A birthday Note to Kaden

Dear Kaden,
Today you turned 5 years old. I can't believe you are so grown up! You are the sweetest little boy I know. Your smile and sparkle in your eyes makes me the happiest mom in the world.
This year you LOVE many things that are all "BOY". You love rockets more than anything else. This past year you have learned how to build model rockets with your daddy and that is your FAVORITE past time. You enjoy building them, but you enjoy launching them even more. You know eery engine and which one to use for each rocket. You are still a little afraid of the noise when they blast off, so your dad always plugs your ears while you count down.
You are in your last year of preschool and are learning so much. You are a hero to your little sister Avery. She wants to do everything you do. Even though she is a "princess" in a lot of ways, she'd rather be shooting guns and playing swords and rockets with you. She looks up to you so much and you are a great example to her. I hope you will always be great friends. You also love spending time with baby Brighton. You are my BEST helper with him! You love to crawl in his crib and try to make him laugh when you are suppose to be asleep in bed. I'm sure this is only the beginning of many late nights having fun with your brother. Little Brighton laughs for you more than anyone else in the family.
As for me, I am so happy to be your mom. You brighten my day and help me with so much. I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming and sometimes find it hard to believe that my little baby Kaden that we waited so long to get to us is now 5 years old. You have the most special, tender personality of anyone I know. You always make people feel happy because of your kindness and your ability to talk with others. You are kind and loving, and I especially love that you still want to sit and cuddle on the couch with me every once in a while.
Your daddy also loves you so much. You get to do a lot of fun things with him all the time. You love to have "boys only" adventures where there are "No Girls Allowed!". You are so blessed to have a father who spends so much time with you. I hope you become just like him when you grow up.
You are the greatest little dude I know! Happy Birthday Kade!!!

First Day of Preschool

Kaden started preschool today. He gets to go with his cousin so it makes it even better. When we got into his class, he said to his teacher, "Hey Miss LaDawn.. I haven't seen you in a long time". I'm sure he's going to have a great year, he couldn't wait for school to start. Now if I could only bottle that and save it for when he's going into 8th grade and not excited anymore!

Rocket Party

While I was at girls camp, my dad had a "rocket party" for all the grandkids over the age of 4. Kaden (a little obsessed with rockets right now) was in charge of "teaching" everyone how to launch a rocket. They had a wonderful night full of rockets, awards, treats and prizes!!
I am so grateful to have such a great family who makes special time to participate in my kids interests. Brian's parents do this all the time as well. I am very blessed.

Girls Camp - Bluffdale Idols.. Rockstars for Truth

A day and a half after our St. George trip, off I was to Girls Camp... (whew!! What a busy month!).
Girls camp, as always was awesome!! We had an amazing time at the Heber Valley Camp that is designed for LDS young women in mind. We slept in cabins, had running water, refrigerators, running water, showers, and a covered pavillion... ya... I know, it was rough!, but SO MUCH FUN!!
As I've been thinking about girls camp, I thought it would be entertaining to point out why girls camp is SO MUCH COOLER than scout camp.

#1- We have a camp theme! (This year we based our camp on American Idol- each group of girls were broken up into different music genre's.)

#2- We do crafts... ok.. usually, I think this is a little cheesy, but hey, it's part of girls camp. We made "Rock Stars" (people out of rocks) but I spiced things up a little bit and made a rock princess and a "rock"et for my kids.

#3- Skit night... (Always a highlight) Instead of skits this year, we put on our own "Bluffdale Idol" night. We even had our own Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell. They did their parts perfectly! The girls and leaders needed to re-write a song from their given genre and sing it at our Bluffdale Idol competition.
This was a highlight of the whole camp. My stomach was sore from laughing so hard.

#4- No peeing in the fire

#5- Girls stay up late, paint nails, braid eachothers hair and sleep as many as they can in a twin size bunk just for the fun of it!

#6- Gotta have the secret sister gifts!! This year the leaders were getting mysterious "gifts" on our beds. When we opened them, they were random feminine hygene products. We kept blaming a couple of the "wilder" leaders, but to no avail.. they'd never give in. Later we found out that one of the girls had given us the gifts. It was pretty funny.

#7- Faith promoting hikes and other experiences-
We went on an incredible hike (which I'll share in a later post)

#8- Awesome food... So this camp was a little different than most. The food was great and healthy as well. We snacked on chocolate of course, but we also had tortilla's and hummas, fruit, veggies, and all sorts of hidden healthy foods in all our meals.

