Discovery of Talents

You know the parable of the talents? According to it, we should not bury our talents, but share them so we may gain others. I want my children to have many talents. So, I am going to share, by way of the world wide web, some talents my children possess that I have recently discovered.

I am thinking that Karlee might be a gifted painter. She's pretty creative with her colors, don't you think?

And if she's not really an artist, at least she could play one on TV. She looks pretty artsy-fartsy in that getup she picked out by herself.

And Kade? I am still amazed at his talent. The other day I let him hold a popsicle all by himself, knowing full well I'd have to clean up a huge mess when he was done. But I was wrong--There was no mess. He latched right tight to that thing and sucked it down without making one drip! Isn't that awesome!?! I can't even eat a popsicle without a making a couple drips.

Ya, I'm pretty proud.

Home, Sweet Home

This weekend was our 10 year reunion AND That Famous Preston Night Rodeo, Parade and City of Fun Carnival. I came home so full of nostalgia, salt water taffy and rodeo burgers, that I'm still recovering.

Anyone that knows me, knows of my feelings for my little town of Preston. I'm quite vocal on it's awesomeness. But may I, once again, give accolades to the place I will always call home.

It is THE BEST!!!


Why, you ask? Well, it could be that it's beautiful. Or that it has close access to virtually any kind of outdoor activity you could desire. Maybe it's so darn cool for the mere fact that it is in Idaho, and it is legal to drive 4 wheelers on the streets. The school, the lifestyle, the festiveness. Heck, Rodeo weekend and the Festival of Lights alone puts Preston on the Coolest Towns to Live list. But there are other cool places to live, I know. What sets Preston apart from all other towns and all other places in all of the world is one thing: Preston Pride.


Hmmmm...How do I describe the feeling of Preston Pride? It's not the typical, bad kind of 'pride' you should avoid. It is good. It's spiritual. It's a realization of truth. It is the realization of how blessed you are to be in a place so special. You can't see Preston Pride, but you can feel it. It can give you goosebumps or make you cry. It fills you with love, joy and light. And you know that other people feel it, too.

If you are from Preston, you know what I'm talking about. If you're not from Preston, but you've been to Preston, you might have caught that spirit. If you didn't, it is because of the hardness of your heart and the blindness of your mind. And, if you are from Preston and you don't have that pride, I'd say that is parallel to being born Under the Covenant and never finding a testimony.


Anyway, it was a great weekend. It was so good to see so many old friends and familiar faces. I came home with a renewed gratitude for such an awesome upbringing. Never before was there a city so close to perfect. Except for Enoch...and it's gone...

Born in the Latter-days, Under the Covenant AND in Preston...How lucky am I?

Farr West Living

When we could have lived anywhere in Utah, within a reasonable distance to the airport, I'm sure many people wonder why we chose Farr West. Actually, I think everyone just wonders where it even is! In answer to that, it's a small community just west of Pleasant View and north of Ogden. There are cows there and not too many people--which we automatically figured constituted all the makings of a nice, down-to-earth, close-knit community.

We found a house there online for a good deal that looked like it would do. Although we had never actually SEEN the house or Farr West, we bought it--in hopes that it would turn out to be the kind of community we thought it would be. Over the past nine months, the good nature of the town and its people has gradually made itself manifest and we've really started to feel at home. But Sunday afternoon, all our hopes and expectations of Farr West Utah came to fruition.

We had just gotten out of a nice day at church. I had driven separately to go to choir practice earlier that morning, so Brock took the kids to load up with him. When I pull around the parking lot, I see that Brock has Kade in his car seat and Karlee on his lap--smiling and holding the steering wheel. I give him a shake of the head and a tap on the horn, but they both just smile and wave. So they go on ahead of me and pull out onto the main road, speed limit 50 mph, where lo and behold, the very first vehicle coming towards us in the opposite lane happens to be the Sheriff. I immediately plan in my mind the next hours of my life bailing Brock out of jail, explaining his Brittany Spears behavior and fighting the CPA for custody of my kids and then... something wonderful happens! The Sheriff gives them a nice big grin and the old one-finger-off-the-steering-wheel wave and keeps right on going! And that's when we knew, then and there...This was truly the kind of town we could plant some roots in.

Long Lost

If you check blogs a lot AND you have your sound on, you might be ready to strangle me. Mariachi music has that effect on people, I know. All apologies.

But hip-hip hooray for nice weather and actually having places to go and people to see. Here's a quick photo tour of where we've been since we weren't on the blog scene over the past month:

Oh yeah. IT'S A BOY!!!

First, (a month ago) we went to St. George and stayed with the Gunns. We watched Ryan complete his first triathlon and then spent a little catch up time (while hiking around Zions) with our all-time favorite next door neighbors.

We LOVE the GUNNS!!
If you could hie to Kolob, this is what you'd see. It was our favorite part of ZNP...

Next it was birthday time for Kade. He's 1! As you can see, he didn't care much for the presents.

But he dove right into that cake!

We've done tons of yard work over the last month. And I really do mean TONS. We had 17 loads of dirt brought in that we (by we I pretty much mean Brock) moved around with our little shovels and wheelbarrow...
It's sure nice to have a yard for the kiddies to play in though.

Next we got Ya-Ya (Brock's mom) married off. They got married in Park City at Jeffrey's house. It was a nice day. Missy did Karlee's hair in curls for the event.

Here's Kade all spiffed out. (We'll post some real wedding pictures withOUT car seats when we get them.)

Brock hiked the Wellsvilles with his Uncle and some of his family. Although he missed church, he reports he came home "spiritually nourished."Then we were the lucky recipients of a visit from the Milmonts!!! We miss them so much! It was great to see Luke & Em and have Owen and Kade together again to see how much they've grown.

