Marching Along

Howdy there. I am a blog slacker and I know it. Things are going well. I have been busy with kids and church stuff and the latest thing I have been doing is Scouts. I am a Merit Badge counselor for First Aid, and this past weekend was a merit badge Pow-Wow for our stake. So I got to teach first aid to a bunch of adolescent boys. It was fun! This is a new thing for me, even though I have been around Scouting my whole life, and grew up in a houseful of Eagle Scouts (and Eagle Scout was a prerequisite on my husband list right next to returned missionary.) But this is my first first-hand experience with it and I liked it. I am glad they asked me to do it. Marshall has been busy with his many basketball teams he plays on. His city league is finally over, but we still have Elder Quorum night and our ward is in the regional championships again this year so that has been fun for him. They won their first game Saturday, and play again this week. Good old church ball! He loves it. The kids are doing well; Drew is 4 and learning to write and learning to read a little bit, and loves his preschool class and riding bikes outside. He loves helping me in the kitchen and is really into jigsaw puzzles (he is amazing at them!) and is now getting interested in Dinosaurs. If you see him, please address him as "Allosaurus" and he will be sure to answer you. Allie will turn 2 in May, and loves reading books. She has the funniest little personality and has recently decided that at random, she doesn't like mom. She tries her best to give me the cold shoulder, and showers dad with affection. She usually forgets about her vendetta before long though. It's funny. She likes to play hard to get with me. She also loves playing outside- we have this bike trailer out in the garage attached to my bike, and she just loves to use it as her own little personal hut. She is Drew's little buddy and loves to follow him around and play with him. He is usually kind enough to humor her. My kids are such treasure to me. They bring me so much joy and fulfillment. Here is a random snippet of pictures from the past month or so.

This is my assistant chef, asleep on the job. He always helps me cook and bake, and I love it. We enjoy our time together so much, (and maybe I can even teach him a thing or two!) This particular day he must have been super tired (gave up the afternoon naps a year or so ago) and he conked out, right on the countertop. I had to finish dinner without him!

I came home from a meeting the other night and found this in my bedroom (sorry, terrible pictures, but it was dark and the flash would have blinded everyone.) Marshall was under a "tent" with the kids in our room, reading a story by flashlight. My kids are so lucky to have such an awesome, fun dad that loves spending time with them so much. Never too cool to get down and read them a story by flashlight, even in a suit.






Drew was so cute on Valentine's day. He got the idea that he gave Valentines to his school class, but neglected the other kids in the cul-de-sac. So he set out to make them Valentines, put their names on them as best he could, put candy inside and put them in his backpack and take them to the kids. I watched out the window as he ran excitedly up to the house...


...pulled out a Valentine and placed it on the doorstep and rang the doorbell...and then ran. It was so funny. He came up with this idea and carried it out all on his own. I love to see that kind of follow-through.

My other little helper in action. Nice to have people finally pulling their weight around here!!!

Funny kids.

My mom has been coming to visit fairly often lately and I absolutely LOVE it. Nothing makes me happier than having her around to pal around with. I am so lucky to have such an awesome mom-she is such an amazing example to me. When she was here last week we went to the temple and left the kids home with Marshall, and had a mother daughter date. We went and had a yummy lunch together afterward at Jason's. We have so much fun together. She never forgets to laugh, and never takes life too seriously. I love her so much. So much that I am actually tempted to move to Cedar City to be near her and other family I love. We'll someday see if it is ever meant to be.

Nana took us to go see a local stage production of "Frog and Toad," (it was a musical) based on those books I loved as a kid, and still love now. (By the way, we are totally convinced that those two characters are based on my mom and dad, who are respectively, Frog and Toad. "Toad" decided that he would rather stay home and work on his boat that he is rebuilding, so we used the extra ticket and brought along Drew's best friend, Ethan.) We all had a great time together.

We had a bout of spring weather while she was here and spent some time out in the backyard. Nana took some cute pictures for us...

...assuming that your definition of "cute" includes crusty, disgusting noses. Not sure why we took pictures with her like that. Only a grandmother would do such a thing, I suppose. So here you have it. Totally nasty, and sorry if it grosses you out, but these are the only pictures I have, and it's my blog, and besides- I can see past it...hope you can too.

My mom waited and waited to get the just right shot of Drew, and then right as the shutter closed this is what we got. Isn't this charming?

I mentioned on my last blog that I went to a nursing conference (it was all about women's health issues, so it was relevant for more than just nurses- plus I got some C.E. credits for it) with some pretty special ladies. The one on my left is my really good friend Andrea, who was my roommate in nursing school, and pretty much the only reason I didn't want to kill myself while living in Ogden for 2 years. We had so much fun being losers together, going to college classes wearing moon boots, (snow optional) walking across the street to Smith's and buying huge things of powdered donuts, and convincing each other that the reason we never had dates was because guys were too intimidated by us, and it had nothing to do with our frumpy appearance and immature behavior. She saved my butt in Ogden, and we had such a blast together. We eventually moved on from the bachelorette life, and both married awesome guys that happen to find moon boots and sweats very sexy!!!

Then on her left is my mom, and then on her left is my SIL Rachel. She is the best thing my brother Matt has ever contributed to our family. (he-he.) She is like a sister to me in every way, and I love her dearly. I can talk to her about anything, and she is one of the wisest people I have ever met. She has raised 4 awesome kids, and has an amazing tolerance for others. She has a way of accepting people for what they are and treating them as what they could become. I love that about her so much. I was so floored when I found out I was going to get to spend a whole day with three of the most special women in my life, with no kids and no distractions. We had so much fun chatting and had a wonderful lunch together. I will never forget this day, and I am so glad someone took a picture so I could remember it better.

Another thing that is new for me is that I have recently changed jobs. On and off between moves out of state for the past 6 years I had been working on a surgical floor at UVRMC in Provo. I did like it there, but it came to a point where I was basically faced with a decision to "fish or cut bait." I was working random shifts here and there, but it came to a point where I either needed to go on staff full or part time, or just quit. I am not at a point in my life where I feel a need or desire to be away from my family that much, so after prayerful consideration I decided to put that job on hold for now and just see what happens. A few weeks later I got an email about a sweet little boy (who lives only a street away, but is in a different ward...so Utah.) who needed some nursing care just for a few hours a week in his home, so his mom could get away and do errands, etc. It sounded like the perfect opportunity for me, so I contacted his mom and really liked the family a lot. We arranged things so I get to come take care of him a few hours a week, and so far I am loving my time there with him. This is a new and different experience for me, doing home care and working with children, and but so far it has been great. I love these new learning opportunities. After all, isn't that what this life is all about?