40 years old

 Hi guys,

So, another birthday has come and gone and I turned 40 years old. 40. That is basically middle age! I'm processing what this means. I don't feel different than I did when I was 30, although I do feel different than when I was 20. Well that's not completely true. At 30 I didn't have gray hairs, some wrinkles, or extra weight around my middle. Those things are telling me that I am 40 for sure. But my mind and my energy level and my outlook on life feels the same. 

I asked Lulu if she thought 40 seemed old. She said, "It's not that old Mom," and I thought, that's because it ISN'T that old for a Mom. I've always been old to her, ha ha. I remember when my Mom turned 40 it didn't seem like she was really old. I was already in high school and growing up myself so it was only right for her to be a normal Mom age. It has been interesting to grow up and look back at the years when my Mom was this age. She must have felt like I do now; some days feeling like you're still a young mom figuring it out as you go and other days feeling like you're a seasoned pro. My mom was young when she raised her family in foreign countries! I had complete faith in her ability to keep us safe, the same way my kids must think about me. Our home is a haven, a place to feel safe and loved and to feel the Spirit. It's a place to plan for our next adventure and to reminisce on the funny and amazing things that we've already been through! It's a place to try new things and learn to be brave. 

It's also kind of strange to turn 40 because it honestly doesn't feel like THAT long ago that Dad and I got married. I guess what this means is that life is good and comfortable, causing the days to quietly blend into one another. That makes me happy to realize that, but I also don't want to lose any opportunities that are here right now!  I only have a few years left with you guys! Have I done my best to teach you what is most important? Have I done the experiences with you that will enrich your life and bring you happy memories? I try to be intentional in my parenting, but there's always room for improvement. What's left for Lulu to learn before she's on her own in 4 years? It's time to write it down and get serious about it! A few things to start my list 1- budget and balance money, 2- how to make deposits and withdrawals, 3- how to apply for a job, 4 -manage your time and classes by yourself,  5-cook meals completely on your own, 6-gain your own testimony. That's a pretty good list, right? 

My birthday was on a Sunday and I just wanted to eat yummy food and explore somewhere new with you guys. Check and check! I also got some fun gifts that Dad was proud of. He knows that I like surprises and he did a good job.

Dad made me smoked pork and we had pie for dessert. 

And to explore we went out in West Farmington, where it's desolate and quiet and pretty empty:

Thanks for wanting to do things with me and for showing me love all the time. I am a lucky lady.

Love,

Mom

Life Lately= February 2021

Hi guys,

Here are the pics from my phone from February. 

Gramma and Grandpa came up to take Lulu to lunch and when Grandpa came back to visit, the boys crawled all over him. Grandpa kept saying "personal space," but secretly his smile tells me that he likes that you want to play with him. You just gotta be careful not to hurt poor Grandpa!:

Girls night out to the mall with our friends:

Superbowl party!:

We had a lot of yummy food:

Birthday check ups together:

Lulu is reading a book to TJ. I like to see you guys bonding:

A couldn't wait to write out his Valentine's Day treats. Finally a few days before the class party I let him get them all ready:

Teacher Valentine's:

2 boys made Valentine holders to take to school:

One Saturday we had to drive up to Grammie's house to pick up Dad (who had driven her home after another arm surgery) and we stopped by Willard on the way up. It was cold and really wet, but we decided to see the alpacas for their free farm day. It turned out to be really fun. 

Alpacas are smaller than llamas and they were just so cute:

A few did spit on us, or mostly on Hammer, when we didn't have food. Then we did a scavenger hunt and actually had alpaca food for them, and they still sometimes spit if they felt that they weren't getting their share of the treats. Even with the spitting we loved it and would go back on another free day. Plus it's right by our cousins' house:

Look at that wet guy. It was raining hard, which changed to snow while we were there:

Valentine's Day food:

Finally the snow stuck and our bus still came pretty much on time. You can see that the roads were still fine:

A drew this cute picture while watching the church's Friend to Friend fireside:

And that's the end! We stayed healthy and happy!

Love,

Mom

February's Field Trips

 Fun winter field trips! 

The first Friday we just walked down to our neighborhood park to do a little sledding. You guys were excited and didn't wait until it stopped snowing. I thought you should have waited until it snowed even more and had stopped, but it turned out to be a good thing you went when you did because it was just warm enough that the snow quickly melted after this, instead of accumulating more.

Week 2. A scavenger hunt in the library on a cold rainy/snowy day. I made up 2 lists of things to find in the library and divided you into two teams:

Then we met back here and looked at everything you had collected. There were some interesting and random books and movies! We chose a few to check out for our long weekend.

Then we headed to the dollar store, your favorite part of the activity I'd have to say. I gave you each a dollar and let you decide too if you wanted to spend your own money. Lulu bought some colorful pens, Hammer bought candy, TJ bought a treat for Pluto and one for himself, and A bought a dart gun and a train that he painted:

Week 3: 

We headed over to Farmington Bay to look for bald eagles. We didn't see any, but we did see lots of other wildlife and had lots of fun exploring. I sure got some pretty pictures out there.

Here are some heron nests:

And here is a big hawk that flew over and landed on this pole near us. We were able to watch him for a while through our binoculars and through the ones outside the Wildlife Center:

I packed some hot chocolate for you to bring along too:

View through the binocular:

Then we walked a nature trail to a little pond. Your favorite part was playing with ice that you could reach through the railing:

Next, driving along Dike Road and stopping whenever we wanted to explore:

Remember these fish that were swimming up the river? Look closely and you can see them:

All of those pelicans were trying to eat the fish swimming up the creek. Is that why they were swimming away the way they were? Who knows. But there were a ton of pelicans and seagulls and other hawks right here by the fish:

And lastly a walk out to this bridge:

So, we were kind of bummed we didn't see any bald eagles, but man was it a beautiful place in the winter. It was worth our time and the bumpy dirt road and the muddy shoes. Here are a few more of my pics from our field trip:

Week 4: Lulu and A checked out the Layton history museum. This old door was pretty cool looking. We liked the color and the design. It's from some old air force housing that used to be in that location many years ago:

A found an old telegraph machine, which interests him because one was used on the Titanic to send out the distress calls:

And old store:

Old toys. We played I Spy with the toys in here:

Cool old car and clothes:

And outside is this old cabin, the oldest standing house in Davis County:

Even though it was cold, A wanted to play on the toys. We spent a few minutes playing and running around:

Then off to use my coupon for some frozen yogurt:

Where were TJ and Hammer for all of this? Well, they were ice fishing with Dad and the deacons. It was a great time, even though it was super cold. 

Proud TJ with his catch:

It started to snow when it was time to leave:

I'm glad that you were both able to go and that you had a fun time.

So that's it for this month! I'm loving having Fridays be homeschool so that we can do these fun things after you've finished your schoolwork. Finishing the work is sometimes like pulling teeth, but then we go out and do something awesome and it's worth the effort. 

Love you my adventurers, 

Mom