There's a first time for everything

Can you believe that my girls had never been to the movie theater until yesterday? Can you believe that the last movie I saw in the theater was almost a year and a half ago? Can you believe that in the nearly 7 years that Jared and I have been married we have been to the theater three times that I can remember?

If you know me at all, you know that I hate watching movies. HATE! When I was younger and someone would ask me on a date, I was always nervous that they would make me watch a movie. If they told me we would be, it would take everything in me to keep from running the other direction. Fast.

I have never liked it and I still don't enjoy it. I don't like going to the theater, I don't like watching them at home, there is just no pretty way to do it.

I think that Jared wishes he would have known that little fact about me before we got married. We watched a few (I must have been in some serious love!) and I guess I had him fooled. Now he begs to watch something and I just can't bring myself to sit down and watch something. Every few months I will watch something just to make him happy, although I usually end up asleep.

But yesterday was different.

My sister, Heather, told me about the new movie UP. She ranted and raved about it and I decided "what the heck!?" And off we went, along with my other sister, Bethany.

And you know what? The movie was cute and I even laughed a few times. My girls did a pretty good job sitting still, all things considered.

In short- I survived.

So our anniversary will be here in a few weeks and I think I may give Jared one of the greatest gifts ever. A trip to the movie theater. Now that I know it won't kill me.

There's a first time for everything

Can you believe that my girls had never been to the movie theater until yesterday? Can you believe that the last movie I saw in the theater was almost a year and a half ago? Can you believe that in the nearly 7 years that Jared and I have been married we have been to the theater three times that I can remember?

If you know me at all, you know that I hate watching movies. HATE! When I was younger and someone would ask me on a date, I was always nervous that they would make me watch a movie. If they told me we would be, it would take everything in me to keep from running the other direction. Fast.

I have never liked it and I still don't enjoy it. I don't like going to the theater, I don't like watching them at home, there is just no pretty way to do it.

I think that Jared wishes he would have known that little fact about me before we got married. We watched a few (I must have been in some serious love!) and I guess I had him fooled. Now he begs to watch something and I just can't bring myself to sit down and watch something. Every few months I will watch something just to make him happy, although I usually end up asleep.

But yesterday was different.

My sister, Heather, told me about the new movie UP. She ranted and raved about it and I decided "what the heck!?" And off we went, along with my other sister, Bethany.

And you know what? The movie was cute and I even laughed a few times. My girls did a pretty good job sitting still, all things considered.

In short- I survived.

So our anniversary will be here in a few weeks and I think I may give Jared one of the greatest gifts ever. A trip to the movie theater. Now that I know it won't kill me.

Tribute to Grandma

After spending the day with my Grandma recently, I thought a lot about how lucky I am to have her in my life. I've mentioned before how wonderful, even celestial she is, but I don't think you can really understand unless you know her.My Grandma is one of the most wonderful women that I know. She has taught me the beauty of being simple (I try, but I have a long way to go!), what love really means, charity and that happiness does not come from earthly possessions.

The most important thing to my Grandma is her family. She does not have much, but she has her family and that is all she really cares about. She says that they are what bring her joy and happiness and she is so proud of each person From two people, her and my Grandpa, they have a posterity of over 200.

She inspires me in so many ways. She has taught me to find joy in the simple things and laugh about the hard things. You will never see my Grandma without a smile on her face (some may wonder where my Dad gets it, well, there you have it.) and yet she has seen more and been through more trials than most people I know.

My Grandma grew up very poor and yet loved her life. She always did and still does have fun. Everything is fun to her! Even work. My Dad says that she was always singing and I really wonder if that is where I get it. I am usually humming a song anytime I am doing the dishes (which is about 10 times a day since I don't have a dishwasher and I won't let the dishes get behind) or cleaning up around the house.

Recently my Dad told me that when he was young he remembers my Grandma leaving her work to go do something with her sisters. They always did and still do have more fun than should be allowed at their age! He said she would go have fun and then at 4:00 the next morning you would hear her singing a song while doing the dishes. Where are my priorities! I work too much!

Since there are so many grand kids, not everyone got to spend a whole lot of one on one time with her but she always made you feel like you did.

I have a really fun memory of her and I sitting next to the creek at our old Ranch emptying jars of bottled peaches for hours. What could have seemed like a daunting task because of the number of jars there were to empty, was my fun by my Grandma. We laughed about never getting done and laughed each time a bottle would break on us.

I also remember the time that my parents went out of town and my brother, Travis and I got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. It was Christmastime and we drove around in their Lincoln and looked at Christmas lights. I don't remember much but I do remember how special they made us feel.

