The Little Lady and her Shoes

Ava has loved shoes, since she was a year old, and old enough to walk.  The other day I brought home some red shoes, and as soon as she saw them, she started hyper ventilating.  She loved them so much and couldn't wait to try them on.  Whenever anyone comes to the house, they have to watch out for their shoes, because she will have them in a big hurry!  She also loves to wear shoes that don't fit or match one another.  She's got a style all her own...

Trip to Arizona

I just got back from a trip to Arizona!

It was so fun to split up the chaos a bit and get some one on one or two on 1! I took her....

and her...

to be a part of a day I will never forget.  Garin and Lisa blessed,  confirmed this sweet baby

Baptized Cameron

Sealed, this absolute angel baby.  Doesn't he look like an angel.  Seriously, this is the happiest baby I have ever been around.  Love, love, love that baby!  

All the sisters, with my Mom and Grandma to celebrate a perfect day, Caden's Sealing...

Me and Kristi...

Lisa, Makenna and Caden at the Blessing and Baptism

We surprised my Grandma and took her for her very first pedicure.  Yes, we ordered pink.  Turns out pedicures are entirely unnecessary.  Her feet were already fabulous!

Could we all be so lucky to look this great one day!  She's 84!  Her secret.... service, and being a giddy new bride!

Washington D.C

We did it!  We left all five kids for the first time since Ava was born.  Sure we have taken little "in town overnighters", but this was a full three days with just me and the fella.  I forgot how fun it was to know that you have that much time to spend together, to know if you stay up too late, it entirely up to you when to pull that body out of bed.  I loved being the recipient of open doors, a husband who sat beside and read while I slept in, endless conversation with the person I love most.   It was nice to be reminded how good this man is at taking care of me.  Not that he is not at home, but let's be honest there are 6 other people who are usually louder, definitely cry more, and have a lot more needs.  

Sounds like an anniversary, right?  Not even close.  We attended our first PXE conference.  PXE is the ABCC6 gene that runs awry in our family.  Thanks to the marriage of two people who just loved each other and forgot to check out the genes.  (thankfully, so)  This was incredibly hard and wonderful all at the same time.  I won't write to much here, except to say that I am so grateful we are here at the same instead of 20 years.  This is some tough stuff, but I believe we have great reason to hope at least for treatment.  I am amazed at people who can give up their lives for the sake of some many others, and have come away with such great gratitude for 1.  people who are selfless and brilliantly (the founders are exactly like the parents in Lorenzo's Oil) and 2.  modern medicine and the wonders of science and those who understand it.  (i don't, but my brilliant, scientific husband does.  Man am I glad for those bazillion years of medical school!

More of DC

Note the running clothes:) Not sure where all the flowers are?

Darin says this everytime we pass a cop on a horse.  "those horses are great for crowd control."  I couldn't say this here w/o giving him just credit!

Steps of the Lincoln Memorial

This guy has earned the right of our next monday FHE lesson. 

Funny thing is, we didn't even once think about all there is to see and do in DC, before we hopped on the plane.  We were so fixated on the conference we didn't even think about.  We ended up taking only a couple of hours to sight see. I am glad we did.  We strapped on our running shoes for three reasons.  1. because it's all I think about right now, as I train for the marathon 2.  we could see things a lot quicker that way 3.  because my husband is accomadating.

Our Gymnast

This pic was taken before the beam routine.  Moments later this mat would be soiled by a "would be competitor."  The stuff is stressful.
Savvy's best cheerleaders.  Seriously she definitely had the biggest and loudest crowd, and it was just our family.

She was the first one in the entire competition to compete on floor.  We didn't know what to expect in terms of order and were shocked to see "little savanna" in the middle of the flour giving it her all to the music, we would have memorized 6 hours later.  Did you know they all use the same music?  Savanna loves gymnastics and had a great time at her first meet.  We were all there to cheer her on!  Go Savvy!

