Sorry for the Absence!

I have been so so busy the last few months.  I'm telling you ahead of time, I will not be posting much in the next few weeks.  Once things settle down after the holidays I will get back into regular blogging.  Sorry about that!

Here are some random fun photos for you to enjoy! :)

Addison on Halloween (So cute!)

Sam and Jack on Halloween

Those are the pumpkins we grew this year.

Me and my boys

Addison on her new mattress (finally sleeping in her own room!  I procrastinate because I love my babies close to me!)

Jared Leto with 30 Seconds to Mars (Concert with Tavia this week).  So cool!

Reenacting the Nativity with my extended family.

Have a wonderful season and I'll be back when I can!

Hey there!

Here are some photos from our recent trip to San Francisco.  It was our 10 year anniversary so we decided to do a big trip.  We were gone for 5 days.  It was so hard to be away from the kids for that long.  But we had a good time.  SF is certainly in our top 5 favorite cities!  I'll post more photos at another time.  Enjoy!

Beautiful cityscape at dusk, as seen from Coit Tower.

Nasty fish in Chinatown.

Golden Gate Bridge on a foggy cold night.

Alcatraz tour--so awesome!!

Here we are--10 years.  A lot has happened in those 10 years (and it shows on our faces!  Look at those wrinkles!).

This is what I've been thinking too

This post (August 19th) at Holy Experience is what I've been thinking about a lot lately.  The chaos of our crazy life with 5 people (and the stuff, schedules, stress, emotions, choices, heartbreaks, etc. that go along with them) has been wearing on me.  I have been terribly unhappy lately--feeling overwhelmed and under--appreciated and like less of a person than I (deep down) know I am.  Haven't we ALL felt that way at some time in our lives?

I came across this post this morning and felt an instant uplift because I have been thinking along the same lines.  Ever since our stake conference last weekend, I've had so many thoughts running through my head.  Mostly about scripture study, prayer, conversion and turning our lives over to God--completely.  It is interesting that it coincides perfectly with our preparations to sell our house and move because we are completely following promptings from the spirit.  He is guiding us down this path.  We don't know what it holds or what the outcome will be, but we feel peace and trust Him.  It's been an amazing experience so far.  And I feel the hope beginning to return to my heart.

Have a great day everyone!

PS--I've added some more inspiring links to the side so check them out!

hey there!

HI

I am not dead! I have been so crazy busy lately.  I can't seem to get my thoughts together to even post anything!

Here are some random photos of some of the goings on in the last few weeks.  

There are some big changes happening here.  I'll post more another time.  Let's just say it has to do with packing things up, selling or giving away A LOT of stuff, and meeting with our real estate agent!  Very excited to see what might happen in the next few months!

R-Jay and Sam at the Oquirrh Mountain temple openhouse.

Sam had two permanent teeth growing behind his baby teeth so the babies had to be pulled out.  He was such a trooper and so excited by the first visit from the tooth fairy!

A fun trip to Bear Lake.  The boys stayed at the beach all day.  Addison liked to hang out at the beach as long as she was not touching sand or water! Silly girl! Is she really a part of this family?  :)

Have a beautiful day everyone!

Thoughts on Simplicity

Simplicity

I want simplicity, not minimalism. 

I want to know what is in my closet.  I want to know that all the clothes in my closet fit me well and that I wear them all.  That when I get dressed, I can just pull something out and know what it goes with and how it will look on me.

I want to know that all the purses I own are ones I love and use regularly.

I want to always be able to find a pen because there are lots of them around.

I want to know where every bill is, when it's due and that I have the money waiting at any time to pay it.

I want to know where my keys, phone and purse are at all times.

I want to be able to have a place where I can sit during quiet moments and worship, where my scriptures and journal are waiting.

I want to know right where everything is because there is not an overwhelming amount of stuff to take care of.

I want everything I own to fit comfortably in my house.

Have a good evening!

PS-Michele: Here is another good scripture.  Psalms 93:3-4

Scrapbook pages and Randomness

Scrapbook Pages and Random thoughts

(The best kind of thoughts?)

As promised, here are some really cute layouts I made last week.  They turned out exactly as I had them in my mind.  Most of the time, I can't scrapbook when I want.  I have to wait until the housework is done or the kids are in bed.  So I think about it.  I plan layout designs and colors, inventory my stash and decide what I am going to use.  Then when I sit own to work I know where I want it to go.  That's how these pages came about.  And I think that perhaps that amount of thinking and arranging helped them turn out so good.

