Some scrapbook pages about the time with family.

A funfilled, fantastic family visit

As most of you know, my family has been in town for just over a week. We had an excellent time. Here are my top ten favorite memories of the past week. (They aren't really in order... just my favorite things as I think of them.) Photos and additional journaling/blogging to come when I have more time later:

10. Having my niece (who is only one and who I met for the first time this week) climb into my lap or reach out to me to pick her up. She loves her aunt Jenny! (And everyone else too! She is such a sweet, friendly baby!)

9. Watching my nephew play with our crazy dog Chester. My nephew said that Chester is his new best friend. Listening to and watching my niece play with her dinosaurs...she knows more about dinosaurs (by far) than I do!

8. Family dinners with extended family...grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, parents, etc. all in my backyard for a bbq and lots of yummy food. (We had a BBQ with my mom's side of the family on Saturday and had my dad's side of the family that lives here over on Sunday.)

7. Staying up late talking to my sisters and my brother-in-law.

6. Going to the park and watching the kids play with each other.

5. Driving up American Fork Canyon to have a picnic. We were able to visit with my grandparents and great aunt. It was beautiful and peaceful. The kids enjoyed playing in the water and pushing the babies around in the stroller.


4. Having family pictures taken. I can't wait to get the pictures back! I think we'll have some great ones.

3. Attending the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It is so beautiful and the spirit was so strong there. It was so neat for my kids to have the opportunity to go inside the temple and learn more about it. Gabrielle absolutely loved the chandeliers and Michelle and Ella loved the beautiful rooms.

2. Going ice blocking for the first time. It was my first time and the kids' first time! What a great idea Rebecca.

and the NUMBER ONE thing I loved about this past week:Watching my kids play with their cousins (who are their same ages...but we only see every year or two since they live so far away). It was such a great opportunity for them to become better friends. Everyone was so sad to leave/to have them leave. And considering that we had so many people here for the past week, everyone did an amazing job of getting along and we all had so much fun!

ice age

Friday night we headed to the drive in with a bunch of friends from the neighborhood. It was so much fun! I'm so glad Aly organized it, and super happy that 6 families were able to come. We got food (pizza, popcorn and other junk) and ate and talked and took photos before the movie. My kiddos loved the movie... Michelle laughed out loud several times.



Aly and Shannon finally met. They have been blogger buddies for quite some time. We had so much fun. This was Alfredo's first time going to a drive in. (The girls and I have gone a few times with friends, but since Alfredo used to get up for work at 4:30 he has never come with us.) Alfredo enjoyed snapping photos, especially with the sunset in the background.




Notice my girls in dresses? I tried to convince them to wear shorts, but they love to dress up. And I brought pajamas to change them into, but they spilled bubbles on them, and they were soaked. :)

Let's do it again soon! It was so much fun. Even Gabrielle had fun and made friends with Grace. And she fell asleep about 10 minutes into the movie and slept peacefully throughout.

What I didn't know.... (edited...I added a few more thoughts)

I read a post on motherhood on another blog, according to kelly.

She talked about the things she didn't realize about motherhood before she became a mother. Reading her post (and all the comments) made me think about what has surprised me about motherhood. Here are a few of my thoughts. I'm sure there are more and I agreed with many other people's thoughts (and disagreed with a few):

Hmmm... what I didn't know was how you could feel like strangling a child (but of course you don't) one minute and like hugging them the next. ... I never guessed that my kids would be able to make me so frustrated or angry or so happy and so proud. (Was that too honest?)

I didn't realize how hard it would be to not compare...my own kids with each other, my kids with other kids their ages, myself with other moms. It's not productive and I don't mean to do it, but it happens anyway.

I also didn't realize that I would be helped so often by others...strangers and friends alike. I don't think I seem incompetent, I think I usually do a pretty good job of handling 3 kids, but so often friends or strangers have offered help without me asking. Watching my kids while I work when my babysitter is sick, helping me unload groceries into my car at the store while I got the kids in the car, helping me in church if I'm alone with all 3, etc. I have been brought to tears by the kindness of others on many ocassions, especially when my 2nd had open heart surgery.

I had no idea how amazing it would be to watch my children interact with each other. Their relationship is so special, and they often surprise me with their kindness and sweetness. This is one of the most amazing parts of parenthood.

