Roadtrip Summer 09

Last Wednesday we started our much anticipated "road trip" by driving and driving, and driving, and driving, and driving

up to Palmyra, New York.

Davis used the time to catch up on all of his summer reads.
We stayed in a great family friendly hotel (LOVED it), The Palmyra Inn.Hanging out in the hot tub was just what we needed after a long day in the car.
Thursday morning we headed over to "The Smith's House" for a tour.
It was amazing to go through these humble homes and think about the miraculous things that happened there.

My favorite part was the Sacred Grove.

While I was in the sacred grove I found myself snapping pictures right and left trying to capture the beauty but more than that to somehow capture the overwhelming peace that I felt as I walked through the grove in photographs.

Here are two of my favorite pictures and every time I look at them I can't help but wonder if maybe just maybe one of those spots were where the vision occurred.

Next, we headed up to Niagara Falls.

What can I say? The falls are amazing!

We wanted to get a closer look so we put on our blue ponchos and jumped on "The Maid of the Mist".
There were a few terrifying minutes when the boat captain kept trying to get closer into the "horseshoe" of the falls where Trevor and I looked at each other and made a quick plan just in case we capsized ("You grab Campbell and Megan and I'll grab Davis and Hallie"). Luckily we all survived but even with the ponchos we were SOAKED!

Check out Campbell in this picture. I'm pretty sure a two-year-old with a plastic bag over his face is a bad idea.

The next day we found a great park by the river and stopped to take pictures, pick wildflowers, throw rocks into the river, and pet stranger's dogs.

Then onto Cleveland to visit our dear friends.

And see their sweet new baby. (not the baby above, he is all mine)

We had front row seats to the city's firework show in Dave and Marla's front yard and the kids enjoyed some sparklers too.

PERFECT!

We also met some of the local wildlife as this little guy kept sneaking in the back door in search of the bag of peanuts.

Saturday we toured the Kirtland Temple.

I thought a lot about all that the saints sacrificed to build this temple. It really stands today as a testimony of their faith.Love this pic of Campbell and DaveyNext, we toured the church owned section of Kirtland. The Newel K Whitney Store was so neat. Almost all of it was original including a lot of the furniture upstairs where Joseph and Emma lived for a time. The table where Joseph sat and recorded some of the revelations was so cool to see. There was a sign that said, "please do not touch".

Trevor touched it anyway but I did not... I wish I had.

Here are all of the girlies. They had such a great time together.

Our road trip of summer '09 was so memorable and totally worth the 22+ hours we spent in the car. It won't soon be forgotten.

I wonder where our road trip summer 2010 will take us.

Fear

Oh my goodness sakes, am I the only one who is freaking out about our government right now? I have seriously stressed about some of the choices they are making (like losing sleep stressed). I worry about our future and our children's future and I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with it all.
Last night I was watching BYU TV and heard the following quote by Elder Jeffrey Holland. I LOVE this and need to apply to all aspects of my life because I do tend to be a bit of a "worry wart".
Anyway, I thought I'd share and maybe it will help you too.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Referring to this scripture Elder Holland said:
“I submit to you that this may be one of the Saviors commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed…. I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds that his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hands or trust in his commandments.”

I've never thought of that verse as a commandment and I certainly never thought that being fearful would "wound the loving heart of the Savior".
Anyway, something for me to work on.

Randomness

*Trev had is last 30hr shift last month. We celebrated with pizza in the hospital parking lot. No "on-call" shifts in 3rd year WAHOO!!!!!!

*Hallie and Meg are doing swimming lessons and loving it.

*Davis is sleeping so much better... thank goodness!

* We celebrated our 2 year anniversary in Kentucky last month! Being here has been such a great blessing in our lives in so many ways. We love our "old Kentucky home".

* Trevor is officially a 3rd year!!!

* I've been surprised that Campbell hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet since he loves to climb but this morning when I came in his room he was holding a huge screw that he had somehow removed from the crib and insisted that I give it to "daddy". Apparently he is just going to disassemble the crib to escape and apparently Trevor is in on the plan. ;0)

*Last night Megan asked me if I have ever eaten meatballs inside of a cave... she was serious... now THAT'S random!

Davis at 6 months old

Davis had his 6 month appointment last week and we were dying to see how much he weighed (I don't know why we didn't just weigh him on our scale at home!)

So here are the stats:

Weight 21lbs 2oz(96%) Height 28.5inches (97%)

There is NOTHING average about this big guy!

I had to take a naked picture with all those rolls.

Isn't he scrumptious!

A few things about Davis:

He is Extremely ticklish from his head to his toes. Even when I change his clothes he just giggles... it is absolutely adorable.

He is so easy going. He loves to just sit and suck on some toys and watch his brother and sisters run and play around him. Even when Campbell gets a little rough with him Davis just grins at his big brother (once he stops crying ;0).

He is eating solids and even loves the peas and green beans.

He sits up and grabs at everything.

