Spring Break in Utah Pictures

I have pictures from my sister Shauna in Utah from our visit over Spring Break - - fun stuff!

My brother Steve's wife, Natalie had her 22nd birthday the first full day I was in town. Happy Birthday Natalie! We love you! I am so happy you are a part of our family!



Cousins love a sleepover! Shauna's kids, 3 year old Hannah, and 1 1/2 year old Adam were so much fun for my kids to play with. Cousin power!



Fun dancing with Uncle Pat!




Playing "In the Treasure Box"

(can you guess what animal Cynthia is? Clue: it is the pink friend of Spongebob . . . )



The best Aunt ever!!


Shauna did some really fun art projects with the kids while I was in Arizona:


She also took them to Kangaroo Zoo - - a huge playground of inflatable jump houses, slides, obstacle courses . . . you name it. The kids had a ball of course!






After I got back from Arizona, we took the kids to the Gateway Children's Museum in Salt Lake City. What a fun place! The kids dressed up, played with plastic groceries, farms, and play houses, climbed a climbing wall, spent tons of time sending balls up tubes, played in water . . . . and much more.




Thanks to the Mosbackers for an amazing week!

Happy 8th Birthday Marcus!

First thing in the morning he opened some presents and cards - - thanks to both sets of Granparents and more - - and thanks to those who called that day to wish Marcus a happy birthday!

I brought cupcakes to his classroom - - here is a picture of Marcus with his friend Julian from school - silly boys!

Eating doughnuts in the park at Sunnyside (see post about Whittle's visit):

Gotta love cake! Especially a huge chocolate one with both of Marcus' favorite things- Spongebob and a rainbow!


I can't believe I am old enough to have an 8 year old - - well, actually I can. On one hand it doesn't seem that long ago that I first became a mom, on Easter Sunday 8 years ago, when I gave birth to Marcus! What a journey it has been. I remember being so happy as we left the hospital, and I knew my life would never be the same. I am so proud of how Marcus has matured and for the good choices he is making. It is amazing how recently I have seen him make really good choices, or do something kind on his own. He will do random kind things for his sisters (though don't get me wrong, he does plenty of teasing too!), and doesn't complain when I ask him to do chores. I have also recently just started teaching him to play the piano - - so far so good! He seems to have so much more understanding of Gospel principles. Truly 8 years old is the age of accountability- it is the age that understanding about right and wrong, and the principle of repentance really seems to sink in. He is doing well in school this year for the most part - - and I am confident that despite his diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum , he is going to be very sucessful in life. We don't have too many unusual problems with him anymore - - he has directed the obsessive compulsive parts of his personality into his room, how he does his chores or eats - - but he has learned not to be overly rigid and angry. He does have his good and bad days as any child does, but even his bad days are not any worse than I would expect from any other 8 year old boy.

Anyway, he really is turning out to be such a great kid and a wonderful son, and I love him so dearly! We are really looking forward to his baptism which takes place on April 25th- just one week away. Both sets of grandparents will be coming to celebrate this blessed event with our family! If any of you reading this live in or will be in the area, you are also welcome to attend - - no matter what faith you belong to. It will be held at 6:30 pm at the church building located at 701 S 1st St, Selah, WA (just north of Yakima- this is our Stake Center). This is such an important event for our family, we would love to share it with anyone who can come!

Whittle's visit

I got to see Brooke this week! Brooke Whittle and her family came up for a visit from California this week- so we had a chance to hang out a bit. My kids also had a great time seeing their long lost friends . . . We had them over for the afternoon on Tuesday (never has 4 hours gone by so fast), and then saw them again, along with many other Sunnyside friends on Wednesday at a park in Sunnyside. It was an especially fun day for Marcus because Wednesday was April 15th- his 8th birthday! I got doughnuts so he could celebrate with his friends.

I have missed Brooke so much this year, but am grateful for blogging and phone calls to keep us in touch. We will have to go visit them in their rural North Eastern California town sometime this summer! Thanks for being such a true friend Brooke!

Pictures from the park:

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend for the most part . . . Jon took some time off to work on the yard (more about that in another post) so we had some time together! We went to the temple on Thursday, though it was a crazy day. We had some wierd delays so couldn't make the endowment session, so did sealings (which I enjoy anyway). Jon also developed a SEVERE ache in his jaw- he was in so much pain as we came back from the Temple he could hardly stand it, and couldn't talk. We rushed him to the dentist and found out he had an abscess under his front teeth on the bottom. The antibiotics took a few days to start healing it, and the pain meds didn't seem to help that much, so he was in pain most of the weekend. Stinky. At least working outside helped distract him a little, and by late Saturday he was doing a bit better. Tomorrow he has to go in for a root canal . . . lucky him . . . At least this happened when we could handle it and he has good dental insurance!! We are counting our blessings!

