Letterboxing

It's nearly April and as I look outside this very moment I see snow on the ground. I had heard that the winters were long in northern Utah, but never really experienced it for myself. My four years at BYU must have been mild, because I can vividly recall warm days in February (I remember because I would belt, "It felt like springtime on this February morning" at the top of my lungs). And I clearly recall breaking out the knee length shorts and sunning myself (sleeves pushed up to my shoulders) by the Clyde building before the end of the semester in April. Compared to the four years we spent in Columbus, the winters here seemed puny in comparison. I'm beginning to think that either my memory is playing tricks on me, or it was all an evil ploy to get me back in northern Utah for good. Either way, I'm seriously ready for winter to be over already!

Allie is too. Last week, before it got cold enough to snow on us, she traded in her beloved swimwear for bermuda shorts and a shirt with a rainbow on it (purchased with the mistaken impression that it would be warm enough to sport them outside). The first day I didn't say anything, hoping that the chill outside would bring her to her senses. It didn't. On Friday, she was wearing them again. This time, knowing we would, in fact, be leaving the basement that day, I tried to talk her into wearing something warmer, knowing that my Florida girl claims to be freezing in 70 degree weather, with a mild breeze. She was having none of it, but did decide to throw on a pair of leggings under the shorts, and wear socks with her sandals. I'm seriously considering entering her into some fashion contest. I mean, the girl has got serious style.

So back to Friday. Jeff was out of town and David and Maren (the kids cousins) were staying with us for the afternoon and night. Because we don't get to see them very much (they live next door), we wanted to do something fun (I'm being facetious. Plus, I have always wanted to use the word facetious on my blog and haven't ever done so. I had a religion teacher at the Y who uttered the phrase, "I'm being facetious," nearly every day. Made it hard to understand what, exactly, was true in the Book of Mormon and what he was making up just so he could use the word). I had read that there was a letterbox near Springville High, and thought it would be a great opportunity to try to find it with the kids.

If you have never been letterboxing, basically it's like a treasure hunt. Someone hides a box with a stamp and a small notebook somewhere it won't be disturbed and posts clues as to its whereabouts on the letterboxing website. Those trying to find the box bring along their own stamp and follow the clues to where the box is hidden. When found, you stamp your stamp into their book and their stamp into your book. That's the treasure. Really, all the fun is in the seeking. And because my kids love it, I thought Maren and David would like to try it, too.

We drove to the high school and started with the first clue. Here is the gang getting ready to start hunting. Allie, who was wearing her shorts and leggings and a jacket, was too freezing to get into the picture, and Kyla was in the backpack on my back. Had I really thought things through, I would have carried Allie in the backpack and let Kyla run with the big kids.


After following all the clues, we ended up by the creek, and found the letterbox under some rocks. Damon and David made sure to find some really sweet sticks. Because that's what boys do. Allie's head makes a brief appearance in the bottom left corner.

This letterbox had a special surprise--the students at Hobble Creek Elementary could stamp a purple post-it and bring it to the office to be entered into a drawing. They were all pretty happy with their stamps.


"Especially Allie," she says facetiously. You can sort of see the legging/shorts/socks/sandal combo that I spoke of earlier.


Damon was thrilled, though.


We were all getting a little cold (it wasn't just Allie at this point), so we hurried home to our scrum-diddlu-umptious dessert at home (the Cinnamon Wheel from Papa Murphy's--it's way too good), and enjoyed a showing of Bolt (well, except for KyKy who had to go to bed). It was a lot of fun.

And of course, since I was getting movies from Redbox, I had to get a couple for myself. I watched The Secret Life of Bees later that night and enjoyed my second viewing of Twilight the night after that. Seriously, Redbox has to be one of the top 5 inventions of all time. I put it right up there with public libraries. It is the only way I get to see movies, and with Jeff going out of town on occasion, I get to watch whatever I want. Brilliant.

So, we managed to have fun, despite the cold weather. The snow didn't hit until yesterday, and it doesn't look like it will be warming up any time soon. Our next letterboxing adventure may have to wait. Or I get talked into going sooner, I may have to convince Allie to wear her snow clothes.