#9- The leaders are just as goofy as the kids (who knows... maybe scout camp is the same on this one)

#10- Girls can't go to girls camp without decorating their sleeping quarters and their tables for dinner time. It's always very festive.

Here are just a few of the fun things that took place. It was a great week.

St. George

A few days after we got home from Bear Lake, we dropped the kids off at Grandma's house and headed down for a much anticipated weekend with my family. The best part... NO KIDS ALLOWED!! For Christmas last year, my parents gave us a "Christmas in July". They got all 6 of us kids, our spouses and themselves a weekend away to St. George including tickets to Tuachan to see Les Miserables.. (Incredible production by the way), we chilled at the Marriott for three days and had fun shopping, eating, going to a movie, golfing, and hanging by the pool. It was such a fun weekend. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
I hope this becomes a yearly tradition.

A Life Lesson on Judging Others

An interesting thing happened yesterday while I was at the grocery store with my kids. Avery wanted to go on the little rides outside the front of the building, so we headed over there for a quick "horsee" ride. I rummaged through my wallet to find the 50 cents it required and found I only had a quarter. As I was telling my kids that we'd have to ride it after our grocery shopping was done so I could get some change, a man came up to me and asked how much the ride was. I told him it was a 50 cents and he bent down into his backpack, fished around for a minute as gave me 4 quarters and exclaimed, "Good for two rides!".
I thanked him and tried to give him the cash I had, but he wouldn't take it. I sat there in awe of my own "judgemental attitude" I could have had toward this man. He was a man in his 60's I suppose with several earrings in his ear, a dirty old tank top, several gold chains, teeth missing and a prosthetic leg. He carried around a dirty backpack. Upon first glance, I would "assume" he would be coming up to me to ask for money, but instead, he wanted to make a little kids day by letting them go on a silly ride.
I used his quarter and the ride started. The kids were giggling, the man was saying how he loves kids and he doesn't ever get to do things like this for anyone. I was so touched by his kindness. As I tried to give him money, he acted as if it was an insult, because all he wanted to do was do a good deed. As I stood there and watched my kids, the man was about to leave and he bent down again in his backpack and handed me 8 more quarters! He said, "Let your kids have a good time" and he walked off. I watched this man walk away and I had a sense of gratitude for the goodness in people. I tend to dwell on all the evil in the world a lot of times and forget that there are still SO MANY good people here as well. So, I say to myself as the hymn goes, "Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad, or made someone feel glad, if not, I have failed indeed!". So the next time I have the opportunity to do a good deed, I need to make sure I do it. Don't be afraid to help a stranger or someone in need. It' amazing what a little act of kindness can do to your soul.

Tradition

There is one thing I have learned from being a "Larsen" for the past several years. They do many things in the name of "TRADITION". The 24th of July holiday is no different. For the past 30+ years they have been going to Bear Lake as a family. It's one of Brian's favorite summer memories, and I'm sure it's going to become one of our own kids favorite memories with their grandparents.
Over the past 15 years or so, I too have been apart of this "TRADITION". Nothing much changes. Ever since I've been going with them, we camp in the same place and if possible.. the exact same camp site, we eat the same meals, we play on the same beach, grandpa makes the same sand castles with the grandkids and grandma sits in the same spot cuddling the little babies under the canopy. The adults play the same games in the water, the kids get the same dirt in their diapers. We go to the same shake joint and we order the same flavors. Nothing much changes from year to year. Maybe a few extra kids running around, but for the most part, it remains the same because it's... "TRADITION".
As I thought about this as we were here this year, it made me appreciate Brian's parents for their ability to keep "TRADITION" alive. I am one who likes change and always seems to want to do something different, but I discovered something within myself this trip... there is a sense of comfort in things that are the "SAME". Our very "same" Bear Lake trip doesn't ever result in un- necessary stresses that planning and going on vacation sometimes brings. There is nothing to be expected, except what we've always done. There are no rules, no plans... just a set of imaginary guidelines of years past that lead us to our next activity.
I have come to love this "TRADITION" and it's "SAME-NESS". I have come to love and appreciate my in-laws for who they are and how they work to bring their family together. For them.. it is the "SAME-NESS" that works. "TRADITION" is everything. I'm sure my kids will look back on these trips and have the exact same memories as their dad had when he was a kid. How cool is that? So THANK YOU, Larsens...for giving us wonderful memories.

