Temple Square

We haven’t gone to Temple Square at Christmas time in a while, so I was really excited to go. It seemed like the whole way there was a test of our attitudes. We hit really bad traffic on the way up and once we got into downtown, there was seriously like 17 million people. We didn’t know that we chose the same night as the Tabernacles Choirs Christmas concert, featuring David Archuleta. After driving around downtown for an hour looking for a place to park, we’d had it. Brad was fuming at the ears (traffic is his least favorite thing ever–he’d live in the mountains alone to avoid it) and I was near tears. I said, “forget this, let’s just go see a movie.” Leah, in her innocent, sweet voice (her being the one with the best attitude all night) said, “Mom, I can’t wait to see the statue of Jesus.”

So we fought through traffic, eventually found a spot several blocks away and took trax in.

It was worth all the effort. Once we got in, Temple Square itself wasn’t too crowded; everyone was in the conference center. I loved taking Leah around to see the lights. There was something special about taking her into the visitor centers and teaching her about the church.

She loved seeing the statue of Christ, and despite the crowded room, there was a special feeling there.

I'd really like to take her back there in the summer, and just spend the day walking around the square and exploring the visitor centers. What a way to bring in the Christmas Spirit.

Thanksgiving

You, know, it's only 6 days till christmas, it seems fitting that I post about Thanksgiving. :)

For once, it was relaxing and enjoyable. We had the Butler thanksgiving dinner even earlier this year, since Brad’s cousin Heidi was down from Alaska. And the we decided to have the Ford family Thanksgiving on the Saturday after up at the Birdseye cabin. We spent the actual day of Thanksgiving at my Dad and Susan’s house.

The result: Lots of Thanksgiving dinners!

It was nice to just be able to go to one house each day, and be able to relax and enjoy our time, rather than rushing from place to place.

Things I’m thankful for this year:

Leah’s independence.

A happy husband.

A thriving business.

A talent to write.

Good mommy friends.

That only my barn burned down.

Family and friends who drop everything to come over when we really needed it.

Writers Cubed.

Books.

My house.

The gospel.

And much, much more.

It's nice to take the time to remember all the great things that I have in my life. When I do, the problems I have and things I sometimes think I lack, just fade away, and don't matter.

I can't wait for Christmas!

Tonight was different.

Nearly every night for the past three years and eight months, Leah and I have cuddled and rocked in the rocking chair.

Tonight is started out pretty much the same: a story and a song, me rushing through because once she’s in bed I finally get my ME time.

She asked for a Christmas song, so I choose Away in a Manger.

“What’s a manger?” she asked when I was done singing.

I did my best to explain.

“Why did Jesus have to sleep in the hay?”

So I told her all about Mary and Joseph and that they were about to have a baby, but there wasn’t any where to stay, so they had to go into a barn, with the horses and cows and sheep (yuck, Leah said) and there they had baby Jesus. I told her about the shepherds and their visit from the angel. I told her about the new star and the three wise man who brought frankincense, (no, Leah, not Frankenstein) gold, and myrrh. I told her about the angels who sang beautiful songs because they were so happy that Jesus was born.

“Mom, why was everyone so happy that Jesus was born?”

I tried to tell her the best I could about how Jesus was special and he came here to save us so that we can live with Heavenly Father again, even though we make mistakes.

“Yeah, Mom, like when you dropped the egg on the floor. That was the worst mistake.” (I giggled, thinking that if that was the worst mistake I ever made, I’d be doing pretty good)

Then she asked me to sing her the songs that the angles sang to Jesus on the night that he was born.

So we sang. For twenty minutes, we sang. Each time I ended a song, she said, “more.” After one song, she snuggled in closer and said, “I’m lovin this.”

I sang, but kept thinking about how grateful I was that I got to have this moment with Leah. It wasn’t grand or anything, just rocking in the chair like every other night. But tonight, I taught Leah that Christmas isn’t about Santa or presents, but about the baby Jesus and what His life means to us.

I was lovin it too.

Happy Birthday Grandma Bird

Grandma Bird. That's her. The *cough* 40 year old wearing a crown in the mall. She loves her birthday almost as much as I love mine. We went out for a loud, crazy, yummy lunch at Sizzler. Then we went to see Tangled.

Yup. That's Flynn Rider. He's so cute. {did I just say that about a cartoon character?} It's my new favorite Disney show. It was an awesome! The only thing better was watching my little girl as she watched it.
Happy Birthday Grandma!

Friends

Awesome kids.

Terrific neighborhood.

Fun filled Birthday party.

Leah and I love our friends.

Lovin' the Leaves!

