Proud Wife

I have to brag because I know Jason won't.  During our Utah family vacation, we were able to attend the end-of-the-year banquet for RSI.  The event was a fun date with dinner & lots of good entertainment. That night, Jason walked away with - TOP SALES REP OF THE YEAR (along with a bunch of other recognitions). Jason was a celebrity there. Jason worked his butt off this summer selling and I am so proud of him - great job babe!

This was the first time we left Miles with a babysitter. A REAL date!

The plaque showed that he has 812 active accounts, but that's no longer accurate - He has added at least 50 more accounts since then. You rock babe! Not only did Jason earn these pretty plaques, but we walked away with a mummy sleeping bag, beef jerky, B&BW soap, jackets, & American Eagle gift card! Awesome night!

The FOX team.

Utah & then some

Last month we trekked out to Utah for a big family trip that lasted nearly 3 weeks. We spent the first week camping in the Uintas Mountains at Lyman Lake. We experienced rain, sleet, snow & a little sunshine in between. Luckily, we had an RV that we could camp in during the yucky weather!We fished, hiked, played cards, shot guns, roasted marshmallows and played in the dirt. Aside from the precipitation, we had a FUN camping trip! After camping, we traveled all over Utah, Idaho & Wyoming visiting friends and family.  We were always on the move and slept in a different bed every 2-3 nights. Towards the end of the trip, Arlo & Josiah started asking when we could go home. I think we all missed our home, bed & toys. Moral of the story: family vacation should not last more than 8-10 days.Here are some of the highlights from our trip....

Miles' first airplane trip. Sunday September 23, 2012 (Jason drove the van out with the twins)

All the kids watching a movie in the RV while the rain came down.

My boy.

We made the kids cook their own dinner!!

The boys' first real fishing experience and they LOVED it!! It didn't take long before they had each caught a fish!

Visiting with the Courtdawg on campus. GO cougars!

My Lisa & Katie, BFFLAB

Playing in the volleyball pit. Cutest thing you've ever seen.

Playing with Aunt Tiffy

With Grandma & Grandpa Burnham

Flying home. It was probably the highlight of the boys' trip. They "went on 2 planes & a train" all in 1 day!!  (We had a layover in Houston and took the train to a different terminal).

We had a row of 3 seats on the plane, so the boys were able to lay down and take naps. Arlo & Miles on the seats....

...and Josiah laying on the floor.

What Matters Most

This past week I have been feeling a little depressed, lonely, exhausted, useless, and overwhelmed with life....like I'm just running on the treadmill of life. Do you ever feel like 24 hours isn't enough time to get things done in a day, so instead, you just sit on the couch and do nothing? That has been me the past week... until this evening.

And I worry about my boys - am I doing everything right? I'm pretty tough on myself as a mother. The first 2 years of life, I just need to keep them alive and healthy; but now.... They are getting the age that I could potentially scar them for life....I have to be SO CAREFUL about discipline, what I say, how I say it, am I hugging & kissing them enough?, how can I teach them Gospel concepts so they understand and want to choose the right?, am I treating all my children with fairness?, etc, etc...

ANYWAYS....I had one of those perfect moments tonight with my family and I wish I could freeze time. Jason was washing the van in the driveway while my boys were running around shirt-less and getting sprayed with the water hose. (note- it's still 80 degrees here) I sat in the lawn chair holding my sweet baby and just enjoyed the moment. I wish I had a camera, but I didn't want to go in the house to get it because I would have lost a minute of that precious experience. Instead of a photo, I want to sear that memory and joy into my heart forever.

It's not about how clean my house is, how gourmet my food is, how crafty I am or how perfect my hair looks (none of which I claim to do, that's just wishful thinking!) It's all about those perfect moments with my children and husband....the memories they will have washing the van with their daddy, playing pirates together, riding bikes to the mailbox, or snuggling together in our bed each morning. My boys will grow up too soon and I don't want to miss these precious years. So, ignore the spit-up on my shirt, overlook my messy house & hair....we've been too busy having fun.

 

Better Late Than Never!