This first one is going to be titled "Summer Girls".  It's me and Addison sitting outside watching the boys run through the sprinkler.  I really love all the different patterns together.  That's one of my favorite techniques.

This second layout is going to be titled "Our sunshine girl."  Because she is so happy most of the time and so smiley.  I haven't put the titles on yet but I really wanted to get this posted so imagine them in your mind's eye!

This of course is my cute girl.  This was taken just this afternoon. 

Now for the randomness:

Toward the end of June I was reading some of my favorite blogs.  I came across one (I apologize, but I cannot remember which one it was!) that really got me thinking.  I immediately grabbed my journal and started writing about it.  I wanted to share it here and see what you all think.

Here was the question:

Does seeing too much (tv, books, magazines, art, blogs, etc) contaminate us as artists?  Does it negatively impact what we create, making it less pure?

My answer (taken straight from my journal):

Art is about taking pieces of our world and creating something that expresses what's in our soul.  An artist is someone who takes what's inside themselves and what's in the world they live in and combines them together into something that is uniquely theirs.  The only time the art becomes less pure, less authentic is when one tries to copy or imitate someone else's art.  Then it is not really one's own.  But learning from others, experimenting with techniques or processes or materials, that's part of the artist's journey.  That's part of the fun! Everything we see combines into our own art, in our own way.

What's your answer to that question?

Have a great weekend! 

Quick reading list!

Quick Reading List and Photo

Here's a quick list of books I like:

The Alchemist

-Paulo Coehlo

So Big

-Edna Ferber

-Anything by Phillipa Gregory

The Bell Jar

-Sylvia Plath

Mrs. Dalloway

-Virgina Woolfe

We were the Mulvaneys

-Joyce Carol Oates

The Poisonwood Bible

-Barbara Kingsolver

Stargirl

-Jerry Spinelli

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

-Betty Smith

Anthem

-Ayn rand

Secret Life of Bees

-Sue Monk Kidd

This is a short list.  I might post a few more of these over the coming weeks.  There are always so many books I enjoy and since I am always looking for new books to read I though maybe some of you are too!  

Here is a photo from our recent trip to Yellowstone!  This is at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.  SO Gorgeous!

Have a beautiful day!

Enjoying Summer!

I love Summer!

We are enjoying the warm weather here!  It's been gorgeous!  Ahhh--Sunshine is good for my soul! (Hence my nickname.)

Here are the girls watching the boys play at the park

My silly kids!

Addison is Adorable!!!

Arches Trip

Arches National Park

This trip was so awesome!

R-Jay and I love Southern Utah.  But we haven't been back for at least 8 years!

So we decided it was time to show our kids a place we love.

We stayed at the KOA in Moab in a Kamping Kabin.  So much fun! I highly recommend it

We hiked, and played in the dirt, and watched movies in our little cabin.

R-Jay hiked the Devil's Garden trail early Friday morning while I hung out at the cabin with the kids.

I was sad to come home!

Here are some awesome photos!

Looking up at Double Arch

Rock art just outside of Moab

It was so windy on Friday. Sam had fun at the Park Avenue overlook.

A great view of Double Arch

Sand Dune Arch--Awesome trail for kids!

Sam on the trail to Balanced Rock--he and I hiked this trail together.  So fun!

On the way to Sand Dune Arch! Unfortunately the wind was blowing hard, whipping the sand around and into our eyes!

Jack's cute feet!

Jack at the base of Skyline Arch.  He and I hiked this trail together.  He and I had such a good time!

Addison this last Sunday (sorry it's stuck in the middle here.  You know me and Blogger!).

Jack and I on the Skyline Arch trail.

My boys at the opening to the Sand Dune Arch trail.

Addison looking very serious after lunch--look at those eyes!

Everyone at the base of Double Arch.  They loved climbing on the rocks underneath the arch.  It gave me a bit if a heart attack though!  The slickrock was pretty steep!

There will be more photo to come, I'm sure. There are so many good ones!  And I'll show pictures of the mini book I make about the trip. 

This trip was so good!

watch this video!

If you are a woman, you need to watch this video!!

This girl is beautiful and inspiring! I am going to watch this every single day, at least once! :)

And I say in response--HELL YEA!

Have a beautiful day!

