What a Beautiful Day!

I drove by this park the other day and wondered why we had not yet taken the kids there. It is less then 10 minutes from where we live. The kids had a great time. There were hikes that were to high for the young kids and I think Jared felt slighted. He kept asking "Can't we just go up there??" Ryan will have to take them sometime. I am to afraid of children falling for it to be fun. You can see all of St. George from the tops of the cliffs and I am sure it would be a perfect picture in the spring time when everything is green again. I will miss this when we move. Joseph thought that he should be able to climb even higher. Ryan thinks this should be encouraged. Joseph now climbs my closet shelves to get to where I keep my money. I found out today that this happens because Ryan believes we should help him be good at what ever he tries. He laughed as he was saying it though.

The kids found all sorts of little caves they could climb in and through.

He is such a handsome boy. He didn't want to stop for pictures, he just wanted to explore.

Always ready with a smile. It is to bad a few seconds later she tripped and hurt her knee. She bounced back fast enough though. Later we even found a house built around one of the caves.

I should have stepped farther back for this picture. The are sitting in a small cavity about 5 feet above ground. It just looked like a little seat so we had to put them there.

This one is my favorite. He found this little whole and stuck his head in. As he entered he would growl a fearsome growl. We were all rolling. with laughter.

Over all I would say today was a great day. We started off cleaning the house. Then we had donuts. We lazed around while Joseph took a nap, then we went for our hike. After that we went and got sodas and more laziness. Joseph went down for a second nap while Emma and Sarah fell asleep in front of the TV. Ryan did some computer stuff while I worked on trying to finish up Joseph's baby book. I decided that I am going to try to finish each of their baby books before Joshua is born. I have started with Jospeh and will work my way back to Jared. I will feel finished when they have pictures to cover the first year and then every birthday for the first 5 years. I think I am going to try to keep one Christmas scrapbook instead of putting pages of each Christmas in everyone's albums. I am so far behind on scrapbooking that I have decided to just catch up on the main events. Good luck on even getting that done.

Joshua's first outfit.
I realized that I managed to have children in opposite seasons again.
Do I do it on purpose so I have to buy new clothes?

I stumbled into Old Navy on one of there huge sale days. 50% of the clearance racks. I love when they do this. I had some store credit so it was even better. I bought 3 shirts for me, a shirt and Hooded sweatshirt for Joseph, 2 shirts and a pair of jeans for Joshua, and a track jacket for Ryan. This made my week. The total was about $35. Shut up! I know. I love deals. Then to top it off I bought the cutest pair of Gap maternity jeans for $11. Retail $68. Who spends $68 dollars on a pair of jeans that will only last you a few months? Ok, If I had the money to spend and they really fit awesome, I would.

I think every women deserves to have one pair of jeans that make her feel like a Diva. The kind you put on and can't help but know your hot. They don't come around often enough. But when they do you want to buy one in every wash they make. For me, they are usually expensive so I settle for one pair. Or, they are on clearance and they don't make that kind any more.

What else have I been thinking about? Yesterday Jared and I went on a date to IHOP, his choice. We sat next to a family of 8. I want six children so I was kind of watching them to see how eating out with six children will be. Their oldest looked about 14 and the youngest was about Joseph's age. Pretty good gap. The father seemed very stressed out and kept telling the two boys, about 9 and 11, to sit and be quite. The three daughters, about 14, 6 and ?, were whinny and just bugging each other. A spill happened, the teenager slurped just to get a reaction, the mom raised her voice higher then she meant to. I just smiled inside.

Don't we all have days like that. Where you just feel like you can't get a handle on life. I remember feeling that way with two kids. I think the more children you have the more unexpected you expect life to be. It becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing has change but because your outlook has. You know children are going to raise there voice to be heard in public settings. You understand that someone is going to pick their nose when everyone is watching. Someone is bound to point at an overweight person and comment on how "fat" they are. They usually wait until your cart at the grocery store is to full to leave to start screaming, the kind that doesn't stop.

When I expect my children to be perfect, it is so hard on me when they are not. When I remember that I am here to teach them how to behave and how to be truly happy, I find the most joy out of being a mom. I correct them with love and understanding and patience. I feel a sense of what our Father in Heaven might feel for us. Understanding all that we have the potential to be he doesn't yell at us when we mess up or make us feel as though we have failed, he loves us all the more. I pray I can be the Mom he wants me to be.