Family Visit

We only got the chance to go visit family once this summer 

so we planned to go for little Piper's 2nd birthday.

My sister planed and put together a REALLY cute CIRCUS themed 2nd birthday party.

Moustache anyone?

Each time we go visit I wish so much that we didn't have to leave. Perhaps one day...

The BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Even Leah played along!

L to R: Mwah, Belen and my twin sis, Miranda (birthday planner, english teacher and mom extraordinaire)

Camden being all shy with is moustache

L to R: Aunt Nancy, Leah Bean, and Mimi ( my mom).

JAX Air Show

See the tear on Belen's cheek?

In early November, 2011. We drove the hour and some odd minutes down to

 Jacksonville, Florida

 to see the Air Show at 

 "NAS JAX" the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville. 

We were excited to take the kids because the Blue Angels 

originated there and would be performing . 

It was completely free and open to the public.

 They had food booths 

and a large kids play area 

with several different types of 

bounce houses and a

huge 

inflatable slide. 

Mom wasn't allowed to go down with her. She cried the whole way down.

The weather was less than ideal for complete enjoyment though. 

Blustery and VERY cold. 

Not something we'd been expecting.

We didn't have coats with us. 

Because the kids had a truly miserable experience 

I got very few pictures 

but what I love about this experience is 

that regardless of the difficulty we experience planning 

and trying to execute family adventures we refuse to quit trying. 

 
We will keep planning and forcing the kids to come along and sometimes we have a wonderful time with irreplaceable  memories and sometimes they end up like our trip to the Air Show, not so fun.

P.S. As I was publishing this post to the blog Belen told me that she wishes we could go back to Jacksonville to play in the slide and jump in the bounce house. When I reminded her that she hated being there and cried the whole time we where there she said simply, "Why, Mommy?" Another reason to keep planning and doing because even Belen remembers only the good!

Loves Within

In retrospect I seek balance.

The good amongst the challenges.

I feel that I can be honest now.

In case it was a mystery, 

We lived in Georgia for awhile this last year.

It was a challenge for me.

A completely different culture than what I am used to.

Not bad.

Just different enough that after several months I'd yet to find my place.

Looking back we had some great times. 

Moments of joy. 

Even loves within our time there as a family.

It was difficult but it was where we needed to be. I will be posting a blog series that include my "Loves Within". My hope is that by looking back on the good times that my heart can heal and I can move forward with life in yet another new city.

Those Things Which are Before

I've been completely unmotivated and uninspired in the kitchen lately. 

Usually I adore trying new, healthful recipes.

It could be because we just moved from a city I loved, my Home with a capital H, to a temporary living situation in a very different world. 

It could be because Zak doesn't eat with us as his work keeps him away most of the week even providing a place for him to sleep away from home. 

But mostly I'm heart-broken that the first city we've lived in our nearly 6 years of marriage that felt like HOME, is no longer ours. Instead, I've been feeding my kids nutritionally inferior, processed foods. Something else to beat myself up over.

Regardless, I firmly believe that as temporary as this current living situation is, keeping our family together is what is MOST important.

So I continue, one foot in front of the other. 

Trying not to be as Lot's wife (Genesis 19), who commanded not to look behind her did so anyway. But instead I try to remember that "the past is to be learned from and not lived in."

So here's to "reaching forth unto those things which are before."

Family

"There is no other organization that can so completely satisfy our need for belonging and happiness like the family. Why do we yearn for home and loved ones? I believe this yearning is a universal, God-given instinct that all people in all cultures are blessed with. I also believe that a loving Heavenly Father gives it to us because within the family we experience most of life's greatest joys. The sights, sounds, and associations of family and home are among our most treasured memories and provide our fondest anticipations."

"Living after the Manner of Happiness," Ensign, Dec. 2002, 56

On a Sunday Afternoon...

A family moment in pictures.

Summer FUN!

Zak surprised us by coming home from work early last Friday so we decided to make good use of our time together! We went to the mall so the kids could play while I got my hair cut SHORT! I had been growing it out just for a change but I really hated it....Now that it is short once again I can recognize myself in the mirror!

After the mall we found a terrific park! We parked our car in a virtual forest, walked down a winding path pushing the kids in the double stroller. We emerged from the forest to a beautiful, sunny and warm but well-shaded clearing with lush emerald-green grass that stretched and rolled gently to another cluster of thick trees and foresty growth. As we entered that next growth of trees we walked across a bridge that spanned the distance between shores of a naturally occurring stream and into another clearing. First we could see a couple of large play structures, and to the right was a great spray park where children's squeals of joy emerged. Plenty of nearby trees to provide shade for parent's who carefully watched their young ones playing in the busyness that was obviously the most popular part of this large, beautiful park.

Camden slept peacefully in the stroller 

as Belen quickly made friends and took turns chasing one another in and out of the spraying water. 

As we left, the opposite way we had come, tummies grumbling wishing we had brought a picnic dinner so we wouldn't have to leave quite so soon, we noticed that up-stream ever so slightly were a series of potholes large enough for older children to swim in that stair-stepped their way from a large swimming hole to more shallow water below. What a great thing is was to explore and discover such a beautiful park that is sure to become a favorite haunt for this family!

