Inspiration by Music

I have lots to do today, I had a wonderful workout with Rachel. Now I have got to get everything else done. Sometimes music is the best form of inspiration for me, it just gets me going. This is my get up and go piece as of late enjoy.....hope it gives you chills as it does me! ~E

11

My first born, hayden is 11 yrs old today! I don't know where the time has gone. I remember the day I had him like it was yesterday. Hayden and I have always had a special bond. Clear back when I was pregnant with him. My pregnancy was not an easy one, if fact, it was the hardest out of my 3 kids. When I finally did have him, he was 3 weeks early due to me having HELLP syndrome. I had a very severe case. We litterally both had to fight for our lives. After 33 hours of Labor he was finally born. He was very quiet when he was fist born. A very sick little baby. The doctor and nurses had to work on him for a while before he was stable. The one thing I will never forget is that after he was stabalized enough for the move to the NICU, they were wheeling him passed and I said "hi baby". At that moment he opened his eyes and look right at me. Then he closed them again. It took everyone's breath away. He hadn't shown any signs of vitality until that moment. I didn't get to see him again for almost 3 days, we were both too sick. When I finally did though, I remember just being so happy to have him.

Hayden is brilliant, sensitive, caring, funny, and wise beyond his years. He is alway amazing me in someway. He is a wonderful big brother, and both of his sisters adore him. He looks just like his dad and takes pride in it. I am very lucky and privlaged to be his Mother. I Love You Hayden! Happy Birthday!

Weekend Rundown

We had a great weekend! It was really low key and that's how we like it. Of course it rained most of the time, but, the more rain the better because the less I need to move the sprinklers around my yard.  Here's the rundown of the last couple days.

Friday:

 Wes and I took Gracie and Sophie into town to buy some birthday presents. Gracie insisted on going to the mall. I really am not a fan of the cache valley mall, but it was all worth it because Gracie kept repeating "I am having the time of my life"...too funny. She is such a girl. 

While at the mall Wes and I made the purchase of a WII FIT and the WII ACTIVE. These are exercise programs that to the Nintendo Wii. It's been pretty fun so far. I haven't gotten my heart rate up high enough on the Fit though, so I am hoping the active will do it.  My homework from my trainer for everyday is 10 min warm up 45 min high intensity cardio, with that I have very little leeway on where my heart rate should be. Then a 10 min cool down and 15 min strength. I get bored easy so I am always try to find new things to do.

When we got the kids to bed, Wes and I settled down to watch a movie. We are both history buffs and so we had been anxious to see Valkyrie (WWII movie) It wasn't that great. Disappointing. 

Saturday:

We woke right up and Wes and I went for a 6 mile bike ride...45 min of it straight up hill. Great work out! We then cleaned house. While I was cleaning Wes took the back deck down. We are going to do a patio (cement) and an awning. I have really never liked the deck. It was pretty small and always attracted wasps. Not to mention staining it was a chore. i am pretty excited about the patio.

Sad story, Oscar disappeared when we let him out Saturday night. I stayed up all night worrying.  He showed up the next morning limping bad. His hips hurt and his front leg. We think he got trampled by the sheep in the back. Poor little guy. As much as  I say I want to get rid of him some days, it broke my heart to see him hurting. Darn Dog!

Sunday (Fathers Day):

A couple of my kids have been sick on and off so Wes stayed home with them from church. I woke up and took Sophie with me. Can I just say, she is getting much harder to take care of at church. She is not wanting to sit still anymore! Can't wait until she is 18 mo old and can  to nursery!

