a much needed break and some big steps

1. We headed down to Moab, for some much needed QT. It's been a long summer/fall of refinishing the outside of our house on top of a busy season for the business, so there hasn't been much fun had in this house for a while. Some might even use the word 'neglect' when describing the care of our children. Adam, miraculously, had a few days open in the books, so I set down the paintbrush, packed up our sandals, and off we went.

We had so much fun! We went for a ride in the Ranger, chased lizards, hiked to Delicate arch, went on a bike ride, played mini golf, went swimming, chased more lizards, tried to explain why we can't live in Moab to Isaac (for the 10th time), and why that doesn't mean that other people shouldn't be allowed to, did another hike, finally caught a lizard, and celebrated Elise's first birthday!

Like I said, it was a welcomed break from a lot of work. The only bummer was that Elise woke up sick on her birthday... oh, and that the time went by too quickly, but we were grateful for the chance to have some fun together.

Game: Find the commonality in the first four pictures.

Give up? Luke... and his rock.

Oh look, another rock.

Elise loved the ride in the Ranger.

The lizard!

Elise loved the sand!

The boys loved the big sand hill on our way out.

2. Today, at church, Elise took her first steps! I was in the middle of my lesson and some kids in my class got her to walk to them. It was actually quite cute to see how excited they all were with her big accomplishment. Unfortunately, Adam was on his way to Canada, so he missed out on the fun.

3. As I just mentioned, Adam is on his way to Canada for a moose hunt. He will be gone for over a week -unless he ends up taking one earlier (fingers crossed). We're already sorta kinda missing him. Isaac was pretty emotional all morning because he missed his dad. When he was talking to Adam this afternoon I overheard him say, "I love this family. I love you and mommy because you plan fun stuff for us. I really love you daddy." Now, if that doesn't just melt your heart.

4. I had a flashback to my childhood as I overheard a conversation that Isaac and Luke were having. They were looking at a toy catalog and talking about all the toys they wanted, as they often do. Here is their conversation:

Luke: "This is a baby toy."

Isaac: "I think it looks fun."

Luke: "Yeah, it's cool."

Luke: "Oooo! Is this really cool?"

Isaac: "Dumb."

Luke: "Yeah, I think it's dumb."

Luke: "Is this dumb?"

So, my older sister Steph, who I oh-so looked up to, would always mess with my pathetic, insecure little self. She would say something like, "Oh, I LOVE this." So, of course, I would voice my love for said thing, only to have her retract her love and replace it with disdain, which would leave me no choice but to do the same. And, although Isaac wasn't intentionally setting Luke up, it had me laughing.

5. The painting is done! Thanks to the selfless service of family members, the painting on the house is done! I did about half of it myself, but thankfully we have an amazing family, who jumped in and helped finish the rest... I wouldn't have been able to finish it before it got too cold, otherwise. Painting (and calking!) an entire house? So not fun! I would like to give a special shout out to Carol, Jon, Adrianna, Lynn, Maddy, Ifti, Dani, Katie, and Chris for all of their help! And, let's not forget Jer, Wes, Jon, and Matt, who helped us get the fun started! Once the soffit (sp?) and facea (sp?) is finished, I will post some pictures.

Some pictures:

What is this, you ask? Well, isn't it obvious? It's a fireman with his oxygen tank, breathing devise, and water hose.

And now, here's three fireman.

This was the boy's summer project: Nailing scraps of wood from our house project onto the stumps in the chicken pen. It evolved into something new on a daily basis. And, although Adam wasn't too happy about the constant disappearance of his hammers and nails, I enjoyed the countless hours that it kept them busy (Remember what I said? Neglect).

Any reason for concern? BTW, those are not my 'nude' colored pantyhose. I bought them to store onions in... yes, onions.

Yet, another item that quickly disappears from Adam's garage - latex gloves.