We don't have any pictures but we also had a little reunion with the Chuds and with Chuck & Lindsay before they moved to Alaska. We had a little BBQ and played some nice volleyball in our back yard. It was so great to be hanging out with them again. We miss all of our PA friends, so if you ever come to town, you better call!

We spent last weekend at Bear Lake in Colton's family cabin with Kels and the kids and Missy and Colton. My parents came over for a round of golf on Saturday with us. We golfed, played some volleyball, ate a lot of junk and spent some time at the water. Fun times.
Kade 's favorite part was running around on the deck.

Karlee liked the beach.

Kade...? Kade didn't like the beach so much. (Don't worry, he's red from the tantrum he's throwing, not from sunburn.)

Child Deprivation

Remember when your friend in 5th grade told you her rabbit just had babies and that she would give you one for FREE because you were her friend and you were special and bunnies are so sweet and soft and wasn't it great that you were going to have your very own bunny to hold and cuddle and love and maybe even sleep with in your bed!? You ran off the bus and into the house and to your parents where your hopes were immediately extinguished with a firm and definite "NO WAY."

You want an explanation? Okay. "What are you going to do with a bunny?"

You want to talk about it? Sure. "You'll understand when you're older."

Well, I am a lot older but I don't understand. Or didn't understand until I found myself bidding on 2 ducks at the ward auction last week. The auction was mostly service but someone had donated 2 baby ducks to see if anyone wanted them. Funny, it didn't strike me as odd I was the only one bidding. (Woohoo, less I had to pay!) So I won the ducks for $10 measly bucks. Brock asked me what the heck I just did and what was I going to do with ducks. But that was all easy to ignore. I just won 2 ducks!

Happy and on my way to to pay the cashier I was now inundated by ward members with that same irking question: "What are you going to do with a pair of ducks?" Amazing how such a pointless query from your parents or husband can have a deep and penetrating impact when someone else asks it. The wheels finally started to turn. Then I started to panic. What WAS I going to do with a pair of ducks?!!

After some deep breathing I decided my only option was to take it one step at a time. So, first thing I did was take them home. Then I gave them some water and some food. I let the kids play with them until bedtime. Then I took them outside for the night. (And for good--They are much too smelly to ever let back in the house.)

I'm happy to report the ducks are now doing well and growing fast. They roam around our backyard living a leisurely life (except for when Karlee goes out to chase them). I've since concluded that baby ducks are the perfect pet. You only need to take care of them for a few weeks, they grow their wings and then you say goodbye and take them to a pond to live free or die. Taking care of a pet is no thing when it's only temporary.

Bunnies, Bunnies, and More Bunnies

Happy Easter one and all. We hope you all had a good one.

Ours was great, complete with 3 egg hunts, lots of candy, good food and gorgeous weather. When the weekend had ended the kids came away with a total of 5 plush bunnies (one of them as big as Karlee). Not sure what I'm going to do with them all-- You know how I feel about bears. But maybe I should start a bunny collection. It's sort of fitting because Brock and I have a lot in common with bunnies. We not only play Easter Bunny once a year but we share another defining characteristic. No, not the ears. Not the fluffy tail. No, we're not herbivores. If you can't think of the OTHER commonality, forget it! I'm not going to explain! What I'm getting at is that we are expecting another baby!
Yes, yes. That would make 3 under 3. How, why? Well, it could be one of many reasons.
1. The obvious reason is we're crazy.
2. We try to keep up with Amy and Steve.
3. I wanted to make sure I was 8 months pregnant for my 10-year reunion.
4. I was afraid I wouldn't be hot enough this summer.
5. I like big butts and I cannot lie.
6. I was getting bored.
7. I don't know what I would do with the extra $40 a month I spend on diapers once Karlee is potty trained.
8. We wanted an excuse to skip out on the Peru trip this summer. Machu Picchu probably isn't all that special anyway.
9. 'Rhythm' isn't a good method if you can't find a beat.
10. Really, I couldn't tell you how or why I'm pregnant again. But I CAN tell you that we are ever so excited for the addition!

It's always something

It's human nature, I suppose, that makes us think that we will be happy when __________ . (You fill in the blank-- ie. it's spring, you buy a new dress, lose some weight, yada yada.) Now, I don't agree with that way of thinking. I think, as Abe (Honest Abe, that is) said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be." But...can I just say that I will be SO happy when Brock is done with this stupid test!!!

I honestly can't take it anymore!!!!

Brock's taking the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) exam at the end of this month. So, for the past 3 months, after putting in his 8+ at the office, he studies 3-5 hours more. Then on weekends, he studies ALL day. He is really busting it and I'm sure he can't wait for it to be over. But I'm sure I'm even more eager for it to end. I try to be tough during the week, but especially when Saturday rolls around and I still get no change in scenery, I about go nuts.

What's sad is that only the top 30% will pass the test, so statistically speaking, there's a good chance we'll be doing this all over in the fall when they offer it again. It's a really big deal if--I mean when-- he does pass it. So, I'm trying to be a soldier here and think of the greater good.

Today stunk. No real reason. I think I just reached my breaking point. Brock's in Boise and the kids and I were inside all day looking out at the yucky weather. Anyway, I spent the day looking forward to bedtime, which is a pretty unfortunate way to spend your life. The highlight of my day was listening to the satellite repair man make fart noises and blame it on Karlee's penguin.

I guess although I don't have a husband--for yet another 2 1/2 weeks--at least I'm in good company, right?

Aren't my kids cute?

Why, yes, they are!