Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Just Thinking

It has occurred to me that BALANCE is something that I want/desire/strive to have in my life. I was thinking about the many different ways to achieve it & have come up with one that I felt like posting about.

Almost a year ago now my sister Rachel told me about a satirical blog called "Seriously So Blessed". It is a fictional blog by a woman who sees the humor & {sometimes} ridiculous nature of the "Mormon Mommy Blog" culture. Her blogs are "profound" {questions like, is "permanent make up against the plan?" and "does online shopping on Sunday break the sabbath?"} or "WAY FUN" {blogs about cupcakes, Lake "Pal" and her adorable and fake twins Aliviyah & Tridger}. I read this blog faithfully because I am always rewarded when I do. It is funny & thought provoking {Babies wearing playcothes to church. sinful or darling?}.

The other blog I follow is Nie Nie Dialogues. It is the blog of Stephanie Nielson, a woman who I've never met & probably never will. Just a year ago (interesting timing, huh?) she and her husband were in a plane crash that took the life of the pilot & left her with burns covering 80% of her body & in a coma for 5 months. She is just 28 years old (familiar?) and is a mother to 4 little kids. Her husband was also severely injured in the crash & over the last year her blog went from being about the usual stuff you'd expect (family life, photos & whatnot) to updates posted by a family member while she (Stephanie) remained in a coma to Stephanie returning to write her own updates from a new and incredibly grateful perspective. She has a gratitude & reverence for her (and all) life that is awe inspiring.

When I read the first blog I find myself laughing at the ludicrous & all-encompassing selfishness of the "blogger". Then I stop to think about the fact that their REALLY are people who only think of how every single thing affects them & ONLY them. It causes me to think of ways I am like that in my own life. When I read the second I marvel at how Stephanie can be funny & brave and graceful at a time when simple every day things are a struggle due to her new physical limitations. I think about how grateful she is for simple & beautiful things that are only beautiful when you stop to think about them (being the one that hears day in & day out "Moo-Omm!", getting to be the one to change the baby's diaper & prepare her bottle at 2/3/4 in the morning and be rewarded with her face splitting grin.). I stop to think about the times that instead of cherishing everything that is positive (and really, isn't it ALL positive?) in my life I complain about the things that I would desperately miss if I didn't have them.

I feel like one without the other would be kind of flat. If all I ever read was "Seriously So Blessed" I'd still find it funny but would I stop to insure that I am more thoughtful & considerate of others in my daily life? Or would I see myself more & more in her posts? And (unfortunately) if all I read was the Nie Nie Dialogues I would still marvel at her strength but would I appreciate the blessing of being in a healthy body with a full range of motion? Or would I begin to think or say "Well, yeah, if I'd almost died I'd be more grateful too!" without stopping to think of how horrible & ungrateful that would be to my friends, family & my Heavenly Father?

I'm grateful for BALANCE and all the ways that life offers the lessons I get to & want to learn. Today, I am grateful the I get to BE...

Friday, August 14, 2009

Grandma Barb gets married...


This is a picture of my BEAUTIFUL Grandma & the man who has stolen her heart, Lincoln Raynes. They were married Saturday August 8th in the Mt Timpanogos temple in Utah. We were blessed enough to be able to go & witness this sacred event.



While most of the adults were in the temple at the wedding ceremony a few brave
uncle/dad/cousin-type men were on the temple grounds with the kids & babies. This is a picture of my cousin Jennie's boys Ty & Elijah. Lizzie managed to get in this shot as well!

Jalen had been gone to Montana until 2 days before the wedding and was super happy to have some fun boy cousins to play with. Here he is with Elijah. (Grandma's wedding theme was Hawaiian, hence the shirt!)


Oh how we love & miss Uncle Bob! My brother Bob lives in Billings, MT still & my poor kids only get to see him once or (at most!) twice a year. I'm so blessed to have a brother who loves his nieces & nephews so much!

There are a MILLION (or so) new babies in the family. Here are the three that are closest related to me. From left: Katy, Sadie (get those toes!!!) and Emma.

This is my cousin Bret holding Marcus, Jennie & Geoff's new baby. He was kind enough to volunteer to stay with the kids outside & let his wife go in for the ceremony. SO nice!

Here is Emma again, almost too cute for words!


