12 Years

I have been thinking about marriage so much lately with my own anniversary looming, 2 back to back lessons I taught the YW about dating and marriage decisions, a wedding to attend last weekend, and talking with my darling brother-in-law who has been in town and pondering marriage himself.

And all of these experiences, lessons, and discussions have only made me feel so lucky, so content and so very grateful that I married my Joseph. It truly came down to fasting and praying together and feeling so much peace and joy that I thought my heart might overflow. I felt so young and like we had all the time in the world to figure things out--why rush into marriage? But I knew I loved him; loved him for his genuine goodness, his solid testimony and the ways he faithfully honored his priesthood, his love for his family, his creativity, his work ethic and career goals, his unbelievable singing voice and the songs he wrote and sang for me, his long tall frame and darling curls, and the love he showed me.

And on top of all that he made me incredibly happy. We laughed together all the time (as our wedding pictures document well :) and just got each other so well. I was always smiling when I was with him and that kind of joy seems like a rare find. How could I not marry this man?

Joseph continues to be all that I ever needed and now that we have our sweet children in our family I have realized even more so how perfect of a partner he is for me. After 12 years we are still completely in love. Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!

Swimmer

Bentley began a session of swim lessons this evening (never mind that we were supposed to do those over the summer...) I am hoping to sign him up for swim team but he has to pass off certain skills before he can join this coming summer. Tonight--working on his dive...he may have some practicing ahead...

Kids are so cool and totally resilient. His "dive" didn't even phase him..phew!

Sundance FHE

 How we love the mountains this time of year! Tonight was the perfect night for a LeBaron gathering at the Sundance cabin. It was gorgeous and crisp and wonderful up there. Thank you fall.

 

 

 

   

 

The Past Few

Life has seemed to run away from me the past few days. And when I settle down in the evening after all are in bed I am too tired to do much more than just sit on the couch with my feet up, and maybe catch a show or 2. Who knew such a simple thing could feel like such a luxury?

Joseph was filming his cousin's wedding both Thursday and Friday nights so I was on my own with the kids. We had fun, eating dinner super early, dropping by the library, reading all together before helping each kid find their way to bed. I did join Joseph at the wedding reception on Friday from about 4 until 7 and it was fun to steal a behind the scenes peek at everything. Catherine (the newlywed cousin) and Preston had the most gorgeous reception basically down the street from my parents' house--I never even knew the lovely yard and home existed there. I thought the whole event could have been straight out of an Anthropologie catalog with all the vintage details accompanied by both classic and quirky aspects. I would have taken some great pics but Joseph was filming with our Nikon and we only ended up with a few still shots:

A still shot from video at the temple--had to capture Catherine's gorgeous dress...

On Saturday Joseph took Beans and Cares to fulfill a cleaning assignment at the church and then we hit some stores looking for Halloween costumes and inspiration for the kids. Bentley's plan is the trickiest because he wants to be a bat--not Batman, just a straight-up bat with wings that attach from his arms to his waist (I know this because he has specifically described what the wings should look like to me many times). We ended up with a black hoodie from Wal-Mart and the idea to create his costume from an old umbrella. I am pretty sure I am leaving that job up to Joseph who has an incredible eye for making such things.

Today the big kids had their Primary Program at church and were thrilled to share their memorized parts and sing with gusto. They love those sweet songs and I do too. While the hubby and I were making lunch right after church today the kids were upstairs playing and cute Bentley, in his high little boy voice, was singing "and if I listen with my heart I hear the Savior's voice." Happy music in my home :)

 Livs allowed me to french braid her hair last night to match Caroline's...and she left the braids in for all of 10 minutes. She looked so grown-up with her hair all done (minus the binkie :)

 Cares thought this giant zucchini from the Horsley's was hilarious, and also quite cuddly.

Mini-golf

Tonight we simply needed to play. Plus, the kids came home from school, found the basket of Halloween books I'd just gotten out of storage, and read together for a solid 20 minutes. No easier way to get reading minutes done for the day!

 

I just adore these two kiddos. They walk out of school holding hands every day and come find me in the carpool line so we can head home. One day Bentley will be too cool for that but I am not about to mention anything because I think it is just so sweet. They love each other. Makes me smile to see them hand in hand every single day. Simple pleasures for this mommy for sure.

Service Day

Our stake participated in a big day of service on Saturday working along the Jordan River Walkway. Joseph and Bentley headed out early in the morning to go weed and reseed in their designated area (right near Raging Waters). And they worked hard for nearly 3 hours. I was so proud of Bentley for being totally willing to go serve even though the stake requested volunteers ages 8 and up. He knew he was right on the cusp and could handle weeding with his dad since he's done it many times before in our own yard.

Joseph told me that a bunch of kids living in apartments overlooking the walkway saw all the volunteers working and ran out to see if they could come help and work too. I loved that--what cool kids! Luckily, Joseph just happened to have a package of a dozen extra sets of gloves and he gave those to the local kids so they could join in (a big part of the project was pulling up goat head weeds and they tend to be quite prickly).

My boys also happened to stop at the gas station on their way to the site to grab some treats and snacks. When Bentley needed a break from weeding Joseph sent him down the walkway with a big bag of Jolly Ranchers to share with all the other workers. Our neighbor told us that Bentley came up to him with his bag of candy and said "Russ, I have 2 questions for you. 1st, do you want a Jolly Rancher? And 2nd, have you ever been to Raging Waters? It is the coolest place!" Oh my social little boy, love him.

The girls and I stayed home and cleaned the toy room, washed bedding, and made peanut butter kiss cookies to share with neighbors who had been participating in the day of service. It was a busy morning but we were glad to get so much accomplished.

Thoughts Today and Last Year

--The air tonight is intoxicating. An incredible rainstorm brought along crispy cool temps and we are safely below 60 degrees. Love, love.

--Joseph is at a wedding shower for a darling young cousin of his and since we have wedding festivities for her next week, I opted to stay home with the kids and save ourselves a babysitter. But now that everyone is finally in bed I am worn right out. That bedtime gig with 3 kids who all need me at once is a killer. I am so lucky those kidlets have a great father who shares that task with me every night. Somedays I think that's all I ever needed in the man of my dreams...

--I picked up a few new things at Old Navy today for myself. I am determined not to invest in anymore maternity clothes but still needed some basics that will fit nicely over this belly of mine. I even needed a plain white t-shirt of all things because the lone maternity one I put on today just does not work anymore. It is 7 years old though--it's paid its due.

--I was honestly unprepared for how hard a 4th pregnancy would be (and maybe it's just me). The first 3 were awful in the beginning and then actually quite awesome right until the end. That is simply not the case this time around. I felt sick for waaaay longer, feel huge already, have so little energy, feel pains and throbbing where a girl should never hurt, and take on too much for my exhausted body. My state has mostly convinced me to never, ever do this to myself again. That and the fact that 3 kids already push my limits--I hope I am ready for 4!

Some pictures from September 2010. I love Caroline's short hair and the pics she took of me. I do miss the version of me I see sitting there, but take great satisfaction in the cycles of change and adjustment and growth that are happening and will continue to happen in my life--physically and in other areas too. A huge reason why I blog is to capture my life and my family in all our different modes and ages so that as we grow and change we have plenty of pieces to look back on and cherish.