Happy Pioneer Day!

We haven't really celebrated Pioneer Day, but we had fun times ON Pioneer Day and I thought I could share. We went to lunch at Tucano's. Because it tastes good, and because we only had to pay for Oliver and two drinks because I had a birthday free meal card. Good planning I thought. And it was so good...talking about it makes me want to go back. MMmm...brown sugar glazed pork...turkey wrapped in bacon...and the boys loved the fried bananas!

Then we walked over to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and grabbed a few things to taste. They were yummy. One of my favorite things is chocolate covered pretzel rods. That love started back in Nauvoo at the Fudge Factory where they have Turtle pretzel rods(walnuts & chocolate & caramel...). I enjoy them wherever I can find them now since I don't get back to Nauvoo often enough. I also wanted to try a few other things. I will have to go back though because I think their specialty is random covered apples and I wasn't in the mood for that today.

Then I had to devote a few hours to working and preparing things for the coming week's check-ins. That went well.

Then! We got to do something we'd never done before. We went to the CLAS Ropes Course. It was a beautiful night for it and it was so much fun. Happy Early Birthday Daniel! (It was a surprise party for Oliver's cousin. Lena did a great job planning and pulling it off!). We showed up late, but were still able to do some awesome things. I climbed the rock wall(well, I tried. I've never climbed before and I only made it halfway up when I got stuck and then my ankle decided it wanted to stop supporting me).

We went on the zipline which was amazing! Oliver liked it so much, he did it twice. I loved the view from the platform. The course is on West Center Street in Provo, almost to Utah Lake. And out there are a lot of fields and farms and I loved it! While Oliver was up top, a hawk flew by and he was at the same level as the hawk. It was very cool!

Then there is this giant swing. You get hooked up and then some strong friends help pull you up to the top where you let go and you just start swinging! It's like 40 feet tall or something crazy like that. I wasn't adventurous enough to try and flip, but Oliver was. I enjoyed it because Oliver brought Evan over who thought it was amazing and he kept giggling as I swung back and forth over his head. Ryan enjoyed himself the ENTIRE time because he of course has figured out that Oliver's cousins love him. So he can go to any of them at any time and they'll pick him up. It was a great night and I was so excited to be outside on a beautiful evening. On the way home we could see lightning in the distance and its raining now. What a great day!

Ramblings

Hello to any out there reading. And to myself later. I'm just in the mood to type and ramble so don't be afraid to not read. I won't really know if you did anyway. :)

Tonight I am alone in the messy living room. The babes just fell asleep and Oliver is with extended family in the beautiful world God created and is, I'm sure, loving every minute of it. Sadly, I had to stay home with my beautiful children and work. I had a goal to get several things done before he comes home, but I just don't think that's going to happen to the lack of ability I have to get much done when the boys are awake. Oh well. They keep things interesting. Ryan likes to make a little car sound and drive this little matchbox car on random items. Tonight I drove it on our cinder block walls and he thought I was brilliant. I love it when your children can make you feel that way. And I love Evan's hugs. He has mastered that pretty well and it makes me so happy to get a hug from him or when he just climbs up onto the couch to snuggle for like two seconds before getting back down to play. That makes me happy.

Today I realized how grateful I am that I don't have to commute to work. I know that's pretty silly, but I had to travel to Springville today so that Grandma could watch the boys during my staff meeting since Oliver is gone. Well, my meeting finishes right at 5pm. And the road I needed to travel on, had construction(because what part of Utah isn't under construction this summer?) that made a two lane road with a 50mph speed limit go down to one lane without the convenient right turn lane either that has a light that has become very popular since the aforementioned construction has altered people's drives. Anyway. I wasn't the happiest, but the road rage wasn't horrible either, it was just frustrating. On the way back from Springville, I noticed that the traffic was backed up for 3/4 of a mile! Yeah. Glad I don't have to deal with that everday.

Other gems of the day...I realized that I think I come off too strong and rude when working with our conference assistants. I don't have a whole lot of opportunities for them to get to know me, so I'm afraid that some of them might think me mean and overbearing. And since I don't get to know them as well either, I probably assume things about them that I shouldn't. It's a tricky thing.

I'm getting excited for another upcoming wedding in Oliver's family. They're a cute couple and I love the celebration of love and commitment that is made during wedding time. yeah...was thinking about that today...

Oh! Yesterday I bought tickets to STOMP! It's coming to the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo in January. I'm so excited! I love percussion and the idea of seeing STOMP is thrilling!! Yippee!!

I need to get my sewing machine out and see how well I can throw some things together in a short amount of time. I've been very disappointed in the skirt selection. I have this certain type of skirt in mind and the stores just don't carry it! So I need to try and create something akin. We'll see if it'll happen. I'll let you know how it goes.

That's enough randomness. Have a happy day!

3 Under 3

Aren't they cute?

Please!

Playing with cousin Macy's kitchen. New toys to play with as Charlie, Chelsea, & Macy are in transition from AZ to ID.