Easter Sunday was great- don't my kids look cute and springy!!

Glorious sunshine!

First of all, thanks sooo much for everyone's encouragement from my last post! You have no idea how much that helps. I am doing much better emotionally, and I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Things will get better - - and even if we have to go through some craziness here and there, I CAN survive, right? Survival mode is OK every once and awhile!! This must be making me stronger . . . I certainly feel like I am stretching. And stretching ourselves isn't meant to be a comfortable experience. My mom said it's not like we have to be skippy happy through our hard times- it's not like we break our arm and say "yay! I am in pain!!" We just know it will heal eventually. So- I am trying to tell myself, as many of you did on my last post, that it is OK to cry, it is OK to feel like something is hard - - it is OK to just survive. I also know that I CAN get divine help. On Sunday we sang "I know that my Redeemer Lives"- and a line from the song especially touched me. The whole song is beautiful so here it is- but the part in caps was the line that stood out to me:

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

I know that my Redeemer lives.
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead.
He lives, my ever-living Head.

He lives to bless me with his love.
He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed.
He lives to bless in time of need.

He lives to grant me rich supply.
He lives to guide me with his eye.
HE LIVES TO COMFORT ME WHEN FAINT.
HE LIVES TO HEAR MY SOUL'S COMPLAINT.

HE LIVES TO SILENCE ALL MY FEARS.
HE LIVES TO WIPE AWAY MY TEARS.
HE LIVES TO CALM MY TROUBLED HEART.
HE LIVES ALL BLESSINGS TO IMPART.

He lives, my kind, wise heav’nly Friend.
He lives and loves me to the end.
He lives, and while he lives, I’ll sing.
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath.
He lives, and I shall conquer death.
He lives my mansion to prepare.
He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives! All glory to his name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same.
Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:
“I know that my Redeemer lives!”

He lives! All glory to his name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same.
Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:
“I know that my Redeemer lives!”


As we approach Easter, it has been especially wonderful to remember my Savior, and that I do not have to bear my burdens, however big or small, alone.

This brings me to my wonderful week!

I am having a wonderful Spring break! Ahhhh- I am currently in sunny Arizona visiting my sister and having an amazing time enjoying the warm sunshine (80 degrees and I haven't seen such clear blue sky in ages!). It is so nice to have a break from taking care of children, and having some quality girl time with my sister! Thanks again, Shauna for watching my kids! You are such a wonderful sister.

I should back up and describe the rest of my trip. Pictures will follow later- when I get them. My camera is broken- so I will be getting copies of pictures from everyone else. Anyway, the kids and I left last Friday and drove to Orem Utah, where my sister Shauna lives. It was a long drive, but we made it just fine - - it took us 12 hours as I expected. Saturday we enjoyed going to the park- the weather was pretty good - - and I especially enjoyed being with my sister and her family. My kids love their cousins! Sunday was Natalie's (my brother's wife) birthday and we had a fun little party for her and I got to see both my brothers. I love my family- we have so much fun together. Monday we hung out and tried to stay warm - - we woke up to 4 inches of snow! Yikes! We took the kids to the mall on Monday because it was too cold to be outside. It was fun, though . . . there is nothing like visiting family.

Tuesday I got on a plane (by MYSELF!!!) to go see my sister Laura down here in Phoenix. Ahhh- the flight was great- I could actually read a book and not worry about kids. It has been so fun to see my sister. I wish we could live closer. My sisters truly are my best friends. As I said earlier, the sunshine (and full nights of sleep without having to get up with kids) is really helping my mood!! We even went swimming yesterday- I think that is the first time I have ever been swimming outdoors on April 1st! The best thing we did yesterday was a short visit to my friend Kristen Burnett - - we met as newlyweds in 1998 when we lived next door in our tiny basement apartments! Good times. She and her family now live in the Phoenix area so I went to see her. It was sooo good to see her again.



We also saw the Mesa Temple Easter pageant- it was AMAZING representation of Christ's life and was so well done.






Today we are going to go out to lunch and do some shopping (my sister is getting a babysitter for her two little ones) - - fun, fun, fun!! Mostly I have been enjoying being with my sister and her family. Tomorrow I will fly back to Utah, and Saturday drive back to Yakima. This trip was so needed. It was sad to be apart from Jon- that was the only drawback. Hopefully he has been OK this week. Thanks, honey, for being supportive of me going on this trip though, I needed it!!