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?

Valentine's Day and Nana's Visit

I heart Valentine's Day. I always have. Ever since the days of stuffing chalky heart-shaped candies into tiny envelopes, and writing on them the names of all my classmates, I have always relished the day, for some reason. Luckily, I have a husband who knows this, and he always does something sweet (although it's become a tad predictable; same Gerbera daisy bouquet and box of See's chocolates every year, but, hey- I'm not complaining! I love them both, and always look forward to receiving them!) However, this year was extra special. My mom came into town to go to a nursing conference with me (they talked about women's health stuff- it was super interesting and we had a blast going with my sis-in-law Rachel and my good friend Andrea) and she stayed the weekend so M and I could get away! We did our annual dinner at Maddox Ranch House (oh, how I love that place- wish we could go there more often!) And then we headed to the most po-dunk movie theater ever to see "He's Just Not That Into You" (a chick flick if ever there was one- Marshall was such a good sport to go along with my plans with that one-thanks for taking one for the team, honey!) Then, the next day, after we ate our weight in continental breakfast waffles (as per our annual tradition), and then we headed up to Crystal Hot Springs to enjoy a nice long soak in the hot springs, while being sprinkled with snow the entire time. The heat of the pools coupled with the freezing cold snow on bare skin was an interesting combination! And Marshall did his annual "swim trunks-only" snow angel. I admire his courage. (Or maybe it is called insanity?) On our way home, we stopped at the mall (wearing sweats and all disgusting and white trash looking after soaking in hot water for two hours- I'm sure you can imagine) for some Chick-Fil-A (I recently discovered how amazing this place is. I am so ashamed to say it took me so long to figure that out! Chick-Fil-A rules.) Then, we headed home to Nana and our two babies, who all had had such a blast together (as usual!) We are so grateful to her for all she does for us. We had such a great time spending uninterrupted time together- we were both so amazed at being able to just sit and talk, or just go and do whatever we felt like doing without having to worry about getting back to the babysitter or anything. We love being parents so much, we would never trade it for anything. But it's also fun to occasionally be reminded that we are also a couple, and not just mom and dad!

And, of course, I forgot to take the camera with us (not that anyone wants to see pictures of our steaks, hot tubs with a bunch of high-schoolers that showed up and started being super-obnoxious (just doing their job), or hotel waffles. I think the description will suffice just fine here. But I did take some cute pictures of the kids with their Nana. That is definitely worth a look!

Serendipity

Today I hopped on the freeway to run an errand at the mall. As soon as I got on, I realized it was a mistake because the traffic soon came to a grinding halt. Well, more like a snail's pace. (I still don't know what the deal was, I never saw an accident or construction or anything, people were just backed up for some unseen reason.) Annoying! I had no choice but to ride it out because my exit was the next one anyway, and it wasn't for another 5 miles or so. I made a mental note to take a different route on the way home. I ran my errand and Allie and I got back in the car (Drew has school on Tues. and Thurs., so that is when I usually run my errands- errands toting one tot is much easier than with two!) I absentmindedly hopped on the freeway, forgetting my resolution to take a different route, when I was quickly reminded of my mistake (again!) and realized I was going to spend the next 20 minutes inching along the freeway, annoyed. I took the next possible exit and headed for the frontage road, thinking that would get me moving faster. It would have, if some huge belly dump (awesome- I have always wanted to use that word in a sentence) wouldn't have been driving like 15 mph on a two lane road, impossible for anyone to pass. So, by getting off the freeway, I had actually probably added an extra 5 minutes to my drive time. Sigh.. So much for trying to be tricky! I have no idea what made me feel so impatient. My next errand was to go to Wal-Mart, and it's not like they make you have an appointment or anything! But for some reason I was super bugged about the traffic. So finally, I arrive at Wal-Mart and get Allie out of the car and we go over to the cart return to grab a cart, and that's when I noticed a black wallet sitting in the cart I was going for. My heart instantly sunk for the poor soul who was about to realize that they had misplaced their entire life. (I know what that feels like; I did the exact same thing once at Albertson's, only I didn't realize it was gone until the next day, and by then it was too late. I then spent the next three months cancelling everything in there and waiting in line all day long at the DMV with a baby, and opening a new checking account, getting a new temple recommend, etc, etc. You get the picture. It was such a nightmare.) So I take it inside and open it up, and of course, it is a cute little old lady's wallet, with a bunch of cash in it. I was panicking for her. Luckily, she was smart enough to put a little card inside with her emergency contact info and phone number on it, so I called the number. The young woman who answered told me that Mona had come home, and realized she had lost her wallet, so she headed back to the store to try to find it. So I hung up the phone, and headed straight for the customer service area. There I find the sweet little old blue-haired lady, looking very stressed and red-eyed. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen in my life. She was being helped by one of the employees there, and probably thinking things looked hopeless. So I caught them just as they were leaving, and I said "Are you Mona?" She looked at me, bewildered for a moment, and then I told her that I had her wallet. She grabs me and gives me the biggest grandma hug ever (I loved it) and thanked me. I told her how I knew how she felt, and I was so glad that I had found it. I told her goodbye and went my way to do my shopping. I got to thinking about how much our lives are affected by chance. I made a resolution not to get so annoyed about stuff like traffic. You never know why things happen the way they do. Sometimes, it's meant to be. (Sometimes, it's just crappy traffic, so deal with it!) So, I guess cute little Mona owes the belly dump man a thank you, since he is the one that made it so that I was the next person to use that shopping cart, so that Mona was able to get her wallet back. And I suppose I owe him a thank you as well- he is the reason I got that awesome grandma hug!

