let us pray...

I know I am always posting the funny things that Adam says, but I just can't help myself. He really cracks me up - plus it is a good way for me to remember these humorous little moments. So here is another one.

Yesterday morning Adam said the prayer for breakfast. This is how it went:

"Dear Heavenly Father.
Thankful we can have a little breakfast.

Thankful for the chickens.

Thankful for Wednesday. (this was said on Tuesday)

Thankful for the chickens.

Thankful for Betty the Rooster.

Thankful for Saturday.

Thankful for the chickens.

In the name...

Amen."

Apparently Adam is really thankful for the chickens!

healthy, (not so) wealthy, and (I wish I was) wise

I never actually thought I would be grateful for housework. So here is the story to what has awakened my senses to appreciating housework...

At the end of December (I was about 12 weeks along) I had to go to the Emergency Room because of some pregnancy issues (I am not going to go into great detail because I know it will gross my dad out, which means it will probably gross others out too). Once there we found out that although the baby was still thriving, there were complications with my pregnancy. I had a large subchorionic hemorrhage (you are welcome to look it up if you want to know what it is, but again, I will spare you the gory details). After visiting my doctor a couple days later it was determined that I should "take it easy and go on partial bed rest." Basically because I have three children there was no way I could be completely down without having to farm the kids out for who knows how long, and I wasn't really willing to do that. But this meant that my everyday activities would have to be pretty limited and definitely no picking Gracie up (or anything else too heavy).

As frustrating as this was the first month went fine - I was able to cope with this. But then after another ultrasound a month after the incident we found that nothing was changing, which isn't always a bad thing, but it certainly wasn't a great thing either. I was starting to get discouraged. The weather was gloomy, my house was a mess, Grace was starting to take advantage of the fact that I couldn't pick her up (major temper tantrums at times when I would normally just pick her up and move on), and all the stress of a somewhat high-risk pregnancy were starting to get to me. Luckily I have wonderful sisters. My sister Michelle organized for my sisters to each come one day a week and help out with my house for a few hours and cook some extra meals and send them down. As inadequate as this made me feel, I was so grateful for the help and the company (and the lesson in swallowing my pride). It was a hard three months, but I feel like I was able to learn a little more about coping with stress, having faith, and accepting help, among other things.

So on to the good part. I had another ultrasound about three weeks ago. And lo and behold it showed that everything is going well. The best case scenario for this condition is that the body will repair itself and the pregnancy will continue as it should. Well, that is what has happened - they told me that I can be a normal person again! This was such great news (along with the news that the baby is still doing well)! I can now go for walks with the kids, pick up Grace occasionally if I need to, and most of all keep up with my home. I have never been so grateful to be able to clean! I have always said that you can tell what state I am in emotionally by the state of my bedroom. For the last three months my room hasn't exactly been clean (I wouldn't let them clean my room or bathroom) and now it is and I love it.

So here's to being healthy - something I hope to never take for granted again!

moral dilemma?

In our ward I am one of the Gospel Doctrine teachers (there are two of us and we switch off teaching each week - but that isn't really relevant to this post). My next lesson is on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Because I teach every other Sunday that gives me two weeks to prepare each lesson. As it has gone in the past, I usually read the lesson on the Sunday evening after I have given a lesson and then spend the next several days just thinking about it and where I think we ought to go with it. So this week I have been thinking about this topic of keeping the Sabbath Day. A couple days ago an idea hit me that sort of made me wonder. It is sort of a moral dilemma; I think.

I grew up with newspaper reading parents - since the dawn of my earliest recollection I can recall them reading it every morning. We aren't TV watchers and we really never have been, so I am sure this was the way they got the news each day (although, now I know my mom couldn't live without Fox news each night - she really likes it and it is on at 9 instead of 10). Well, Scott and I subscribe to the paper. I should actually say that I subscribe because I receive a lot more enjoyment out of it than he does. Lest you think I am totally up on current events, let me correct you now; I am not. I am more of a scanner and I only read what looks interesting or relevant to me. But I do have a basic knowledge of what is going on it the world.

Okay, so let me switch gears - we are taught (in our church and I am sure others teach a similar doctrine) that one of the ways in which to keep the Sabbath Day holy is to abstain from work and abstain from making others work for us on this day. Obviously this would exclude people in medical professions (which is good since I went into labor with Lily on a Sunday) and a handful of other professions in which limited Sunday work is necessary. But on the whole we can live without most everyday services for one day a week.

