The Latest Izzy-ism

On Wednesday Izzy asked me if I knew what she wanted to be when she grows up. I quickly responded, "A wife and mother?" She started to cry and said, "I don't want to be a wife and mother when I grow up!" me: "What do you want to be?" Izzy (very sorrowfully): "A dog."

Wow. Pretty sure that wasn't worked into the creation plan. I tried to explain to her that she just will never be a dog and I reminded her of all the things that she couldn't do as a dog, like going to preschool, painting, coloring, and of course, yummy desserts. She replied, "Their food IS their dessert." (Of course.) Needless to say, she isn't yet convinced.

Boys II Men pics

We had great seats for the concert. The picture isn't grand but it gives and indication of where we were.

What a great date night!!

A New Adventure

This Sunday our bishop was released and Scott was called to replace him. I've had lots of people congratulate us and wonder how I'm feeling about things. For the most part I have been able to say that I feel very calm about things. I'm sure it will be challenging for us all but I feel confident that we will be very blessed. Scott will do a fantastic job.
When I told the kids Sunday morning and we talked about how much he'd be gone and the blessings that we will receive as a family Izzy piped up, "Maybe we'll be blessed with a baby!!" It's so good that she and Ryan continue to be so faithful about a little sibling.
Ryan was thrilled with the news because he thought Scott would get to choose where the next fathers and sons would be. Since then he has discovered that it isn't necessarily the Bishop who decides this and he is not pleased.
This week Scott has put in A LOT of time already and I've discovered how the amount of patience I have with my children is directly related to how much time we've all spent together. Luckily, tonight my sweetheart and I were able to go to the Boys II Men concert at the Scera Shell (it was fab-u-lous btw!!). We held hands and snuggled and sang and danced and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Jenn for arranging the tickets, thanks Ann and Mark for saving seats, thanks Jay for making me laugh with your dancing and thanks Bishop Johnson for being my sweetheart.

Ryan's B-day

To celebrate Ryan's birthday last month we gathered a bunch of his friends and had a big water party. Everyone had lots of fun and Ryan was thrilled with the gifts his friends brought (thank you everyone!)!

Some Ryan favorites:

Toy: Legos and Bionicles

Music: Inside Out (Once There Was a Snowman), Lord of the Dance (to dance to of course), Liken the Scriptures (Here Waiting)

Food: Meat (meatloaf, hamburgers, nuggets)

Sports: Karate, Soccer

Treats: Ice Cream (often melted in the micro!?!)

People: His family of course!

Things to do with Scott: Play ball games outside (or inside I guess)

Things to do with Me: Read and cook (he loves helping me with Danish hotcakes

Things to do with Isabelle: Pretend

We are so incredibly fortunate to have Ryan in our family!

Canyon FHE

Tonight we went to the canyon to roast hotdogs and make s'mores. We had such a great time. Afterward we planned to ride our bikes to Bridal Veils before heading home. Just as we put on helmets and started on our way we ran into my cousin's husband and daughter and stopped to visit for a few minutes. Unfortunately, we visited too long. Ryan and Izzy rode their bikes around us in a circle until Izzy hit a patch of loose gravel, slid and gashed her chin. So, the festivities were cut short as we drove to the after hours clinic to get her stitched up. (Scott said children's bike helmets need chin guards - he is going to buy motorcycle helmets).
She was so brave even though she was really quite spooked. It didn't help that as the doctor worked on Izzy Ryan kept saying disturbing things like: "When I got stitches did I get a shot too?" (As the doctor shoots her chin full of Novocaine), and "Eww! Izzy, that looks gross!! - So helpful.

When we finally got her home tonight she was quite tender hearted and she said to me through her tears, "I'm not sad about Ryan (he had just hurt her feelings), I'm sad about someone in heaven." Then as we were reading books in the living room she saw the picture of Scott's parents and she said (as tears filled her eyes), "That's who I'm sad about. I just miss them. I love them so much."

She is such a sweet and tender hearted little girl. I just feel thankful every day that she is mine. (Shanda - xoxox)

A Touch of Class

This weekend we showed everyone that we are the WT neighbors!

We had our carpet replaced this past Thursday. Saturday they came back to finish up (theoretically) and to replace the flooring in the bathrooms. For that adventure we had to have the toilets out. Because all of our furniture was stuffed into random places the easiest place for them to be put was the front yard. You have no idea how much I was giggling as I imagined our photo shoot!















Thanks for your help Brent!

Fear or Faith

I was reminded tonight of a lesson that I learned from Abish - the decisions between having fear and having faith.
I feel like I have multiple heavy decisions upon me right now and I keep getting bogged down by anxiety.
As I drove to Sandy today (sans children) I listened to music from the "Liken the Scriptures" DVD's. There is a beautiful song that Abish sings that brought my thoughts back to the words of challenge that I spoke to the youth of the stake during our Youth Conference a couple of years ago.
I told them that we have to choose (just as Abish did) between living a life of fear or a life of faith.
And so while my anxiety did not completely depart, I felt comforted and I decided that I will meet life with faith and a smile.