Oakton

This past weekend the little boys and I took a visit to my hometown, Oakton, Virginia. It's been a while since my last visit and it's interesting to see that a lot has changed, but so much is still the same. I have such wonderful childhood memories there.

We were able to visit lots of dear friends there, including Janine Goode, Julie Doolittle, Manderino family & Thomas family. We also visited Oakton Ward sacrament meeting on Sunday. The boys were so excited and had such a good time that they stayed up as late as possible, woke up at the crack of dawn & only napped during the short car rides!!!!


Jessica Thomas, Lisa Manderino & me


Lisa's children - Caleb (2) & Melanie (4)


Jessica's little girl Ruby (1 1/2)


Don't ask me why I didn't take photos of my own children on the trip, but here are a few recent photos of them. =)



Driving grandaddy's tractor.



Josiah watching TV with Grandaddy (G has to wear headphones to the TV b/c of all the background noise in the house!)

Virginia has my Heart.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhahhhhhh......that's the feeling I get the moment I cross the state line to Virginia. How do you not love this beautiful scenery?



In 2004 my parents retired and moved down to southern Virginia where they built their retirement home on 60 acres of land. The nearest town is 15 miles away, but my Bed Bath & Beyond is in the city....50 miles EACH way. I have the option to take the highway to work, but don't the mountains & farmland look so much more enjoyable?



You know you're in the country when the speed limit ENDS.



All of my family lived along this road in Alleghany Springs, back in the day. There are quite a few small cemeteries on these mountains, most are filled with my ancestors. This beautiful land really touches my heart and my eyes teared up while I was driving to work yesterday - I feel so connected to this land.... I will always be a Virginia girl; it's in my blood.



It's not the country without a country store. I remember as a child stopping at this store- my parents would buy us candy and a bottle of pop.



And I had to take a photo of my dad's truck bumper...how about that sticker? & do you recognize the man on the license plate? None other than General Robert E. Lee.



(For those who haven't caught up on the chaos of our lives.....we packed up our stuff & drove it to storage in Texas. The boys & I are in Virginia with my parents while Jason travels selling pest control for a bit.)

I LOVE FEBRUARY

WE'VE LEFT TOWN...



BUT BEFORE WE LEFT TOWN...we had a GREAT month! We really packed in the fun with LOTS of socializing, dinners & dates....here are just a few highlights of February....


1. Dana became Employee of the Month at work!!! (I had to take a photo, for proof that I'm not making this up!!!)


I'll really miss my BB&B store in Orem & all my friends I've worked with over the years. I felt so loved my last week....not only did I get a cake on my last day of work, but the day before I had also gotten a cake for my birthday....2 CAKES in ONE WEEK at work...BOTH in my honor???!!! I have to relish this for a moment because I think that's a record for anyone in the company!!!

As I've watched others leave the store, many become "trunky" to leave & lose all concern for the store. I've even heard departing managers say "I don't care, I'm leaving in a week anyway." This attitude upsets everyone because it's just rude & inconsiderate to others. At the moment we made the decision to move, I promised myself that I would work as hard as ever and do my very best up through my last day at work. And that's what I did. I'll admit, it wasn't always easy, but I wanted to leave the store knowing that I worked hard the whole time & no one can say that I "checked out early." I'm sure that retail seems like such a silly job to most people, but it's what I love (and that's a VERY important aspect of any job).



Okay, I think that's enough self-indulgence for the rest of the year, wouldn't you say?

2. We ate dinner with friends nearly every night of the month. We haven't done that much socializing in all of 2010 combined!!! We were trying to use up all our food in the house, so we had a few "interesting" meals. ;)

3. Another exciting moment in February...Jason & his 1800 lb. gun safe!!! (Just to give you an idea, that's the same weight as 3 VW bugs!!) That's right folks...we had to pay $100 to rent this fork lift...just to get the safe into our moving truck. Those few minutes of the month were VERY stressful & don't worry because I documented it all on video too!!!


4. We said goodbye to Aunt Alison....she has been so wonderful to us as she watched the twins EVERY Wednesday for a whole year!! The boys adore her & she has treated them like gold. We will really miss her, but look forward to our visit in July!



5. I turned 28 years old....mixed emotions.

6. My mom came to town!! I am SO grateful for my mother who came a few days before the move to help watch the boys while I was at work & cleaned nearly the whole house that weekend.

I'm worn out just writing about February...

CHOO-CHOOOOOO

The boys have a new obsession - TRAINS.

It all started when Grandma Thompson bought them a Thomas the Train DVD for Christmas. Every.Single.Day.Multiple.Times.A.Day....the boys beg for the "Choo-Choo" movie & start pushing buttons on the DVD player. (btw-one of them [ahem, Arlo] broke one of the plugs in the DVD player, so now Jason needs to take it apart, get the piece out and buy a new cord. So, in the meantime we watch the movie upstairs in our bedroom.) While watching the show, the boys go into a trance & just stare at the TV, with an occasional "choo-choo" of course. Here's Arlo watching with his blankie.



We live a few miles from the Provo train station & can hear the trains multiple times a day. The boys have trained (punny, huh?) their ears and can hear the train's faintest whistle. We often detour to the train station now just to say hi to the trains.



