S'more please!

Last weekend was w o n d e r f u l. I have been feeling like a bad mom lately because I had lots of fun plans & ideas to do with the kids this summer, but most of it has been taken over with moving & the summer is almost over. School starts on August 16th!! Gasp!!
We didn't go camping in June at all, so we're going to try to 2 times in July. Ahhh - it was great to get up in the mountains. Right now, Fishlake is the only forest allowing campfires in developed areas. So - we went up  Beaver Canyon & spent a couple nights camping next to Kent's Lake. It was beautiful up there. Right next to the lake. The fishing was good & we even found some Cedar friends up there! Kezi caught her first fish. She was not entirely thrilled about it - it was slimy and squirmy and she didn't want to touch it :)
But between fishing, s'mores, hiking, and playing, a good time was had by all!

Hope

Last night, I was really bogged down. I really should not even keep up with the news. You know that song from Paul Simon that goes "I get all the news I need on the weather report"... yeah... that should be me.

This story about Sierra Newbold just devastated me last night. Having a 6-year-old girl myself does not help matters. I just cannot imagine... cannot fathom... my heart gets so full of heartbreak for the family and anger toward that man. Their family is in the ward of a good family friend and in the city I grew up in. Just not fair. 


Then, of course, I read a few more news stories, almost as depressing... rape...murder...abuse... 
I went to bed feeling like the world was a terrible place. How can I raise my kids in it? How can I find any peace? Where is the hope when things like this happen & the innocent suffer so much? 


This morning I was still feeling down & I prayed for hope & help & I opened my scriptures in faith. Here are some verses that I read: 

 Psalm 4:6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy ^acountenance upon us.

 7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time thattheir ^acorn and their wine increased.

 8 I will both lay me down in ^apeace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Isn't that amazing? God knows the pain & suffering in this world. It hurts His heart more than my own. And Jesus understands it. Every particle of it. And still they offer their peace and their gladness if we will seek it. It was such a blessing to read this & made my heart so much lighter!

And I still think I'm going to try & stick to the weather report. 

:)

June Newsletter & Slideshow

I'll apologize up front because I was REALLY bad at capturing the girls stuff this month :( Here's what I got, though...

FAMILY:  The beginning of July was again started in Salt Lake. We had done Mapleton, and a trip to San Diego, and at the first weekend in June was Michael’s baptism and Spencer’s blessing. It was great to be able to be there for both of those events (even if poor Michael wasn’t feeling well for his baptism L After we got back from our SLC trip, most of our time was spent getting ready for moving into our new home (!), though we did find some time to attend a Paiute Pow-wow, where we saw some awesome dances, ate yummy fry bread, and met a cute little Paiute girl (probably 4 years old) that ate with us and played with us. The night of the 14^th was the Utah Summer Games opening ceremonies & Jason took the older girls. They went with the Bealers & they all had a great time. It was the Nitro Circus and they did lots of crazy stunts on their motorcycles & things & there were amazing fireworks at the end. The girls & dad had a great time. The 16^th was Father’s day & we had fun spoiling dad. He got a candy bar poster & some cards. The week before, we did special chores for him – washed the van & truck, took out the trash for him, put a note in his lunch, etc. He also got to season & grill up a HUGE t-bone steak for dinner at night. The 18^th was our big ultrasound day! McKinley was at a birthday party, so she didn’t come, but Jason, Ireland, & Kezia were there (oh – and Heidi, too ;) We found out we’re having a BOY!! We were all pretty shocked – still are pretty shocked. We were all expecting another little girl! We’ve got lots of adjusting to do around here, but we are just mostly thankful that he looked like a healthy little guy. The following Thursday, Grandma & Grandpa Potts came to help us pack & move. Their help was GREATLY appreciated! We closed on the house Friday morning (after Heidi dropped dad up for a run in Cedar Canyon & had to end up going back up through Brian Head to get home because they closed the gate before she could get back down!) & were able to take a few loads on Friday afternoon/evening. Then that night we attended the Groovefest at the city park. We had fun listening to live music, eating pizza, and dancing J Saturday the 23^rd was our big moving day! We had about 5 helpers from our ward (along with the entire awesome Bealer family) – and the Potts - that helped us get moved over. It took 4 trips with the big uhaul and Jeff’s trailer, but we got just about everything moved over by about 4pm. Grandma Potts was so great to stay at the old place & help finish packing & cleaning. We made it to the new ward by 9:30 the next morning & got to meet some members of our new ward – the Cedarview ward. It’s mostly made up of older families & couples, but they were kind & the girls got to meet some people in their classes. We also met our next-door neighbors – the Davis’ – who were very nice That evening the Johnsons (a family that moved from our old ward into a close neighborhood) invited us over to dinner. It was very yummy & nice to see some familiar faces – and it only took 2 minutes to get to their house, so it’s nice to know that they are close!  It’s taken a while – and we still have a way to go – but we’ve got most of the rooms in order. It’s been a bit amazing going from our small 1300 sq foot twin home to this 5000+ sq foot home, but we are really appreciating it. The girls (and mom) love that they can play with all the loud toys downstairs & lots of books & quiet toys in the upstairs bonus room. We love the view of the mountains and how close we are to everything – including our old friends. The dogs are still adjusting to being on the bottom deck, but it’s getting better J We also are SO thankful for a fridge! We had to go a week without one when we first moved in & we were living out of a cooler. Jason’s birthday was on the 27^th. See his section for his bday activities – happy 35^th daddy! There was a fire in New Harmony at the end of the month was a bit scary, but thankfully they got it contained before it got too close. Still – all the fires around the state make us anxious to take care of the brush around our home. All-in-all, we are feeling very excited and blessed to be in our new home (& be able to get cash for keys and our deposit back at our old home) & very excited to find out we’re having a BOY!

