Sisters and Friends

The best thing about my sister, Tracy, is that she is also my best friend. Growing up, I was the pain in her side and always wanted to do everything she did. We fought a lot and had many hair pulling, clawing with fingernails, and yelling fights. But luckily, all that changed when we went to college together. We both decided to attend Weber State and that changed our relationship forever. If finally felt like I wasn't the "little sister" anymore and instead we were more on the same level. We lived together, studied together, had the same roommates, played together and really got to know each other as women, not just sisters. That was awesome. Our lives have changed a lot since then, but Tracy and I have remained best friends. I am so grateful for that.

She is seriously one of the most talented people I know. She is amazing at her job and so successful at what she does. She has such an eye for decorating and arranging things so that they look good. I love it when she comes to my house and rearranges my furniture or art work or whatever. It always looks so much better than how I had it. She is also very giving of her time and means to help me and my family. She babysits my boys or lets them have sleepovers at her house so Mike and I can have a much needed date. She takes me out to lunch or will give me some extra cash when I just don't have any at the time. And she shares in her "perks" that she gets from her jobs with Mike and I. For example, she gets to take clients to Jazz games a few times a year. She had tickets for the game on Thanksgiving and took Mike with her, then took me to the game on Saturday. (At the Jazz game)
(on Thanksgiving)

(Helping me decorate my Christmas tree, using some old decorations of hers that she donated to my cause.)
So Tracy, I just wanted you to know how thankful I am for you. Thanks for listening to me, laughing with me, helping me, teaching me, hanging out with me, encouraging me, supporting me and just being there always. I love that we are not only sisters, but friends too.

5 months old!

Miles turned five months old on November 25th. He sure is looking a lot like his older brothers. He can roll over now and is starting to eat solid foods. So far he has tried rice cereal, peas (yucky) and carrots. He sleeps from about 8:30 pm to 8:00 am. He loves his binki and being wrapped up like a burrito. I am getting to the point where I wish he could sit up on his own and maybe start entertaining himself more. Having a baby has been fun, but it sure is hard to get things done. Miles is a cutie though and I'm glad he's in our family.

San Diego Wedding

I had the privilege this past weekend to go to San Diego to film the wedding of Mike's cousin, Derek, and his new bride, Ashley. I had made a wedding video for his brother about 5 years ago and the family liked it so much, they hired me to do their next son's wedding as well. I flew into San Diego on Thursday night, all by myself, and got to stay with Mike's aunt and uncle for a night. Their home is absolutely amazing and huge and I felt like I was at a 5 star hotel. Here is the bed I got to sleep in. I've never slept so good in my whole life! Then the next day, we went to take some pre-wedding video and photos at the temple and then at the beach during sun set. Unfortunately I have no still pictures of the beach because I was too busy filming with my video camera, but trust me, it was amazing. The sunset was absolutely perfect and I can't wait to see how it looks on video with the bride and groom.

That night Mike and his parents drove into San Diego and met me at the beach. I spent the rest of the time with them in a hotel close to the temple.

Saturday was the day of the wedding. The San Diego temple has to be by far one of the most beautiful temples. It looks just like a castle in heaven, especially with the bright blue sky behind it. Mike's Grandpa is a sealer, so he did the marriage and it was wonderful. He reminded the bride that when she was mad at Derek, to pray to Heavenly Father that she would be able to see Derek the way Heavenly Father sees him. And he told Derek that if he was ever mad at Ashley to pray to love her the way Heavenly Father loves her. I thought that was really good advice.

These are some pictures I got with my still camera to use as the cover on their DVD. They were absolutely adorable and you could see how happy and in love they were. (and can you believe how blue the sky was?)

Here is the coolest family on the planet, the Harkers, who all came to support Derek and Ashley. It was really fun being there with everyone. It's too bad we all couldn't have stayed a few days more to play in San Diego.

The reception was held at an amazing hotel/resort/golf course. Every detail was planned to perfection. There was wonderful food, a DJ and dancing, and yummy treats everywhere. I didn't get to enjoy too much of it since I was busy working, but I think all the guests had a lot of fun. (Don't worry, it's only apple juice)

I absolutely love being a wedding videographer. I don't really advertise and only get hired by word of mouth. I've been doing it for about 8 years now and I think each video I do only gets better. It's fun to spend a day with people who are happy and in love and I love catching all their cute looks and kisses they give each other when they think no one is watching. It's a great job.

Mike and I flew home together on Sunday. By the time we got back to Salt Lake, a big storm had blown in and it was snowing. Welcome to Utah! We picked up our kids from Grandma and Aunt Tracy (Thank you so much for watching them while we were gone!) and got back to reality.

