A Child's Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thankyouforthisfood. Bless mom and dad, bless them to be not sick.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

That is The Nogster's rote prayer. It's strong and steady, and has been repeated verbatim at every opportunity for several months now. First it started out by naming every person in the family. Then it got pared down to just mom and dad. As part of the daily routine, we didn't put much stock in it.

Then just yesterday, Stone and I both had the simultaneous realization that since he has been praying for us to not be sick, we really haven't been sick.

And we're talking about the family that ALWAYS seems to be sick. So much always that it's embarrassing. I won't bore you with details. But to have had a steady couple of months with no illness has actually been very nice.

It has left us free to concentrate on other things. Like moving.

Packing, selling, planning, moving.

That's right, folks. We've decided to move across the country. It has been a long, drawn-out decision making process and there are several reasons why we finally arrived at this decision. The two most significant reasons are:

1) We want to spend some time living closer to our families. We've grown so tired of all the hassle associated with living so terribly far away.

2) We want to buy a house, and we don't want it to be in Maryland. Even though the buyers' market has tamed down significantly and we could probably force our way into a house if we wanted to, we're not willing to make any of the concessions it would take. Dual income? nope. Hours-long commute? nopers. Fixer-upper? not if we can help it. Teensy-weensy house we've already outgrown? not.

There are so many great things about living here in DC. We have loved our time here so much. However, even with all the wonderful things there are to love about it, I guess you could say the cons have finally caught up with us.

So, with Stone having finished his MBA, there's really no reason to stay. I wish that the dear friends we are going to leave behind could be a valid reason. Unfortunately, life must go on and we can only try to preserve and cherish the friendships we have made.

I know what you're thinking now. You know how I know? It's the question everyone asks when we tell them we're moving.

DOES STONE HAVE A JOB?

Well.....no. Not yet. But we have been praying for a door to open for quite a long time and we felt it was time to open the door ourselves, even though we don't know what's on the other side yet. And guess what? The doors are opening for us now. Only after we made the decision to move. One example--NIH may allow Stone to telecommute through the end of the year. This is a huge blessing for us! Stone calls it "lengthening the runway" to give him more time to find a job before surrendering his income.

So now we are really trying to have enough faith and trust that when the time comes, we will be shown the way, one step at a time. And putting a lot of stock now in our other child's prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this day.

Please help us to have a new house and a new job.

Please help us to have the word of God.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

Westward Ho! (part two)

We had a fabulous time in Idaho with all our extended family. This is just a small sampling of the things we did, the people we were with, and the pictures we took.
When we arrived on Grandma's (but really Uncle Boyd's) farm, one of the first things we did was take the kids over to see the horses. I love both of these photos: Stone with the boys (above) and his dad walking down the lane in his awesome hat. I think I could win a photo contest with this one.
Another benefit of hanging out on the farm--going for rides on the 4-wheeler.

Here's Grandpa taking on the kids in a wrestling match. At times, I couldn't tell which side didn't stand a chance. It got to the point where the kids realized they would need something more so they resorted to weaponry. It started out with wooden spoons...then something went awry and The Nog came out of the kitchen with a very big, very sharp knife. He looked me sweetly in the eyes and said, "Mom, can I have this?" I can just imagine if that had been allowed to go any further. He turns to grandpa and says, "I'm gonna cut ya!"

We managed to spend a day in Yellowstone and meet up with the Tolks at Old Faithful. We had a fun day. Below is Nogster's reaction to Old Faithful erupting. He held this Superman flying stance from beginning to end. Awesome.

We went to the Rexburg, ID Temple with Shannon and Ky.

We managed to visit Stone's grandma Ricks a couple of times while we were in Rexburg. She's 99 and going strong at The Homestead assisted living center. I was really pleased when we arrived at the homestead to see that it seemed like a pleasant place to live. The staff was friendly, the home smelled nice and had a real-home feel to it, including a nice kitchen with beautiful cabinets and dining area. Grandma said it wasn't a bad place to live and the staff was kind to her. I even saw a staff member (or volunteer) painting the fingernails of another resident in the lobby while we were walking through. To me it was just a relief to know that she's in such a pleasant home.

Here is our family of 5 on the steps of Grandma Howard's house. Last time we took this photo was in 2005 as a family of 3.

4th of July.

I have had more and more people comment that Goldilocks looks like me. Do you think she does? I think she looks like her brothers.

4 generations.....kind of. I think Stone was supposed to be in my place but then...with a guy in there it doesn't really work it's magic and I guess that's how he felt about it. So just pretend for a second that I genetically belong in this photo. Isn't it sweet?

Westward Ho! (part one)

We've just returned from our two-week stint in Utah and Idaho to be with our families. We only had two days to spend with my family in Utah so part one of my report is a snippet of the whirlwind party we had while we were there. Basically, Angie and I put out an email itinerary to everyone, telling them where to be and when. Minus the airplane picture, all of these pics are from only those two days.