On Sunday September 9, we officially blessed baby Miles. Miles was 4 1/2 months old & BARELY fit into his blessing outfit....the pants were too short & he was popping the snaps, literally. We all joked around that by the time we blessed him, he would be crawling his way to the front of the chapel!! Jason traveled all summer and although he came home some weekends, they were not planned far enough for us to make blessing plans. We had the honor of having 2Pops (Brent) & Michele Burnham and Nate & Presli join us for the event. Jason gave a beautiful blessing for Miles and it was a special day for our little guy. We love him so much.

Presli, Michele, Brent, Dana, Arlo, Josiah, Jason, Miles, Nate

GARNER 2012

Labor Day Weekend - Garner State Park, Texas.

Nate & Kjersti Burnham have an annual camping trip Labor Day weekend and this was our first year going. We had LOTS of fun "building fires," hiking, swimming, dancing, playing in the dirt, roasting s'mores & hobo dinners on the fire and LOTS of hanging out. The boys absolutely LOVED camping and we were all sad when the weekend of fun was over....good thing we'll be camping again in Utah next week!

Josiah & his campfire

Arlo & his campfire

Hiking in their PJs

Climbing trees

During the day, the tent was WAY too hot, so we took the air mattress into the shelter for naptime.

Arlo & Josiah trying out their new fishing poles with daddy

Miles after eating his oatmeal

Arlo & his S'more

At the river

Miles spent much of his time naked to escape the hot weather

We look forward to Garner 2013!!

Heaven is Here

I just read this book and it is AMAZING. I'm sure many of you have heard of this woman, Stephanie Nielson, the Mormon woman whose body was 80% burned from a plane crash. She is the author of nieniedialogues.com and has become like a Mormon celebrity. I've kept up with her blog here and there and was excited to read the book. I believe that every woman should read this book. If you think your life is hard, this book will put things in perspective. She inspires me to be more faithful and to be a better wife & mother. Her story teaches me to cherish every moment of life - to love and appreciate every detail of my children; and to bask in their love & innocence. I want to hold my children longer and memorize every inch of their faces. She is a strong woman and an inspiration. 

(And I like her even more now because I just learned that she loves Alison Krauss!)

BUY THIS BOOK & READ IT....NOW.

VIRGINIA

OMG - Where do I begin?!! The kids and I went to Virginia for almost 4 weeks this summer while Jason was traveling for work and it was HEAVEN!! My parents live on 65 acres in the beautiful green Virginia mountains - 15 miles from the closest grocery store. It's the perfect escape from the cares of life. We hardly had a day of rest because we played so hard every day. My kids practically fell into bed every night because they were so tired from the fun all day.

Here is a SHORT list of the things we did along with just a few photos.

A visit from my dear college friend, Jessica and her 3 kids. She also has a set of twins so between the two of us, we have 6 kids, 3 years & younger. 

We went to the Floyd Country Store for some good bluegrass music!

The 3 babies

 We took a few days to chill at my parents' timeshare near Charlottesville. The place is called Shenandoah Crossing and we stayed in cabins and played from sun-up to sun-down. Cousins always have the BEST time together! Some of the things we did there....
 

Mini-golf

Horse back riding

Pontoon Ride

Another pic on the pontoon ride

Courtney Doolittle & I

We went swimming every day!

Golf Carting all over the place!

Other things we did while visiting my parents' house...

Sandbox-ing

Body painting with watercolors

Visiting Uncle Joel's sugar cane field

 

and feeding Uncle Joel's goats (potato chips!!)

Fishing at Kenny & Dixie's house. The boys and I also took a wild inner-tube ride on the lake, 60MPH, SO FUN!

We visited several family cemeteries and were able to clean some very important tombstones

Baby Miles with the tombstone of his Civil War Soldier ancestor (the Confederacy, of course!)

Playing in the creek at Camp Alta Mons

LOTS & LOTS of go-karting, all day, every day...

and more go-karting...

We went the Floyd Country Store again for more bluegrass

A visit to Krispy Kreme after a big day at the waterpark

Miles was along for the ride the whole time....next year he will be running wild with the rest of the cousins

Tractor rides

 More activities we did that were not documented with photos...
A visit from Cherish Davis & her 2 adorable children
Riding bikes with cousins in the basement & back porch
Playing in the toy room for hours
Swimming at the pool & the waterpark
Birthday party for cousin Addie
Hot dog & smores roasting over an open fire
Picnics
Milkshakes at McDonalds
Shopping with the women
Ice Cream cones EVERY night before bed
Popcorn parties
Zumba classes with my sister