Gratitude

It's all too familiar to us.. we hear of a story either on the news, from a friend we talk to during the week, or these days even through facebook-a story that makes us take a step back and really appreciate where we are in life. One that makes all our troubles, worries, or concerns seem so small and almost silly for even occupying our time. For me-it wasn't so much a story, but rather a picture.

At work we receive the Wall Street Journal each morning. Each day's copy is placed on the coffee table for guests to read as they wait in the lobby. It's become a habit of mine to stop by periodically and see what's on the front page, to see what events are taking place around the country or world.

Yesterday, this photo was on the front page:

Apparently there's a volcano in Indonesia that has been inactive for 400 years, that's now erupting-forcing people to evacuate. I saw this picture and couldn't help but picture my family and I sitting on that moped covered in ash, clinging onto what little of our belongings we could take with us as we fled from our home.

I stood there in the lobby for a minute staring at this picture, sympathizing with this father doing all he could to make sure his family remained together, and safe. I was sad for them, yet so very grateful for my family, our health, and our safety.

We have been so blessed, and I don't just mean my family, but all of our family and friends. Many of you reading this are LDS, just as we are. We have been blessed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With a living prophet who communicates with our Heavenly Father, and who leads and guides us with love. We've been blessed with the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost-to protect us from danger, teach us the truth, and widen our understanding of things pertaining to the Gospel. We've been blessed with the scriptures to help us learn and grow spiritually, and that relate to us. We've been blessed with a Savior, one who knows each of us, understands us, and loves each of us. I am so grateful for this knowledge. I am grateful to be married-and sealed-to a wonderful woman that I love. Grateful to have three adorable children who make me so very happy. Especially grateful to know that even if an erupting volcano were to come between us here on earth, in heaven we'd still be together... Forever.

Conversation with a 6 year-old

Kailee went to a friend's house to play after school today, so on my way home from work I picked her up. She was in quite a good mood seeing how she had been looking forward to this, and was very talkative. Here's a snippet of our conversation-or rather-a snippet of what she had to say to me while I was driving us home:

K: Daddy?

Me: Yeah?

K: You and mom are good cookers and good driver-ers.

Me: You mean mom and I are good cooks and drivers?

K: Yeah. You both know how to make eggs, and-HEY! There's my bus stop!

Me: Yup! There it is.

K: eggs, and cereal, and-do you know what the shortest word is?

Me: No, what?

K: X

Me: (trying not to laugh) X?

K: Yeah, X; like 'ecckkkksss'. And you both drive really good!

I tried not laughing loud enough for her to hear me. It was a cute conversation. And like I said, she was VERY talkative when I picked her up. There was SO much more to this conversation, and it jumped around so much that I couldn't remember the entire thread by the time I got home!

Kailee-I love you!

Idaho-Sweet Idaho

I remember as a kid opening books and quickly skimming through them to find the pictures. If there weren't any, I'd close the book and move on to the next one. I LOVED books with illustrations.

Well, sad to say, this post won’t have any "illustrations" a.k.a. pictures. We went to Idaho last week on a last minute trip/decision, and forgot to grab our camera… either way though-it was SO much fun!

We stayed with a friend who lives out in the country (just a few miles outside of Rexburg) and who's closest neighbor is about a mile down the road in each direction (not including the grandparent right next door). They have two boys right around Dallin's age, and one daughter that's Kailee's age. Needless to say, all six kids had a blast playing together; and likewise for us parents :)

Highlights of the trip:

Walking the auditorium and Manwaring job site with my co-workers and wife (yup! Bec got to come along also. She just about freaked out walking across the catwalk 60' above the ground!)

Kayaking down the Snake River (Henry's Fork) with kids in tow (two on laps, one towed on an inner-tube tied to the kayak)

Taking the kids to see each of the three places we lived in our 6 years in Idaho

BBQs with friends (both in St Anthony and in Rexburg)

Taking the kids to the splash park @ Porter Park, then swimming @ Parkside

Watching the kids catch a snake in the canal, ride the four wheeler, jump on the trampoline (and camp on it one night), feed the chickens, play dress-up, Polly Pockest & Barbies (the ENTIRE TIME), and just plain having good fun together

Drive-in: Despicable Me & Eclipse (plus a shooting star frenzie in the night-sky background)

Sitting/swinging on an old wooden swing hung from an apple tree (that was one of my personal favorites)

St Anthony Pioneer Day Parade

Hanging out with friends the entire five days

All-in-all, it was a last minute trip that we'd easily repeat in a heartbeat!

