It's been a little while...

It's been a little while since I've posted anything.  Or maybe a long while.  But a major reason for that is I haven't taken any pictures since October and my writing is not that interesting all by itself.  However, if only for Becca's sake, I will attempt to say something interesting today.

We named my big toe on my left foot this morning.  It's true.  Dad and I went on our first ice fishing expedition this morning which was great even though the fishing was extremely slow.  We couldn't make it out to our hot spot, so we had to settle for dismal fishing results.  (Dad caught one - I got a bite but the fish came off before I could reel it in.)

If you've ever been ice fishing you know that it's easier to stay warm if you're moving around.  Usually I move around by catching lots of fish, but today it was slow and I started to get cold.  The first thing to get cold was my big toe on my left foot.  He heard me say something about it that got mixed up and I'm not sure how but the next thing I knew my big toe was named "The Dude".  We had updates on The Dude throughout the rest of the day.  The Dude is warmer now, The Dude got cold as soon as I took my boot off, etc.

The Dude has now gone down in ice fishing history and will forevermore be consulted about the weather conditions.  At least as long as the fishing is bad.  (Which won't be long.)

Feel Good Video

After last Saturday's... sadness, I've been watching this feel-good video a lot.  And this one.  And this one.  It makes me happy.

Facebook

I have just discovered the brilliance and craziness that is "Facebook".  Originally I signed up to keep in touch with Becca (my sister) because it's the only way to talk to her on a regular basis.  (You know it's true Bec!)  :)  But now I'm discovering what a great tool it is for keeping in touch with family and friends, current and past.  I think it will also work wonders as a networking tool for Michael  - letting people know about his newly minted skills as a lawyer.  A lot of his business is word of mouth, so if there's anyone you know that needs a quality attorney might I suggest my husband?  Believe me, he's got a natural talent for it!

A New Path

It's over.  Truly, finally over.  No more "except for this" or "waiting for that" phrases.  Done.  Fine.  The end.  

...

Cool.

It was interesting, as we walked in the Salt Palace to the room where Michael was going to be sworn in, how long and winding the route was.  We walked for what felt like a mile - turning corners, riding escalators, walking long stretches, turning more corners, going up stairs.  It seemed never ending!  At one point my Mom commented on how it was just like his path to become a lawyer.  Just when we thought it was done, it wasn't.  There was always a little bit more.  But then we turned one last corner, entered a room, and listened to the words that ended that path and opened up another.  Michael is an Attorney at Law.  His career has finally begun and the next chapter of our life opened.  We're excited for the opportunities ahead of us.  Most of all, I'm so proud of Michael and all his hard work then and now.  Love you Michael.

Six

Six years old.  Six years old!  If my oldest son is now six years old then I must be old enough to have a six-year-old!  How did that happen?!

While I may not like to think about the implications for myself, I love seeing how much he has grown and learned and experienced.  At six years Johnny is so big that he measures up to kids 4 years older than he.  And yet he has the most tender heart of anyone I know.  He's thriving in his kindergarten class and now reads and writes like crazy!  His favorite book at the moment is Green Eggs and Ham, which he loves to read to Damien.  I even stumbled upon Johnny whispering the words to Damien so he could "read" it on his own.  (*Proud Moment*)  Johnny is now an avid soccer player and fisherman.  Soccer had a slow start because of his reluctance to take the ball away from anyone (like I said, sweetheart) but that changed with the introduction of candy bribes.  I told him that I would give him an M&M for every time he kicked the ball and an ice cream scoop for every goal.  It was magical!  :)  I almost ran out of M&M's and Johnny scored twice and had another three very close shots on goal.  (*Pround Moment*)  Fishing, on the other hand, was natural to Johnny from day 1.  He goes about once a week with his Grandpa Wald and almost always catches something.  If it's big enough they bring it home to cook and eat together.  Johnny also loves to play games with his Dad and knows how to play Bohnanza all by himself.  He's smart, athletic, loving, and happy.  I'm so lucky he's mine!