I never knew that my kids would be able to make me smile or laugh like nothing else. That there is nothing in this world to compare to the smile or laughter of a baby or child. That holding an infant in your arms is one of life's greatest joys (except at 3 o'clock in the morning when you are sleep deprived and the baby is sick and you would do anything for sleep!). And that the days (and years) pass by way too quickly. That you really shouldn't blink... That as the song says, "You're gonna miss this. You're gonna want this back. You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good days. So take a good look around, you may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."

I, unlike many others, would never have guessed how much I would love being pregnant. (I really do!) Or that having a baby naturally would literally change my whole perception of myself and what I can do.

Or that, at the end of the day, we all do the best we can and that we need to let that be good enough. But that I would often wonder if it really was.

I had no idea how hard it would be to work full time and be a mother. It is overwhelming and exhausting... There is always so much more to do and it is hard to juggle and determine priorities.

But I also know that it is hard being a stay at home mom. I am like a stay at home mom during the summer (since I'm a teacher) and I LOVE it! Most of the time. But there are days when it seems like the house is a mess despite my efforts, and dinner doesn't turn out and the kids fight and I haven't slept and I'm restless and every once in a while, going back to work seems like a break. I had 2 days like that this past week. I was grumpy; the kids were grumpy; we were all a little stir crazy. So, I admire those of you who are stay at home moms.

Wouldn't it be nice if parenthood came with an instruction manual? But then, I guess many of the lessons we need to learn as mothers are personal and individual. And what works for one child or one family won't always work for another.

But most of all, that being a mother is the best job in the world and that despite the difficulties, you wouldn't trade it for anything!!!!

April- June Reads

A Thousand Splendid Suns ...great book, but his books are incredibly sad, need a happy book now

Breakfast with Buddha
Camel Rider by Prue Mason
CrissCross
Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life
Everlost by Neal Shusterman
Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvis
Lockdown by Traci Hunter Abramson
Outliers by Norman Gladwell
Promises to Keep by Dean Hughes
Stolen Promises by Elissa Wall (about polygamy)
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Patriotic Panamenos

We had a fun 4th of July, which began with the girls and I heading to the zoo. We went to the bird show, which all 3 girls really liked. And for some reason, when they brought out the bald eagle, I got all choked up. I love this country! I am proud to be an American. In addition to seeing all the animals and riding the train and carousel, the zoo had American flags from different eras around the grounds. It was neat to see all of these different flags...all standing for this great nation as it grew from 13 colonies to 50 United States.

Then we spent the evening with family...both my aunt and uncle and Alfredo's extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins). We went to 2 barbecues and then did fireworks at his aunt's house. The girls had fun, including dressing in patriotic clothes.

Notice Ella's shorts are on backwards?! Often this summer, she puts her shorts or pants on backwards...how can she fit? Oh, I forgot, she is tiny!

Look at Michelle's cute 4th of July hairstyle.


This is such an amazing country. Here are some of my top reasons that I love America:
*freedom of religion
*freedom of speech, press, right to vote, etc.
*the military men and women who, throughout the more than 200 past years, have fought to provide, protect and maintain freedom
*the right to have an education...as much education as we choose to have and in whatever field we choose to have...many women and children are denied that right in many countries
*the right to choose our occupations, to choose our spouse, to choose the number of children to have, to choose where to live, etc.
Do I think the United States is the only place with these freedoms? No. But it was the first, and it is still one of the greatest. I get choked up every time I hear "I'm Proud to be an American" and in school, we sing this beautiful song called "This is America" and in it, we stand and say the pledge. Each year our third graders perform it for their parents, and each year I tear up listening to them sing about this country and say the pledge. I love this country!

Anyway, back to my kiddos...here they are.


Take a look at their faces...here we are watching fireworks with Alfredo's family. All of the girls were so excited and amazed. Look at Michelle's wide eyes. Gabrielle would often clap. They loved them.

I have to admit that I always miss the big fireworks when we don't go...to me, there's nothing like a professional fireworks display to make me appreciate this great nation. But this was a pretty spectacular day, especially because Alfredo's grandma and aunt and uncle are here from El Salvador right now. And his uncle and cousins were also here from California. I know he, especially, enjoyed the time to visit with family. And my girls love their cousins Daya and Laly and had a great time with them.

first steps

Last Sunday, June 28, Gabrielle took her first steps (plural--she'd been taking one step for a couple of weeks, but no more than one unless there was something to hold on to). After a week's practice, she is getting pretty good. She still prefers crawling (it's faster) but she's taken up to 8 or 9 steps at a time now. I love how cute they are when they're first starting out...arms out wide to catch themselves, bent a little at the knees, ready to plop down or fall forward after just a few steps.