I came home and made blueberry pancakes for brunch and we all sat around the table and had good conversation and enjoyed each other. Then of course naps!! I love Sunday Naps. When I got up I made a roast, potatoes, biscuits and broccoli for dinner. It wasn't that great, I felt bad. I always cook my roast on low heat, with the exception to the first hour. For that I cook on a medium heat. Well, I forgot to turn the oven down and whal-lah we had a very well done roast. To top it off, I went to peel potatoes and realized I was out of them...ugh. We had to have instant, boo. Wes was so sweet not to complain he just kept thanking me. What a good guy he is! We wrapped up the night after the kids went to bed with another WWII movie. It was called Defiance. It was way good. Rated R though, but still I thought very mild compared to Saving Private Ryan. It is a true story. If you are into history this is a story I had not heard before. it's about Jews living in the forest trying to evade the Germans. Fascinating!

So now it's Monday morning, the house is trashed and I have a lot to do this week. As I was contemplating how I really hate Mondays, and how I feel like the mess never ends, and my life  feels like ground hog day over and over...ya know the movie? I realized how silly I was being. I am so grateful to  live where I live. Enjoy the freedoms I enjoy. I have a home, it is safe. I am warm. I do not need to worry about where my family will be getting it's next meal, or if we will die of exposure. I am not being hunted because of my race or my religion. My worries are so small in the grand scheme of things. People didn't just have to live in bad conditions during world war II, I believe these horrific conditions still exist now in the world. I am so blessed and so grateful to be where I am. No matter how disastrous my house seems to be. With that, after watching that movie last night, I am also so amazed at the strength of the human spirit. I really believe that if you can stay strong spiritually, it directly affects what you can endure physically. How amazing the Human Spirit really is. ~E

Good Times and Some Awesome Encouragement!

Wow, it's been a while! It's so super busy around our house lately! This summer we have already had Family from Washington visit, 1 birthday, a session of tennis lessons, several golf tournaments, a movie, a recital, a baptism, a hike and there is still so much more to come!

I have been working my "behind" off lately, literally. I have decided that hiring a personal trainer has been a huge blessing. I have always loved to workout but haven't always made it a priority. It's always been a luxury, at least since I have had kids. The nice thing about having the trainer is that I am accountable to her, she gives me assignments that I have to do. Also I am paying for it, so I don't want my money to go to waste. I love that she pushes me , and also that she counts for me, that way I can concentrate on the exercises other than how many I have done. I meet with her twice a week at 6 am. Waking up has been the hardest part. On Thursday I was up at 5:30, and when i walked out to the kitchen Hayden was out there. He was surprised to see me because I am not a morning person. As I was walking out the door to leave he said "Mom, I am really proud of you for getting up and going to exercise." I was stunned, and so touched that he would think to say that to me. It made my day...and it made all the huffing and puffing worth and aches and pains worth it!

Speaking of exercise. I signed up my kids for tennis lessons. My hope was that they would like it and benefit from the exercise. We just finished up the first 2 week session and I must say my kids had a lot of fun. Hayden especially loved it! He wants to play everyday. I think I am going to have to learn how to play. It was so fun to go watch him and Gracie. Every time they hit the ball there faces just lit up! We have another session in August to look forward to.

Last weekend Wes' brother came down with his little family. They came for a funeral and were able to spend some time up at my in-laws. We don't see them too often and it was a nice visit. We had their 2 oldest kids Dallin and Braden sleep over Saturday night. They all hunkered down in the basement and watched some movies. They had a blast. I over heard Hayden tell Dallin the next morning that he was sad they couldn't spend more time together. I was so happy to know that even though they only see each other for at the most 24 hours a year, they could still bond as cousins.

Although it has been raining so much, Wes has still been able to get tons of golfing in. He cracks me up, whenever he drives the ball really good he sends me a text. I love when he goes golfing because he comes home in such a good mood! Today he went and I got this text " I hurt my back. I fell out of the cart and rolled 3 times." OK, so when I got this I was sitting in the doctors office with my girls waiting for the Doctor...we had been waiting over an hour. So when I got the text i couldn't help but laugh. I sent him back a text " Did anyone have a video camera, you should have been walking." ha ha I always forbid him from getting a cart because I want him to get exercise, and he always gets the cart!

