2 things i'm thinking about today

#1 - i am counting down the hours until i can see this face.



and #2 - this is one of my favorite quotes in the entire world. it's changed my life.

"God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities. God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe."
— Jeffrey R. Holland

Latest happenings

So we took our tree down a few weeks ago in preparation for the next hurricane season. No more worrying about THAT anymore. Good riddens to bad rubbish. And I don't have to clean the gutters out as often anymore!!!! I really wanted to do this myself. I mean, it doesn't seem like rocket science to cut a tree down. It's like when my friend Mike saw his wife's high heels that were basically just a bunch of straps of leather and no real show part. He said--I can make those! We're still waiting for him to make the shoes, but I can see where he's coming from.

You'll see in this video that the top part of the tree is already down. It's the hardest part to get down because as the branches are dropped, the center of gravity for the tree changes each time and you're 60-70 feet up in the air. It's nothing when you're only 10 feet off of the ground and the center of gravity changes by 1 inch. So you can't see the real shaking that went on earlier, but just take a look at the amount this tree shakes when he chops off this one piece.

I guess Karen was right when she said it would be too dangerous for me to do alone. I see now I would have been thrown off of the tree like a toothpick if I were this guy. Or at least slammed into it face first a couple times.

We were planted some carrots back in November and the germination time frame set it to be about ready on my birthday. We picked one at that time and this is what we came up with. Lol. Looks like the freezing nights caused some slower germination than previously planned.

Just yesterday I picked THIS though! I'll let them go for another week or two and call it good. FUN!!!
Here's a sandbox we got for G-money. You're probably thinking, "That's kinda small." Well, you're right. And it's just a bin with little rollers on it.

Just chillin' in the front yard on a warm, winter day.
Them's some big shoes.
G-money loves to bake. LOVES it.
One of the best things about getting Grant up is seeing his morning hair.
Sporting Mom's new winter gear from Grandma.
He-man!!!
Warshing the car on a winter afternoon.


Grant loved going to Utah and seeing everyone. Here's him and Tito Jon as they watched He-man on mom's pink i-pod.
Maestro's Gelado on Center street in Provo. aMAZing drinking chocolate and gelados!!!!
SNOW!
Here I am levitating into space.
This face kills me.
I think it's frozen in place.
Trying to catch a piece of snow on his tongue.
Ahh--Utah. The Canyons here.
Incredible day--lots of snow and fresh powder.
Karen was amazing. She went on blue runs all day long. Normally she chills on the green routes, so it was super of her to try something new and challenging.
G-dogg. Trying to find McCain.
Hot mamma here. Greer in the background.
Just amazing views that day.
Grant is sawing some wood in the house. I love these plastic tools. He knows what a saw, hammer, screwdriver, and pliers are.
Dad's prepping to do another round of gala and fuji apples in the dehydrator.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!!!!!!! One baloon for every year.
Famous pound cake with my own personal touch--chocolate chips. I should have added more (the entire bag instead of 3/4 of it). I should have also added in an entire bottle of carmel. This should go on this website.
This, has been the biggest hit EVER. He LOVES it. We're going to do one each FHE for the next month or two. It's seriously his favorite train--skip Thomas the trains. He had to have it when he went to sleep last night. Then again after he started playing today.

Choo choooooooooooooo!!!!!!
What a fun boy.

project #1

one of my new year's resolutions is to take president uchtdorf's counsel and create something. i'm always complaining to jason that stores don't sell the curtains, bedding and clothes that i picture in my head, and he always says "why don't you make them?" ha-ha. so, my first project was to sew some curtains.

here's the machine i had to conquer. my wonderful mom bought this for me 10 years ago. it's a little daunting, don't you think? but i was dermined this time (compared to my last feeble attempts where i gave up after 20 min of wondering which way was up). i got out the manual, and 3 hours later i FINALLY learned all the parts and got the bobbin wound and the thread in place. whew, my back hurt.

i found the material about a month ago, so the next day i was lucky enough to sew for 3 hours while grant napped. it was surprisingly easier then i thought and even fun. last night, jason (with grant's help) hung the rod and viola! new curtains! i am so excited, i can't even tell you. the best part is when grant woke up today, smiled, and said "look, mama's new curtains!"