Cabin Conference

Back at the beginning of the month we took a weekend off to enjoy the peace of the cabin together as a family.  It happened to be Johnny's birthday and Conference weekend as well.  As we drove we marveled at the beauty of the fall colors coupled with low clouds covering the mountains.  It was indescribable and, while I like the pictures I got, they don't do it justice.

My favorite part of the weekend was listening to Conference in front of the fire.  We pulled a couch over and all cuddled on it, feeling the warmth of the flames and listening to the words of our prophet and apostles.  The boys only lasted about 15 minutes like this, but it was priceless to me.

The boys favorite part was chopping the wood with Daddy.  We went out to the large wood pile to split some wood for those who would be coming up to the cabin during the winter.  Each of us found a specific job to do that seemed to work perfectly together.  Johnny stood on the wood pile and picked out a log for Michael.  Michael would split it with the ax, and then Damien would shout at the top of his lungs "Good hit Daddy!!"  Afterwards I'd take the pieces and store them under the cabin for use later.  We preformed this simple routine over and over for more than an hour!  (Damien was absolutely faithful with his "Good hit Daddy!!" every time - it was so great!)  They LOVED every minute of it and I loved watching all my boys being manly men!

Prepping for Halloween

See these innocent-looking berries?  These small, little, cute berries turned my small, little, cute four-year-old into this....

A nightmare that just walked out of a horror movie!

The bushes around our condo are full of blue berries, and when Damien and Emily saw them they figured out that they could squish the berries in their hands and make a mess which, as you know, is always a good idea!  When I looked out the window to see what they were up to all I could see was red.  It would have been terrifying (Who's bleeding?!?  What happened?!?) if I didn't hear their giggles at the exact same moment.  So instead of a first aid kit I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures.  Damien had a lot of fun making scary faces for the camera.  He's a little too good at it!

He Passed!

Michael passed the Utah State Bar Examination!  He passed!!  We were pretty sure he would, but still... it's a relief to know it.  It's done - everything's finished.  There are no more classes, no more tests, no more requirements, no more questions about what might happen.  I'm giddy right now and it wasn't even my test.  :)  He will be sworn in on October 23 at noon in Salt Lake City (friends and family are invited to come).  After that he will work as an associate at Ascione, Heideman, and McKay LLC in Provo, Utah.  And now I have to go so we can celebrate!

Hurricane, Utah

For Damien's birthday we spent the weekend in Hurricane, Utah with Michael's parents at their new home.  While down there we had a birthday party, went fishing, went to Zions (my first time ever), went swimming, listened to the BYU football game (that one was just me), and saw Les Miserables at Tuacahn.  These are just a few of my favorite pictures from the trip...

Damien, plugging his ears while we sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

The light during fishing was beautiful.

Zions

I love this picture of Damien because there's this amazing rock formation next to him and he's totally oblivious.  :) It's a great contrast.

This is a great photo of Christine.

Johnny wasn't feeling very well during the last part of our trip. Poor guy.

Playing in the water at St. George.

Four Years Old!!

It was Damien's birthday on the 5th of September and I can't believe he's already 4 years old!  We had a great weekend with two parties, two chocolate cakes, and lots of family to share it with.  Damien had a great time and relished every minute, except for when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he covered his ears and hid his head.  (I think it may have been the quality of our "singing".)  He had a lot of fun, and all I could think was, "I'm lucky he's mine."  :)

BYU Football and the Marching Band

My brother is in the BYU Marching Band this year and we got to see him perform for the first time at last Saturday's game against Northern Illinois. It was great watching the precision and talent of the band and know that my brother is a part of what makes that happen!

Matt's "serious" face.


The Marching Band at halftime.


Sarah and I roasting in the sun. It was so hot!!