He isn't a great sleeper and since he hardly ever cries it is SO HARD to let him cry it out. I feel like I am abandoning him when he is trying to tell me he needs me... ugh. Still working on that one.

He is the same size his brother and sisters were when they turned one so you can imagine the biceps I am developing and you should see Hallie and Megan carry him around, it is almost comical. They LOVE to hold Davis. Megan feels especially grown up when I let her walk around holding him but I do worry she is going to hurt her back... seriously.

What else can I say? He is just such a lovable lil' guy!

Trip to Nashville

Some of our dear friends from Utah are in Alabama for a few weeks and we decided since we were only 7hrs away (ONLY 7 hours, ha,ha) we should meet in Nashville for the weekend. We shared a suite with a room for each family and a small kitchen and living room so we could put the kiddos to bed and stay up late chatting and catching-up. It was perfect.

Before I show you pictures of Nashville I have to take a short trip down memory lane and show you some hiking adventures we've had with Steph and Mike.

Something you may not know about Trev and I is we LOVE to go on high adventure hikes. Steph and Mike are always up for adventures so we all headed down to southern Utah (a few times) and hiked "the subway" and "the blackbox". Both hikes take about 8-12 hrs each and require repelling, climbing, and swimming (some years the water is above you head!). There is nothing like almost dying together to really strengthen your friendship. ;)

Okay, enough of that, here are some pictures of Opryland Hotel. This was my favorite part of our Nashville trip, it was so lush and just absolutely beautiful!

Love to capture these moments; there isn't near enough of them lately... lil' stinkers.

We loved lunch at the Rainforest Cafe where we were surrounded by birds, apes, hippos, and butterflies. There were even thunderstorms!

This is the first time in a LONG time that all of the kids were great at a restaurant. Loved it!

I know these next pic are pretty grainy but I have to document this part of our trip. We saw a walking bridge from the freeway and we wanted to find it. We guessed on the GPS map where it was and the GPS then took us on a wild goose chase where we finally ended up at a small airport... not the bridge.

It was late so we decided to just get out and enjoy our quickly-melting ice cream at the little airport and then the kids noticed fireflies everywhere. They were in heaven and I was so glad we got "lost".

It is my girls favorite memory of the trip.

(ps Mike is not bald, like I said these are dark/ grainy pictures... sorry Mike) ;0

Some more melting ice cream at the Parthenon Park.

Why is there a replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee you ask?? Good question!
All the kiddos, who got along great together. Mike and Steph's cute family.Our cute family. ;)

The whole gang

On the way home Trev and I talked about how blessed we are to have such great people in our lives like Stephanie and Mike.

Thanks for the memories guys!

thoughts on motherhood

I shared in a few posts back the feelings of inadequacy and humility I sometimes experience as a mother. As I have prayed answers have come.

Today I read this and it brought me comfort.

"You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well.
He is blessing you, even- no, especially- when your days and your nights may be
the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even
with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to
touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry
and wonder and weep over their responsibility as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good
comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And it will make your children
whole as well."
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I think I am often prideful in thinking that I should be able to do this on my own... I should have all the answers... after all, they are my children.

Sometimes I think we can be so hard on ourselves and even on each other and because we set this perfect standard we might feel some " hesitation and some embarrassment" asking for help but I love how the woman "fought her way through the crowd" to get to the Saviour. She was determined, she had faith, and the most amazing part to me is that the Lord felt she was worth saving. When she wasn't enough on her own she went to Him and He made her whole.

He sits- and we are so proud

Okay, sometimes he still falls over but this morning he sat all by himself for several minutes. Yep, he's a smarty!

Huber Farms

Trevor had Saturday off so we headed up to Huber Farms in Indiana.

There are so many fun things to do there.

There are a lot of animals to pet and feed.

Then there are a few animals that you just stare at because they are kinda freaky looking.

They have some crazy slides.

And, they have some geese that don't understand what "personal space" is....

there's that freaky duck/chicken again... weird

They also have lots of strawberries to pick. I was so bummed because my camera battery died before we got to the strawberry patch so we didn't get any pictures of that but all in all we had a great day at Huber Farms!

Trying to find my balance

Having four kids has changed everything.
It's not Davis' fault. He is a little angel boy and such a blessing but there is something about 4 busy, silly, whiny, crazy, messy, crying, laughing, screaming kids that has thrown me off completely.


I have asked myself HOW? How can I possibly be a good mom to these four dramatically different children??? Each one of them needs time, attention, hugs, kisses, discipline, food, water, shelter, clothing, baths, clean sheets (does washing their sheets a few times a year count?), Dr. appointments, tooth brushing, ear cleaning, fingernail clipping... I'm mean the hygiene alone is killing me and we haven't even started on my house or laundry or food or my responsibility to teach them and "rear them in love and righteousness"!

I've had many a prayer sent heavenward asking for wisdom for a mother of four. Answers have come here and there. Mostly on long walks with my friend or talks with my husband or quiet moments which are rare to find but so much more appreciated...


