Thursday, May 30, 2013

Dose of perspective...

I've felt especially ungrateful lately. We really are blessed and I should live in a constant state of thanksgiving for all that I have in my life. But I'm in a rut where I feel bogged down by the burdens that do exist in my life. While I do give credit to those things and their existence, I have been trying to make a concerted effort to move on and then focus outward. The more we think about ourselves the more miserable we can become. The more we serve others and live to lighten another's burdens, the lighter our own burdens feel.

Our car was broken into in front of our apartment complex early Tuesday morning. Pete's window was broken and his briefcase containing his work laptop was stolen. While that shouldn't have been left in the car, how many of us have done that same thing? More than the stuff that was taken and the inconvenience and expense of fixing the window, I just felt sad that someone (potentially someone in our complex) would violate our space like that.

But shortly after finding the car like that, and then working to find someone to come replace the window, I logged onto a blog of a dear friend who's baby has been struggling through a terminal illness. With tears in my eyes, I read how he had passed away that very morning. Though his passing was peaceful, it doesn't ease the pain of such a loss for the amazing parents and his two older brothers. We've known this family since our Provo days, and since baby Mathis was diagnosed two months ago with SMA, his mom has been diligently blogging their life to capture all the precious moments their family was able to experience. They created a Hopelist, so that while Mathis was still with them, they'd be able to make as many memories doing the small and simple things in life that they could. It has been such an inspiration. But the main takeaway for me was that we don't have to be on the brink of death in order to live. We don't have to wait to make important memories with our children and to be intentional about the things we do with them. We are promised trials in our life, but we are also blessed with a magnificent hope that all things work together for good, if we trust in the Savior to lift us. And when the tears fill our eyes, He promises to wipe them away. If you want to be inspired, here's a link to their blog. I am hoping to attend his burial in LA on Monday.

I have two healthy boys. They are loving, capable, and energetic. That's all I need.


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Recently...

The weather has been even more perfect than usual, so we've really enjoyed being outside. On Monday, we took cousin Lexey to Sea World with us. Parker was so excited to have her there. We had a great time, until we were almost back to the car and both boys fell out of the stroller, resulting in a majorly scratched up face for Austin. I felt so terrible. He looks much better now though. 
 Daddy was getting in a little workout session, using the boys as weights. Austin made the best kettle bell, but Parker was a good bench press weight.
 Parker set up a picnic with Austin one morning.
 Parker and Elizabeth at Chick fil A. Love these blondies.
 Not sure why this is stretched out, but Aussie and I enjoyed sunning ourselves poolside this weekend.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Sideways pics...

What is up with blogger posting my pics sideways today? Annoying. Anyway, Papa has been traveling a lot, and Austin was overjoyed when he finally returned home from Paris. 
 Austin loves putting things in bags.
 Best bike ride with his Papa.
 Dapper Emma in his Memorial Day red.

 Strummin' on the ukelele... singing Stanley to sleep.
 Austin is passionate about his sunglasses. Ryan compared him to Baby Carlos from the Hangover.
We finished our final Kids Sing show today. The kids did a great job at all three of their performances and now we have a little break until our summer camps start. What a great opportunity it's been to start this group with Denise. We have a great time.

Jeff's visit

We've had a really fun time with my brother Jeff and his gf Marina, visiting from San Francisco. His birthday was earlier in May, so we went to the Brigantine in the Del Mar to celebrate. We all loved our various sea food dishes. Parker loved the calamari and swordfish, and Austin was eating whatever anyone would feed him. He is such a mooch these days. What a fun night. 
 The group...
 The kids and better halves...
And here's a cute video of Parker and Austin riding on their toys at Grammy and Papa's house. 

Parker is getting much more aware of when something he is singing doesn't make sense. He was singing I am a child of God, and said, "Mom, what does stew mean?" I quickly figured out he meant "must do" and then I told him what the line he was singing meant. Then he said, "Okay... got it." Then proceeded to sing the line "Teach me all that I must do..." correctly. Smart cookie.

Grammy wasn't feeling good and Parker said, "Grammy are you okay? I'll keep you." Sweet Parker.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Christmas in May

In case you want to get in the Christmas spirit...




Parker found some of our characters from a nativity behind our tv console so we started playing and singing with them.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Big dose of Austin

I took some pics of Aussie the other day, and there were too many cute expressions to decide which to post. So if you love Austin as much as we do, enjoy these cute pictures. 













 He's yelling, "MAMAAAAAA!"



Sunday, May 19, 2013

Brothers

Parker and Austin play together for hours everyday. Now that Austin likes to play with the toys instead of just suck on them, Parker finds him way more enjoyable to play with. 





Saturday, May 18, 2013

Ryan's graduation

We are so proud of my brother Ryan, as he graduated from San Diego State yesterday. We were excited to be able to go to the ceremony and we were even more excited when he decided half way through to "go to the bathroom" and we got to leave early. Those things get pretty long, especially with two little ones. Parker loved imitating the names that were being called. And Austin loved cheering and clapping for everyone. It was a special day and we're so excited for his next chapter of life. 

Here were are before going in with his gf Chloe. 


 The grads. Swapping texts helped us to spot Ryan easily. Amazing.
 The graduate and his fan club.








 Proud parents. They successfully supported three kids through college, and now they are done with that phase of life. Whoo hoo!

 The boys love Chloe and she's very patient with them.




 Parker was obsessed with the program.
 Aussie in the grass. The boys did pretty good considering they didn't get a nap.

Favorite quote... we were walking by a family taking pictures with their daughter, and the dad says to college age guy, "Come get in the picture, in case we need to remember you." I take it he was the current boyfriend. haha. Well put.