Luke was quite excited about the size of this potato from our garden, so he insisted on a picture.

little miss turns one

Can I believe it? No. I just cannot believe it has really been a whole entire year since we first welcomed Elise into our family. And, now I absolutely understand why people have a hard time with their youngest child growing up too fast. It's a bummer. Especially since she has been my most enjoyable baby. But, this is a fun stage, so I will try to cherish this moment before it flies by like the rest of them.

Elise has been such a welcomed change from my three rowdy boys. I know that makes is sound like I didn't enjoy my boys when they were babies (or even now). But, I did/do. I adored each and every one of them. But, I feel like I have finally caught a break with Elise. You see, I once was that type of person who thought they knew everything about parenting before even being a parent... I had a lot humility and empathy to learn. I wouldn't be able to count how many times I thought, "I'll never do that with my kids". Ha! What a silly, stupid girl. I now fully realize the ignorance of my ways and have been thoroughly humbled by my three beautiful, bouncing boys. Now my thoughts are more along the lines of, "Oh, you poor mom, I am sorry for what you are going through, right now." Thankfully, Heavenly Father must have felt I had learned my lesson and sent me my mellow little girl. Insert *sigh of relief*. Here are a few things about my sweet little miss:

1. Have I mentioned she's sweet? Well, she is. Not that there are many ornery one year old's out there, but I'm pretty sure she is sweeter than most (at least more so than her older brothers were - no offense to them). It makes her pretty dang easy to love.

2. Part of her sweetness is the fact that she is very easy going. Her brothers can smother her with kisses or knock her over with their hugs, but she (usually) doesn't seem to mind. I often have to tell Luke to ease up with her (as his love and playfulness can get pretty overwhelming), but it doesn't seem to bug her - instead, she is usually laughing.

3. The biggest difference in Elise compared to my boys, is how content she is. She doesn't have to constantly be getting into EVERYTHING like my boys did (do). She doesn't have to constantly climb onto EVERYTHING like my boys did (do). She has been able to climb up the stairs for a while, but doesn't feel the constant need to revisit them. And, she lasts a whole lot longer on my lap or in my arms than my boys ever did. It has been such a nice change!

*Update: I spoke too soon. Over the last few days, Elise takes any chance to climb the stairs. Once she gets to the top, she start hollering until I come and get her down. Anytime she climbs up onto something, she will just holler until someone helps her off.

4. I absolutely love how she sucks her lower lip and plays with either my hair or her hair when she's tired or just needs some soothing. It doesn't bode well for my ever so fancy ponytail, which is usually half pulled out. There are a few things about babies that you realize you will miss terribly - especially when you realize you are experiencing it for the last time... this is just one of them.

5. She adores her brothers. Like I mentioned earlier, she never seems to get sick of all the love and play that they force upon her. They crack her up at times, which is just about the cutest things ever. I love seeing the love they have for her. I sure hope it continues down the road.

6. She gets super excited when she sees someone she recognizes from afar (especially her brothers and dad)... I love it. She laughs/squeals/yells out of excitement.

7. She loves saying "hi" and waving to people. It's pretty cute. She doesn't seem to have much stranger anxiety - none of my kids have. And, although it has sometimes made me feel a little insecure about how much my children might love me, they have usually made their preference for me clear at some point. Whew.

8. She says, "ooo" a lot lately... super cute. It makes it seem like everything is fascinating to her. She also does it when she's starting to upset, which is also cute.

9. Oh yeah, she's also really sweet.

So, I asked my boys (and niece) at the table what they love about Elise. Here are their answers:

Halle: "She let's me carry her."

Isaac: "She's my sister."

Luke: "I do funny stuff to her and she laughs. And, I love her."

Adam: "She's super cute. She waves at me and says, 'Hi daddy, and bye daddy.'"

We were in Moab during Elise's birthday. Unfortunately our little Miss woke up sick on her birthday. This pretty much sums up how she felt all day.

We still got her a cupcake and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.

Despite not feeling well, she still enjoyed her cupcake.

Not too sure what Asa was doing.

But, he sure enjoyed his ice cream cone.