Happy All My Life

So, there will be no baby named "Cruz." Not that we would have really used that for a name, but it would have been fun to joke about. And as much as I try to be understanding and patient, I can't help but feel a little bummed out.

Couple that with more disappointment in our house hunting, and I found myself having a bad week. Back in March, we found a house that we loved in Provo. It had a finished basement and yard, and had many of the things we look for in a house (3 car garage, big family room next to the kitchen, master bedroom on the main floor, office for Jeff, etc), but we knew we wouldn't be able to pay what the sellers were expecting. To make a long story short, they approached us and offered to lower the price if Jeff would be willing to do some braces for them in return. It seemed like it was meant to be, and we went through the loan process to see how much we could qualify for. We had to make a decision before we left on our cruise, and even though we found a way to make it work financially, neither Jeff or I felt good about it after praying about it. We both felt uneasy, and took that to mean that it just wasn't right. I feel like it was the right house, but not the right time. So, we decided to keep looking. Last week, we went to see some more houses in another neighborhood in Provo that we really like (there are only two neighborhoods in Provo we would consider living in), and were disappointed in both of those, knowing right away that we didn't want either of them.

I know there is a house out there for us, and that we will find just what we want (and not feel sick inside when we think about buying it), and most of the time I am not in a big rush to get out of here. Most of the time, I understand that we are better off staying here at least a few more months (until Jeff gets a raise), and I don't have a problem with it. But every now and then, I get a little anxious. I start to let little things irritate me (like the lack of a dishwasher), and before long, I have mentally composed a long list of things I dislike about where we are at.

That's what happened last week. But to make matters worse, I was already hosting a pity party for myself because I am still not pregnant, so the irritation I allowed myself to feel was magnified severely. Jeff and I were lying in bed one night, and he asked me, "where do you want to live?" I started telling him about how frustrated I had become with the whole house hunting process, and ended up going on and on about everything else that was bothering me. Poor man, never saw it coming. But he was sweet, and assured me that everything will work out, and I know that they will. I just needed to unload, and I did feel much better after getting it all out, although I admitted to him, "that wasn't a very good answer to your question, was it?"

Since that night, I have been thinking a lot about my life and have been feeling very grateful for what we have. I know we are so blessed (beyond what we deserve, in my opinion), and I started feeling ashamed that I had ever let the little things irritate me so much. Yesterday I was rereading President Monson's talk from October conference, Joy in the Journey, and one part really stood out to me. He told the story of a woman named Borghild Dahl who was born with a severe visual impairment. But despite this limitation, she was never bitter, but instead was filled with gratitude for her blessings. At the age of 92 she published a book called Happy All My Life. That's when it hit me--that needs to be my new motto. No matter what, I want to be happy. And not just when we have another baby or when we find the perfect house, but today, right now.

So, now it's a new week. And I have a new goal. A few, actually. I am going to be happy. I am not going to stress about getting pregnant, but am going to enjoy spending time with the three amazing kids I have. I am not going to feel sorry for myself because I don't yet have the house I thought we would by now, but am going to enjoy not having a bigger house to clean. I am going to be happy. Good luck to me!

Greenie

Blame it on my mom, but I've never really gotten into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. I don't know the history of the holiday, and didn't grow up expecting visits from leprechauns. So, this year when we woke up and remembered it was March 17th, I was left to wonder what we could do to make it at least a little bit special. I made the kids some eggs, which I dyed green, but they were a little skeptical.


Kyla, on the other hand, didn't seem to have a problem with them at all.

The kids got all ready for the day, and were hanging out, waiting for school, when I took this picture. This is Maren and David, Jeff's sister's kids that live next door. Maren got Allie and Kyla dressed in their green, and I thought they all looked so cute.

Last night we celebrated by going to Chuck E Cheese's. We had been promising the kids we would go since January and last night was the night. My mom and sister were in town and we dragged them with us (along with my aunt and cousins). With all the family there, it was quite the party! Chuck E made an appearance, which made Damon and Allie extremely happy. Kyla, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him.

