15 years....

I try and kid myself all the time that I am still young and hip and with it....and the world helps me out with all those slogans...40 is the new 30 and all that stuff...so technically I am still in my 20's:)) And yet when I realise I have been married for FIFTEEN years....I realise that actually, really, I am one of those middle aged people who just try and be young and hip....I guess over time I will grow to accept and embrace this fact but for now I will just try and keep up with the young and hip image (even when I see it in my fourteen year old's face from time to time that I am so NOT....shhh I can ignore that for a while longer...)

Yes, so fifteen whole years ago today, Andrew and I got married in Plymouth and then drove up to the London Temple to get sealed and what a crazy fifteen years we've had!! University, various jobs, working together, lots of vacations, crazy pregnant me, four kids, too many sleepless nights, eleven house moves, a few arguments (and then making up!) and here we are...a little older, definitely a few wrinkles and the odd grey hair or two and I hope a lot wiser...... (weird smile by me I know!!)

Looking forward to the next fifteen years....and don't remind me that I'll be a Grandma by then I am still clinging onto my ignorant bliss:))
Thanks Andrew xx

Puppies

Almost at three weeks...and they have been informally named Bailey and Blackie....can you tell which is which:)

  

We are starting to introduce a little milky food to them to begin the weaning process....Jordan thought this was hilarious....it would be a good Got Milk ad:)

Flying high...

We were reading a book the other day and Amelia said she had never flown a kite...so obviously that had to be fixed:) I went straight to Amazon (you know how much I love Amazon) researched a few kites, picked one and then left it in the box waiting for the perfect weekend....

I don't know exactly what constitutes a perfect weekend exactly, because it's not like Arizona has majorly windy days...EVER....but more a perfect moment when the kids were bored and this weekend fit the bill....first we went out on Sat late afternoon and despite absolutely zero wind, the kids were able to get that kite in the air with their running generated personal wind (yep they slept GREAT!)

And then Sunday afternoon we walked over to the park again...this time we had a slight breeze (very slight I might add) but the kite flew a little higher.....

 

All the kids loved it, not just Amelia, but especially her:)

Lacrosse

Once the Jr High lacrosse season was over, Daniel was given the option to go practice with the High School JV team....Andrew and I both were a little worried about it as the Jr High league was rough enough, but he so wanted to do it that we let him make the decision.....After about a week of taking him to practice, I was dropping him off one day and these grown men with virtual beards and big hairy legs called out "hey Daniel"....I did a double take and then realised that they were some of the High School "kids" on the lacrosse team with him....not very encouraging:)

After a couple of weeks of just practicing with the team, it somehow evolved to him playing most of every game (leading to more than a few anxious moments for mom and dad!)... he's taken a few brutal hits, but no amount of bumps and bruises seems to deter him and he scored his first goal last week too (which I missed by the way.....I left the game early to go to a RS meeting!!) 

He's been playing awesome and he just loves it....I even think he's proud of his bruise "war wounds"

I guess it's one of the hard things of your kids growing up that you have to watch them put themselves in harms way and sometimes get hurt. But the silver lining to all that is watching them jump back up and give it another go:)

Tyson

One of our puppies died this morning....the boys were gone camping and the girls found the puppy and came running....it was a very sad morning for the girls.....

It was our little boy with the two black eyes, that the kids had decided to name Tyson.

Makes me think of this quote:

"No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,... any man's death diminshes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (John Donne)

We feel and mourn the loss of anyone who is a part of our lives, because we are involved, we are the less without them. I am sad for little Tyson, and I am sad for Abbie who really has felt this loss the most of all my kids, but I hope she will find something to learn about from this experience too...

Dependency Paradox...

"Most men and women are only as needy as their unmet needs"

"The more effectively dependent people are on one another, the more independent and creative they become"

"Science of adult attachment in one sentence - if you want to take the road to independence and happiness, first find the right person to depend on and then travel down it together"

Great kids...

