BREAKFAST WITH BOYS

 Sierra wakes up at 6:00. She has to be out the door by 6:28 to make it to her bus on time. She throws on her clothes, brushes her teeth, and on occasion, if I can convince her brushes her hair; all while I make her lunch. Then I wait with her until the bus comes. I don't want her out waiting at the bus top alone. I watch out the window until the bus pulls away. My favorite moments are the seconds between her being ready and the bus coming. We will pray together. I will tell her what I am learning in the scriptures. Those few minutes when she is really listening and it is just her and I are the most precious I have with her in the day. I try to to use them well. I must admit, sometimes I am so tired from Ashton keeping me up all night, I fall asleep on the couch waiting for the bus to come. 

I tried climbing in bed and going back to sleep. I promise I have had no more than four hours asleep a night for the last three nights in a row. All I want for Christmas is sleep. I got a phone call from our Sister Missionary. She is really sick. I am her mother too. I had to get up. I am not going to lie. I was a little sad to walk away from that warm bed.

I got Madison ready and off to school. She demands little. She just needs her lunch made the minute her eyes pop open. No matter how scanty the home lunch is, according to her, it is better than school lunch. She doesn't want to be stuck eating school lunch. I made her lunch and waited for her friends to gather outside the door and then told her I loved her and she was off.

I got in the shower and did my hair, while my boy watched not-age-appropriate cartoons and both boys ate Cherrios. My house is a mess and my boys are dressed but this is my home everyday and I love my home. We live here. It is not a museum. Lives are grown within these walls. It is sacred work and sometimes really mess work. It doesn't come with a manual or a maid but it comes one beautiful day at a time. 

BOY PLAY

 I was inspired by my cousin over the Thanksgiving Break. (I'll blog about Thanksgiving later and back date it.) She is an amazing photographer. She is constantly instagraming about the need to capture everyday moments. I was inspired. I would say the only difficulty in photographing your kids is their constant need to crowd you. 

I love watching my little boys play together. They are so creative. They have gotten along so well lately. Today James was telling Ashton he was sick and that he was going to take care of him. There was a kitchen chair upstairs because I was installing the fire alarms in the house. (Yes, I did that. I have been tired of stressing about them not being installed. I finally just took care of it. I should have done it along time ago. It was really easy.) He told Ashton to sit on the chair and then he got a pillow and put it on his lap and then started cooking all these imaginary cures for whatever was ailing Ashton. He would say, "Eat Ash." Ashton would gobble it up like it was simply delicious. They have also been playing hide-and-go-seek together. It is so fun to watch. I love these two little boys that bring my life so much joy.

THANKSGIVING 2016

 My whole family came for Thanksgiving. It was a blast to spend time with all of them. We did a girl's night at a Thai restaurant. It was fun to just hang out with my sisters for a night. Nate was sweet and got the kids to bed. 

The feast was delicious as always. I was grateful Nate spent the whole weekend with my family. He even took all the men shooting one night. They had a blast and I am sure they will talk about it for years to come. He said, "It was family night, but way better."

SIMON's BAPTISM

I can't even begin to say how happy this day made all of us. Nate and I felt so blessed to be apart of it. It is awe inspiring to teach someone the gospel but to have the opportunity to teach a family and watch them all enter the waters of baptism was beyond anything I can express in words. Leslie, Stephanie, Conn, and Simon, I feel blessed to know you. We watched all four of them enter the waters of baptism in a short period of time. Nate had the opportunity to baptize Simon. It was such a sweet experience. 

We were late because it seems like that is what we do lately. We were ready to kill our geese and gut them. Sierra was launching a PETA campaign near the pond. I got a phone call from Leslie and she said, "We are in the room." I said, "What?" "We are in the room, where are you?" I said, "What are you talking about?" She said, "Did you forget it was Simon's baptism?" I was a little hurt, "No, we wouldn't forget. We are so excited. We will be there." She said, "We are in the room."
"Oh, crap. I thought it was at 2:00."
"No, it's now."
PETA won.
We threw on our church clothes on and drove off.
They stalled.
We made it.
We are so glad we did.
It was an amazing experience.
Simon was so ready to take this step. He is going to be an amazing leader not only to his family but to the church and the whole world. He has an extraordinary spiritual depth and a love of God and family which is inspiring. I am so glad I am not a missionaries because I would hate to be transferred out of this families life. I am grateful to get to watch them grow in light.

I got to capture these beautiful pictures of their family. 

PHOTOSHOOT

On Halloween, I got to take photos in the Mall for Yes! Dental. It actually went really smoothly this time. I wasn't nervous or stressed. It went by quickly. I am glad. Leslie saved my bacon by taking care of all four of our kids and taking them trick-or-treating. She is truly a gift.