Not a Morning Person

For those of you who know Brett well, you will know that he DOES NOT like to get up in the morning. He loves to sleep in. Well, no more sleeping in for Brett. He just got called to be a seminary teacher. That means 5 days a week for the next 8 months, he will be getting up at 5:00 am!! Isn't it funny how the Lord sometimes helps us grow by asking us to do things that aren't quite the easiest things for us to do. Despite the early mornings, Brett is really excited! I know that he will do an amazing job!

He Makes Me Smile

So Does He...

Thank you , Gwyneth!

ABout once a week for the past few months, no years, I have said that I am going to stop eating sweets. I usually last about a day. Actually, my record is 5 days. Well, last Sunday was one of those days. I was determined to not eat sweets for 2 weeks. However, the next day, I watched Oprah and Gwyneth Paltrow was on. She was talking about how she does not diet. Whenever she tries to restrict herself from sweets, it seems she eats more. So, she just eats what she wants, in moderation I am sure, and works out 2 hours a day 6 days a week. Yeah, I know - the whole working out for 2 hours is a lot and not easily do-able, but I try to exercise regularly. I agree with the idea of not eliminating foods from your diet - especially if love them like I love treats! It just makes life miserable and all you think about is the next time you can eat the thing you are try not to eat! On that note, I think I will go eat a cookie... just a small one :)!

And We Shall Call Him Mop-sy

Ryan has GREAT hair! We have had some fun with it lately!

Pay attention to Ryan's hair in this video... you have to tilt your head... technical difficulties!

I've been thinking.

Yes, I have been thinking. period. I was brought to the attention of this young mother's story and blog. When I read through it, I was filled with sadness for her, but also inspired by how she embraces and captures small moments of life, love and motherhood. I hope and pray that she and her husband will recover. Pondering her story has really made me want to enjoy all of the little moments in life more. I am a total task girl. I like to get things done. That is good most of the time, but I think that sometimes I let life get away from me. I am sure that precious moments happen everyday, but a lot of times I don't take the time to notice. Well, I am done with not noticing. She quotes Elder Ballard in her blog:

"Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

The day after I had pondered all this, I had one of those moments. I brought Ry into our bed to feed him. After he was done, he played around a little bit and then all of the sudden, he flopped down, put his arm around my neck, cuddled into my chest and fell back to sleep for about 5 minutes. I wanted those minutes to last forever. I just loved holding him close because I know that the times I have to do that will come to an end before I know it. The new, "live in the moment" part of me had to battle with the"task" part of me not to just get up. I am so glad I didn't. So, I hope you don't mind as I indulge myself at times by sharing life's little moments. It is not completely in my nature to do this, but I want to try. I know that as I start thinking more about these moments to "blog" about them, it will become more natural for me to enjoy them. So, my prayers go out the the Neilsons and I thank her for helping me to think about things. Period.

For Tyler

This is Brett reading Ryan's new favorite book.... This was an attempt to recreate an experience Brett had with Ryan the night before where Ryan laughed for about a minute straight at all of the different animal noises. It's crazy what parents will do to make their kids smile!

9 month old Ryan

Eyes that just melt your heart!
Enjoying one of his favorite things!

When Brett was watching Ryan, Brett was getting something out of the fridge and Ryan crawled under the fridge door and started playing in it. He grabbed a hold of the door and was walking back and forth until the momentum caught up to him, he lost his balance and shut himself in! Brett had to get a few shots in before helping the kid out!

(P.S. The scratch on his face was from previous fall.)

"Help me out, Dad!"

It is that time for the Ryan milestone update! He is 9 months and so much fun! It is really amazing how quickly babies can learn!

Milestones: Crawling and into EVERYTHING! He is walking along the furniture, too! I think that walking is in the not-too-distant future. He babbles a lot and is starting to wave - it is so cute!

Favorite Activites: Pulling stuff out of cupboards and drawers and knocking things off of tables and bookshelves. Reading and wrestling with dad. Listening to music.

Favorite foods: grapes, blueberries, bread and anything that anyone else is eating. When there is food, Ryan is there. My dad started calling him "pigeon" because he doesn't leave anyone who is eating alone!

Brett's New Bike

For Brett's graduation, my parents got him a road bike! He has been talking about how much he misses biking for so long, so he is pretty excited to get back into it. He went for his first ride today - up the street to watch the BYU game! We need to get Ryan a trailer so he can go, too! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Distraction and News

Right now, it is 5:30 am and I am listening to my sweet baby cry... we are trying to get him sleeping through the night and it is so hard for me! I want to go get him and make him happy, but I know this is for the greater good. My heart hurts for him... so to distract myself, I thought that I would post some WONDERFUL news! My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first child after 4 long years and an adoption that didn't go through. They are such faithful people and have been so good in being patient and trusting in the Lord's timeline. The deserve nothing but the best! Modern medicine is a miracle! Heidi is 12 weeks along and doing well. CONGRATS TROY AND HEIDI! (hope you're OK with us sharing the good news!)

A Little Bit of Heaven

It is time to bump that ode to me from the top... it is embarrasing! I do have a sweet husband though. He makes me feel special everyday and I am lucky to be married to him. Speaking of lucky... we were lucky enough to spend a wonderful week with my family in Encinitas ( not Mexico) by the beach. We were in a great beach house and just loved spending time with one another hanging out at the beach and playing games. Ryan loved being around his grandparents and aunt and uncles and playing at the beach. He really started loving it this trip. It was such a great week. I was sad to see it end, but then it makes me appreciate those family times even more. It really does make me grateful for eternal families. Now does anyone know if there will be a beach in heaven...?