The cousins came over yesterday as Jordan got ordained as a Deacon and they wanted to be there with him....it was a special experience. love that 2nd born boy of mine....he really is a loveable, good hearted young man.

and then they all got to play and hang out....they get on really well with each other. They are all great kids....it really is a blessing for them to be able to grow up near each other. It makes me wish ALL the cousins could grow up closer to each other....

 

Puppies

OK so I do have to say that these puppies are just about the cutest little things you can imagine....they're all growing bigger by the minute...literally packing on those ounces:)

The kids want to keep them all.....and if they stayed this size I could imagine it too....but I know in a few weeks I will be glad not to have 4 yapping, peeing, pooping little dogs running around. Still for now, it is a lot of fun...:)

 

 

 

"The Circle of Life...."

It was Andrew's quote last night after the last one was born...and Jordan asked "what circle".....:)

Yes we are the new "grandparents" of 3 little chihuahua puppies born yesterday....Lucy started in obvious labor at around 4.30pm, had the first one at around 5.45pm and then we had a long wait

....in which time we were kinda stressing out that they were stuck or not going to come etc etc although Lucy was just calmly resting and licking her firstborn (she was soooo calm throughout it all - no whining or crying or anything like I expected)....at 9.45pm the second little boy popped out...watch out graphic pic!!

....soon followed by number three; this massive big girl who came feet first (and needed a little help out). By about 10.30pm they were all here and we could breathe a sigh of relief that we didn't have to watch Lucy regurgitate placenta multiple times anymore or chew off the umbilical cord while flinging the little attached baby every which way (I guess it's one way to open up those airways).....

Whilst they are the tiniest (though bigger than I expected) and cutest little things I don't think I missed much by never having seen a baby anything born as a kid (despite what Andrew says to the contrary)....

What surprised me (amd freaked me out) the most was the smell.....brought back memories of giving birth myself....the smell and really the whole experience is so similar (except the eating gross things bit) and really quite amazing and disgusting all at the same time! It's amazing the instincts that kicked in and Lucy just knew what to do and amazing the instincts of these tiny babies to nudge their way in and get a bit of boob. Lucy is a great mommy to her three little cute pups...

#1: Boy (so black...1st by a long time)

#2: Boy (scrawny little thing)

#3: Girl (Fattie)

Hot days....

It has been SOOOO hot this weekend....and not that I am one to complain about the heat...but it was really hot for April.....one way to keep cool....

....sit in the window, eating ice pops:)

Jordan turns 12.....

Birthdays in our house somehow seem to be lasting longer than 24 hours lately.....it started on Friday with donuts as treats for the class and all his teachers and continued til Sunday night with the family over for even more fun and games....:)
Jordan actually turned the big 12 on Saturday and we all  had to wake up very early so he could open cards and presents.......



(yep happy with his gifts...daddy knows best:))

.....O the joy a piece of paper brings....(it's his confirmation for Lacrosse camp that he's been begging and begging to go on)

By about 8.00am he was heading out with a whole slew of boys (including grown up boys) and their toys (quads, guns, knives...you name it) into the desert for some quality wilderness time....

.......yeah, doesn't look like they had too much fun:)

Now that he's joined the official age of manhood he got to go to his first Priesthood session of Conference.....and he was pretty excited about that despite being on his birthday (long may that attitude last!)

And of course we all got to enjoy the traditional ice cream cake as soon as they got back....

Lest we forget.....we still keep up with some good old British traditions and give our kids the bumps on their birthdays....one for each year and an extra one for good luck:)

Jordan is such a cute loving boy and never ever forgets to give me a hug and a kiss before he goes out or goes to bed..... I did tell him that if he doesn't stay such a good boy I will be taking back his birthday and I'll make him stay 11 forever...(I wish it worked that way!) But for now, I'm loving my 12 year old xx

Friends

These three girls love each other so much they actually call themselves cousins....




Which is totally fine by me...




They are always up to something, running around and giggling together




Yesterday, when it was time to go home Kammryn cried bitterly and her mom jokingly said to me "she'd happily stay here for the rest of her life" Kammryn immediately stopped crying and said "yes can I stay here my life??" She has no idea what that means....other than that she gets to play longer but that's what makes her so cute:) love that extra cousin of ours:)