JASON:  Jason had a fun month with the Nitro Circus, Father’s Day & his birthday. On his birthday, he got breakfast in bed, we brought him some Café Rio for lunch, and then Hannah came to babysit so Heidi & Jason could eat at Panda Express and then go see Snow White & the Huntsman in the theaters – and drive out to check out the New Harmony fire. He’s been good at doing all the things that need to be done around the new house and finishing transferring from the old house. He is also excited to have a little more testosterone in this home when the little one arrives J Jason had this 70’s/wolverine sideburn/chops  facial hair thing going on for a while. He ( thankfully ;) decided to shave it off at the end of the month.

 HEIDI: Whew! Heidi’s mind still reels with the fact that she’s carrying a baby boy. She’s excited, though, and looking forward to coming up with a boy nursery!! She’s also excited to be at the halfway mark for this pregnancy. She started getting back into running this month & even though she’s pretty slow, she really enjoys it and it helps her physically & mentally. It was a lot of work getting all packed up, but she is thankful for good friends & family who help out. She was even able to finish Ireland’s birthday book – yay! Heidi has enjoyed not feeling so cramped & actually being able to have room to get in & out of the van in the garage. Her belly is starting to get in the way! She was thankful to get to see her family at the beginning of the month & also see her mom & dad towards the end. She somehow misplaced her cell phone in the move & has had to use her old cell phone (& pay $20 for a new SIM card), but she’s thankful she has it. She is looking forward to July & hopefully being able to finish unpacking & also spend more time enjoying the summer with the girls.

McKINLEY:

-While McKinley was helping to fold whites one day, she said “Mom! I accidentally put my hand through that hole when I was folding it – ewwww – GROSS!” (it was her dad’s bottoms J

-We showed a picture to McKinley of some Utah Summer Games sports in the newspaper. Mom pointed to some arm-wresters & asked “what do you think they’re doing McKinley?” She said “I dunno – are they praying?”

-McKinley really enjoyed going to the Utah Summer Games opening ceremonies with Ireland & dad & loved telling mom about the cool stuff they saw.

-McKinley is excited to tell people she’s a FIRST GRADER now!

-McKinley was a big helper trying to get things packed up. She’s very excited to be in our new home!

-When we had our ultrasound, McKinley was at her friend, Kate’s, birthday party. We kind of made her wait a while before we told her, but when we did, she was SO excited! She was REALLY hoping for a baby brother!

-Mom wanted McKinley to keep practicing her handwriting for the summer, so she got on facebook & asked if anyone wanted to be a pen pal with McKinley. Now McKinley has FOUR pen pals! – Amanda Neff (Farmington, who she knew from Herriman), Allie Tate (Washington state, mom’s cousin’s girl), Hannah Hazlett (Riverton, the daughter of a girl mom was a cheerleader with), and Amy Sorenson (Moab, daughter of an old Snow College roommate of moms) She is excited to meet some new friends &  loves getting letters in the mail.

-McKinley says “I like my new house. I love candy. Ummm… Ireland is silly. She just doesn’t know it.”

-We are reading “The Wind in the Willows” with McKinley at nights. It’s been fun & we all enjoy it & she can do the summer reading program at the library.

IRELAND:

-One thing that Ireland will miss about our old home is her friend, Ella (same age). She would get on top of the dog kennel and look down into Ella’s yard & yell “ELLLLLLLAAAA!” – and Ella would come out & they would talk and exchange treats. Ella’s mom told me one of the last nights we were there, Ireland went & got her jump rope & put one side of it on Ella’s side of the fence. She then proceeded to tell her to go get Whiskers (her cat) and tie the jump rope around him & Ireland would haul him over to our yard. Thankfully, Ella’s parents had the wisdom to ask why Ella was looking for Whiskers because even if Whiskers would have survived a rope around the neck and getting pulled up to our yard, we’re not sure our dogs would have been kind to Whiskers.
-On the way to the ultrasound, mom asked Ireland if she thought we were going to have a boy or a girl. Ireland said “We’re havin’ a girl cuz girls have girls and boys have boys.” We had a discussion about that on the way to the hospital J
-Ireland is still in denial that she’s having a baby brother. She says maybe it will still switch around and be a girl!
-Ireland says “I love you. You’re so sweet. I love you. You are so beautiful. I know that K-e-z-i-a is little AND I would like a big ginormous giraffe for my birthday AND I want a big elephant for my birthday. I’m five year old.”

KEZIA

-Over Memorial weekend when we went camping, Kezia came into bed with mom & dad in the middle of the night. In the morning, mom asked how Kezia slept, considering it was in OUR bed. She said “Yeah… I got squished up.”

-Also over Memorial weekend,  mom was talking to someone & heard Kezi say “mom!” Mom answered “yes?” Kezia looked up at grandma & said “my mom said yes!!” (apparently, I was unknowingly saying yes to eating chocolate)

-During one of the confirmations after Michael’s baptism, Kezia heard the dad say “Holy Ghost” & she says “Mom! He said about a ghost!!”

-While Kezia was helping fold laundry one day, she was folding one of dad’s things & she said “I’m folding this for dad. He’s an old man.”

-Kezia points to mom’s tummy & says she has a baby girl in her tummy and then she points to her own tummy & says she has a baby boy in her tummy.

-Kezia also really likes to pat mom’s tummy.

-Kezia loves to run around in our new home. There’s LOTS of tile so the “pitter-patter of little feet” is a little amplified.

-Kezia LOVES to read books. A favorite of hers lately is “No David!” She’s so cute, turning the pages, saying “No David! Come back here David! Go to your room David!”

-Kezia says “watch a movie. Catch a grasshopper. Play with toys. Ahhh!”