Firsts

In the first play of the first game of Johnny's very first soccer season, he scored the first goal!!! It goes down on my list of best moments in my life! He scored again later in the game and had a blast playing. He isn't very aggressive (which cracks us up just because he's the biggest, most intimidating-looking kid out there) but he kicks the ball really well and has good defensive instincts. And lets face it, even if he wasn't any good, watching five-year-olds play soccer is one of the funniest, greatest things....ever.

Bored? What's that mean?

These are some examples of what my boys do when they get "bored".  The laundry clips were my favorite with all of the "Look Mommy!" and "Ow-ow-ow-ow-cool huh!" and "Are my fingers creepy? Touch them!!" comments.

First Day of School!!!

Here's Johnny on his first day of Kindergarten. I'm so excited for him I can hardly stand it!  (Yes, I'm still excited even though he's already gotten a week under his belt.)  How come nobody ever told me how much fun it is to do homework?!  It's now my favorite part of the day - to watch and help Johnny do his homework in the afternoon.  I love seeing how much he is learning!

Water Turn

This is what my Grandparents' backyard looks like when the irrigation water comes through.

And this is what the boys look like splashing through it...


...and then dunking in it!

Summer Rain

Does it matter if the kids are all ready for bed when a perfect summer rain storm hits? You can't see it in the video very well but it was POURING outside and it was too good to resist!

Song Lyrics

Michael and I always love it when we come across good songs that have great lyrics. Here's one I found yesterday:

"Congratulations" by Blue October

Is that seat taken?
Congratulations
Would you like to take a walk with me?
My mind it kinda goes fast
I'll try to slow it down for you
I think I'd love to take a drive
I want to give you something
I've been wanting to give to you for years
My heart

My heart, my pain won't cover up
You left me..
My heart
My heart won't take this cover up
You left me..

I came to see the light in my best friend
You seemed as happy as you'd ever been
My chance of being open was broken
And now you're Mrs. him.

My words they don't come out right
But I'll try to say I'm happy for you
I think I'm going to take that drive
I want to give you something
I've been wanting to give to you for years
My heart

My heart, my pain won't cover up
You left me..
My heart
My heart won't take this cover up
You left me..

And I can't change this
I can never take it back
But now I can't change your mind
(You left me)
And I can't take this
I can never take this back
But now I can't change your mind
can't change your mind
(You left me)
Can't change you mind
(You left me)
(You left me)
(You left me)

Just make it go away
Make it go away
Please.

Breaking Dawn

I'm not obsessive, but I am excited.  It comes out Saturday and I can't wait to see how it all wraps up.  We'll see if your theory is right Kristie...  :)

Soccer Fans

I wanted to try to include a link in my text like Hillary does (look at me being all internet savvy!) so here's a great link to some amazing soccer footage.  It's kinda long, but if you watch to the end you won't be disappointed!

And if you'd like to see a funny soccer commercial click here.

Update

Thank you to Hillary and Julie who have inspired me to update the look of my blog!  We'll see if it flows better now.  Enjoy!

Comments

So someone told me that there was no where to comment on my blog and I looked at it and realized that she was right!  Somehow that got turned off on my page.  (I have NO idea how that could have happened because I'm a PRO at this who blogging thing.  HTML is my middle name!)  ;)  It should be fixed now so that my new posts will have a place to comment.  Thanks Hil!

Plane Racing

After missing out all last year, the boys and I were finally able to go to one of Grandpa Wald's plane races this summer.  Out on the sod farms in Eagle Mountain they hold plane races once a month for gas and electric model airplanes.  It was a great day - not too hot in the shade tents - and there were three spectacular mid-air crashes.  (Those are always the most fun - unless it's your own plane.)  The boys favorite part is when the race is over and they can bring back Grandpa's plane for him.  It's very important work!  Sometimes you even have to wrap your hand in a paper towel so you don't get gasoline all over yourself.  :)  We all had a great time!

Day Seven

If it's our last day in California, it's gotta be a day at the beach!