Lake Powell Bliss

I think of all the places I've been in my life, and my all time FAVORITE place in all the world is Lake Powell. I'm sure part of it is the nostalgia of my growing up years, but it's mostly just the pure beauty of the place. I can't think of a better place for me to "become one with nature" than boating down small canyons and looking up at the monstrous cliffs surrounding me. In years past, it was a time when I'd sit in the nose of the boat, soaking in the sun for a killer tan, listening to the "Nylons" or "Deep Breakfast".. the typical Lake Powell Canyon tunes and bask in the beauty. Today.. it's not much different, but instead of getting the killer tan, I'm content with my kids sitting on my lap as we look up at the beauty surrounding us. I didn't get the great tan of yester- year... but I DID get hours on end of intimate, priceless moments with my children cuddled around their mom in pure bliss. All of this added to the majesty of this remarkable place. The time with family, the beauty surrounding us, the water, clear as glass and the rum of the boat as it speeds out of a canyon at dusk all together makes Lake Powell my FAVORITE place on earth.
Growing up I wanted to work down at the marina store JUST so I could spend the summer on the lake. I never did that. I wish I had. As I'm taking a look down memory lane, it used to be that all I cared about was getting that killer tan and spending as much time as I could improving my form on the ski. I would spend every moment I could out on the water jumping the wakes, making big sprays, and going fast. I'd get frustrated when I wasn't doing as well as I wanted to and as my family still teases me.. would "smack" the water as if it was the waters fault.
I haven't done much skiing for the past few years and it disappoints me a little bit that I've allowed myself to give up something that I enjoy doing more than any other sport. But I do find that I enjoy just the sheer joy of being on the boat with the wind blowing in my hair and watching my kids enjoy something that I love to do. It's pretty cool.
In saying that, I'm not about to say I'm never going to ski again. I've made a personal goal. By next year's Lake Powell trip, I'm going to be much more fit. I'm going to get out and ski my heart out and let my kids (and my brothers) see that I can still rip it out there on the water!
Hope you enjoy some of our Lake Powell Adventures!

Serious Questions from your 4 year Old

Kaden and I were in the car last night and he started talking about being together forever. He started asking me a lot of questions that blew me away that a 4 year old would ask. I think it all stemmed back to this morning when we woke up to find one of our little goldfish down at the bottom of the tank. (good bye little goldfish)
Don't feel too bad for my kids. They didn't seem to mind so much. Avery called Brian and said, "Shisshee die, I go store, more shisshee". Kaden didn't mind so much either, but I think it did spark a conversation later in the day.
So we are driving and Kaden asks, "Mom, when are we going to Heaven?". I proceeded to tell him that we don't know when it's our time to die. He then started asking a series of questions, that for a mom... got really hard to answer. Some of his questions were these:
"Mom, when are we going to heaven?"
"I DON'T KNOW, BUD, WE ALL DIE AT DIFFERENT TIMES"
"But how old are you when you die?"
"Will we go to heaven at the same time"
"PROBABLY NOT KADE, IF MOMMY GOES TO HEAVEN FIRST, THEN YOU WILL WOULD COME TO HEAVEN LATER"
"Who would watch me?" (me thinking he's in Heaven, I said "Heavenly Father would take care of you"
"No, mom, if you were in heaven and Daddy had to go to work, would would be here with me? (Ahhh, OK, tears start swelling at this point and getting a little nervous why we are talking about this... he better not have kid intuition or something)
"WELL, BUD, THERE WOULD BE LOTS OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD TAKE CARE OF YOU. YOUR GRANDPARENTS, YOUR AUNTS & UNCLES, EVEN MOMMIES FRIENDS WOULD WATCH YOU"
"When would you come back?"
" I WOULDN'T COME BACK. I'D WAIT UP IN HEAVEN UNTIL YOU GOT THERE"
"Will we all be together?"
"WE SURE WILL BUDDY." (Then I was able to talk about the temple and how families are forever... you know.. take advantage of the teaching moment and all)

It was a touching conversation with your son. One's that depth far exceeded my expectations coming from a little 4 year old. A mix of emotions flooded my mind as I reflected back on the conversation I had just been apart of. My little guy is growing up so quickly. He is capable of understanding things that are so hard for us as adults to even talk about. I am so grateful I had the answers for him. I feel incredibly blessed to KNOW that my family WILL be together after we all die. That this earth life isn't the end. It would have broken my heart if I had to tell him something different. It was a small testimony builder to me to be able to explain to my son a simple truth the gospel brings us. I hope I have more of these tender, thoughtful moments as my kids grow up.