Something to note about Allie: she is wearing her yellow swimsuit under her clothes. For some reason, this has been her favorite item of clothing to wear, and has worn it nearly every day for at least two weeks. She does wear undies with it, so I don't feel like she is compromising her hygiene, but it just makes me laugh.

Hope you all had a great day, and I will be waiting to hear what fun things you did. Maybe I will try harder to make it a better day next year!

Verbage

Fun fill-in-the-blank I found on Kristen's blog!

1. I love Reese's peanut butter eggs. Yummy.
2. I fear that we may not have any more babies, and not by my choice.
3. I crave a good book. I'm always on the lookout for something life-changing.
4. I dislike spending money, especially on things like library fines and school fundraisers.
5. I honor the weather in St. George. That's a fancy way of saying I worship the sun.
6. I discontinue watching LOST. I just got a bit too confused. I also try to discontinue Gossip Girl. We'll see how successful that attempt is.
7. I require a lot of sleep. As neither a morning or night person, I could go to bed early and get up late. This changes when I have a new baby, though, and find myself running on fumes most of the first month or so.
8. I refuse to buy a house just because we are anxious to move out. I want to make sure we are getting the right house.
9. I think far more than I actually say out loud.
10. I perceive the world to be a very good place, and am probably far too trusting of other people. It would be my downfall should I ever go on Survivor.
11. I disengage when faced with conflict. I would rather back down that have a fight.
12. I reject whining and tearful manipulation from Kyla. Okay, sometimes I give in. I'm trying, though.
13. I loathe cats.
14. I worry that if I nurse another baby, my chest may shrink even more, and I will no longer require the use of a bra.
15. I enjoy March Madness, and look forward to it all year long.
16. I contemplate cutting my hair off. I contemplate more about cutting Allie's hair off.
17. I cherish friendship and have been blessed with some amazing friends throughout the years. I love you all!
18. I pray that I will be a better mom, knowing my kids only get one.
19. I value reliability, and try to be the kind of person other people can rely on.
20. I instigate date night by getting a baby sitter. Not often enough.
21. I mock Jeff for getting the lyrics wrong on countless songs. It started way back when we were dating and he would sing, "A little bit of mardi gras in my life," to Mambo Number Five.
22. I regard my mom as one of the most righteous people I know.
23. I struggle with Allie. Daily. Over many things, especially combing her hair.
24. I respect women who choose to give birth naturally, without pain meds, of their own volition. After having done it myself (without choosing it), I don't know that I would ever want to do it again.
25. I wonder how my kids are going to turn out. The possibilities are limitless and I am excited to watch them grow into adulthood. Okay, and a little scared, too.
26. I look forward to having a house of our own. While I am enjoying the many perks of living with the in-laws, I know we won't feel truly settled until we are in our own home.
27. I treasure time spent with my family. Even Allie. :)

Here is the list if you want to copy it yourself
1. I love
2. I fear
3. I crave
4. I dislike
5. I honor
6. I discontinue
7. I require
8. I refuse
9. I think
10. I perceive
11. I disengage
12. I reject
13. I loathe
14. I worry
15. I enjoy
16. I contemplate
17. I cherish
18. I pray
19. I value
20. I instigate
21. I mock
22. I regard
23. I struggle
24. I respect
25. I wonder
26. I look forward to
27. I treasure

Allie's 2 Dances

Allie has been taking a dance class at SHS every Wednesday evening for the past 8 weeks. It has been quite comical watching her dance, as she is often more concerned about learning the words to the song than she is about learning the steps to the dance. She also set herself up to fail, as she insisted on wearing her dance costumes (all of which are inherited, none she earned herself) to every class. Anyone who saw her would expect her to dance circles around the rest of the 3-4 year olds in her class. It wouldn't have been too difficult, as most had problems paying attention, but Allie showed no more promise than anyone else.