I sure thought a lot about my boys while I was gone. Mike's aunt also had four boys, the groom being one of them. They have all turned into such amazing, handsome, rightous young men who have all served missions and are marrying wonderful girls in the temple. I can only hope that my four boys turn out as well as those four. But it's good to see that it is possible and I hope that the dreams I have for Mitchel, Max, Mason, and Miles come true too.

Who's the boss?

This picture represents my total loss of control lately. I think the boys have realized that they out number me, and so it's getting easier for them to ignore any direction I give. On this particular night, they started by jumping on the couches. My plea to stop jumping on them was blatantly ignored. Then they took all the cushions off. They took no heed to my request to put them back on. Then it turned into a building towers and jumping off game which included knocking over some picture frames and landing on each other and basically causing a ruckus. I was about to go crazy and yell at them all to clean it up and get on pajamas "NOW!" when it struck me at how much fun they were having. So instead I grabbed the camera and took a picture. These are the moments that one day, I know I will miss. Even though they are loud, messy, and destroy all sense of order I have, the boys are getting along and doing something together. I love that they have brothers to play with and I hope they will remain friends for life. So I'm residing myself to the fact that I will probably not have control most of the time, but I am going to do my best to make the most of it.
Other news is that Miles has learned to roll from his back to his tummy. He doesn't like it very much once he gets in that position and doesn't really enjoy "tummy time."

YUMMY!

Today was Miles' first attempt at baby cereal. He actually did a really good job and seemed to enjoy it.

Halloween

Since Halloween was on a Saturday, we waited until that day to carve our pumpkins. These were the creations they came up with. Pretty clever I thought.

While Mike took the boys out Trick-or-Treating, Miles and I hung out at home passing out candy. I remembered that I had found Mitchel's costume that he wore when he was a baby so I put it on Miles and took a few cute pictures in it. On my very last picture, he barfed all over it, so he only got to wear it for about 5 minutes. Oh well. He looked cute.

Here is the candy haul that my boys brought home. I let them have a few pieces then I quickly bagged it up and hid it. I let them have one or two pieces a day so this stash should last for a long time (unless Mike finds it, then it will be gone before I know it)

Overwhelmed

So I'm having one of those weeks where I just feel like I have too much that I should be doing, want to be doing, need to be doing, and am supposed to be doing. (Trust me, I see the irony in that I am blogging about all I should be doing instead of doing it at the moment, but oh well) Anyway, I've been making a running list in my head of all the things I "should" be doing in my life. When I think about it this way, I always get so overwhelmed and wonder if I'm ever going to catch up. So here is my list:

exercise

sleep 7-8 hrs a night

eat healthy

cook healthy meals for my family

drink a bunch of water

go visiting teaching

help Mitchel and Max with their homework

wash dishes

wash and fold tons of laundry

be the Young Woman's president

help in the Cub Scouts

volunteer at the school

get Mitchel to practice the piano

clean the bathrooms

make beds

vacuum

feed, wash, hold, change, play with the baby

answer e-mails

write thank you notes

give service

pray

read the scripture

ponder

go to the temple

have date nights

have sex

family history (for me scrap booking, movies, and blogging)

make breakfast, lunch, and dinner

go grocery shopping

take out the garbage

clean the garage

rake the leaves

attend Enrichment nights

get everyone to the dentist and doctor

make my kids exercise

read to my kids

have enriching activities for my kids

keep the baby from crying

pay the bills

go to work

plan YW activities

plant a garden

take time for "myself"

go to meetings

have food storage

pay tithing

follow a budget

cut coupons

take care of my teeth

brush my kids teeth

floss

use sunscreen

have Family Home Evening

get my boys into "extracurricular" activities

make sure everyone has clipped fingernails

get in the shower

put on makeup

fix hair

drive the car pool

vote (which I did today)

put gas in the van

.....

okay, so I am sure this list could go on and on. I'm not saying that I even have the busiest life on the planet. I know so many moms do so much more than I do. And then there is the matter of time. There is never enough of it! I have no idea where the hours go sometimes.Whenever I get to feeling like this, overwhelmed that is, the scripture that says something like, "Where much is given, much is required," comes to mind. I know that I am so blessed and Heavenly Father has given me so much. There are times though when I just want to forget about all the things I am "supposed" to do and just lay around in my pajamas, but I know that it will all be there waiting for me later, so I might as well get up and go. So speaking of that, I better get done with this post and move on to my "TO DO" list. I'm hoping to at least knock off some Young Women stuff today so we shall see. As for cleaning the garage and planting a garden, those might just have to wait until Spring. Oh well!