Grandpa's Photography

Time to Catch Up!

Oh my! This summer so far had been quite an adventure! We had the opportunity to go to southwest Washington to visit my family. It was so nice to be there especially since Belen hadn't seen her MiMi and Granpa in a YEAR! I know, sad! Belen absolutely LOVED all the space to run around in at my parents house, playing with Sadie the dog, chasing down a skittish Shadow the kitty, and watching the birds play in their cage.

While we were there Belen took every opportunity to disappear....ahh EXPLORE... One second she was in the room with us, the next she was in the neighbors fishing boat, or standing at the side of the house talking to Sadie the dog through the fence with her discarded poopy diaper on the ground beside her wearing NOTHING else but her shoes! The really yucky thing was...no one ever found the poopy!

I got the opportunity to spend my birthday with my twin sister! I don't know what you've been told, but after spending every birthday your entire life with someone as close as a sibling (especially a twin) when you move off on your own and start having birthdays to yourself...it feels like something, or someONE, is missing. It was nice not to have that feeling this year!

We also got to take Belen to the Children's Museum out there. She has an amazing time and so did Zak and I...chasing after her from one activity to the next. It was so much fun just watching her explore everything!

Driving a car at the Bob the Builder exhibit.

Helping Daddy with a bit o'face paint!

Gettin' wet!

"Do I want to put my head in there?"

Back for a touch up.

The clay art exhibit.

One last trip down the slide back at the Bob the Builder exhibit.

A chat with the locals.

And apparently this trip to the NW just couldn't be complete without an up close and personal visit by a Brown Recluse spider...it just gives me the heebie-geebies thinking about it!

P.S. More to come, keep checking back in the next few days!

Easter

We spent Easter with Zak's family in Utah. Zak and I had arrived at 2:30 a.m. (after spending the entire previous day moving our entire apartment into storage and scrubbing every nook and cranny in our apartment in preparation for check-out). I was so exhausted that I slept until noon on Easter Sunday completely missing church. I was disappointed about missing church but Zak made sure to bring Belen in to see me before leaving so that I could see her in her Easter dress! I was pretty amazed at how grown up she looks in it!

We took these pictures after church, Belen had decided long before to take the pretty barrettes out of her hair, the stinker.

Above: Here is the dress with the jacket that came with it.

Below: Belen's Easter dress. She LOVED playing with the skirt.

Zak said Belen twirled for 20 minutes in the aisle during Sacrament Meeting. Here is just 5 seconds worth.

Just plain 2 year old cuteness! There is a special message for her Grandma's and Grandpa's!

Immediately after I stopped filming this video, Belen blew her grandparents a kiss...

With all the graduation and moving craziness, Belen and I never did get to color eggs and I was too afraid that I would eat all the candy if I bought any so Zak bought Belen a new little Dr. Seuss book and a plastic dinosaur (which she LOVES), Mimi (my mom, that's what Belen calls her) got her a cute little easter bag filled with a soft little chick and bunny, an easter bunny book, and an egg filled with candy. Zak's parents bought Belen's entire easter outfit and made sure she had plenty of candy to munch on in the days following Easter.

Moving Day

This day was Saturday April 11th for us. It was a long day full of heard work, sweat, and a touch of nostalgia. We brought our daughter home from the hospital into this apartment complex. Moving from it and all our friends we'd met and grown to love through our time there was laced with a touch of sadness but excitement as well because it marked the beginning of the next phase of our lives together, as a family.

Credit for artwork Belongs to Scott Samuelson, he was our bishop for a period of time while we lived at these apartments (pictured immediately below the temple) and is an English professor at BYU-I. If you would like to view more of his artwork please click here.

Food Storage

I have a cousin who was asking me the other day about how to do a food storage. Being the poor students that we are I had to sheepishly admit that we have very little (I have recently acquired a large bucket of wheat thanks to my mom-in-law...yay! We've gotten started!).  So, I've been searching the internet for some more info about getting started. Because of the dietary changes I've made in my little life I'm trying to learn ways to alter the standard food storage lists I've come across in order to suite our family's needs. Of course I referred my cousin to www.providentliving.org to get started but since I spoke to her I've come across a terrific blog that not only has some fabulous foodstorage recipes and how-tos...it has some equally amazing links where you can find even more help!!!

While browsing those links I came across a free class offered by the University of Georgia called Home Canning and Preservation. This is a full-on online college course that includes tests and quizzes following each section. If you pass the course (at least 70%) they will even send you a certificate of completion..How cool is that!! Beware, there is a time limit in which you must complete the course...luckily it's a whopping 6 MONTHS!!! Now, who couldn't learn a bit more about Home Canning and Preservation?  

Well then, just click here for more information!

Christmas Morning

Waiting patiently for Christmas Breakfast.

After Breakfast we opened our presents. Belen had no trouble opening her gifts this year!

Play-DOH fun kit.

Soft, fuzzy pajamas.

and CARS!!!