The boys each received $5 from Great Aunt Jeanette for Christmas. They had been saving their money for something really awesome & we finally found the perfect idea!! They each spent $3 for a ticket to ride the Provo Towne Center train & $2 for a Train Pez dispenser. Speaking in the behalf of them right now, they would say "HEAVEN!!!!"

New Talents

Can you believe the boys are 19 months old?!!! It both breaks my heart & brings me joy to watch them grow up. I often feel like time goes by way too fast and I'm afraid that I'll miss something. On the other hand, I LOVE to watch the boys grow and learn new things....they are getting so smart!!!

Arlo.... is such a happy little boy & seems to always be in a great mood. He can be whiny if he wants something, but at least he says "peese." He still LOVES his "keekee" (blanket) and reaches for it if he's at all sad or upset. His poor little thumb is getting pretty rough with all his thumb-sucking/biting. Arlo is very affectionate and gives hugs and kisses willingly; when giving kisses he says "muuah!" Jason and I laugh because when Arlo sees Jason's Coke Zero, Arlo calls it "daddy's bah-bah." Arlo is learning how to clean up his messes and while he does it, he sings "neen-nup, neen-nup!!!" (Clean-up) And no, Josiah doesn't really dig the idea of cleaning up his messes.

Josiah....is SO clever and is always looking for new things to explore. He will flip the laundry basket upside-down & stand on top, just so he can reach for something up high!! He is really into dancing and jumping and will actually sit down to the TV for about 20 minute increments. He has recently learned about trains and LOVES them; he says "CHOO CHOO" all the time. If Josiah sees any kind of drink, he automatically calls it "juice." As for lobster...Josiah is more attached than ever. He refuses to say the word lobster; instead he calls it "uh-oh."

A Tribute to all Mothers

A beautiful story that made me cry...

The Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball: 'Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature--but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting
there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals--we have no record of their names.
2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does."

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for three hours and presses a ll the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, "You're gonna love it there..."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

Happy Birthday Dana Hall!!

Me with my Grandma Hall & Earl (she married Earl after both their spouses had passed away, he was so wonderful and like a grandpa to me)

Today is my Grandma Hall's birthday. If she were still living she would have turned 96 years old!!! Her name was Dana Hall and as you may have guessed, I am her namesake, and I am proud to be so. I have lots of memories of her because our family would drive the 250 mile trip to Christiansburg, Virginia to visit her EVERY single month. Those are definitely fond memories of my childhood, getting to know all my extended family. We spent almost every Christmas with her and it was always the same traditions every year.

Here's a few memories of my Grandma:

• Grandma was a short little lady - probably only 5' tall - I remember when I reached her height I said "Grandma, I am as tall as you!!" - she responded "Well, that's not very tall."
• She was a very laid-back person and didn't mind our wild family & dog staying with her for 3 days a month. She just rolled with the punches.
• Her famous quote: "Don't worry about that today." Her motto: "Don't do today what you can do tomorrow"
  
• It would take her ALL DAY long to cook a meal, but I claim that no one can replicate her meals - southern green beans, baked macaroni & cheese, etc, etc.
• Saturdays at her house included bacon & eggs for breakfast - no earlier than 10AM - my whole family now calls this "the Grandma Hall breakfast"
• I don't think she ever cleaned out her fridge because we would find old moldy foods with expiration dates past 1 year....is that an old person thing?
  
• She would relax by watching TV & I remember watching quite a few shows with her - Howdy Doody, Price is Right, Statler Brothers, The Grand Ole Opry and of course she would get her lotto tickets out and watch for the Powerball numbers to be announce.

I wanted to honor her today by having a "grandma hall breakfast" but we had playgroup, so we will have bacon & eggs for breakfast TOMORROW!!!
I love you Grandma


Grandma is on the far right (pictured with her sisters)

TWINNERS!!

I LOVE my boys & I especially LOVE that they are the same age. They seem to be best friends & I hope they always will be best buds. I think my favorite noise is to hear the two of them belly laughing together for 20-30 minutes straight while in their cribs after waking up. I usually sit in my room next door & just listen for a while – it makes my day.

I’m finding that LOTS of people have twins & I probably see a set of twins in my store every day. (I work at Bed Bath & Beyond) Regardless of all the twins in the world, it is IMPOSSIBLE to go in public without getting stopped & receiving comments on my twins. Honestly though, I love it. I love to show off my cute boys because they are my pride and joy.

Some of the comments I hear from people while we run errands, etc...:

"Oh no! Twins!"
"Are they twins? Is a boy and a girl? Two boys? Two girls?"
"Are they identical?" (And then after we say they are NOT identical we often get “I don't know how you tell them apart. Must be because you're their parents. )

"Do twins run in your family?"
"Are they natural? or did you have fertility treatments?"
"Do they have different personalities? Is one the 'evil' twin?"
"I can't imagine having twins!"
"I had two kids really close in age. I felt like I had twins."
"Two for one, huh?"
"I've always wanted twins!!"

"I've always wanted to be a twin!"
"My ___(fill in relation)___ has twin ___(fill in genders)__"
"Two babies!"

"Do you always dress them the same?"

"Do they wake each other up?”
"You must not be getting any sleep! You must be exhausted."
"You have your hands full."
"I had only one baby at a time and that was hard enough!"
"Better you than me!"
"Just wait until they get older! It gets harder!"
"I bet they'll be the best of friends."
"Double Trouble!"

My Arlo



My Josiah