So here is the dilemma that struck me the other day. Is the Sunday paper a necessity? Especially in light of the fact that we live in a world where basically everyone has Internet access where the news can be found for free. This idea struck me early last Sunday morning - our paper boy (or girl, I am not sure because I've never actually seen him/her) who usually arrives in the four o'clock hour must have been running late. This particular morning I heard his car (it has a very distinct rattle to it) around 5:30 and it sounded like someone had egged my house; it was just the newspaper hitting the pavement really hard and fast. He had thrown the paper with such force it actually ripped the bag and then he sped off much faster than normal. Obviously he was in a rush. Plus he had this awesome late 80's song blasting on the radio (he never has music playing), it was the one that goes, "if we can build this dream together...nothin' gonna stop us..." Basically I am getting to the point in my pregnancy that the slightest noise wakes me up because I not really all that comfortable. So I hear him every morning, which isn't a big deal.

All this got me thinking that for the past couple years I have been making this poor person get up at the crack of dawn each Sunday morning to just deliver me some news that I not even really going to appreciate. I felt really bad about it. Especially because if everyone came to this realization then newspapers really would all go out of business, and that wouldn't be great, especially in this economy. I am pretty sure the Sunday paper is any paper's best seller. Also, it occurred to me that my parents have been getting the newspaper since paper was invented - had they ever thought about this? They are the last people in the world to intentionally break a commandment. I think people have been getting the Sunday paper for so many generations now that it has slipped into some kind of category making it exempt from the whole "no working on the Sabbath Day" thing. It is more of a cultural thing at this point. So then I started wondering if maybe I was over thinking this (which is always possible) - maybe I am looking too closely at the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. I don't think anyone who receives the Sunday paper is intentionally trying to break the Sabbath Day - they probably just haven't ever thought about it. And now I am sort of feeling guilty that I have even brought this up - because now you all who do receive the paper will have to think about it and make the same moral decision that I trying to make.

Actually I am not "trying" to make the decision anymore. I have actually come the realization that this question came into my head as an answer to a minor issue that Scott and I were having. I should really emphasize the word minor here - we have only discussed this issue a couple of times and it was never anything major or upsetting; but it has been on my mind since he mentioned it. We eat breakfast as a family every morning and I bet you can guess what I do during breakfast - yes you are correct, I read the paper, thus totally ignoring my family. Scott has mentioned that maybe this wasn't a great way to spend the time together (and he was so nice about it saying that it was just as much a problem with him as it was with me. But in reality it really is more me than him - he is usually the one who helps the kids with breakfast and stuff). It has been brought up a couple times, but I could never see a great reason to cancel the subscription - I know, call me wicked that I don't think ignoring my kids is a great reason, but we also have dinner together and I spend all day with them, so I sort of figured they could live without my complete attention for 15 minutes while I read. Plus in my mind I was also teaching them the benefits of staying informed; okay this was a total "make myself feel better about the situation" excuse - like I am really only reading the paper so that my children can see how important it is. Okay, now I am rambling. So I have decided that maybe I have had this question on my mind because maybe someone is trying to tell me something; like go look online for current events while the kids are napping and save the ten bucks a month from the subscription. And now I won't have to feel bad for the paper boy working on Sunday - even though I know he still is. At least I can feel better that it isn't for me.

So what do you think? Is this silly? Am I totally neurotic for even wondering about this (okay, I already know I am totally neurotic)? I should tell you I won't think any less of you if you still get the Sunday paper. I am sure my parents will once they get back from Guam and I think they are pretty much the Best! So if you were able to get through this novel I actually would love to hear your thoughts on the subject....

I just hope the Deseret News doesn't go out of business - then I might feel kind of guilty about cancelling my subscription (although because of its affiliation with the Church I don't really worry about it going out of business).

true love

Lately I feel like such a bad mother. I am sometimes way too hard on my children. I expect them to be much more mature than their age actually allows (especially Lily). I have lots of excuses, but none of them are really all that great. The bottom line is, I really love my kids, more than anything in the whole world. Each of them brings me such joy. Occasionally I just need remind myself of what a blessing they are and how much I adore them. On that same note, I am also very hard on Scott sometimes - he too deserves better because he is pretty rockin' awesome. I seriously totally lucked out - he is the ultimate in dreamy. Basically I just think my family is the BEST!!!!! (And they all deserve a huge reward for being so patient with their hormonally unbalanced mother and wife). Plus, don't they just all look so cute in these pictures!? Ahhhh, true love.....

more fun

Last weekend we met up with some of my sisters and their families in Cedar City. We stayed in these little cabins at the Cedar City KOA - we were really impressed. They were really pretty nice; they were clean, warm, and really fun. Plus the bathrooms were really nice as well. We had so much fun building fires, making smores, roasting hot dogs, and exploring Zion's National Park. It was a fun weekend.