Post Christmas Post

This past holiday season was great- low key and fun. Perfect. We got to spend some time with both sides of our families and we had a great time. In case you hadn't noticed, no Christmas cards this year. I was trying to scale down a bit and something had to give. Besides, nothing terribly exciting happened this year, compared to last year, this year was not nearly as notable. No news is good news though, I suppose. Thank you so much to those of you who sent cards and letters and well wishes our way. They were much appreciated and enjoyed, and they spent the month adorning our back door. Here are some pictures from our holiday festivities. (They are in random order because it takes forever to try to put them in the right order, so, sorry.)

We took the kids sledding at the park behind our house. They had a ball!

He he- I had a ball, too... a SNOW ball! (Not to worry- Marshall took the brunt of this one- Allie was spared, regardless of how it might look.)

We have been absolutely dumped on this year. I don't remember getting this much snow in a long time.

Action shot- I am actually catching this giant snowball- not throwing it. It was totally deflected! Nice try, honey.

Allie wasn't a big fan of the sled.

Sleddin with dad.

Daddy and Bubba going through their stockings.

Allie got some fake food from Santa. She is learning to pretend with it. At first, she just thought it was a mean trick. Now she comes up to me throughout the day and lets me sample a variety of delicious items.

Santa also brought her a cute little tea party set. But she was more interested in the edible props.

Tiny tea party.

Drew got more Thomas stuff, of course. This boy sure loves his trains.

Christmas Eve, Drew got the idea (no idea where from) that Santa's reindeer each needed a carrot, since Santa was getting cookies. He lined them up, all 9 (we mustn't forget Rudolph!) It was super cute how concerned he was for those reindeer. He is growing to be such a big boy. He loves his puzzles and trains, and is learning to read. He loves it! We are working on sight words and got him a few little beginner books to start with. I love that he is excited about reading.

Christmas Eve jammies. Big thank you shout-out to my mom here. She spend a good portion of her Thanksgiving at the machine, helping me get matching pajama pants made for the 4 of us. They turned out great! We were lucky enough to have my parents come spend Christmas with us again this year- I love sharing Christmas with them so much. So much, that I got so excited and didn't take any pictures of them. I am so lame.

Santa cookie quality control department. Gotta make sure they taste good enough!

Tired kids chillin in front of the tree!

I was lucky enough to get a visit from a great old friend. This is my friend Janelle who I played b-ball with in high school. She was in town with her family and stopped by to say hello. I hadn't seen her in a long time and so it was great to catch up!

We had our annual Dial family Christmas party at my parents house the Friday before Christmas. This here is the progeny of Dial.

Nana always reads Luke 2 and then the Story of the Three Trees. It is always a fun party- we look forward to it each year.

