A new phase

(I am posting this from the bathroom, watching my two littles splash and play in the tub...)


I feel like the first many years of our marriage revolved around planning our babies. Once one was born we knew we had some time before the next but soon enough we were figuring out when another would join. It seemed like most things we got to look forward to revolved around births. And with babies, we throw ourselves into that crazy realm of babyhood and it takes forever to slowly crawl out from the depths of the chaos, just to start all over again.


We are done having kids (which makes me sad, because Sadie is at the age when I usually start thinking about having another...). And 4 kids is a lot. They are a big responsibility. They take up a lot of my time. But in terms of having another tiny human, that phase of life is over.


Here are the top 10 things I am looking forward to in the foreseeable future:


1. Raising the kids. Obviously I have been "raising" a couple of my kids for longer than the others. But I feel like we are entering the phase of life where I have to be on my game. I am up for it, and I can't wait. Junior high (yikes) and high school are coming, dating is coming in just 6 years (!), driving is coming, college, missions, etc. Emma will be gone in 8 1/2 years! What on earth!?


2. Planning our dream house. I don't know if we will live here forever, though it is quite likely. My goal in the next year or two is to decide if we turn our current house into our dream house. (Assuming this is that house) I am excited to make it just how we want it, with extra bedrooms for guests and future in-laws and grandkids. But sooner than that I want more space for my kids to have friends over whenever they want. I want my house to be their gathering place as much as possible. These things are important to me, things I think about all the time. We need more space...someday. Right now I just dream about it, but soon it will need to become reality.


3. Events. I hated high school. I wasn't really super involved, and I want my kids to enjoy it more than I did. I am excited for sports events, for church events/dances, for things that should be enjoyable and fun for them. They already do some sports and piano but I look forward to all the rest of the chaos that will clutter our calendar and make life that much more interesting.


4. Traveling. I have this weird habit - if I am watching TV or overhear something about a place, and I don't know where it is, I immediately look it up on google maps. I would love to drive (sans kids, mind you) across the country, exploring the far corners of North America. With just a map in my hand. And Spencer driving, so I could look around. I am fascinated by geography.
I also want to explore certain parts of Europe - the south of France and all of Italy, for example. But I would be just as happy driving through Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina (the one part of the country I haven't yet been to). I have come to hate roadtrips because I am always turned around keeping people happy and fed. Doing this without people, and just with a person sounds dreamy.


5. Service. I decided recently that I want my kids to see me happily do service for others. Once, a few years ago, the compassionate service leader called and asked me to take dinner to someone. I think I was pregnant and it was a hard time for me. I politely declined, then felt horrible for a few hours and called her back to apologize and accept. I have noticed that I can easily make someone a meal and take it over, but when I do it by choice - willingly - I am so much happier. I want my kids to jump at the chance to do service, and not always have to be asked. I am working on this. I think it is important. I also want this to extend to the community, not just to those in my church who need extra help...
This applies to all forms of service. I know I won't have more time when I have older kids, but I will have the ability to serve more when I'm not holding a baby all day.


6. Callings. This goes with #5 a little bit. Spencer and I love our callings. We have loved all of our callings, which is part of it I think. When I recently thought about getting a new calling, one that didn't require nearly as much of my time, it made me so sad! I am excited to put more time into our callings, as we will have kids that can be home alone occasionally. I treasure the time I get to be with my friends from church.


7. Exercise. I know that soon i will have more freedom to exercise. I won't be tied to a treadmill {before the kids are up} or the living room, or anything else. I hate to exercise, but I love how it makes me feel.


8. Be more involved in the school. As long as my kids are in public school I need to be as involved as possible. This year I bit off more than I could chew by agreeing to be on the PTA Board over Membership. I keep thinking that I need to do those things that will impact my kids the most. I love love love teaching FAME (art/music). I adore seeing my kids and their friends get so excited when I walk in. I love teaching them valuable lessons that are mostly absent from schools these days. I want them to experience culture and how these things feel. I hope to do more of this when I am not holding a baby all day. :) PTA is important. But I'd rather be in their classes. I taught last week and Emma soaked up every second of it. Most importantly, I get little glimpses of my kids' friends.


9. Temple Service. This is another thing that falls under the Service umbrella. I used to think I wanted to work when my kids were older. (And trust me, I still have dreams of teaching AP English to high schoolers...) But I am starting to think that I never want to work. I want to keep my house clean (imagine that!) and I want to work in the temple. Being in the most heavenly place for one day a week...I can't imagine anything better.