3, 6, 7

Don't know what these numbers are? They're the ages out three kids turned this year! Hard to imagine how fast time has flown by, and how big each of the kids have grown! Dallin will be starting second grade, Kailee first, and Tylie already started preschool! Sheesh!

Here are a few pictures from their birthdays...

Dallin 7, April 14th

He wanted a BYU party. So, away we went with football attire and decorations. He invited a few of his friends from school and church, and a room full of 6 year-old boys was, well, LOUD! They had a blast playing football, catch, tackling each other, and chillin' eating their "Cougar Dogs".

Tylie 3, May 23rd

She's still a bit young to ask for a "themed" party (thank goodness...) so we did cake and ice cream at our adoptive parents house, the Hoopes'. Ty's obsessed with puppy's and Toy Story, particularly TS2, so we got her a Jessi doll and a puppy (since we don't already have enough stuffed animals around the house). She was in heaven.

This was her last serving of cupcake for the night. We asked her to "say cheese" which she normally does pretty well. However, this time, and two or three others, she pulled this face! Cracked us up!

Kailee 6, June 15th

Two Words: Fancy Nancy. Bec often calls K Fancy Nancy because this girls LOVES anything girlie. Make-up:loves it. Dress up: loves it. Getting her nails done: loves it. Wearing mom's perfume or her own body sprays: yup, you guessed it: LOVES IT! So what better theme for her 6th? Bec especially had fun decorating for this party! The girls decorated their own crowns, wore boas and beads, had their make-up and hair done, and all dressed up in their most posh outfits (that's a fancy word for fancy).

Happy Birthday Kiddos! Love all three of you to pieces...

Conference and Easter

Saturday Morning

I love conference weekend. I look forward to it each time. Something about it just makes me happy, every time. This year, with it being on Easter weekend, it seemed that much more special to me.

Saturday morning, we listened to conference and decorated Easter eggs. Becky bought this "Monster" decorating kit. It came with facial expression stickers, pipe cleaners for the arms and legs, and a cotton-like fuzz for the hair. The kids had a blast coloring their eggs, and it surprisingly kept them entertained and quiet so we could listen to the talks on the tv!

(This one, in particular, reminds me of Sloth from the Goonies..

"Ruth! Ruth! Baby... Ruth!")

We hid this one on the light bulb in our chandelier above the dining table. Great hiding spot, right? Wrong-O. The lights were on for about 20 minutes and melted the hair to the bulb! We could NOT get the hair off the light bulb! Instead we had to rip the hair off the egg, and change the light bulb! Tough stuff when it melts and solidifies!

Sunday Morning

We invited the three missionaries serving in our stake (E. Apo, E. Collins, and E. Lotz) to come over for breakfast and to watch the morning session of conference with us. In addition to them, Michael and Mindy were here visiting for the weekend. Becky threw on her "Domestic Diva" apron, handed Elder Collins the matching "Diva in Training" apron and we made breakfast for all 10 of us before conference started. A LOT of food for one sitting at the breakfast table! But with five men eating, what do you expect?

We ate, and then hung out watching, listening, and coloring to the talks. It was great having visitors to share Easter morning and conference with in our home!

Another one bites the dust!

This weekend Dallin lost another tooth! He notices pretty quickly when he has one loose. And by that I mean, he notices before we can even tell it's moving! We worked on helping it loosen up for a few days until it was ready. Normally, he does pretty good, not too many tears shed over the pain. This time, however, was different. We had him push it back a few times really good, to get it a bit more wiggley. The thing that cracked us up was that each time we pushed on it, he had to go to the bathroom. There MUST be some kind of connection with his front tooth and his bladder! After a few good pushes and tugs, and some tears later, the tooth came out!

I asked him to show me the loose tooth, and seriously, this was the face he pulled. I couldn't help but crack up. I tool three other photos just like this one.

The proud owner of a gummy smile (and money the Tooth Fairy would be slipping underneath his pillow later that night)!

An Evening at the Zamora's

What do the following two pictures have in common?

Give up?

Hiding spots for the kids!

We LOVE playing hide and seek! You'd think after playing so many times on the same floor of the house (upstairs) that we'd run out of places to hide... nope. Tonight Bec helped the kids find spots, helping them get in, and out.

Love this game.