Love this girl. Her pigtails ("ti-tails!") kill me. She is growing so fast. I just wish I could freeze her in time and just sit and squeeze her. She is so precious to me. I don't want her to grow so fast. She is talking non-stop now and is learning her ABC's and some numbers. She loves her nursery class and her new Christmas doll "Name." (Yes, that is the doll's name! I asked her what we should name the doll, and she repeated "name." So a few hours later I saw her playing with the doll, and she called it "Name." So Name it is- no turning back now. Tough break, doll.

We have had such a lovely holiday season and feel so blessed. We have great health, and are lucky to live in such a beautiful community in a safe and comfortable home. We are blessed to live near family, and get to see them regularly. We have smart, beautiful kids, and most importantly, we have the gospel in our lives. There is nothing more on Earth we could ever ask for. Hope your Christmas was great as well!

Thanksgiving and Drew's 4th Birthday

On Dec. 6th my little boy turned 4 years old! In some ways, it has gone by quickly, and in others, it seems like he has been with us forever. I suppose both of those are true. He had a great day by waking up to the customary surprise bunch of balloons in his room, and then I took the kids to Krispy Kreme in their jammies (hmm, starting to become a birthday tradition around here...not that I mind...) It's awesome because you can watch through the big window how the donuts are raised, cooked, and glazed all on a conveyor belt in a matter of minutes. The kids always love that.

Then we went home and opened presents. (No reason to prolong the torture (begging) for all parties involved, right?) He got his much wished-for Stanley the Train (yes, of course, that is Thomas' friend) and another cool train from Nana. Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain sent him some money (they are still serving a mission in Texas) and of course, we got him the dreaded customary practical gift:

...a nice thick winter coat. I tried to play it up by talking about how much fun he will have playing in the snow in it, but all I got was a courtesy smile (better than nothing, right?) as he cast it aside, looking for a more exciting present. To be expected.

Allie and daddy. She was super jealous of the balloons.

Latest obsession that I am loving: jigsaw puzzles. He discovered these at a friend's house and hasn't been able to leave them alone since. I love how much he enjoys doing these. Although now, he has the shapes all memorized, so I am going to have to get him some harder ones. I used to love doing puzzles too. It keeps him occupied and quiet.

The beloved Stanley.

Cupcake face.

We took Drew and some friends and cousins to "Old McDonald's," as it is referred to around our house. We never take the kids there, so it still has the novelty factor going for it. It was low-key and simple. We had chocolate cupcakes and Happy Meals and of course, the PlayPlace covered with kid-glaze. Everyone had a good time.

Tiny loves her some fries!

Why, oh, why, do I ever tell Drew to "smile!"? You would think I would know better by now...!

Drew got some fun presents, including a gun that shoots foam balls (thank you very much, Uncle Darren, for picking out the most annoying present ever! ha ha Obviously that toy has been fully taken over by my 6'5 child, who has taken every opportunity to shoot me with it whenever he gets the chance. I have already threatened to flush the balls and otherwise incapacitate the gun if the ambushing doesn't stop. I don't think he believes me how much even toy guns freak me out. (Really, I am just being melodramatic. The toy was obviously a hit, and my boys are loving using me for target practice.)

Marshall's sister brought her kids too- it is so fun to live near cousins.

Now, to switch gears a bit..

We had a nice Dial family Thanksgiving, just like olden days. As a kid, we would go to St. George every year for T-day; my grandpa (Dad's dad) lives in Bloomington, and that's where all of my Thanksgiving memories took place. Grandpa is now 91, and still kickin' (he still chops wood and stuff, for pete's sake! ) It's insane how well he is doing for his age. Mentally and physically. We had the actual dinner at my dad's brother's house, and I got to get re-acquainted with lots of crazy Dials I hadn't seen in a long time. My dad's side of the family is so hilarious. A good way to describe what a meal with them is like is to imagine yourself in a room with many various wild animals, and then someone comes and puts you all into a large canvas bag and ties the top shut. That's the best way to describe it. ha ha Seriously though, they are awesome and very interesting, talented people. I had a wonderful time picking my aunts' brains, asking them questions about my grandmother (who I am named after), who died a year before I was born. I have always wanted to know her, and my aunts were just teenagers when she died of breast cancer in her early fifties. They were able to provide me with some interesting stories about her.

Idiot that I am, I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving day, but here are a few random ones from the week I was visiting my family in Cedar City:

We have started good old fashioned Dial family tradition for the day after Thanksgiving. Each year, we forgo the shopping (all they have in Cedar is Wal-Mart anyway! lame-o!!) and head up towards this area near Yankee Meadow to cut down Christmas trees.