Fall time is my favorite!!! Once all my trees drop their leaves and cover my giant yard, we have a LEAF PARTY! All the neighbors came over (bundled due to the crazy cold!) and the kids have a great time!

They loaded as many kids as possible into the wagon. We had fun watching them try to pull each other around.
Ready. Set. Go!

Some of my favorite people: Taylor, Heather and Emily. I love that I have such awesome neighbors.

Toby, Scout, Stephanie and Grandma Berty came over during the week and we got another round of leaf love!

Yup. That's my mom. The grown woman rolling in the pile of leaves. Isn't she great? You should've seen her laying in the pile while the girls buried her completely.
Blast off!!!
Of course, this is my darling niece, Scout. Isn't she just about the cutest thing ever? She wasn't sure what to think of the leaves.
But then I think she started to love them.

I love the fall. I wish it would stay so much longer!

Good times.

Girl Time!

I love this little girl!

Lessons I've learned from the Barn Fire of 2010

*Hay can catch on fire spontaneously.

*When 50 tons of hay, your barn, and tractor are on fire, it causes so much smoke that it can be seen all across the valley.

*Being out of the country on a cruise is an awfully inconvenient time to have a massive fire in your back yard.

*You will have calls, texts, messages on facebook, and various messages left to every member of your family from people who are concerned.

*Complete strangers will jump your fence and catch your yearling horse, who is completely freaking out, and take care of him.

*Your neighbors will come and get your dog and take him to their house, making sure he has lots of food and water.

*Spanish Fork Fire department has a really quick response time and they will stay late into the night.

*Putting out a hay fire takes A LOT of water.

*Your brothers, parents, and neighbors will come right over and help out, no matter what they were supposed to be doing or how nicely dressed they are.

*If you can’t be there while a trillion people are in your backyard, make sure your Dad and Step-Mom are. (especially when they know most of the cops/firefighters there.)

*It takes a lot of fans to un-smoke and un-stink your house.

*When a ton of wet, muddy, and stinky firefighters tromp through your house, make sure your Step-mom is there forcing them all to take off their boots.

*Send your three year old daughter to your Mom's house to play. She'll have a much better time, and won't be upset by the fire.

*Random smaller hay bales can burst into flames the next day.

*The fire departments response time is just as fast the second time.

*When you horse waterers are melted, you won’t have water to your house for several hours until your amazing-can-do-anything husband can fix it. (No matter how many times he swears while he’s working)

*Don’t use the toilets until your are certain that they will flush.

*When it’s all said and done, you will have a giant, stinky mess to clean up, and a large head ache from dealing with the insurance company.

*It SUCKS to deal with a fire, but as long as my hubby and daughter are safe and sound in our un-singed house, and we have such great friends and family, it makes me realize how very much I have to be grateful for!

Leah-isms

As we were walking around WalMart, Leah was singing “Gets you well. Gets you well.” I turned around and asked, “Leah, what are you singing?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Just singing that naughty song with bad words in it.”

I gave her a confused/stern look. She quickly held up her hands. “It’s okay Mom, I’m not singing ‘gives you hell.’ I’m singing ‘gets you well.’

In the car, Leah ripped a loud one. “Leah, did you toot?” I asked, trying to hide the smirk on my face.

“Yup,” she said matter-of-factly. Then she sniffed a loud, long sniff. “There. I sniffed it all up.”

At the store, Leah points to her armpits. “Do I have hair under my arm?” She asks.

“No,” I say, trying to avoid the awkward subject in the cereal aisle.

She thinks about it for a second. “When I grow up will I have hair under my arms?”

“Yeah,” I say. “What made you think about this?”

She points to my arm pits. “Because of all the hair that you have under you arms.”

*blushes at the lady passing me in the aisle, and runs to get my razor*

and my favorite

While playing in my office, Leah says rather loudly, “Oh God!”

I turn to her. “What did you say?”

She repeats it.

If you’ve ever tried to explain the naughtiness of the word ‘God’ to a three year old, let me tell you, it’s not easy. Most words are easy: “Don’t ever say that or I’ll wash you mouth out with soap,” But there are time when we can use the word God.

So I gently take her in my lap and try to explain it to her. We use the word when singing I am a Child of God, or saying our prayers. She nods and says that she understands. I breathe a sigh of relief, slightly proud of how well I handled it.

Ten minutes later were walking through the sign shop when Leah burst out: “Oh God!” I turn and before I can even give her the look, she folds her arms, bows her head and says “thank you for this day, thank you for my blessings.”

I tell you. She’s too smart.

Ahhh.

Cutest thing ever, right?

It makes me laugh, because I used to do this same thing.

Lay out all my books across my room and decide which one I

want to read.