Yesterday was her dance "recital," where the three classes performed their individual dances. The whole thing took about 20 minutes. Allie wanted to look her best, and she let me put sponge curlers in her hair hours ahead of time. She chose the same leotard she wore last week (conservative compared to the rest of her wardrobe choices), and was ready to go. But as soon as we got there, she morphed from Sweet Allie to Nightmare Allie for no apparent reason. She decided she wasn't in the mood to dance. Here are two clips--the first one is from last week when she was getting ready for the performance. It's Sweet Allie. The second one is from yesterday, Nightmare Allie. You just never know what you're going to get!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Canker

Kyla has just not been herself lately. For the past three days, she has eaten barely anything (most unusual for her), has cried nonstop, and hasn't slept well at all. I was trying to figure out what to make of it, and had decided that she must have a touch of the flu (she threw up in her bed a few days ago and woke up covered in dried puke. Sometimes I think I can still smell it). Friday, Jeff was on a pheasant hunting outing (with 10 dentists) and so we thought we'd have a fun night without him, complete with pizza, root beer and popcorn. And High School Musical 3 (that's what he gets for leaving me alone with the kids!). Kyla wouldn't touch her pizza and went to bed, waking up and crying a couple of times during the night. Saturday was more of the same, and I couldn't even get her to eat applesauce! Sunday, we dragged ourselves out of bed to get to 9:00 church and it was only then, when I was hanging out with her in the hall, that I found out the reason why. (The face we've been seeing for days.)


Something in her mouth caught my eye, and when I had her stick her tongue out, I saw that about a fourth of her tongue was white, looking like one MASSIVE canker sore. I don't know why I hadn't noticed before, because it was kind of hard to miss, but I suddenly felt so bad for her. And things started to make sense. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, but she really COULDN'T eat without a lot of pain. At dinner, she tried a bite of everything, but all she could stand was bread. Grandma took pity on her and gave her a popsicle, and I tried hard to get her to stick it out so I could take a picture, but she doesn't really enjoy it much at all. Imagine a canker sore about the size of a nickel on both sides of her tongue on the left side (where her molars are). I know you can't see it hardly at all, but if you look closely, you can see a tiny bit of white on her left side.

Last night, she woke up about an hour after she had gone to sleep and cried for a little bit. Then she was quiet, so we went to bed. At 10:30 she cried again, and didn't stop this time. Jeff was taking pity on her, and told me to put her in bed with us. If you know Jeff, you know he would never normally suggest this, so he must have really been feeling sorry for her. I put her in bed with me and she slept off and on, waking up and crying every hour or so. Finally, at 3:00, I put her back in her bed and she slept for a bit before doing the whole crying thing again and I brought her back to our room. Needless to say, neither Jeff or I got very much sleep last night and my patience was stretched a little thin today. I am fully aware that Kyla uses her crying to manipulate us, and while I can't say for sure that is what she was doing last night, I am not putting it past her.

She did take a good nap today, and just woke up while I was writing this. I set her at the table with some pudding and just looked over to see her rubbing it on her body and hair like it was a shampoo/body wash combo. You can't see just how much of a mess she made in this picture. Now, she and Allie are in the bath. The fact that she is smiling here gives me hope. Even though she is playing with her food and not eating it.

Sunny Daze

I think everyone who lives somewhere cold should take a vacation in February. And it should be to someplace warm. You know, just to remind yourself that the sun is still out there to help you get through the end of winter.

When we got back to Springville, it was cold. Not as cold as it has been, but after spending a week in the Caribbean, it was pretty chilly. The snow had melted, which was a welcome sight, but I still needed to wear a jacket. Naturally, I was missing the sun a little bit. I am a St. George-sun-worshiping-girl and having the sun beat down on me was incredible. So, yesterday when I went to open the back door to toss a poopie diaper in the trash, I braced myself for the inevitable gust of cold air that always accompanies said door opening. It never came. I opened my eyes, and began breathing normally, trying to figure out what exactly had happened. Had I only opened the door in my dream? Nope. It stood open only inches away from me. And the air that came through wasn't cold. It was, dare I say, pleasant!

Amazed, I walked outside, realizing that it was a nice day. The first nice day we have had in months. You can imgaine the perma-grin I was sporting the rest of the day. We picked Damon up from school and I announced that we were going to be spending the afternoon at the park. As if there was any other alternative. The kids played there like they had forgotten what parks were. Despite a stiff breeze that was blowing, we had a fabulous time.