Summer Harvest

I've never been much of a gardener. When we lived in Arizona we bought a goofy little cactus to fell more like Arizionians.. and well... I killed it. Ya.. I killed a freikin cactus. Since then, I have not been allowed to have plants. Last year I thought I'd give it another chance with a hanging basket in our front yard.... well, it died too. I'm just no good taking care of them. I've got way too many other things in my life to worry about keeping a plant alive.
Brian on the other hand LOVES gardening. He's pretty darn good at it as well. He enjoys working outside which I despise. Luckily, he has taken full responsibility of our yard and I don't have to worry about it. (Don't look at it at this very moment... it's been a little neglected due to crazy schedules) I think my distaste for yardwork stems back from the daily yard work chores I had as a kid. Grantid.. my mom worked harder than all the kids combined, but I still hated it.
So, thanks to my hubby, I get to reap the benefits of fresh grown peas, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, peppers, and hopefully some apples soon. It's pretty cool to go out into your garden and pick some veggies for your dinner.

Kaden the Ring Bearer

We had a blast this weekend. It was jam packed with fun! First and most important, it was my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom. I love you!
On Saturday, Kaden participated in my good friend Idaliz's daughters wedding. Kaden was the cutest little ring bearer you've ever seen! Not only did he do a great job, he LOVED every second of it! He was great at posing for the camera, holding the rings, and just looking plain old cute! The reception was a blast. It was a great Puerto Rican wedding reception. Great food, a ton of dancing, lots of fun for hours. Kaden was a riot the whole night. He ran around like he was the reason for the party. He flirted and talked to everyone. He danced almost every song and even went up to my friend Jackie while we were talking and said, "Will you dance with me?" What???? a four year old asking someone to dance? Can it get any cuter? He was so much fun to watch. Of all his dancing adventures, my favorite was when he and Avery started to dance together. It always ended up in wrestling on the grass, but it was still adorable.
I'm so excited for Linda and Jose. I hope they are enjoying their honeymoon. Linda and her family have been through a lot this year and it was really great to see them have a good time.

Is there any thing better than S'mores and Hot Dogs??

In answer to that question, I would have to say.. on a taste stand point... Ya... just about EVERYTHING! I'm not a terrible fan of either of those summer staples. But if you look at those food items as an excuse to sieze the moment and spend time with your family... ya just can't beat the taste.
Brian was off yesterday and we decided to ditch our everyday lives and take the kids up to the mountains for dinner. This is about our favorite place to be in the summer. We are mountain people. We try and take any opportunity to get up there and yesterday just happened to work out for us. We stopped and got some dogs and the ever popular treat involving chocolate, graham crackers and a toasted marshmallow. The next 2 hours were pure bliss. Avery and Kaden excited to go "rock climbing" on the boulders near our table, Brighton kicking his feet because he was so happy to be outside, Brian building a fire and taking the kids to find "caves" and me being the family photographer trying to capture the moment as I think about how great life is. These precious "adventures" are what life is all about for me. Life shouldn't be about filling up our lives second by second with places to go, things to do... we need to take time to just stop and enjoy the moment. So next time you feel stressed... get in your car, head east and roast a hot dog, a marshmallow and enjoy watching your kids love life. They can teach you alot if you just sit back and watch.

