Conglomerate Update

Gavin's walking! Has been for about a month now. It seems like one day he decided to let go of the furniture and the next he was running. He has a temper. For the most part he's pretty chill and content. But now he knows how to stomp his foot and scream, very loud. He's still a great sleeper, he hardly makes a peep when I lay him down. He just giggles and grins, grabs his blanket and rolls over.  I feel like he's grown up a ton these last few weeks. He doesn't seem like my little baby anymore. He has the cutest smile ever, it just makes me happy.

Lauren loves preschool for the most part. Today she didn't want to go because the other kids have giant hands. (?) Can't figure out that one. I was worried about melt-downs but she's done great! She's trying so hard to give up her daily nap. I don't think she needs one every day, but I can definitely tell that she needs one every few. She gets quite ornery when she doesn't have one for a few days! I'm quite sad that she's almost given them up.

My birthday was last Saturday. Chase's family took me out to breakfast, I went to lunch, shopped and Women's Conference with my mom, sisters, grandma and aunt. It was a great day! I was thoroughly spoiled by my family and good friends. Chase found me a patio umbrella for our picnic table. I'm excited to try it out. Maybe next year.

We've been canning up a storm this year. Pears, tomatoes, and salsa are done. Applesauce is tomorrow's project! I like seeing all our shelves full.

We found a reliable vehicle! We found one here in town that we liked fairly well, we just didn't like that we'd need to do some maintenance on it in the next few years and the leather was all cracked, but it was a good deal and had low miles so we thought we'd just go with it since we hadn't found anything else. But Chase looked online the day before we were supposed to buy the one in town and found an awesome one...in Provo. Long story short, I ended up going to Provo with my sister driving us and our three little kiddos, frantically trying to find the dealership and the bank before they closed. But we made it! We named the van Dash, since the first movie we watched in it was Incredibles and it was seriously a mad-dash to get it.

Chase's sister blessed their baby this past weekend so we had family in town. Chase's grandparents from Arizona stayed at our house and it was fun to see them again! I was glad Lauren was so excited to see them, it's hard to remember people when you're that little but she knew exactly who they were.

I've got a ton of sewing/craft projects on the docket... so many that I'm not sure where to start. So much fabric and so little time! I've got sewing ADD I think. Work for a few days on one project, then move to another so my sewing rooms ends up looking like a fabric store threw up. In my defense I'm trying really hard to use scraps and not buy any new fabric!

Dirty Dash=Done

Months ago a good friend asked if anyone would be interested in running the Dirty Dash. Chase signed up and took it up a notch and got my group of high school friends to sign up too. The idea of running wasn't appealing to me, and add mud on top of that...I decided not to do it, just be the cheerleader. Someone dropped out last Monday so there was an extra spot, so what the heck! I might as well try.

And I did it! There were a lot more hills than expected and the mud made it harder so I did walk most of the way, but I'm glad that I did it and now there are great stories to tell! Next year I am definitely going to prepare more and do the 10k. I've never done anything like this before and I'm kinda proud that I actually did it!

At one point in the race there is a HUGE inflated water slide, I went down head first, got to the end and realized there wasn't a way to stop, so I flipped around flew off 4 feet off the ground and smacked the back of my head on the mud mountain below the slide. Thankfully I didn't get a concussion, although my neck is pretty sore from the whiplash. :)

We spent the whole weekend at a condo in Midway with all of us. Nobody ever thought we would still get together, but 8 years later, we're still going strong! Thanks for the fun weekend everyone!

First Day

She did it! I know I must sound like a million other moms out there, but I'm so proud of her! I've been a little anxious for this, not knowing how she would handle the first few days. But she did great! She walked right in and didn't look back! This morning she jumped right out of the van and ran in all by herself. She wouldn't give me a smile when I tried to take her picture... she was ready to go and annoyed that I was taking too long. :)

Ducks!

