Before & After

Goldilocks got his hair cut!

2 Befores

1 After
I still have some work to do on the sides.

This Boy

This boy.

how do I begin? where do I start?

There are so many feelings, so many thoughts, so many dreams for this boy.

He turned eight years old in August. EIGHT. Even though I've been here for all of his life...it still seems almost impossible. I look into those eyes, and I see the baby he once was... I look into those same eyes, and I see the man he is going to become...

It's hard for me to describe all the feelings that go into loving a boy like this. Because there are so very many. But when you're a parent, you know.

And when you're a parent, you know about the many and varied thoughts that go into loving a boy like this... the anxious ones and the joyful ones.

And the dreams, well the dreams. They seem almost endless because there is so much potential and so much yet to know, when you are loving a boy like this. And being a parent sometimes means that you keep the dreams to yourself because what HE dreams for himself is so much more important.

I LOVE this boy. I'm happy and humbled to have him in my life. (that's where I begin. that's where I start.)

This boy.

Isaac's Birthday

YUM!

Lining up!Thanks to my Aunt Claudia, the boys had some serious fun.


We sang "Five. Five Dollar. Five Dollar foot long..." every time he got a Five Dollar bill.

The long-haired birthday boy!

The Spanking Machine!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!

Our Own Backyard

A week ago last Saturday The Manziones, Jensens, and Calls came into town. We spent the day hiking in Zion National Park...Our very own backyard!

Squirrels aplenty
Gene and Asher

ZoeLorenzo
Ella

Esperanza
Claire
Lauren

The Narrows Weeping Rock
Aryn

Isabelle
Elyse

Handprint rock...that our family made the week before
Zane

Isaac

Swimming stop in the Virgin River via the Pa 'Rus trail.
Me. Well, at least my shoes.

Last of the Sparkly Bread

The other morning my little kiddies woke up to a surprise for breakfast. Sparkly Bread. Zoe words were, "Finally. Mom made some more sparkly bread." Actually, I didn't make more, I just took a loaf out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight.

You may be thinking, "Sparkly Bread?" Let me explain. You probably know this delicious treat by another name...Amish Friendship Bread. My little kiddies like to call it Sparkly Bread because of the lovely, glistening, sparkly sugar on top.

A while back, my friend Misti, gave me a zippered plastic bag and a note. The zippered bag contained a mixture and the note contained directions for the mixture. Little did I know how much we all would fall in love with this bread. But, fall we did.

The note tells you to keep a "starter" for yourself, and then give the rest away to friends. At the end of the note, it also explains that if you give away all your "starters," you'll have to wait until someone else gives you another back.

Well, I've got to tell you...I cheated. I saved one of the "starters," instead of giving it away, and made more bread for my family. Then I froze it. So we could have some for later. Guess what? I also found out you don't have to wait for it to come around again. I found a recipe for the "starter" and some for the bread. This one is most like the one I received. It uses pudding.

Give it a try and give some away!

Tadpole Transformation

Remember when we got the polliwogs? And they died... And then we got some more... And then they died too?

Well, my friend Shannon wanted to get some. A few weeks ago, on an overcast Friday, she took us to a new spot.

She collected some tadpoles and we collected some tadpoles. Shannon kept hers, but I told the kids we had to let ours go...You see, I didn't want to cause anymore unnecessary deaths...

Well, the transformation happened. One of her little polliwogs grew some legs. She called me this morning to tell me about it, and asked if my little froggies wanted to come over and take a look.

Shannon also was kind enough to let us take the little frog, and a few friendly tadpoles, back to their original habitat. Oh, what fun!

Stake Youth Hike

Yesterday, Gene and I were lucky enough to slip away from our little goats (kids) to go on a hike with some of the youth and leaders in our stake. The hike was up a slot canyon in Kannarraville. It was a bit strenuous going up, but very worth the trip. I thought I'd share a few snippets.

This hike is definitely NOT for little ones. Gene thinks it may be okay for the two older ones if we take our time and go slow. It is on the TO DO AGAIN list.