On This Night

nine years ago, we were just finishing up a delicious meal at the Lion House. Our entire families were in attendance.

Afterward, I drove with my parents up to Park City.

We stopped at Walmart and I bought myself some white sneakers.

We drove to the grocery store to pick up some essentials.

We talked through the next days events over the dining table at our condo.

And then I climbed into the bed with my sister and fell asleep contentedly. There was not even a dribble of apprehension.

The next morning I would wake up (a little late). My sisters would fix my hair into a big pile of curls while I sat in front of the mirror.

We would drive down the canyon and my only fears would be about the slightly snowy roads we had to speed along in order to make it on time.

And then I would arrive at the Temple. I would find Dan nervously waiting for me in the foyer. Nervous because I was late.

I would proceed to dress in white with the help of my mother.

And then I would meet Dan and we would wait, hand in hand while our families and our friends assembled.

In the hallway, we would be introduced to the man who would perform the ceremony that would seal us together for all of ever. And he would explain with tears in his eyes that he had not been scheduled to work in the temple that day, that it was his brother's place he was taking because of an illness. And as a tear rolled down his cheek and he looked into our eyes he would say it was his privilege to be a part of our union.

Then we were married.

And it was, hands down, the very best thing that has ever happened to me.

Thriday and a Movie

Back when Dan was finishing graduate school we found ourselves in the lucky position of entertaining job offers from 3 companies.

Shell was axed pretty quickly because we didn't have much desire to live in New Orleans, especially so soon after Katrina.

That left BP and Exxon. Of course hindsight may have made our decision not look like the best, we still think it was the right one. But when it came down to choosing initially we had to weigh out the pros and cons.

And when we did they still balanced each other out. Except for one thing, BP had every other Friday off.

Seems kind of silly but when we weighed everything, those Fridays off tipped the scales.

We loved them so much. So much. And whenever Dan talked about the possibility of leaving BP, those Fridays always came up.

Interestingly enough, Dan's current job also employs the every-other-Friday off schedule.

Which makes today, what we like to call, Thriday. It feels like an extra long weekend every other week.

It means that when I wake up on Saturday I say to myself,

Saturday? Again? Yes!

And on this Thriday I visited Ava's school for her Christmas party. They got to wear their pajamas all day.



She cracked me up how she used her trail mix snack to decorate her cookie.




It was a painstaking process and by the time she finished and was ready to take a bite, the whistle blew for the kids to move to the next station.



I saved it for her.




When Dan left BP, they gave him another Ipod touch. Our first Ipod was also a BP Christmas gift from a few years ago. The old one is mine and he has the new one with a camera and video recording.

Let me tell you, we have been having a little too much fun with the video camera. We now have a treasure trove of little videos.

And when I went through them recently, I found that I had a collection of videos of Luke that were just awesome.

So now in honor of Thriday and my desire to share these little gems, here is one from The Luke Collection:


My boy is generous, that's for sure. He'd give you the candy right out of his mouth.

It's time for a new post considering...

...my baby can walk now....

He started taking steps on Sat. the 4th and now he just takes off.

And you might want to turn down your sound a bit cause I scream kinda loud.






...we have a tree that needs to be immortalized because it's the worst looking one yet...

It came out of the box with only a third of it's pre-lit lights still working. After mistakenly buying lights on a white string and exchanging them for green, I covered up the bare spots. Then I plugged in the star, which also seemed to have died over the summer.



We let the kids decorate as usual and I warned them to put the ornaments high out of Max's reach. But somehow over the past week Max has managed to ravage our tree, perhaps with the help of an accomplice. I try not to kill myself as I trip over ornaments strewn all over the house and try not to care as I pass by our less than picturesque tree.



I'm sure one day this picture will be more funny than sad.


....my soul sister came into town, supposedly for some kid named David Archuleta, but I know it was really for me...


I've always been the kind of person that just needs a friend. Not a million trillion friends, just a friend. And throughout my life I have been lucky enough to always find that friend. Apparently I am going through some sort of hiatus right now, but that's what moms are for, right? They have to be your friend.




When my Val moved away, I felt like I lost my right arm. It was actually the first time in my remembrance, of being the movee instead of the mover. And it stunk. And thank goodness for new friends who restored my limbs.

But no matter the time or space that separates us, Val and I pick up as if we'd never been apart. And that is a lucky, lucky thing.


...Santa came early and brought me this lovely thing...


A lawyers bookcase to hold my fabric.

So now, when I pass through the foyer, if I hold my head at just the right angle and avert my eyes, I can completely avoid seeing the tree and see this instead, which brings a lot more Christmas cheer at the moment.