Lizzie & Kamea are only a few months apart in age & they had LOTS of fun being cute girls together at the temple!



Brother Andy, another of the brave men who stayed with the young'uns!


The reception that followed the wedding was held at Lincoln's son Joe's house. It was a blast to be able to spend time with all my family I grew up with (here my dad is talking with my cousin Jesse. See the woman to Jesse's right? That is his wife Brooke, she is NINE months pregnant and they drove from Whitefish, Montana to be there for Grandma. What a trooper!!!) and to have a chance to visit with the new family members I got that day.

And last picture, Lizzie at the dessert table. This is actually one of four pictures of Lizzie hanging around the dessert table taken at various times during the reception. She just couldn't stay away, my cousins did such a great job making everything look SOOO yummy!

So we had a WONDERFUL time in UT last weekend, long drive and all. The kids didn't love every minute of it but they did exceptionally well for their first MAJOR road trip. We are sooo happy for Grandma & Lincoln & so grateful that such a joyous occasion brought the family all together for the first time in a long time.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

My AMAZING sister-in-law

I can't let too much time pass before I document what an amazing sister Mark has.
When Mark & I got married I hadn't spent that much time with Sarah & really didn't know her that well. Then we moved here to Arizona & it wasn't until she moved here with her boyfriend (soon to be husband) Donnie that we began to really get to know each other. They moved here when Lizzie was a baby & Sarah started taking Jalen out for some fun one-on-one time so I could have a little time to rest & relax (at least as much as Lizzie would allow!). This has continued & progressed so that now she'll take Lizzie out for a "special day" a couple times a month (or week if you ask Lizzie!).
Well, Tuesday was my turn! Sarah & I have gotten so much closer as the last three years have passed and when she told me that she would like to assist me in getting some things that I have been MAJORLY procrastinating done I was grateful & ready to accept her assistance. She came to get me & the girls around noon on Tuesday & we headed for the Social Security office to get a replacement card for Jalen (his got lost/stolen almost 5 years ago, see what I mean about procrastinating?!?). When we reached to office near my place & discovered that they don't do replacement cards anymore. We were told that we got to go to Phoenix to the office near the airport, about a 20-30 minute drive away. Sarah didn't even blink, just put the address in the GPS & we were on our way. We got there & waited maybe 10 minuted before it was my turn to be seen. Fifteen minutes later we were getting back in her Expedition & heading back towards the east valley. Lizzie was hungry & Katy was tired of being in her car seat so we stopped to have lunch before heading to our next stop. After a semi-relaxing lunch (those of you with little kids know restaurant dining is never THAT enjoyable when the kids are present!) we headed to the office for Child Support Enforcement. A little over three years ago Jalen dad's stopped having wage garnishment so we stopped receiving the child support that was agreed upon when we divorced. Well with Sarah's kind insistence I got on the ball & filled out all the paperwork so that we can get that going again. We got to the DCSE & Sarah waited with the girls while I went back to fill out a little more paperwork & get things going. After maybe 30 minutes we were back in the car & headed to Target. Two things that I had dreaded doing & put off for at least three years were over in a manner of hours! All thanks to Sarah & her love for me & my kids. She is an awesome sister/aunt/friend! We had so much fun & I LOVED every minute of that day! I had so much fun that when she asked me if I would go with her the next day to pick out patterns & material for the girls flower girl dresses (Sarah & Donnie are getting married in October & the girls are the flower girls, cute!) I was more than happy to agree! Wednesday was just as successful as Tuesday & just as much fun! My girls LOVE their Aunt Sarah & I can honestly say that I am INSANELY blessed to have her in my life!
Did I mention that Sarah had taken BOTH girls for a few hours two weeks before so that Mark & I could go out & that Lizzie had a sleepover that night? And that on Monday this week Sarah came & took Lizzie shoe shopping? AMAZING!!!

My cute girls



A day just isn't complete if I don't take at least ONE picture of my girls loving each other! Just kidding (but seriously--SOOO cute!).

Katy's smile is so photogenic, I just can't resist!

Katy ALMOST giggling



Literally just before Mark start taping her Katy was giggling like CRAZY when Sarah would pull the handle on this little vibrating toy. It was the cutest little giggle! She is being cute & smiling a lot in the video though so I decided to post it anyway!