She looks just like Brad

and acts just like me.

Love this kid.

Summer time extravaganzas!

We've done a ton this summer, and I've sucked at blogging {and scrapbooking} about it. For some reason, this summer has been a little more laid back than usual, not as many weekends camping, but I've enjoyed it just as much. Playing with my three year old rocks! Working from most recently, here's what we've been up to.

Me and my kick-butt friends (Jo and Margie) went to the John Mayer/Owl City concert. We had a blast! The music was awesome. John Mayer is an amazing musician, there was no denying that. He's a little on the wacky side, though. He wore a hideous smock with capris and yellow heeled sandals. And when he really got into his songs, his eyes turned into the kind of back ally creeper eyes, I'd run away from. We had an awesome time making fun of him. I mean look at the picture below....doesn't he just remind you of the weird robots that freak you out at Chuck-E-Cheese? Hahaha. Good times! {for the sake of all of our pride I decided not to post the pictures of the three of us trying to impersonate his singing face}

We've been at the Birdeye ranch a lot. It's so fun to have a close place to go and be in the mountains.
We went on an awesome four-wheeler ride up to the quarry, which is clear on the tippy-top of the mountain. The red rocks were beautiful, and so much fun to climb on, though I was slightly terrified of mountain lions. :)
My mom made a small trip to St. George for the weekend, and called to ask if she could take Leah with her. We begrudgingly decided to let her go, though we didn't know how we'd possible manage a whole weekend by our selves! Haha! We were so stoked! One thing on the top of the list, along with going to the movies, watching movies at home, and sleeping in, was going to the Melting Pot! A while ago I was looking for an excuse to go to the Melting Pot. Brad told me that when I finished my book, he'd take me there to celebrate. So, the time was finally upon us. And it was worth all that hard work. The Melting Pot is a place everyone must experience at least once. It was so romantic and so much fun! Thank you a million times over baby for taking me and being proud of me, and supporting me.
Toby came to hang out with us one day and I decided to play preschool teacher. We walked around the neighborhoods and went on a color hunt. The girls were too adorable searching out all the colors on our list. This is them and the color white.
Leah loves her bathrobe and loved wrapping her hair up like mommy. She's just way too cute! I can't believe how big my little girl is getting.
One of our favorite things this summer is to go swimming at the payson pool. I love hanging out with my friends and watching Leah play in the summer sun.

Fiesta Days!!!!! It's one of my very favorite parts of the summer. I love when all the city is out at the parks, and there is so much to do! We all gathered at Grandma Carol's house to watch the rubber ducks race down the river. This is Grandma, Leah, Brianna and Molly.

Of course, Fiesta Days Rodeo is the highlight of my summer. This year the rodeo was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Its a tour rodeo now, which means that anyone trying to go to the NFR must go to this rodeo, which means that all the superstars were there!!! All I wanted was to chase down Tuf Cooper like a giddy tween and get my picture with him. Leah on the other hand, only cares about one cowboy: Joe Butler, the bull fighter. Too cute, huh?

We love hanging out with our family at every night of the rodeo. I love rodeo cheese burgers and mini doughnuts. Leah loves going with Grandpa to get a treat. And even though I can repeat Troy Lerwill's act word for word, I still get a kick out of it.
Over the fourth of July, we go with the Knight family to our cabin. There really isn't a better place on earth. This is Brads snake that he shot. Obviously, he's very proud and wouldn't want me to tell you that it only took him about twelve shots to get him. (snakes are a small, quick moving target.)
Steph was all cute a pregnant, so she opted out of hiking down to the Muddy to fish, so TJ, Brad and I took the girls. TJ and Toby and their cute little fish.
{We did a ton of fishing} We went up to a little stream. Leah really didn't want to touch the fish. I think this hunkered down picture is too funny.

I loved being at the cabin. Leah loved to play in the dirt. She was filthy the whole time. I loved it. I got to relax and read a lot. *my kinda camping*

Speaking of books: I've read a ton lately. Yeah Me! I really want to do some book reviews for some of them but I'm not sure I'll get the time. But here are some of the books I've read along with my own ratings.

The Hourglass Door- Lisa Mangum (***)

The Golden Spiral- Lisa Mangum (**)

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner-Stephanie Meyer (***)

The City of Bones-Cassanda Clare (****)

MockyJay-Suzzane Collins (**** 1/2)

Of course, hard at work on my book and great things are happening!! I love my writing group. We did group photo's that I need to edit and post, and we even had a camping weekend together.

What an awesome summer, eh? I'm so grateful for all the good things in my life, and even the tough times. Now that the season is wrapping up, I'm really looking forward to fall.