10. Date! Emma is so close to being our baby-sitter, I can taste it! One reason we don't go out much is the cost. And that Sadie doesn't like people. ;) We have been aiming for a date night 3 weeks out of 4. Lots of times we stay in. I feel like having a couple baby-sitters in a couple of years will allow us a lot more freedom to get out and just TALK, away from the distractions of home. Can't wait.

a moment of bragging

December 1 was a Sunday. We had just gotten back from our crazy trip to Las Vegas/Grand Canyon. Spencer pulled us all together and asked if we would do something together during the month - read the entire Book of Mormon. I scoffed a little bit.

But my kids! Oh the little darlings. They said "sure" and immediately started reading. "17 pages a day" became our mantra.

The kids would always physically read the pages. It took about 45 minutes a night. I didn't always have that option so I have a newfound love of the audio section of the scriptures app. Tanner listened along with me (sorta). Spencer fell behind a lot and then would spend tons of time catching up.

Emma finished (on her new Kindle) on New Years Eve morning. We were driving to the cabin that day, so Tyler finished in the car. Spencer and I listened to the audio of all of Ether, and then had to slip in Moroni once we got to the cabin. What a relief to finish page 531!

We decided this was probably the coolest thing we have done as a family. When you read it in 30 days it reads more like a chronological book. Things and parts and stories fit together. Imagine that. :) We have talked about doing this again sometime. I would be up for it!

I saw this on Emma's door a few days ago. I am so proud.

(Accomplished! Going to Yogurtland!) This made my heart so happy.

in a nutshell

Kids go back to school tomorrow. Boo! BUT we had quite the exciting two weeks, if I do say so myself.
We started here:

We went to the indoor water park (no pictures).

Grandma and Papa (and Uncle Adam) arrived:

Christmas Eve arrived...

 

Christmas morning came

 

We went to the "city" (it still cracks me up that people call it that) THREE times.

Time #1:



 

Time #2, for a should-have-been-more-awesome football game:

 (The garlic fries were awesome.)

Time #3. Biking the GG Bridge=so iconically American, and awesome.

Someone finally started walking...

We headed up high (elevation-wise) for NYE...

 ...and played games (reverse charades here) with some of our best friends. So fun being packed in tight.

And we found barely enough snow to cover the ground (and to sled) at 8000 feet:

Hey, rest of the US...send some of the precipitation this way!

It ended with puking, as the holidays usually do.

I just wish we had one more week!

memories and glimpses

After Tanner was born, when we were trying to decide if we should have another baby, what finally pushed me to have Sadie was one thing, really. I would picture our family, our future family, and it seemed incomplete. It was crazy and chaotic at the moment, but when I looked ahead 20 years I just knew someone was missing. I wondered if that someone was Macie but ultimately this little glimpse is what made me want that one more.

The image I would see of our future family was always at Christmas. A perfect, cute little Christmas. When I think of Christmases growing up I have such vivid memories. My siblings and I would make a tent with blankets and sheets each Christmas Eve, often spending a large part of the day perfecting it. We would sleep in there, and my older brother and I would try to stay up all night. I think once we did it, by watching some ridiculous black and white movie on TV that was the only option back in the olden days. :) Another memory/tradition was going to the Los Angeles temple on Christmas Eve. Also, on Christmas morning we took turns opening presents. The stockings were always EXPLODING with tons and tons of goodies--scissors and pens and gum being some of my favorites.

I struggle discovering and establishing traditions for my own family. We are working on it. This year my parents and little brother were here for Christmas. Luckily, Adam was a lifesaver and helped the kids build a tent in the boys' room. (We won't talk about which ONE child actually ended up sleeping in there - hint: it wasn't Adam), but it was really cool. I think that might be a tradition that continues on. Christmas morning is always so magical for me, because while the kids are looking around and checking out gifts with stars in their eyes, I am watching their faces trying to soak it all in and remember it forever.

This Christmas we tried to simplify it just a little bit. Which doesn't really work out when you consider all the gifts other people give...but it was fun to watch it all. I just love Christmas. And I can't wait for future Christmases, especially the ones I have pictured in my mind.