I vacuumed today

I used to tease my mom because she vacuums her house JUST to have the nice lines in the carpet the vacuum leaves. You can tell she is now an empty nester... I'm lucky to get the vacuum out to get the Cheerios off the carpet! Well, I will no longer tease her for this because I have CRAVED a nice vacuumed clean home for the past week and it has not been in the cards for me this week. Vacumming, may not seem like such a difficult task, but I tell you.. it's been one of those weeks. Since last Monday.. (yes a week ago) I have had the lofty goal of staying home, cleaning my house, doing laundry, paying bills, you know... typical mom stuff. Uhhh, ya... never happened. Every day this past week has been packed full of adventures. From swimming pools to hospitals (not related incidents by the way), we have been doing about everything BUT cleaning my house.
Weeks like this make for happy (and tired) children, but it also leads to frustrated and stressed mom. I don't know if any of you get this way, but are you more stressed when your house is a mess? Oh my gosh! I could not get caught up this week. It's been nuts! If I could just have a few hours alone to get my house in order, I may get back to some sort of normalcy. So, I began while the kids were napping. I didn't have much time so I turned on some tunes, gave myself a time limit and there I went. First to the bathrooms, then separate the laundry, start the laundry, clean the kitchen, pick up all sorts of junk off the floors that I hadn't gotten to in a week, dusted.... (OK.. didn't really dust, but realized I needed to-- that happened with the ironing as well!). Fed the fish, swept the floor, thought about mopping the floor, but that's going to have to wait, de-cluttered my computer area. clean my room, think about going to the play room (yep.. that's going to have to wait as well) then looked at the clock and it was almost time for the kids to wake up. I figured I had just enough time to do what I'd been looking forward to doing for a week... Putting deodorizer on the carpet and turning on the good ol Kirby. Ahhh the sound of the motor running,the smell of the deodorizer, the lines in the carpet (they are pretty cool I must say. Is this the first clue that I'm becoming my mother?) It was wonderful! I finished, put the vacuum away, sat down to enjoy the moment, JUST in time for the kids to wake up and mess it all up again. Ahhhh that 5 minutes was heaven!!
So to any of you who are able to keep a clean house, I envy you, I want to be you and I hate you! :)

Introducing Tidbits

I decided to start a new blog dedicated to all the funny stuff my kids say. I've only got a couple posts up right now because it's late and I'm tired, but check it out. If you want to join in the fun, just let me know! You can either put your email and name here, or just your name if you don't want your email out there for all to see. If I know you, I've probably got your email anyway!
Hope you enjoy Tidbits!

Happy Fathers Day

I am very lucky to have three great fathers in my life. The first of course is my own dad. He is the greatest man. Most of my memories in life stem from something he has taught me. I truly believe that most of who I am is because of him. I wish I had all his qualities, but I hope to gain a few of them. If there were ever a more Christlike, service oriented, kind, generous, humble man... it would be my dad. He never complains, never talks about himself, never puts others down. He makes everyone around him feel loved and important. I love you so much dad. Thank you for being there for me, for teaching me kindness, service, and to have fun. Now that summer is finally headed our way, I'm so excited to spend most Saturdays on the boat with you. That is what family time is all about for me. I'm so glad we've been able to share that for so many years. I love you!!

I'm also lucky to have a great father in law. Brian's dad set such a good example for Brian to always find time to enjoy life and nature. He makes sure that he spends time with his sons even in adulthood. I know that Brian is the type of father he is because of the way he was raised as a child. John is kind, loving, and is there when you need him. I am so blessed to be in your family. Happy Fathers Day!!

And last but surely not least... my own husband. Wow... I tear up thinking about how blessed I am to have you as my partner, best friend and father to our kids. You too remind me that life is to be enjoyed as much as it is to "get things done". You are so patient and giving of your time. I am amazed at the amount of time you spend with our kids and enjoy doing so. They look up to you as their hero... and in my eyes.. you are their hero and mine. Thank you for becoming the man you are today. Thank you for your love for me, and Thank you for being the dad you are to our kids. I love you so much.

3 2 1 Blast those devils away!!!

Here's a beautiful picture of the size the 3 kidney stones that were in me. It may not look like much, but this guy needs to go through a space that is about the width of a craft wire. It's been a long month, but I think I'm finally Kidney Stone free! I started having kidney pain in January about a week before Brighton was born. I've had stones before, so I knew what was happening... believe me.. if any of you have had stones before, they HURT! I would rather give birth.. literally.
Anyway, the pain would come and go until a couple months ago and the pain was coming more than going. After several tests, they found 3 large kidney stones. One already moving down (the culprit that was really hurting) and two more buggers in my kidney's that were too big to pass without surgery.
So.. about 5 weeks ago I went into surgery. The doctor blasted the two in my kidneys so they turned into small pieces and put a stint in me which is a covered wire that is supposed to open up the ureter (the space your pee goes through... sorry for the graphic detail) so the stones could pass through without pain. He also took the one out of the ureter with a scope. Well, it sounds like all was going well, but when I went back for my two week check up, they found out that the stones didn't break up the way they liked. I needed to keep the stint in another 3 weeks and go into surgery again. Can I tell you how bad that dumb stint hurt??? Somedays I could barely walk. It was a wire poking at me in all sorts of places. YUCK! I was so sad I had to go back into surgery, but I hoped this time it would work.
So, this past Tuesday, I went back in. To my delight, they took the stent out (finally) and re-blasted the stones in my kidneys. The past few days I've been passing miniature stones like crazy so I hope it actually worked this time! I'm so appreciative of all the people who have helped with my kids, brought me dinner, and just tried to cheer me up. Thank you everyone! I've got the best friends and family ever!