My Grandma is so special that it is hard to put it into words. This little bit I have written does not do any justice to the kind of person she really is. I am just so thankful to have her and to be able to learn from her. I think that if my Grandma was to have her own set of B's, this is what they would be:

Be Simple
Be Fun
Be Charitable
Be Loving
Be Happy
Be True

She is truly each one of those, and more.

Tribute to Grandma

After spending the day with my Grandma recently, I thought a lot about how lucky I am to have her in my life. I've mentioned before how wonderful, even celestial she is, but I don't think you can really understand unless you know her.My Grandma is one of the most wonderful women that I know. She has taught me the beauty of being simple (I try, but I have a long way to go!), what love really means, charity and that happiness does not come from earthly possessions.

The most important thing to my Grandma is her family. She does not have much, but she has her family and that is all she really cares about. She says that they are what bring her joy and happiness and she is so proud of each person From two people, her and my Grandpa, they have a posterity of over 200.

She inspires me in so many ways. She has taught me to find joy in the simple things and laugh about the hard things. You will never see my Grandma without a smile on her face (some may wonder where my Dad gets it, well, there you have it.) and yet she has seen more and been through more trials than most people I know.

My Grandma grew up very poor and yet loved her life. She always did and still does have fun. Everything is fun to her! Even work. My Dad says that she was always singing and I really wonder if that is where I get it. I am usually humming a song anytime I am doing the dishes (which is about 10 times a day since I don't have a dishwasher and I won't let the dishes get behind) or cleaning up around the house.

Recently my Dad told me that when he was young he remembers my Grandma leaving her work to go do something with her sisters. They always did and still do have more fun than should be allowed at their age! He said she would go have fun and then at 4:00 the next morning you would hear her singing a song while doing the dishes. Where are my priorities! I work too much!

Since there are so many grand kids, not everyone got to spend a whole lot of one on one time with her but she always made you feel like you did.

I have a really fun memory of her and I sitting next to the creek at our old Ranch emptying jars of bottled peaches for hours. What could have seemed like a daunting task because of the number of jars there were to empty, was my fun by my Grandma. We laughed about never getting done and laughed each time a bottle would break on us.

I also remember the time that my parents went out of town and my brother, Travis and I got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. It was Christmastime and we drove around in their Lincoln and looked at Christmas lights. I don't remember much but I do remember how special they made us feel.

My Grandma is so special that it is hard to put it into words. This little bit I have written does not do any justice to the kind of person she really is. I am just so thankful to have her and to be able to learn from her. I think that if my Grandma was to have her own set of B's, this is what they would be:

Be Simple
Be Fun
Be Charitable
Be Loving
Be Happy
Be True

She is truly each one of those, and more.

Saturday...really fast

Everything about Saturday was fast. My sister and I made a quick trip to the Valley for my little brother, Taylor's high school graduation. We left about 6:30 am, hurried down, spent a little time with family, hurried over to ASU for the massive graduation, didn't even wait for him to come out but hurried home, quickly ate some dinner and were back on the road by 5:30.

Now let me slow it down. Bethany and I left our kids with our husbands for the day in order to be with our brother for his graduation. Would you believe that that was the first time I have ever left my girls for more than a few hours. (I did leave Kimber when we went to Disneyland, but we still had Addie.) It took me a few hours to get used to the silence and to stop looking over my shoulder to check on them, but I quickly got used to it and it was a nice to have a little time to do my own thing.

There were a TON of kids graduating (I have heard numbers between 700-1000) so it was held at ASU. See that blur? There he is accepting his diploma.

On the way home we saw this. It cracked us up. What people will do.

Saturday...really fast

Everything about Saturday was fast. My sister and I made a quick trip to the Valley for my little brother, Taylor's high school graduation. We left about 6:30 am, hurried down, spent a little time with family, hurried over to ASU for the massive graduation, didn't even wait for him to come out but hurried home, quickly ate some dinner and were back on the road by 5:30.

Now let me slow it down. Bethany and I left our kids with our husbands for the day in order to be with our brother for his graduation. Would you believe that that was the first time I have ever left my girls for more than a few hours. (I did leave Kimber when we went to Disneyland, but we still had Addie.) It took me a few hours to get used to the silence and to stop looking over my shoulder to check on them, but I quickly got used to it and it was a nice to have a little time to do my own thing.

There were a TON of kids graduating (I have heard numbers between 700-1000) so it was held at ASU. See that blur? There he is accepting his diploma.

On the way home we saw this. It cracked us up. What people will do.

How could I not love this child?