Also, our chickens are getting big. We have moved them outside to the chicken coop that Scott is in the process of finishing. We think Betty may end up being a rooster, which is a total shame, because we won't be keeping a rooster (too noisy). Neither Scott nor I have the heart to kill her (him), so we'll probably try to give it away on KSL.com. If anyone knows of someone who may want a rooster, then let me know. We won't be getting rid of it for another month or so, when we can be more sure of its gender.

Oh, one last thing. This is so funny. Scott's great, great grandfather was the first settler of Cedar City and they have a statue on Main Street honoring him. We decided it would be fun to go see it and take some pictures on the way out of town. We told the kids were going to see our great, great grandfather, etc, etc. When we got to the statue they were a little confused. I think they thought it was going to be a real person. Well, Adam was not impressed. He refused to be in any pictures and instead decided to kick Grandpa Lunt in the shins! We told him that Grandpa was up in heaven probably crying because his awesome grandson doesn't like him. In reality Grandpa was probably having as good a laugh about it as we were...

Also, I am including my six month pregnancy shot. It was taken in front of the Cedar City Tabernacle. Doesn't Lily look so cute?

Six months pregnant, in front of the Cedar City Tabernacle. It was a really pretty building.

Lily and Adam on the hike that Scott took them on.

Lily and cousin Joey on that same hike.

This isn't really a double stroller, but it sure seemed to work well as one... (Grace with cousin Isabel)

The cooperative part of my family.

The not-so-cooperative part of my family.

Henry Lunt is Scott's dad's mom's dad's dad (I think).

what is normal?

Lily said the funniest thing the other day. She turned to me, sort of out of blue, and asked,"Mom, what did your grandma look like when she was normal?" I can only assume she was talking about my Grandma Dearie, who is almost 91. It made me laugh only because Grandma looks pretty normal for a 91 year old.

.

Note: This is a two year old picture - Lily's hair isn't short; although she wishes it was...

our trip

**WARNING** This is super long. It is a basically a travel log, which I always hate reading. But I am writing it all down more for journal purposes than anything. Also, I am adding a ton of pictures. This is mostly for grandparent purposes...

Scott had to go to Phoenix earlier this week for business, so we thought we would all go along with him and make a little vacation out of it (Lily is on Spring Break). His brother lives there and one of my favorite cousins lives in Mesa. Plus I grew up in Mesa and I haven't been back in about 12 years, so I thought it would be fun to see the old sights - and the warm weather was very enticing!

We had such a fun time! We left early Sunday morning and got there in about 11 hours. I know that sounds long, but when you are used to 13-14 hour trips back and forth from Washington, then 11 hours doesn't seem so bad (we are really glad to not be making those long Washington drives anymore). The kids did really well on the long drive. We spent Sunday evening at the park with Scott brother Brian and his darling wife Callie. It was so fun to see them.

Monday Scott went to his seminar while I took the kids to see the town. I decided to take them to the Phoenix Science Center. It was really neat and we all had such a great time exploring. I forgot my camera that day, so I have no pictures (bummer). If you are ever in the Phoenix area I totally recommend going - it was really fun. Then we met up with Scott for lunch and for the afternoon the kids and I went back to the hotel to swim. It was warm enough to be in a swim suit, although not warm enough for me to go into the pool. The kids had fun though and it was so relaxing to just sit and watch them play in the water as I thawed out from this long Utah winter. Then we picked up Scott and we went to dinner. Scott took us to Papadeux's (I think that is how it is spelled) - it is New Orleans food and it was so yummy, plus the kids were so well-behaved. Apparently our pre-restaurant pep talks on manners are starting to work.

Tuesday I took the kids to a really fun park near downtown while Scott worked. They had so much fun playing and chasing and feeding the pigeons. I think the bum on the park bench was even amused. After lunch we picked Scott up and went to the zoo with my cousin Marian. That was so great! Thanks Mares for taking us (and waiting for us when we were so late). After the zoo we went to Mesa to see my old house, school, etc. My house is completely different - they tore it down a few years ago and built this awful Southwestern monstrosity in its place. But it was fun to see my neighborhood. Tuesday was Lily's sixth birthday so we let her choose what to have for dinner. Of course she chose spaghetti - so we settled on Macaroni Grill (I say "settled" because Scott doesn't love that place - his excuse is that he hates going to the same old place. I had to remind him that we haven't been there since we were first married almost eight years ago, so that is hardly going to the same old place). I have to say, I really liked it and so did Scott (way better than Olive Garden, for sure), we were so pleased with how good it tasted. One of the servers came and sang Happy Birthday to Lily in Italian and gave her the yummiest chocolate cake ever. She was thrilled. It was such a good day!