I saw the weather forecast last night and saw that the warm spell won't last. It will be back in the 40's tomorrow. Sad, but not all that unexpected. The girls and I tried to have a picnic today to enjoy another nice day. But the sun was behind some clouds and with the wind blowing, it was too cold for two of us (guess which two). Oh well. It was the thought that counts. Thank you sunshine for the brief appearance. I think I will be able to hold on now, knowing that you are going to be coming back soon.

Much Needed Vacay

Man, it's hard to come home from vacation. Last Friday, as Jeff and I got ready to leave, he said, "Well, I'm already sad. Our vacation is going to go so fast that it feels like it's already over." I laughed at him, but he was right--it went way too fast.

After dropping Damon off at school (he stayed with Jeff's sister next door), we dropped the girls off in St. George with my family and headed to Las Vegas where we caught the red eye flight to Boston, connecting in the morning to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was long day (two days, actually) of traveling, but we made it. We met up with my aunt and uncle in San Juan and we took a taxi to the cruise ship, where we checked in. Our ship didn't leave until 10:00 pm, so we went back for a quick tour of Old San Juan. Puerto Rico was awesome, and I would love to go back for a longer stay. Here are the four of us (Tyler, Colleen, me and Jeff) on an old cobblestone street in San Juan. We were all excited for the adventure ahead of us!

Stop one was St. Thomas (one of the U.S. Virgin Islands) on Sunday. We found the local branch and went to church. It was a cool experience and we couldn't get enough of the local accent. Routinely, the people in the Caribbean drop the 'h' in words with 'th' sounds, pronouncing "three" as "tree" and "thought" as "tought." I loved it. After lunch back on the boat, Jeff and I took a bus to Coki Beach, where we went to Coral World, an aquarium/nature park on the other side of the island. We ended up not spending any time at the beach, because it was very crowded. Feeling adventurous, we decided to take the bus back, thinking we needed to be back by 5:00. It made us nervous when the bus kept stopping, but we made it back to our ship by 4:56. We went straight to our rooms to get ready for dinner, and were a tad surprised when the ship pulled out of the harbor at 5:15. Yes, we cut it very close. This is a view of St. Thomas from our ship. It is a cool island and I would love to go back.


Stop number two, Monday, was St. Maarten/St. Martin. It is an island shared by the Dutch, in the south, and the French, in the north, hence the different spelling, depending where on the island you are at. We wanted to rent a car on at least one of the islands, and this was the likely choice. Driving is on the right, the roads are fairly well maintained, and the island is small enough to explore in one short day. We, along with my aunt and uncle, drove to the top of Paradise Peak and had a great view (not nearly as impressive in pictures). We drove to the north side of the island and took a ferry to Ilet Pinel, an uninhabited island with awesome sand and water. Jeff and I went snorkeling and saw a lot of beautiful fish and coral. We didn't take any pictures of the beach, which may seem like a bad thing until you hear that there were several topless women who were not at all appealing (and not just to me--Jeff didn't think they were much to look at either). We spent the rest of the afternoon in Marigot, sampling cold coconut and exploring Fort St. Louis. It was a busy, full day and we really enjoyed our time there. This isn't the best view of the island, with the clunky boat and industrial area, but the water was so blue, and beautiful.



Monday was also our first formal night, and I included a pic of us all dressed up, lest you think we spent the week in swim suits and ball caps. I forgot to pack Jeff's belts, which is why he is without one. Oh well, I guess it can't be perfect.


Stop number three was Antigua. Jeff had gotten badly sunburned on the backs of his legs (from all the snorkeling), and didn't want to spend much time in the sun, so we hired a driver to take the four of us to some historical sites on the other side of the island. Our driver, James, even stopped to point out aloe growing by the side of the road to ease Jeff's pain. Antigua was dry, compared to the other islands we visited, and was a lot less tropical. It was still beautiful, and has 366 beaches, but was our least favorite stop. This was at Shirley Heights, an overlook where the British army had fortifications to protect their island.