Ryan decided to show off his growing intellect. While begging some sort of food out of my hands, I said, "Say please" and he immediately said "ls" and made the sign for please. It took me completely by surprise! I haven't been diligent in using signs all the time and hadn't that day at all so when he did it, I couldn't believe it and began to get really overly excited.

It got Oliver so excited that he began to play with Ryan to see what he would say or do. Like finding his nose and ears. Isn't it so funny how excited moms and dads get about something like a baby saying "ha da da" when we ask him to say Hi to his Daddy?

And he just finds a way to make everyone smile because he has no worry of strangers. And he is a mooch. If you have food, he'll come to you and look at you with great big expectant eyes. Basically, he's cute and I need to learn other words to use otherwise he might get a complex to think that's all he is.

With Grandma & cousin Macy in their chairs. (and all 3 munchkins looking at the camera!)
Not to be left out, I am impressed by my Evan. While he still does frustrating things...like not taking a nap on Monday, falling asleep at 9:15pm(normal for some children) and then waking up at 2am Tuesday morning ready to go and play for the next 11 hours...that's right. He didn't fall asleep again until 1pm Tuesday afternoon. But he has the sweetest connections to people. He LOVES his Grandma. Whenever she comes into a room, he wants to be held by her almost more than by me. He loves to love people. In his own way, of course, but once you understand it, its so sweet. He'll lean up against you or push his face against your face or neck. He's figuring things out quickly too. Sheila, his speech therapist, came today with a toy that she thought would take him a while to figure out..as in not today. But he did. And he's figured out how to walk even though we don't have any corrective devices on his feet. And his laugh is still so infectious. I love my babies. And needed to write an update on them.
My boys. Evan..walking! Ryan...chewing on a plastic corn cob with a real carrot in hand. Oliver, tired, but loving his babies.

We don't have an explanation of activities on the 4th. I love our country, but did not have time to celebrate this year due to work and desire to be with family instead of watching fireworks. :) Life is interesting isn't it?

I Am On My Way

"Where are you going?

I don't know

When will you get there?

I ain't certain

All that I know is I am on my way."

Paint Your Wagon was the most recent musical viewed in our house. This is one that we had in my house growing up that had been taped off TV but its fun to see now with all of the songs. Clint Eastwood singing...who knew? Anyway. Perhaps its the week, the day, or a reaction to the movie itself, but I've been thoughtful lately and that usually leads to random analogies. This one isn't very clear as I'm coming up with it as I'm writing so it's more just a thought about life. This movie is about Gold Rush California and actually one of the main storylines is about a Mormon with two wives comes into this town of only men and then auctions off one of the wives who later marries two men. Don't worry I didn't give it all away. It made me think about how you have to have money in order to live in America. You might be able to get by with homegrown fruits and vegetables, but our society isn't set up for self sufficient farming anymore.

Hmmm...I didn't really want to discuss that right now either.

Back to song lyrics because that's what started this in the first place. The opening song is the above lyrics followed by this:

"Got a dream boy

Got a song

Paint your wagon

and Come along"

Repeated multiple times in different languages and different accents. (Which means it kind of gets stuck in my head quickly). But it makes you think about where you're going and how you're getting there both physically and mentally (and spiritually). I feel this way a lot: All that I know is I am on my way. I often hope that I'm on my way in the right direction. But boy are there a lot of dips in the road. Another song in the movie is "A Wanderin' Star." Both of these songs talk about travelling and moving on. Have you ever had the desire to just wander? I don't do this often anymore, but I used to just drive for the sake of driving to see what I could find that I had never seen before. I enjoyed the lyrics to "A Wanderin' Star" as well so I'll pass that on.

"I was born under a wanderin' star

Wheels are made for rollin'

Mules are made to pack

I never seen a sight that didn't look better looking back

I was born under a wanderin' star

Mud can make you prisoner

And the plains can bake you dry

Snow can burn your eyes

But only people make you cry

Home is made for comin' from

For dreams of goin' to

Which with any luck will never come true..."

While I don't necessarily agree with Ben's view of life, it does make me think. Hopefully, the dreams of goin' home do come true and that its worth it every time it happens. And while its a beautiful thought to just travel and enjoy the world the Lord has made for us while not taking advantage of it and ruining it, I think I also need to focus on something else the Lord has given us: our family. Vacations and new directions in life are some of the things my siblings have been doing lately that made me think more about the wanderin' star and what its significance could be to me. No, I wasn't born under a wanderin' star, but I think every once in a while, the star at least passes over and makes me want to follow it for a brief moment. And while he uses "but only people make you cry" to be negative, I think that's a good thought. Yes, you might get emotional from the relationships you have with others, but if you don't have those relationships, will you truly feel the range of emotion we were blessed to feel, use, and control? Sometimes its wonderful to be able to cry over people for good and for bad and for sad. Its a blessing to know that you care so much for someone and there is someone out there who cares for you too.

Because it is late and I'm rambling, I'll stop, but I have been enjoying song lyrics lately and thought I'd pass these on.