Tuesday we had a hike planned for the Young Men and Young Women. I wasn't sure if it was gong to happen because of the rain. I decided to tell my trainer to work me really hard that day, so she did. I did all kinds of squats and step drills. To say the least I was soar. And guess what, we still did the hike. It was perfect weather. The hike was a killer, I was already fatigued when I started and after 2 and a half hours of hiking I was so tired. Side story one third of the way up the mountain I lost my footing and fell over the side. Oh my gosh it was funny and terribly scary all at the same time. Lucky for me I caught a branch and 2 of the other leaders were there help me up. When I got home Wes gave me one look and I think he knew exactly what had happened. I was covered in mud and all scratched up. It was quite an adventure.

Summer is just flying by. Soon it will be over. But, between now and then we still have some things to do.

1. Hayden's birthday is Tuesday. I am still trying to finalize the plans.

2. Our wood floor arrives next week! We will be having that installed in the next few weeks. So we have to paint before. I am not excited about the painting part.

3. Next weekend is our ward camp out.

4. My Dad is coming on the 4th

5. Girls camp

6. I have book group and bunco at my house in July

7. Swimming lessons

8. Wes' birthday

9.Wes and I have 2 more speaking engagements.

10. another tennis session

11. hopefully a vacation

I am sure there is more but that is all that comes to mind right now. I think I am all caught up now, I plan on being a little better about blogging, maybe...for now it's time for bed ~E

1

Sophie turned 1 today! We all danced around and sang to her all day. I have no idea if she had any clue it was her birthday, but, we all had fun with it. She has been such an amazing blessing to our family. Although I always say what a huge surprise she was, really when I think about it, I know she couldn't have come at a more perfect time for all of us. Yes, she is 10 yrs younger than Hayden and 7 years younger than Gracie. But Heavenly Father knew all along that we would need her this year. Being pregnant with her when we were in Iowa made our time there exciting. Having her a couple weeks after the tornado was so therapeutic for all of us. She was the light in an otherwise dark time for us. I am so very thankful for my Heavenly Father, his knowledge, his impeccable timing and his mercies.

My little Sophie is as cute as a button. She looks just like her Grandpa Godfrey, and has his temperament too. She just goes with the flow. Her smile says it all. She is almost always grinning. She growls when she laughs. One of her favorite things to do is tease Oscar. She adores her brother and sister. And no matter how big of a mess she makes I could still just gobble her up she is so stinking cute. She makes can always make her Dad smile, she is always so happy to see him when he gets home from work. She is fantastic!

We love you Sophie! Happy Birthday!

WHO KNEW?

- that hiring a personal trainer would be so beneficial. Today was my first visit and it was awesome! A little bit of bragging here...she was way surprised at how much I could do and my recovery times! She mostly tested me to see where I was at cardio wise. She also tested my core strength which was pretty good, considering I have now had 2 emergency c-sections. I am so dang excited about this new venture, I go back Thursday morning and we are going to hit the weights. Side note....high school football players, STINKY! Oh my gosh, of course they had to be there the same time I was. I can't believe they are already practicing, school has only been out for 1 week!

-That my kids would LOVE tennis lessons so much! Neither of them have ever played. We bought them tennis racquets last month, and they have been playing against the garage door. So, of course I was surprised when Hayden came out and said that they moved him to the advanced class because he was so good! Very Cool! Gracie loved it too. I am so excited to have found something they both like and can do together.

-that we could ever get too much rain. Seriously we live in the dessert. But it has been raining for a week straight and going on 10 more days! My tomatoes are not looking to great. They certainly do not like the hail!

- The movie "UP" was so good! We loved it. Monday night we all loaded up the car and went on the spur of the moment. Sophie cam along too, and did pretty good. It doesn't matter how old you are, this movie is a must see!

