The Nitty Gritty

Our last weeks in Utah, in some ways, felt like I was planning my funeral. Everything I was doing I kept thinking "This is the last time..." I wanted to go on a hike in the mountains because it seemed like I would NEVER get to do it ever again. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with family and friends because I would NEVER get to see them again. I realized about a week before we moved that I will still get to do lots of things in Utah because I will return there to visit and hopefully live there again someday. I will see family and friends again, not as often as I'd like, but I will see them more than once a year in person. I don't think I've ever cried so much in a month as this past month, but it was therapeutic and I'm grateful that I was able to let myself feel sad and grieve over this huge change in my life. Once we started on the road toward Tempe, I naturally began looking forward and dwelt more on what lie ahead rather than what I was leaving ...

  I have had the great privilege of serving in Primary for a little over a year now. On Sunday, the primary gave William a treat and sang his favorite Primary song, "Nephi's Courage" since it was his last Sunday there. I started crying my eyes out watching him all bewildered in front of the kids because I realized this was also my last time I'll get to see him in Primary each Sunday (at least for the near future :)). It was hard at times, watching him misbehave and having to sit next to him to keep him reverent, but overall it was a joy to see him get excited about singing time, getting to say the prayer in the microphone, or being chosen as the helper during a lesson.  I'm grateful for opportunities to serve in my church-- for the chance that I have to be challenged and that I can grow from these experiences.  I can't say enough what a comfort it is to know that while I am leaving my family and ward family behind, I have a new ward family waiting f...

            Five years ago, Isaac was hired to teach full-time music at Nibley Park, a K-8 school in Salt Lake City School District.   He wanted to teach elementary general music instead of jr. high or high school choir. We felt fortunate that Isaac was able to find a job teaching general music in an elementary school in Utah. The principal at Nibley Park worked it out to where he would pay half of Isaac’s salary to keep him there full time and the school district would pay the other half.   While Salt Lake City School District hires music teachers to teach music in their schools, Isaac was the only elementary music teacher in the district that got to stay at one school and run its music program.             Isaac is an outstanding music teacher and I will greatly miss attending the musical performances at Nibley Park. He incorporated his ideas that went ag...

I'm finally figuring out how to copy my Instagram pictures to my bloggin schplog!   I had to post this one of Van wearing underwear. He's doing so well with using his froggy potty this week. He kept his underwear dry all day today and whenever he has to go potty he uses this phrase, "Mom, I fart!" As you can see he is holding Jessie in the photo. Jessie and Cat in the Hat sometimes watch Van go pee pee on the potty to see what a big boy he is. Yesterday, I bought him a new pack of Toy Story underwear. He was so excited!! I'm so proud of my little Vanners! This week we checked out a book at the library called, How Dinosaurs Say I love You by Jane Yolen. Every time I read it, I think of Van. It's true that one minute I want to rip my hair out with Van's irrational behavior and then the next minute, he'll do something so sweet like hold out his tiny chubby hand and say ,"C'mon Mom. I wanna hold your finger." and just sweep me of...

Van loves his stuffed Cat in the Hat, or as he calls it, "Cat Da Hat." He treats it like a little girl would treat her dolly. He dresses it in clothes, gives it lots of hugs and kisses, brings it along for car rides, cuddles it while he sleeps, holds one-sided conversations with it, and holds it in his lap while he watches the PBS show "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That". His vocabulary has really exploded this past month and it's fun to hear his teeny voice speaking in sentences.  I can't believe how fast he is growing! I still call him my baby because that's what he is to me. My baby Vanners.  He hasn't taken one nap this week (heaven help us) and he wants to do everything, I mean EVERYTHING, by himself. Buckle his car seat, walk instead of ride in the stroller, get up and down from his highchair, dump his potty into the big toilet, turn the lights on and off, close the garage door, turn off the water at the sink--you name it, he wants to...

Ok, family and friends! Remember when we had you vote on names for our babies? Now, it's time to vote on where you think we'll move to! You can vote on the right hand side of the blog.  I can hardly stand the suspense myself. This is a big change for our family and I only hope we get to move to the right place for our family to have the most positive experience possible.

With the Thanksgiving holiday, I get the chance to really think about what I'm thankful for in life. These things have been on my mind a lot lately: Firsts and Lasts Firsts: I'm so thankful for our FIRST home. I love having a 2 car garage on these cold windy days when I can just walk into the house without bundling up my kids and shielding them from the wind. I love having a backyard and a large driveway where we can kick the balls and draw with chalk. I love the big open playroom downstairs where William can run around and scatter his toys. I could go on and on about our house because there are so many things I love. We love the area, our ward, and our neighbors. I'm so thankful for our real estate consultant for life Terry Bickmore who made this dream home a reality for us and for getting us and the rest of his clients tickets to the premiere of Harry Potter on Thursday. Isaac mowing the lawn this past summer. Will enjoyed the chore too! Isaac is grateful the law...