And so I am dealing with loss of control (or perceived control anyway), a very messy house that is now impossible to keep clean for more than a few minutes, body changes from 4 pregnancies... Hello, discouragement, frustration with own inabilities... I just thought I would be better at this. Being a mom is hard... especially if you want to be a good mom.

Humility... I'm learning humility.
Learning humility is very humbling... and it makes me tired too.

PS Don't worry, I'm not really depressed... remember how I'm getting off "the blogging stage"? I just thought I would be honest about the challenges of life... maybe you can relate?.

Quotes from this week

Megan- "Nobody come by the bathroom. I'm going to the bathroom and I don't want anyone to come by the bathroom door because... I'm going to be talking to myself."

I was recently released from the YW and now I'm in the primary. Last week we were talking about recognizing Satan's influence and one of the boys raised their hand and said,
" Um, um, when I was at my aunt's house I looked out the window and something red went Zooooom by the window and I think it was Satan...... or the Easter Bunny."

And finally, a sweet moment.
After sending Megan to time out for the 2nd time in 15 minutes I hung my head in frustration and Hallie came up to me and hugged me and said, "I bet it's really hard to be a mom when your kids aren't listening." You said it sister.

I'm not meant for the stage

I haven't been good to update this blog like I used to.

I have to be honest, lately our blog feels more like a stage than a journal. I don't like that- so I've decided I need to use it more as a journal again (as it was intended) and sorry if you are bored or think it is too personal.

You can skip those posts if you want ;0.

I really want this blog to reflect our lives with ups and downs and the beauty and sometimes not-so-pretty reality that it is.

So here we go... again.

Roar

Stop whining already, it's not like your eyes are swelling shut.

On the way home from our FHE outing tonight there was A LOT of whining in the backseat. Hallie especially was whining and crying about her eyes itching which is not a new thing because she gets terrible allergies here in Kentucky but it can be SO FrUsTrAtInG when she won't let us do eye drops to help.

Anyway, we were telling the girls to stop whining and threatening them that they would be going to bed early tonight.

When we got home Trevor told them to go straight to bed and when I went upstairs and saw them I yelled for Trevor to come up...

Seriously, their eyes were swelling as I stood there talking to them. They looked in the mirror and Hallie started laughing SO hard (Megan didn't think it was so funny). I was quick to get them some allergy medicine, some eye drops, and cold compresses.

Poor girls.

My Mother's Day

Hallie gave me this poem for Mother's Day. At first I thought her teacher told everyone what to write but I found out today that she came up with it herself. So creative.
Merry days,
Outstanding weeks,
Terrific months,
Historical years,
Eternal life,
Red hot heart of love.

Davis at 5 months old

At his four month check-up 16lbs4oz and 24 inches.

He's grabbing for things now and putting everything in his mouth.

He doesn't love rice cereal.

His sleeping is inconsistent (sometimes 8 hrs, other times 2hrs, ugh)

You should see the rolls in his thighs...

I could just eat him up.

Hard to believe my little guy is already 5 months old.

He is just a joy.

Honestly, his smiles and coos just melt me.

I'd do anything for this little guy.

He was a "surprise" pregnancy but he has turned out to be such a pleasant little surprise.

I want your recipes

We are sharing fast and easy recipes on nanny goat today and I want your recipes!

I know you, I love you, I trust your taste so please share.

Stop on over and join in the fun!

Derby Hats

Tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby and that is a BIG deal around here

(this is Kentucky you know).

It's a lot of fun since everyone gets into the spirit of Derby.

Yesterday the kids came home with paintings of horses, new facts about horses, and even shiny metals around their necks from their "derby races" at school.

Megan made a beautiful Derby hat.

She is under there somewhere.

She thought Davis needed a Derby hat too so she made him this one:

He likes it.

Life: Currently Under Construction

Re-evaluating life lately.

I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed out daily and I can't do it anymore so I am making some changes, drawing some lines, cutting things out, and building a stronger foundation.

Change is hard...

Missing you my friend

Crying was inevitable

My eyes are red and swollen and my nose is stuffy.

I just dropped my sister off at the airport. She extended her stay with us and she and her baby have been here for almost a month.

You'd think we would be sick of each other but it was just the opposite, having her here for so long made it so much harder to say good-bye.

How blessed I am to have a sister who is also my dearest friend (apart from Trev, luv ya honey ;)).

Melissa and I basically spent the last 3 weeks sitting around the house taking care of babies, crafting, cooking, nursing, and talking about life, about motherhood, about faith, about our families, about ... everything.

Melissa, I will treasure the memories of these past few weeks forever. I don't know what I'd do without you in my life... I just love you so much.

P.S. Jeff, you are my hero. Thanks for sharing your wonderful wife and sweet baby with us for such a long time. We enjoyed them more than you will ever know and I know you must have missed them dearly. :)