We took the kids to feed the ducks a few weeks ago up at First Dam. They had a blast! Best 84 cents we've ever spent for a whole loaf of bread. It started raining while we ate our picnic so we huddled up under a tree and watched the rain till it blew over.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I'll start with the good:
We have a swing set! Not in our yard yet, but it's on its way! And a trampoline! There's very much excitement going on here. We've been keeping an eye out for an affordable swing set for months. We headed up to Idaho again this weekend for my cousin's homecoming. It was so fun to see family that we haven't for a long time. (Carly saw my brother in the Philippines after the typhoon when they were transferred to the same area for awhile. She gave an excellent talk!) My Grandma and Grandpa are selling their house and offered the swing set and trampoline in the back yard. Yes! So it's still up in Idaho in pieces, we'll get it here...eventually! Very good; good to see family and blessed to get a sturdy swing set and trampoline for free!

Now the bad:
The van died. Pretty much we're sick and tired of having unreliable vehicles. We considered the idea of getting a horse and buggy, but figured with our luck in transportation lately...the horse would probably die. We were blessed though that it was acting funny and then died right as we pulled into the auto parts store. Could have been a lot worse...although we are in the market...again. We finally made it home and thankfully, Chase's parents were willing to drive the van down when it's out of the shop. I was really sad we had to miss the Ogden Temple Open House this morning though, hopefully we can make it down before Saturday!

And the ugly:
The weeds in the garden grew like 3 feet while we were gone. But our beans and tomatoes look awesome!

Sometimes

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I had made different choices. If I'd gone to a different school, chose a different major, didn't get married at 19, etc.

We went to my brother-in-law's White Coat ceremony last week as his celebration into medical school. I wasn't expecting the feeling, "that could have been me," while I sat and watched all those highly intelligent and accomplished students embarking into their new challenge and prestigious careers. I could have been in my third year of medical school by now, applying for residency.

Sometimes I get tired of changing diapers, wiping up spills and watching princess shows over and over. Sometimes I wonder why I quit my job at the biotech company I loved. Sometimes I wonder if what I do everyday makes a difference. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever hold a pipette again or dust off my telescope. Sometimes I wonder what could have been.

After a rough week contemplating these things I found my "answer" as to why I am here, now. Why I am here; married, two kids and a house, changing diapers, managing tantrums, watching princess shows, playing with Lauren's pretend "sheepies", making dinner, and on and on.

Science and learning will always be a part of me, I will always have that desire to go to medical school or be a genetic counselor or, or, or.....but I made a choice.

My choice was to choose "the better part". I chose to get married at 19 to the greatest guy ever and we chose to bring our two kiddos into the world. And that is "the better part." What could have been would have been "good" at the time, but what I chose was the best for NOW.

My sister once told me about a quote from President Faust. It was something along the lines of, "You can't sing all the verses of your song at the same time." Even though I long to put on my lab coat, gloves, and pick up a pipette...that's a verse for another time; my song is about my family now, just as it should be.

A change in a single nucleotide can change a person physically, a small hug and kiss on the cheek can change a soul, and that's what matters now. When I wonder if what I do makes a difference, I remind myself that for these three people, I am their world, and what could possibly be better than that?

Just Busy

I'm not really sure what we've been up to lately, but it seems like we've been busy!

We did discover we've been feeding Gavin all the wrong things... who would want veggies and fruit when ice cream is available?! He ate all the ice cream, cone and all, after Lauren decided she was done with it. He's a boy after my own heart.

We moved Chase's brother, so Kami came to play while they cleaned. Contrary to their facial expressions, they did have a fun time together. :)

We moved my sister as well and then had pizza at the park with the family.

I came across this picture from a few months ago when my nephews and Lauren helped me make cupcakes for a shower.

 

 We picked our first tomatoes and first (and only) peas from our little garden. There's something thrilling knowing you can actually grow food to eat.

 Lauren's favorite position lately while she patiently (or impatiently) waits.

And we got another nephew on Friday!