set schedule...thanks Kendall for helping end spring break on a high note!

March Wrap Up...

This post is for the record.

March madness???...karch's braces off...high school volleyball began...tourneys every weekend...spring soccer started...spring break for greg's kids...greg enjoying a week off of work to spend with kids...full house...cuw luncheon...eagle board of review...steve's school musical...YM activities; snowboarding, camp outs, bb ym vs. leaders...sandon talk in church...anniversary...practices...games...taxes...

The beginning of Fridays at home or wherever I choose...

Mckay with his awesome leaders at his Eagle Board of review.

A Perfect Day

A 1st Anniversary!

One year ago today Greg and I were married.

I have had perfect moments in my life but never a whole perfect day...exactly one year ago I had that perfect day.

To be honest I had previously imagined celebrating a 21st wedding anniversary in 2009 not a 1st wedding anniversary. But things don't always work out the way you think they will. And when they don't you find yourself in a position to have something you never expected you would get, something or someone really wonderful. Basically it comes down to choices.

But back to that perfect day...the one thing that first comes to mind was how happy we felt the whole day...it was a feeling that surpassed any other feeling. The second memory was walking out of the temple and being surrounded by our children, family and friends. We felt so loved.

We wanted to keep our sealing/marriage simple. We really did not feel the need to go big. We had been there done that. Our daughters can have that privilege far down the road. But a wedding would not be a wedding without a great bouquet and some fun shoes.

I wanted a simple short dress. I did not want to spend a lot of money. I was thrilled when I found one that felt right. I then found some very impractical shoes that I loved. But it was when I was handed my bouquet as we exited out of the temple that I actually felt like a bride.

I also remembered that every time I looked at either Greg's kids or my own I felt a strong feeling of love for all of them. Greg and I continue to say how lucky we feel that all of our children get along.

I will always be grateful for the choices that we made, to put us in a place, which gave us the opportunity to have that perfect day.

As Greg and I celebrate being 1 year old in this marriage, I am amazed at the strength that I feel from Greg. I feel the joy of knowing that he loves me despite all of my quirks. I marvel at how you can really love children a lot that you did not create biologically. I feel a great sense of peace watching my own children adapt to a new "father like" figure in the home.

But I really want Greg to know is how much I love him. Happy Anniversary!

Happy Patty's Day

Can't believe it is already the 17th of March.

Today's notes:
Thought about getting green bagels for breakfast...did not happen.
At least 4 kids made it out the door in green. Mom did not.
Drove Karch to seminary 6:10am. (one of my favorite times to be with my kids)
Get all that have school out of house by 8am.
Drove middle school carpool.
Greg taking off work.
Work day for Michelle.
Andy in town for spring break. (Natalie & Steve arrive late Wed.)
Minimum day for McKay & Karch.
McKay asked to sign him out even earlier from school so he could spend it at beach.
Orchestrating pick ups and drop offs for kids from work. Answering texts from kids from work. (their preferred way of communicating)
Kenya no work or school, can pick up Karch from school. yeah!
Greg & Andy spend day hitting pure record stores looking for records. (Heaven for Andy)
Karch volleyball practice at 4-6.
After work making "Marlboro Man's" favorite sandwich and homemade onion rings from "Pioneer Woman" for dinner. Not very Irish but fills everyone up.
Homework Karch, Sandon and Kendall. ( for some reason McKay never has homework)
Smiling that Kendall does not have any practices today.
Thinking I should have a green dessert for St. Patricks day...key word is thinking.
Sandon's YM activity was cancelled.
McKay volleyball practice at 6-9.
Karch YM 7pm: leaders versus teachers & priests in basketball...there are already complaints from ym that it will be unfair without McKay
Kenya Lakers game: court side tickets with good friend Gina from Gina's father. Very fun.
Watch last nights 24 episode.
Try and do a load of laundry, clean up after dinner, finish cleaning laundry room (started 2 weeks ago), a walk, etc...the key word here is try.
Realize you are half way through your work week. Just 2 more days until Friday. Friday being the best day ever with not having to go into work.

***this is for my own record...wanted to note a semi-typical day give or take a few soccer, bb, vb practices...

Braces off!

One happy kid...

Before...

After...