Close quarters on board the plane.

My dad suggested we take the kids up to the point of the mountain to fly his radio-controlled gliders early wednesday morning. Minus the part where we thought we lost one (kid), it was a blast!

After gliders we headed down to the Walter Wick exhibit at the BYU MOA. Mme. Dall awesomely met us there with her cute boys and afterward we all went to Cafe Rio. (Go free kid quesadillas!) ps. Joy, I wish I had snapped a pic of you guys with my own camera!

Wednesday night we met up Provo Canyon for an adults-only party with my siblings, in-laws, and parents.

An absolute treat!

We had a fantastic time talking and being able to hear each other....and staying seated while we ate.

Imagine that!

(Thanks, Gilbert and Carmen, for babysitting.)

We played two-truths-and-a-lie, along with some other conversation-stimulating fun. That game is actually pretty tricky when you are playing with your closest family. Try thinking of something about you that NOT ONE of your siblings knows!
After our picnic we re-converged at Kirk and Amy's house. Recognize it, anyone? It's the house we all (minus in-laws) grew up in. I love this picture of us 20-ish years later. Dale, we missed you!

Bro-in-laws hangin' out.

"so....uh....do you play an instrument?"

Yummy chocolate fondue! Great idea, Nanger!

The next morning, Weston and Jeff woke up bright and early to hike Squaw Peak with some of the older kids.

I like this photo. Two superb views.

For lunch on Thursday we had a party for the grandkids. (partly the result of the backlash that happened when word got out there would be a party to which they weren't invited.) But I think we made up for it with the pinata. We lined them up according to size. Everyone 5 and older was blindfolded for their turn. Everyone under 5 had varying degrees of understanding about what in the world we were doing.*

I love these kids!!!

...and these ones!

Go for it, Adam!

Cute, cute Cal.

*I think I succeeded at getting pics of every kid up to bat.

Email me if you want me to send you the pics I took of your kids. Some are better than others.

Thursday night we had a big game of Cashflow but I didn't get any pics. In fact, I was so exhausted I didn't even make it all the way through the game.

Early Friday morning, Weston and I went to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, the same temple where we were married. It was so nice to walk around and think of happy memories.

I love and miss my family so much! I love spending time with them. It was very hard to leave.

Fathers' Day 2009

Honeymoon

Our long-awaited get-away has come and gone. We are so grateful to Weston’s mom for braving 5 whole days solo with the kids so that we could have a break. I honestly feel like I can’t thank her enough. She came to my rescue so that I could rest.

We headed down to Williamsburg and stayed at a Diamond Resort, complete with kitchen and private Jacuzzi, among many other amenities. We slept in every day, I got a full body massage, we played racquetball and miniature golf (both of which I think we are pretty evenly matched at. Not that he didn’t kill me at every match, but our scores stayed neck-and-neck a couple of times.)

On our last day we rented bikes and spent the day on two of the most rejuvenating bike rides, admiring the beautiful countryside. (It reminded me of one of the happiest days of my life, biking from Melk to Krems in Austria on my study abroad. I came back sore but feeling at least 10 years younger. Remember that, girls?)

The night before the bike ride, my heart sank when I checked the forecast for the following day. Rain and thunderstorms. I really did have my heart set on it, and we only had one day left of our trip. When we woke up the next morning, it was overcast but not actually raining. I checked the forecast again. Chance of thunderstorms were relatively low until 5pm. Though you wouldn’t think it to look at the sky.

Ps. I know I look dorky on my bike.

We went ahead with our plan, all the while hoping the rain would hold off until we were done. I figured it’s not that big a deal if we get sprinkled on. Miraculously, the rain did hold off long enough for us to cover all the territory we wanted to. We got the bikes back by 5:00 and the clouds started to let loose just as we were walking out of the bike shop.

I was really happy and grateful that we went ahead with our plan. What a bummer it would have been to have stayed home for no reason.

This photo is for all you Burnsies out there….well, at least those of you who might read this blog every now and then. We just had to document our encounter with Burns Lane.

Thanks, Weston, for a FANTASTIC vacation!

I had such a great time just being with you!

Grandma's Pics

Just before Weston's mom left, Weston downloaded the pictures she took with her camera onto our computer.

As I scrolled through the folder I was repeatedly left breathless by some of the fabulous facial expressions she caught....

...or just the beauty of a candid moment.

...or a lucky break with both boys smiling...

...and tender moments like this.

Is it that my kids are just super scrumptious, or do you think Margo has a secret knack for photography?

....and she also spiked their hair with styling products while we were gone.

just for fun.

Look At Me Now!

 I can sit up.

I like to sit up.

And I really like my Easter Dress.