The tent^^^

not to be forgotten

Some noteworthy items:

How Sadie, when she wants something, gets in my face and nods her head and smiles until I figure out what she wants. (Way way better than screaming, I must say.)
How Christmas magic is alive and well. Watching my kids get soo, so excited about buying a gift for one of their siblings is just the best. (They each happened to draw the name of the person just younger, which works out so perfectly.)
How December is relatively NOT busy. A first, maybe a last, and definitely welcome!
How Sadie is taking 5-6 steps and claps for herself anytime she does it.
How Sadie is sleeping well (relatively speaking, of course). Too bad Tanner isn't!
All the Christmas lights!
That this is one of three months during the year that work is "slow" for Spencer.
Being awake at 1 am is easier when the tree is all lit up. Trying to convince myself...

(I am not a huge fan of colored tree lights, I think I have finally decided...)

Merry Christmas!

of epic proportions

I remember how the first few years of marriage, all of our "vacations" were to see family. And while that is a great thing, something oh so important, we decided several years ago that our family needed our own "vacations" (I use that word loosely, because WE don't do "vacations"...but anyway...).

We knew months ago that we were going to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. I still have 4 living grandparents, and it has been years since we have seen them. I want my kids to know how cool it is to have so many great-grandparents; I never had that. But thinking of driving that far with Sadie was giving me anxiety. Spencer's solution was to pile into the motorhome. $$$. Then his adventurous side kicked in and he planned a whole trip and came to me for approval. After a lot of convincing, we were on our way.

Our kids get the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so we pulled them out early the Thursday before and took off. Our goal was to get to Barstow to sleep in a Flying J parking lot (the only FREE part of this entire trip). We made it and it wasn't too bad. We celebrated our anniversary the next morning by eating at Denny's. We lead a glamorous life, I'm telling you. 11 years baby.

Then we were off to Williams, AZ. Unfortunately we were headed to a few days of bad weather. Fortunately, we were prepared because we were watching weather like crazy people. We made it to Williams with enough time to swim in the hotel/RV park's pool/hot tub and then it was time to tell the kids the surprise we had been teasing them with. Spencer had booked tickets to go on the Grand Canyon Railway's Polar Express train. The boys were especially excited. And what better way to spend our anniversary?

I'm telling you, this was really cool. The "waiters" were dressed like the ones in the movie, they served hot chocolate and cookies (some of the best cookies I have tasted, actually), they read us the book, and we went to the North Pole where we could see Santa waving to us. Santa boarded the back of the train and made his way up to our car. We were in the first car so we had to sing Christmas carols for a LOOONG time. I was frustrated with a baby who was being horrible, but when Santa walked in and my kids got to talk to him for a minute it was just magical. They each got a bell. I thought Tanner had died and gone to heaven.

We walked back to the motorhome in the light rain, sad we couldn't explore the town of Williams because it looked really cool. We made plans to come back a few days later.

The next morning it was snowing quite a bit. We checked the radar and saw a gap so we packed up real fast and took off on the hour drive into the Grand Canyon. Right as we got there it started snowing again, and there was quite a bit of snow on the ground already. The trailer campground where we were staying was pretty empty (imagine that). After getting set up we decided to go out and freeze. And freeze we did! The canyon was so foggy that we couldn't really see anything, but we did happen upon elk all over the place.

It snowed so much that night. Being Sunday, we found out about the Grand Canyon branch and went to church. And low and behold, when we came out from church the sun was out! We decided to drive around a little and I am so glad - it was gorgeous out! The Grand Canyon is amazing and beautiful. Other than Sadie crying a lot of the whole time, it was really fun. I can tell you one thing the federal government does RIGHT - national parks. This was our second national park this year (4th overall. i think).

The kids also finished their junior ranger stuff and got sworn in after the ranger told them all about California condors (there are 73 in the Grand Canyon).

We had one more day, and it was gorgeous. We hiked (not far - too scary with little kids) and went to more look-outs. Spencer also took the big kids to see the movie at the visitor's center.

 

By the end, I was grateful for kids who sometimes sleep well, hot showers, and good food.

On our way to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving we stopped in Williams and walked around. Cutest town! I am pretty sure (and so are many others) that it was the inspiration for Radiator Springs. Tanner agrees with me. Williams was the last town to be bypassed by I-40.

Then it was on to Hoover Dam. Spencer has FOREVER wanted to take the dam tour. I finally obliged and almost DIED a slow death of boredom but he was happy. The new bridge is pretty cool too.

I was so happy to have 6 of us out of 250 square feet (motorhome) and into real beds in my grandma's house. More to come...