This is a daughter of loris shhhh

I would like to add something else onto the list of things people love about me or savanna...
She buys me stuff!! :) :) :) lol lol lol

Savvy Turned 10

My "favorite"daughter Savvy turned 10. They all know they are my favorite. We have a tradition , which I know isn't too unique , but it's a great one. We all go around the room and say what we love about that person. Savvy is definitely one of a kind and here are some of the things people love about her. This year was a family celebration for us, but she was lucky enough to have the Joyce's to celebrate with us.
Savvy is:

1. Always kind
2. Always looking for ways to serve
3. A very hard worker
4. very funny
5. A great gymnast
6. Sweet
7. Happy
8. Disciplined
9. Super Clean
10. Intense

The Joys of the Joyce's

We just spent a fabulous 6 days with some of our dearest friends. We met the Joyces when Darin was doing he last year of fellowship in San Diego. We called them our "tour guides." Nobody could do San Diego better and to boot they could do in on a dime, which was absolutely essential with our meek family budget! The older I get, the more I cherish my friendships. We have moved around so much, I feel so blessed with my collection.
This family is enjoyed by ever single person in our family. Even Ava gets loved beyond belief with this family...

The Highpoints for me where:

1. Endless conversations with Rob and Shelley about: politics, religon, eastern philosophy, quantum physics, medicine, parenting, etc....

2. The fact that they are willing to do a 23 mile bike ride and a 7 mile hike when they still can't breathe coming from uhhh... sea level Oh yes, and a 5 mile run through the hills. I almost talked Shelley into a half marathon, but she does have some sense:)

3. The fact that their kids are absolutely adorable both in sight and heart

4. Watching my girls rekindle friendships from past

5. Easton doesn't remember them from living in San Diego, but he thinks they are our cousins.

We love you, thanks for taking your vacation with us!!


My friend "loving" my baby at the Dillon Farmer's Market

Weston and Paris... cutie pies!

Yuck! The soggy feet after our 7 mile hike. This was actually supposed to be short hike:) We kept trying to make it to the lake, that did turn out to be beautiful.

Post bike ride in Breckenridge. We were entertained with live celtic music, while the kids played.

More pics

I need some bigger glasses:)

Before the ride.

The river feels so great after a long ride.

Rob loving our baby.

Shelley and Mallory

On top of our Rock

Ava did this little hike with no shoes...

Saving the Best for Last

We got together for a pool party that ended up being moved into the house due to "inclement' weather. Wish I could have changed my clothes for the picture:) Hard to imagine that it actually worked out great having 15 kids in the house. They all had a blast.
Here are my kids waiting for my friends who oddly enough are late. The kids were so excited to meet them, they were waiting in the driveway. I have to say they got tired and came inside.

I was so lucky to have amazing friends in my childhood. These girls have known me since I was probably 5. I haven't seen most of them in 12 years. We have kept in touch through Christmas cards, but really does that count? The thing is, it doesn't even matter, because these girls are a what Darin and I call "lifers", meaning friends for life, no matter how often we don't see each other. It was so fun to relive childhood memories and laugh about things that are only funny to people who have lived in Page and really there aren't that many of us. We had a blast!

Highlights
1. Hearing about everyone's families. I love all these girls' families and know them all so well!
2. Seeing all the kids, and realizing they are all extensions of us in different ways.
3. Seeing our mother's manifest in us.
4. Hearing about hardships and trials
5. Hearing about family members overcoming them and becoming wonderful people.
6. Seeing the good husbands my friends have married
Love you all, thanks for coming...
LowLights
1. Being afraid of getting fined $1000.00 if my friends were too loud and too loud
2. Not taking any pictures of the kids (i was a little pre-occupied)
3. Limited time, it would take weeks to really "catch up"

A Walk Down Memory Lane

We weren't able to cover everything, but here are some of the highlights.First stop: BYU, could there be anything better? We wanted to show the kids exactly where we met, and believe it or not, they actually wanted to see it. That would be the "wilk."
Where we came up with the "brilliant idea" of our first business. Yes, we owned the first Hogi Yogi in Texas, which is a whole other post or a whole other blog.
Since all we did was eat, and if you read my blog, you know I hate to waste, we definitely did some sharing. They have this new yogurt that is absolutely amazing, it actually is really healthy with "live cultures." I asked Darin if he wanted to start one he liked them so much. He said, uh no." I could pretty definitely say that food will never enter into our future as far as business is concerned:) Easton and Ava peering down at the little turtle that lived in the window well of the place we rented.
Wish we had a name for the little guy...

Practice

So while we were all dressed up with no place to go, I decided to make good use of the time and the clean kids and snap so photos. Here are my favorites!