Stop four was St. Lucia. In comparison with Antigua, it was a tropical paradise. We called it St. Luscious the entire day. We took a boat to Soufriere, where we saw an active volcano (which was just steam coming out of the mountain side, reeking of sulfur) and a waterfall before we went to the beach for a few hours. It rained off and on all day, the only bad weather day of our entire trip, so the beach wasn't the best. But the island was magnificent, and one of our very favorites.

Jeff and me in front of one of the Pitons, two awesome peaks on the coast of St. Lucia. It wasn't a great day at all for photographing the peaks, but we'll just have to go back. The sand on this island wasn't the white sand we got used to, but a darker, almost chocolate brown volcanic sand. It was really cool.

Stop five was Barbados. Jeff and I had scheduled a scuba diving trip with a local dive shop and we met our taxi at 8:30. I was really nervous to go diving. We got certified in 2001 at BYU and I didn't have a great experience with my open water dives. I got a little panicky under the water, which is the very last thing you want to do while diving. You can't just bolt for the surface, because it can be very dangerous, and the instructors tell you repeatedly that as long as you stay calm, you can solve your problems under water. I haven't been diving since, but had heard that diving in the Caribbean is an awesome experience and I thought we should do it. Well, I started to feel anxious about the whole thing the night before, but I kept telling myself that I could do it. I knew what to do, and as long as I kept calm, it would be fine.

I thought a lot about my kids and how I encourage them to do things that are hard or scary, beacuse I know that they can do them. I repeated "You can do hard things" to myslef, knowing that there was really no reason for me to be so nervous about it. It wasn't like I was doing something stupid or was unprepared, I was just scared. I realized that the older I get, the fewer things I am willing to do that are out of my comfort zone. It's not that often that I have to do things that scare me, and I really wanted to do this.

So, despite my trepidation, I took the plunge (literally). We did two dives and everything went perfectly. I have to admit, it was amazing. It was like being surrounded by a Discovery Channel special about the ocean and I am so glad I didn't chicken out but went through with it. This is a picture of the two of us after we were finished diving, waiting for our taxi to take us back. The beaches in Barbados were amazing and there were long stretches that looked just like this. The water was also a beautiful turquoise color and I fell in love with the island. I definitely want to go back there. The catamaran is just for scenery--we had nothing to do with it.

Our last day was spent at sea, and it was nice and relaxing, like the rest of the vacation. Colleen and I finally made it over to the rock wall and that was a lot of fun. Colleen was most impressive, making it to the very top of the wall, despite wanting to quit several times. I'm so glad she was there, because who really wants to climb alone?



I stayed for the speed climb (the lady told me I could win a prize if I won), and took first place in the women's division with a best time of 19 seconds. It wasn't really that difficult, especially since I was the ONLY woman who competed. Oh well, we don't have to remember that tiny detail, do we? I got a medal and a t-shirt. Fun memories.

Overall, it was a fantastic vacation. Way better than our last cruise to the Bahamas. Here are some things I learned when comparint the two:

• Seven day cruises are WAY better than four day cruises. You need the extra time to really enjoy it, and if you have bad weather, you have a lot more days to make it up.
• The food on Royal Caribbean was WAY better than Carnival. Not even close.
• We had better weather, and I liked our destinations better.
• We had one bed, instead of bunk beds. No explanation needed.
• Our boat was much more stable and we experienced only a few, sporadic moments of seasickness.
  
• Our boat was bigger and there was more to do onboard.
• The crowd was a more mature crowd, and it wasn't so much the party boat that Carnival was. There were very few people our age on board, but we didn't mind. We weren't there to make friends.
• We had my aunt and uncle with us, which was way better than traveling alone. We had a lot of fun with them and dragged them around for several days before they decided they needed a break from us and all our activities.

Yes, it was a great, and much needed, vacation. And while it is hard to come home (and deal with the piles of laundry to be done), I'm so glad we went. I wish I could've come home a little more tan, but sunscreen was my friend, and I didn't get any bad burns. It was so fun to be reunited with the kids again, and to hear that they had been well-behaved while we were gone.