Alright, it's time for bed. hopefully tomorrow will go just as well as today plus maybe I can get some house work done. Happy Dreams ~E

My Garden

I love everything about my garden. It seems to e doing very well thanks to the torrential rain we have been having. I can even see my Zinnia's peeking up through the dirt! They are my absolute favorite summer flower. I can't wait to be able to cut them fresh and have them all over the house! I don't know why but gardening for me is empowering, I love being able to produce my own food! I am even learning how to love the dirty feet that comes along with it.

" If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden. " — Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

My Beautiful Daughter

Gracie was Baptized to today as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She is such a sweet little girl. The day did not go smoothly, in fact the whole weekend was a disaster. Things started heading south Friday. I was so worried about the party not being just perfect that I thought about delaying it. Some people couldn't make it, other people chose not to make it. I was just so worried about it and I lost sight of what the whole day was a about. Gracie, and her choice to be Baptized. The only thing today that needed to go right today, was her making a choice to always remember Jesus Christ and what he did for her. And a promise to follow him and keep his commandments. It went beautifully, She and Wes did amazingly. That is all that really matters.....Not the cute table decorations, or the perfect spread of food or even the people that were there. All that needs to be remembered is that she was there with her Dad, and her Heavenly Father, at the right time and in the right place. Today the 1 good thing that happened out shined all of the rest and made it all worth it in the end. That is what counts. ~E

Let The FUN Begin!

As a mother I always feel so accomplished on the last day of school! Weird, I know. knowing that I got both kids to school, and they both have passed another grade is such a relief. It is so not easy getting them up and ready, and some days begging them to get out of the car! I am so glad for the break! Today they will be home by noon. My sister Amber and her Husband are celebrating their 10th anniversary this weekend, so I have their kids coming home with mine. I am going to have a full house of very excited kids! Tonight they are all going to My Moms and Chucks for a sleep over. My sis Nat is coming up too! Fun Times!

Tuesday night we had an awesome Thunderstorm! Terrifying to my kids, but really amazing. My young Women were over and got to see first hand how crazy my family is....poor girls. Never a dull moment at my house during a storm! Afterwords it took a few hours to calm my kids down. Now that it is summer I will be getting them back into the psychologist more frequently.

Yesterday we got half our garden planted. in the past I have done up to 40 tomato plants. This year just 12. I am so fine with that, I just hate to feel overwhelmed. We also got our Green Beans in. I still need to get the cucumbers in , pumpkins, squash and potatoes. I will bottle my tomatoes and make salsa. i will bottle the green beans, and make pickles out of the cucumbers. The rest we just eat fresh.

I finally broke down and hired a personal trainer. I love to exercise, but making the time to do so is always my last priority. I can't help putting my family ahead of myself. It's my nature. It's no secret since having children I am Large....chubby whatever. But, you know what I will Never give up! Weight Watchers, personal trainer, hypnotism at night.....it's all worth it, as long as I do my best and I know it, that is all that matters....fat for the rest of my life ...or not. I don't know why Heavenly Father has chosen this to be my life experience ( I hate to say challenge) , but, I am sure there is something myself or someone around me is supposed to learn. Oh well, I am so excited to start with the trainer, I can barely contain myself :) 110% that is what I plan on giving to this :)

Things are still going to stay busy for the summer, but it is all fun. Gracie and Hayden are both taking tennis at the Sports Academy, Hayden is golfing every Wednesday in Preston. Wes' Brother will be down next week. My dad is coming over the 4th of July and again around he 24th of July. We plan on taking the kids to the Redwoods sometime. It all kicks of this weekend with Gracie's baptism and Piano recital!

YAY for Summer! YAY for fun! ~E

T for Tuesday!

Time is flying bye far to quickly. I am kind of in shock that in Two days another school year will be complete. I have To admit That it Troubles me a bit, To Think That The year went by so quickly. I completely understand The quote "Enjoy The Journey", because in The long run it's over before we know it!