Blog Stalkers

I was reading an email from my friend the other day and she told me she was a blog stalker. So.... it gave me an idea. This post is dedicated to all the blog stalkers out there reading this. I am curious to see who you are, what's going on in your life and why you never post anything. The best part about blogging is reading other people's responses ya know!

So.... If you read this post, make a comment... even if it's just your name. I think this will be fun.

Stalkers and regulars... enjoy my blog but stop in and say hi every once in a while.

The Lemonade Stand

In the eyes of a child, summers are full of fun, sun, water, bike rides, later bed times and.... LEMONADE STANDS!
Kaden participated in his very first business venture yesterday afternoon as he and our neighbor kids decided to have a lemonade stand. Everyday I am a little overwhelmed at the speed that he is growing up.
So here is how the scene played:
Kade comes running in asking me if we had any cups and lemonade because they were going to have a lemonade stand. I got him some cups and then started making the punch as he watched with excited anticipation. I couldn't get the water in the jug fast enough I guess because he told me he was going to run out and tell his friend that it was almost done!
I went out to help him get the punch on the stand and the other kids were bringing out some chairs. Kaden needed his own chair so he goes in his room and picks up his little chair. As we are going back to the sidewalk, he yells, "I'm almost there guys, don't start without me!" (Oh my gosh! How cute is he? I didn't have the heart to tell him he probably would be sitting there for the next hour or two with a full jug of punch and no takers)
So we got him and the other two kids situated and I went back in the house. Soon Kaden came running in the house to tell me they were waiting for "customers". WHAT??? Do you realize how cute it is to hear a 4 year old say customers? I decided to go out and give them some business. You can never get too much to drink on a summer day you know! As I went out, I realized that their little Lemonade Stand was on prime business property. We are right at the bottom of an area in our neighborhood that has a lot of construction. So many people came and stopped to buy a glass of punch or they just donated $1.00 to the cause. I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of others. It made their day to have people stop. They even had the garbage man stop in for a glass! I would normally just drive past without another glance, but to see the excitement on these little guys faces to sell their little glasses of punch is worth the 10 seconds of my time to make some other kids day when I happen to come across a lemonade stand.
Needless to say, they went through a whole gallon of punch in an hour or so. They made a good 5 bucks at least. And they had so much fun. So maybe this summer on a day where it's hot and you are out for a stroll... support your local small business beverage owners... the drinks may be a little watery, the quality not the best, the portion size smaller than you are used to and the prices pretty high.. but it's worth every penny to see the exictement of those little guys selling their product!

Memorial Day

Since Memorial Day is usually reserved for the first boating trip of the season (didn't happen this year) We visit graves on Sunday. This year we went to visit my grandpa's grave and Brian's grandparents grave. It's a neat thing for us to do each year mostly because it gives us a chance to talk to our kids about the neat people that they were. I was advised once that I should teach my children of my parents and grandparents because they will be a great influence in their lives. I hope that is true because my grandparents have played a HUGE part in my life. I am blessed to still have 3 of my four grandparents alive, but it's always a treasure to stop and look back on the awesome example my Grandpa Kieth was and still is after his death.
I never got to know Brian's grandparents, but I sure wish I could have. It's fun to listen to what he remembers about them and the things they went through in their lives.
I'm really grateful that we have families and have the opportunity to carry on their lives through stories and memories.

What do you say when something is in between ALOT and A LITTLE BIT??

Kaden made up a new work today that was so cute.
We've been having a little trouble lately with him paying attention in preschool so he needs to give me an update on how he did when I pick him up.
Today I asked him how he did in preschool. Here's our conversation:
Turia: "Kaden, how were in in preschool today?"
Kaden: "mom.. I kindof don't remember" (ya right!)
Turia: "Did you have to get moved alot or just a little bit?"
Kaden: (after thinking for a second).... "Just "ALOT-A-BIT"

So there you have it... if something is in-between "alot" and "a little bit" all you have to say is "ALOT- A- BIT".