Kids lately

Kathryn coloring in her Friend magazine and keeping me company while I made dinner.

Maxwell dressed and ready to spend a cold and windy day outside.  But at the last minute, he decided he'd rather sleep on the floor instead...something about not being able to move maybe?

Kathryn spending a cold and windy day riding her bike outside while Michael and I cleaned out the car.  

I love putting Maxwell's arms above his head.  It's so adorable, he can't even touch his fingertips without help.  He's laying on one of our favorite blankets that Michael's mother saved from when he was a baby.

Kathryn taking a picture of us in her bathroom.

Library Day

We love the local library, however, I have ALWAYS been a big fan of libraries.
This one is very special and unique in a lot of ways.  Probably in part because it's in a small town.
The staff is amazing.  They know the children's names and we're greeted when we walk through the doors.
And since one of the librarians is our next-door neighbor, there are often items on hold for our family.
She's always saving movies and books that she thinks Kathryn will like.



Story Time is wonderful.  This sweet librarian has been doing it for years and years.
She knows all the kids, their brothers, their sisters and their parents.
A craft or activity is always followed by the stories and songs.  And sometimes a snack is involved.
They celebrate each holiday with extra special activities.  We LOVE those story times.
Yesterday, the librarian kindly commented on a letter Michael wrote to the editor of the Times News.
She also insisted on holding Max while we worked on Kathryn's craft project and looked at books.
They all love my baby.  And my daughter.  It's so nice to see how much they really care about everyone.

 

According to Kathryn

Kathryn has really developed her artistic ability lately.
I may go as far as to say that she has some serious raw natural talent.
And that she may be a born artist.  This is coming from a proud mother though :).
According to Kathryn (Age 3 years 3 months), this is our family.

Weekend Review

Michael had a long weekend, so we packed it full, traveling to both Pocatello and Boise to visit family.  

We had three important things to accomplish over the weekend...

  Visit Great-Grandma Jones and Earl, celebrate my parents birthdays and Fiona's second birthday party. 

Everything else was an added bonus.  Our weekend went something like this:

-Packed and drove to Pocatello Thursday night

-Michael and I talked the entire drive (AWESOME) since both kids were asleep

-We may convert to night traveling because of this trip

-Visited Grandma and Earl the next morning, showed off our adorable children

-Kathryn gave back rubs, kisses and hugs and sang and danced for them

-Maxwell smiled, gurgled and cooed for them

-Dropped Kathryn off at her cousin's house to play 

-Watched my niece Katelyn run in the Simplot Games

-She did a GREAT job!

-Ate dinner with my family to celebrate both of my parents birthdays

-It was so nice to see several of my siblings and their families

-Packed up and drove back home for the night

-Drove to Boise Saturday morning, ran some errands

-Went to Fiona's birthday party at Wahooz, the big T-W-O

-She was such an adorable birthday girl

-Played, played and played with all the cousins, thanks for the FUN party Fiona!

-Went to dinner at JB's with all the family that could, we were a crazy party of 22

(This one's for you Miss Haylee)

-Went to our hotel

-Took the kids swimming, despite how late it was

-They loved it! 

-Found a random church with an appealing meeting time to attend

-Ate lunch with the Stokers
-Drove home and talked about how much we LOVED our weekend

THE END

For My Dad

This is how I remember my dad best.

Wearing a long-sleeved button-up flannel shirt, a hat and work gloves.

I wondered why he wore those shirts in the middle of a hot summer day.

My dad has always been a hard worker.  He would finish up a long day on the bench,

And then come home to take care of his horses, his apple orchard and his bees.

After all that, he would give his youngest daughter and favorite child a horseback ride. 

My siblings joke that I was the favorite...I was spoiled and got away with everything.

That he took it easy on me.  He always jokes that it took him seven kids to get the one he wanted.

Of course that's all in fun and we know better. But I was blessed to be raised by a loving father.  

He's not usually the most emotionally expressive man, but then, he is an old cowboy and farmer at heart.

I will always remember when he came to the hospital after Maxwell's surgery.

He took me in his arms and gave me a hug.  He spent sleepless nights worrying about his grandson.

Happy Birthday Dad (Potato Head)!  Thank you for being a wonderful father and grandfather.

Goodbye Hearts

It's always sad to see the holidays come to an end...

We spent a nice Valentine's Day together...Michael was with us for about one hour total :)

This is how we spent our day:

-Woke up a little on grouchy side from a very long night with Maxwell

-Did not make my family a festive breakfast since I was so tired

-Went to Costco for some supplies; ate lunch 

-Stopped at Target for more supplies

-Kathryn asked if Jesus would be happy that we were going to Target

-Delivered Valentine's to Grandma and Grandpa Higbee

-Watched Winnie the Pooh, ate popcorn and candy hearts

-Called Michael and told him that I'd picked up a present for him to give to Kathryn
-Made another batch of heart shaped sugar cookies
-Made breakfast for dinner...did not have time to cut out heart-shaped pancakes though :(
-Helped Kathryn make a Valentine for daddy
-Michael came home for a few minutes, gave Kathryn her gift and some cotton candy
-Ate dinner and put the kids to bed, Michael left for his meeting
-Watched a PBS documentary on Tupperware, it was truthfully very fascinating

-Michael finally came home, we shared some sugar cookies and sparkling cider

-Cuddled on the couch for a while and then Max woke up

It really was such a fun day and we tried to stay busy so we didn't miss Michael too much.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing you all a very happy and special Valentine's Day filled with LOVE!

 

Five Things

1.  I took some seven month photos of Maxwell today.  Here was one of my personal favorites.  It kind of reminds me of the blue steel look...

2.  We celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday, since Michael has church meetings Tuesday.  We ran some errands and ate a lovely dinner at Jakers. On the way home, I remembered that it was on this very day seven years ago, that Michael asked me to marry him (February 11th 2005).  Wow how the time has flown!  

3.  All three of us trying to entertain Maxwell.

 

4.  I saw Denzel Washington on a talk show recently, and immediately remembered the time we sat in front of him at a St. Louis Rams pre-season football game (August 2006).  We were traveling home from our summer sales job in South Carolina and stopped to visit my brother's family in St. Louis.  My brother was doing his ENT residency, and one of the doctors let Rich use his season tickets.  We went to the game, and soon realized that Denzel Washington was sitting in a booth three or four rows behind us (His son was playing for the team that year).  We were all SO excited, it was difficult to contain ourselves.  Michael slyly took a picture of Sonya and I with Denzel behind us.  And then, he carried on a five second conversation with him after his son made a good play.  This is how that monumental conversation we will always remember went:

Michael:  That's your boy!

Denzel:  That's My Boy!!

Michael:  THAT'S YOUR BOY!!!   

5.  And to be fair, here's a funny one of Kathryn.

Blankets and More Blankets

I just couldn't resist this succession of pictures.  It makes me so happy to see them together.

And on another note...
While both kids were napping yesterday, I worked on a project and listened to a session of conference.
I was struck by a beautiful talk that Robert D. Hales gave.  It was so perfect and such a good reminder.
Here were a few of my favorite parts from his talk:

"What, then, does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end."

"Waiting upon the Lord gives us a priceless opportunity to discover that there are many who wait upon us. Our children wait upon us to show patience, love, and understanding toward them. Our parents wait upon us to show gratitude and compassion. Our brothers and sisters wait upon us to be tolerant, merciful, and forgiving. Our spouses wait upon us to love them as the Savior has loved each one of us."