Nana self-portrait.

It was beautiful but deceivingly freezing that day. We made a homemade toddler Bjorn out of Marshall's coat. She was nice and toasty, while the rest of us froze. Good thing we brought hot chocolate!

Rachel (my brother's lovely wife), Ella (my niece) and of course, me and my family.

My dad is so awesome. He has his garage all set up as his own personal den. He has a huge flat screen plasma tv out there (I kid you not) and he and his dog hang out there all day watching tv and movies (and occasionally tinkering around with a project or two.) My dad has such a huge heart. He has so many great qualities and is so incredibly talented in so many different things. He's a great dad and I am so grateful for him.

Nana and Allie hanging out in grandpa's garage watching movies with him. My mom is a good sport to go out there and have fun hanging out in a garage, surrounded by tools.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the lot: my mom got Rachel and I tickets to go see Twilight. We had such a great time being together, with no interruptions from kids, and nothing else to do but enjoy each other's company for an entire afternoon. (The movie was okay, of course, never as good as the book, but what else can you expect?) This picture cracks me up because look at the lady behind us in the center of the picture. She came in wearing oxygen, and I am still wondering if maybe she needed to turn it up a liter or two? She totally fell asleep before the movie even started. She must have been really excited to see it.

We had a great Thanksgiving full of family and full of love. I personally have very much to be grateful for; my list could go on and on. Just to name a few- my beautiful family, our health, our home, and the gospel. We are truly a blessed people, and I am particularly fortunate to be surrounded with so many amazing people who show me incredible examples of faith, patience, long-suffering, and unconditional love. Hope you and yours had a great holiday as well.

Go Cougars!

Yesterday we went and saw BYU vs. San Diego State; naturally, BYU won, and we had a great time together. Marshall won tickets to the game because they used his question on The Bronco Mendenhall Show. I thought it was so sweet that I was the first person he wanted to invite to the game (because #1 I don't know diddly squat about football, not that I don't appreciate football, but let's just say that every fall I have had to compete with football for the attention of my husband, not to mention the tv channel wars that frequently ensue around here. So I guess you could say I might hold a little bit of a grudge against football. It's nothing personal though.) Another reason I was surprised he asked me is because I was scheduled to work Friday night, and the game started at noon, which would leave me with about 3.5 hours of sleep- if I was lucky. I was surprised myself when I said "yes" to his invitation. I teased him later that he only asked me to be nice, knowing that I would surely say "no thanks," and when I actually said yes, he was probably bummed, knowing he could have taken his brother who is also way into BYU football instead of me. But, of course, I know my husband a lot better than that. Although sometimes I'm not sure why, he insists there is no one he would rather go with than me, even when I complain. My husband is so sweet and patient with me. I don't deserve him sometimes. It was even better because I was put on-call Friday night and didn't end up having to go to work, so I didn't have to be tired all day. It was fun to laugh and talk sans kids. We love our little ones so much, but it's fun to break away from them now and then. (We don't do that nearly enough!) Neither of us had eaten lunch before the game in our haste to get there, and we were both starving. Football, particularly the BYU sort, is about the only thing that takes priority over my husbands' stomach. Too bad for me that I don't share the same sentiment. We had plans to go to Cafe Rio after the game, and he kept telling me to hold out. So of course every single person around us at this (sold out) game was eating something or other. I kept begging to get some popcorn or something, but M knows me, and know that I would eat the whole thing and get a stomachache, and not want any real food. So, to punish him for withholding the popcorn from me, I proceeded to interrupt his concentration on the game to point out every morsel of food that came our way. (And that was a LOT.) We drooled over churros, nachos, popcorn, licorice, hot dogs, Teriyaki Stix, pizza, brownies, cotton candy, etc etc. He was, as always, a good sport and we had fun laughing about it. I asked him if he dared me to ask the kid below me for a bite of his humongous cougar tail donut maple bar thing. lol- I didn't. When the blessed time came for the Cafe Rio, I got a burrito for the first time in my life (I'm usually a salad girl) and I wolfed it down in like, three bites. Nothing ever tasted so good- SO worth the wait! Thanks for the fun date, babe! (And was I well behaved enough to get a second date for the next game?)