Prosthetic Toenail

Prosthetic Toenail

A few weeks ago, the front panel from one of our kitchen drawers fell off and landed on my toe.  I had to go to the doctor where they drilled a hole in my toenail and drained the stuff out.  It has taken forever to get better.  Well, finally, while at the cabin, the nail fell off completely!!  It was kind of gross, though not as bad as I expected.  I won't frighten you with a photo, though I did take one.  It feels so much better.  But now I have no toenail.  I was talking to R-Jay about it last night, telling him that I am so upset and worried that the toenail might not grow back in.  And do you know why I am so worried? BECAUSE MY PEDICURE WOULD BE MESSED UP FOREVER!!

Yes-you can laugh at me.  I asked R-jay  if he thought there was such a thing as a prosthetic toenail.  He laughed at me.  I was only half joking!  Anyway-I am glad my toe is finally healing, and praying that the toenail grows in fine. 

I'm a dork.  I know.

I'm ok with that.

:)

Cabin trip

Cabin Trip

Our trip to Island park and Yellowstone was fun.  There was still a bit of snow (a lot in the back).  It was not terribly cold though.  We had a fun time in Yellowstone.  We did not see a bear-we have some built in bear repellent I think.  For at least the last two years, my parents and sister have seen bears but we never have. Dumb!  Apparently they have been having a lot of troubles with Grizzlies in Island Park, especially near Macks Inn.  Which, by the way, is at the bottom of the hill from our cabin!  One incident happened just on April 30 only a few block from our cabin and on the same street as my Aunt and Uncle's cabin.  Last year they had a notice posted in their door that said a bear had been spotted near their cabin and they needed to take precautions.  Crazy!  Needless to say, we were a little hesitant to spend too much time outside.  R-Jay had to go out after dark a couple times and he came running in all freaked out. He's so cute.

Addison is adorable of course!

These babies were also adorable!

Elk at Mammoth Hot Springs picnic area

Porcelain Basin trail

Part of that same trail.

All in all it was a fun trip.  Anyone who has small kids knows that a vacation with kids is not really a vacation.  It's just like being at home only harder because you are in a different place.  We had fun though.  We played games, watched movies, ate yummy food, saw beautiful areas.  We are going back the middle of June for an entire week.  Fun!

Prayers please!

Prayers for baby Cody!  My nephew was born 2 days ago and is still in the hospital with some problems.  Thanks for your faith!

Art Share

Art!

Here are some of our latest projects!

My Mother's Day cards:

My pig from Sam--he's so funny!

This is from Jack.  (R-Jay helped a bit)

A page about my favorite birthday present EVER!!

Isn't my Hubby sweet!?

This is a close up of the large color block so you can see the detail better.

Another close up.

Products used-- Cardstock: Close to My Heart (Black), Prism (Turqouise); Transparency: Hambly; Letter Stickers: American Crafts; Stamps and ink: Close To My Heart; Jewels: Close To My Heart; Pen: Zig writer.

I am loving doing pages for Addison.  I love all the pink stuff! Crazy!

A close up of the this cute butterfly

Products used--Patterned Paper: BasicGrey (dark pink), CK Kit of the Month (pink grid); Transparency: Hambly; Letter Stickers: Making Memories; Velvet ribbon: Unknown; Paper border strips: Making Memories; "Love" Epoxy Sticker: Unknown; Butterfly die cut: Amy Butler for K & Company; Glitter Glue: Ranger; Scallop die cut: Amy Butler for K & Company; White Gel Pen: Sakura; Chipboard monogram: Close to My Heart. 

A layout about how much I love R-Jay's hands. 

Part of the journaling talks about when I first saw him sculpt.  

We were not officially dating yet (though we both knew it was serious).

He was working on an assignment for school at USU.

I was in the studio waiting for him to finish.

I watched the way his hands moved almost on their own, how gently he touched the material as he worked.

Wow!

I really loved him that night!

Close up of some details.  I LOVE layers.

Products used--Cardstock: Close to My Heart; Patterned paper: BasicGrey (green), Unknown (white strip); Transparencies: Hambly (green brick), My Minds Eye (flourish); Brads and Screwhead eyelets: Making Memories; Letter stickers: American Crafts; Pen: Zig Writer.

Hope you enjoyed that!  

I want to share my work more often!

I have some Close to My Heart demos coming up so I will get those posted soon!