All I need

When we moved, everything just happened so fast. Logistically things went smoothly, but it was a whirlwind. It was stressful. It was scary. Yet through the process there was always the underlying sense that we were doing just what we were supposed to.

I have to be honest and say that there was a part of me that wondered when the other shoe would drop. Was this Heavenly Father's way of setting things up for something bad to happen? And granted, if it was, I should be grateful for that, but I also felt like declining the offer if it meant that some tragedy was going to befall the family. Because family tragedies are not my friend.

I know my mom felt the same way. Our respective families had been praying to be near each other for years. I have always appreciated being close but yearned to be closer. Then out of the total blue, we had a job offer for a terrific job, more money, more vacation, bigger house, more money in savings, same house payment. So what's the catch? I just couldn't help thinking it.

But we got here. We are happy. My mom is my only friend, but that's okay. We eat together on Sunday nights, Mom comes to sit with my napping boys each afternoon so I can pick Ava up from school, we shop together, Dad and Dan watch football games together.

One night I walked my mom out to the car as she was leaving. As I jogged back up the sidewalk in front of our house, which was lit up from the inside, my foot hit the cement and as it did so, it was like time stopped for a moment. I felt a surge of spirit and I knew with perfect clarity that at that moment I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I knew that no matter the circumstances that may follow in the future, whether good or bad, I am currently the right person, in the right place, at the right time. It was approval and reassurance and peace all at the same time.

And then recently, I had one of those instances that reminded me just how quickly life could change. One of those instances when I can't decide whether it's good or bad. Good because it can remind you just how precious your life is and how much you have to appreciate, and bad because it usually involves hurting.

Amidst the hurt, I was mentally brought back in my mind, to my foot in the corner of the sidewalk. To the home with the lights on, filled with everything that is precious to me. To the feelings that filled my heart that night. And I felt that approval, reassurance, and peace all over again.




And that is all I need to know.

Hawaiian Thanksgiving and A Big Trip

This was our first year to host Thanksgiving. Granted it was just for the five of us and Mom and Dad, but it was still fun.

We really love our new house and were looking forward to spending the holidays here.

But in order to celebrate or eat for that matter, I had to remove 5 huge boxes from their home on the dining room table. I guess I need to keep hosting holidays, maybe even inventing a few of my own, to push me to unload boxes.

Mom and I split up the cooking responsibilities and by afternoon, we had a feast on our hands.

Before that though, while in the process of unpacking those boxes, all of which were Ava's old clothes (can you say, "too many clothes?") and repacking them into big plastic bins to be put in the attic, we came across a hula skirt and lei I had been saving for possible Halloween costume ideas.

There was no way Ava was going to see them packed away, she just had to put them on. It added quite the flair to our dinner.





Dinner was yummy and pleasant. Surprisingly there were no dinner freak-outs or fits. Max wandered around mooching bites from whomever was willing to share.

The evening turned into night, and we were happy to have a day to remember just how much we have to be thankful for.

The day after Thanksgiving, I left for New Hampshire for my 10 year high school reunion. I was really excited to go even if the reunion would be lame. I would still enjoy the time with Stephanie, my best friend from high school.


But it turns out the reunion wasn't lame. I had such a great time catching up with everyone.
The whole weekend just took me for a ride down memory lane. It was overwhelming at times, because the memories were so vivid and ran the range of happy to sad, good to bad, and everything in between.

I forgot my camera, but Stephanie let me borrow hers.


We stayed up too late every night.




And the time flew by.



I am so happy I went. A part of me will always stay in New Hampshire.

Max's 1 Year Photos

I could seriously not help myself.






I finally managed to take Max's 1 year photos this weekend,



at one of my favorite places of all time, the Dallas Arboretum.








And because he is mine,



and because he is one,



and because he gets the raw end of the deal in so many other ways,



and because he is just so unbelievably cute,


and I just couldn't choose,


I had to post 20,




gluttonous





photos.




For a few minutes I regretted not having his hair cut,




But then I got this one,




and knew I would have missed that cute little curl.

Taming the Mane

Haircuts have changed.

Once upon a time there was running and grabbing,



Screaming and flailing.



And the haircuts were always long over due, happening whenever Grandma was in town.

Nowadays the visits are much more frequent, though this cut was not a second too soon.
I don't think it's ever been this long before.


There is no more yelling or running,



screaming or flailing.




To be completely honest, there were still a few tears.



But the end result is better than ever.




And if Mom ever decides to quit her day job, I can apparently supply her with all the hairy clients she'll need, cause this little buddy is next.

Our Daddy must work in HR

I keep waiting to find out that I'm being replaced by a machine or that my job is being outsourced to India. I am definitely not keeping up with production around here.