Wednesday we got up, packed up the car and started our drive home. Of course about twenty minutes before we left Adam fell and gashed his head open on the side of Brian and Callie's bed frame. It probably could have used stitches, but a butterfly bandage would just have to do. Scott was NOT making a trip to the hospital. So off we went. Thanks to Bri and Cal for having such a well-stocked first-aid kit that was so easy to find (and for the totally comfy bed).

We decided to stop along the way and see the sights. This added several hours to the trip, but I have to say it was totally worth it. We stopped at Montezuma's Castle and that was really neat. It is a little more than an hour north of Phoenix and there is just a short little hike to see it. It was really cool. My favorite part about it was that on all the signs about this Indian tribe that lived there it was sure to mention that they mysteriously left after living there for 300 years. Well, I can think of several reasons why they might have left and quite frankly who cares. I finally just turned to Scott and said, "Maybe the historians expected them to leave a note...'hey, we are leaving because....'" It was a fun stop.

Then we decided to take a scenic byway through Sedona. Okay, this was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I would really like to go back in about ten years with the kids. The scenery was incredible and the town was bustling and just so much fun. It would have been great to have some time to get out and go for a walk. This was a long detour, but so worth it.

Then we took this little highway over to Cedar City (hwy 14, I think) and that was also really amazing. We drove over this pass to about 10,000 feet and a ton of snow and when we started down we came around this bend and beheld the most fabulous view. Seriously it was amazing - we could see for miles and it was all that beautiful canyon land (I think it was Bryce canyon that we were looking at) with little dustings of snow here and there. It was breathtaking. I am just grateful the road was deserted otherwise I am sure we would have crashed into someone. Then we drove through the most beautiful rock structures and formations. It was really enjoyable. It amazes me that we live in a state with such incredible landscape. It was such a fun trip and so needed.

Okay, so a word about Lily's birthday. Let's just say she was a really great sport. It was not a typical birthday in the sense that I made a special breakfast, decorated the house, and made it a really special day for her. Because we were on a trip she definitely had to be a little more flexible with what we were doing. She is so cute and I can hardly believe she is six! I am so grateful to have her in our family. She is so smart, beautiful, and creative and she adds such a great flavor to our very quirky family. I was trying to explain to her that March 31st is a special day for me too because my life changed forever that day. She doesn't quite get that I wasn't a mom before she came. She really changed me forever and everyday I grow because of her (and my other littles). She is so darling and I love her so much.

The kids totally conked out at the hotel. It was so cute to see them all the bed together. Just before I took the picture Adam had his arm around Grace.

At the park on Lily's birthday.

Adam wearing his "golf" shorts. Aren't they cute!

At the Phoenix Zoo

Playing the splash area at the zoo. I didn't know there was one, so I didn't bring their suits. I just let Gracie go in a diaper (I know, totally tacky - but when you look that cute in just a diaper I think you can get away with it).

Lily's Birthday at Macaroni Grill

Adam's cut head.

Montezuma's Castle

In Sedona, it was so pretty.

i totally outdid myself

Lily's birthday was on Tuesday (more about that later) and on Saturday I had a birthday party for her with some of her little friends here in the neighborhood. It was such fun (and a lot of work) and I have to say it turned out pretty cute.

We did a princess party. As a party favor I made tutu's for each little girl (we only invited six) and then I added a strip of organza to those birthday hats (you know, the cone ones). So when the girls came they got their tutu and then we did a little princess story activity and pin the jewel on the crown (Lily totally cheated). Then we decorated the princess crowns. I bought a bunch of stickers, sparkly, adhesive, princess foam pieces, feathers, adhesive jewels, etc. for the girls to use. This was a big hit and their little crowns turned out so cute. Then we ate lunch, had cake and opened presents. It was such a fun party and Lily especially loved it.

These were the invitations - so I really am not some over-achieving mom, who has to show off. These were left over from when I made Gracie's birth announcements. I just happened to have the exact number of blank ones that I needed for this. I thought they turned out so super cute and they didn't cost me a dime!

These were the tutu's. I made them very basic, but I still think they turned out to be so fun. I loved all the colors and I had to go with different colors even though I knew the girls would all want the same of one particular one (which of course they did. Who would think that they would all want the purple ones - personally I liked the pink ones)

Okay, so I am no cake decorator. How do you like my saggy piping job....

i'm jammin'

I found a killer deal on fresh strawberries and decided to make jam. I much prefer the flavor of cooked jam over freezer jam and I think it looks prettier when it is finished. Now I just need to find a killer deal on blackberries - my favorite mix is blackberry/strawberry jam - and it turns out the prettiest color!

Also, I thought I would include a picture of my little corner of Spring. Now if only it would happen outside!