Monday we were waiting for the delivery of our new mattress. Unfortunately our cat-pee mattress which had been stank-free since the incident started reeking after we moved. I don't know if it was the week in storage or what. What I do know is that it only took one night to convince us both that no matter the cost, we would be buying a new bed.

My unpacking had slowed anyways, with most of the essentials unearthed. We had been relegated to the h0use for so many days by time frames like 8-11, 10-1, 1-5, all for various installers, setter-uppers, and deliverers.

But by mid-morning on Monday we needed to get out. It was beautiful weather so I decided that a walk was in order. My sprained ankle had been healing gloriously and I had been walking without much pain for a few days. It had it's moments of weakness, now and again and still hurt if I moved it the wrong way. But walking didn't give me much trouble.

So off we went. I chatted with my sister on the phone while I pushed the double stroller. The delivery man called to tell me he was 30 minutes away so I turned around and headed home. In front of my neighbors house I must have stepped on an acorn, or a crack, or a shadow, and I rolled my ankle again. I didn't fall because I hung on to the stroller, but I did hop on one foot the rest of the way and collapsed on the ground in front of the garage. I called my mom, who was luckily working just a few minutes away. I could not remember the code to open the garage. And in less than 2 minutes my already slightly swollen ankle looked like I had stuffed a softball under my skin. I started to feel light headed. Then my mom showed up.

It's not broken.

The doctor scolded me for not wearing the aircast. He gave me crutches and asked me if I needed a note for work. I told him it would be unnecessary given that fact that my employers can't read.

After a day, I ditched the crutches because the whole idea was laughable. It's been an interesting few days. I think I might wear out the knees in my new jeans from all the crawling I've done.

I will go to the orthopedist tomorrow. He will probably tell me that I should be elevating it and icing it more, which I already know but can't seem to accomplish.

Along with all the other stuff I know I should be doing but can't seem to accomplish. Which is why I'll probably be getting the old heave, ho any day now.

Ava said the other day in regards to her fear of getting something messy on her homework,
"If I got this messed up, then my teacher would be so mad at me. I'd get fired. I'd get fired and I'd have to get a new job, wouldn't I, Mom?"

You and me both, Baby.

But First There Was Halloween

We closed on Friday October 29. Max's 1 year birthday.



We haven't celebrated yet but maybe this weekend. Or next. Or the one after that.



The moving truck was scheduled for Monday the 1st. So in the meantime we had our Halloween festivities. Namely a trunk or treat on Friday and the "Monster Mile" put on by my parent's neighborhood on Saturday.

Friday morning I was in Walmart trying to be inspired (is that an oxymoron?) Ava couldn't choose what she wanted to be and Luke had requested to be Wall-E. Max had big plans to be a baby.

I decided that Ava could easily be Rapunzel with one of the dresses I had already picked up and a yarn wig I'd seen how to make in Family Fun magazine.

And while I was browsing for Wall-E robot accessories, Dan called me with a costume change. Luke didn't want to be Wall-E anymore.

He wanted to be a fan.

So after pulling the brainpower of friends and family, I finally set to dissembling an old box fan my parents were willing to donate to the cause.

Luke wasn't actually a fan, but he did get to wear one, which to him was just as good.


I was proud of myself for taking it all apart and then using a tinker toy, a sink strainer, and some zip ties, I managed to attach it to a backpack and still make it able to spin.



Once I was done with that I only had to attach thousands of strands of yarn to some pantyhose.




I finished in the nick of time!

We were running back and forth to the car, buckling kids, grabbing candy bags, making bottles, retrieving the pacifiers, and it was during one of those passes that I stepped off the edge of the sidewalk like a big klutz in flip flops and sprained my ankle.

Despite having done that so many times in my life, I was still shocked by the pain. We were cutting it close as it was, so Dan and the kids dropped me off at an emergency center, for x-rays, just in case. Then they went on their way to the trunk or treat and the timing worked out quite well for them to pick me up on their way home.

I was sad to miss the evening but I did get to sit in a bed, by myself for a whole hour and 10 minutes and watch HGTV, which after the past few weeks really felt like heaven. Even with a throbbing ankle.

My ankle was not broken and even felt better than I expected the next day. With a gimpy, splinty limp I was glad to accompany the family on the Monster Mile.





This time I got to see the kids and others reactions to their costumes. Which for Luke were pretty interesting. I guess you'd have to know him to get it.

My favorite moment of the night was when I asked the kids to come over for a picture.

I said, "Say, Trick or Treat" which they did.



Then I said it again. Only this time, Luke got all silly and while he jumped in the air and landed with his backside poking towards me he said,

"Say...Fan!!"