This is my kids favorite climbing tree. It is in Grandma & Grandpa's front yard. It was a beautiful maple tree until it got a disease and started dying limb by limb.

Levi, Adam, Ben, Nathan and Kinsey - the last climb in the maple tree.

Grandma & Grandpa are getting their house ready to sale, so they can move with us into the new house we designed together. The tree had to go.

Levi decided he deserved a little rest.

After lots of hard work, cutting and digging and cutting and digging some more, only a little swearing, and alot more digging and cutting, using the truck and a chain, the stump finally came out.

Kinsey: Mom, I think I want to be a tomboy.

Me: Well, you can be anything you want to be.

Kinsey: Good. I'll be a tomboy today. (Runs upstairs, takes a shower, comes back downstairs wearing a pink skirt, pink shirt, pink sandles, and pink clips in her hair)

Me: I thought you were going to be a tomboy today...

Kinsey: I was, but I just like too many girly things.

I just love having a girly-girl.

Expressing Appreciation

So, last night I told my husband, "I don't think you appreciate me as much as you should." To which he responded, "You're right, I don't, but I do really appreciate you." To which I then had to respond, "Well, I don't express my appreciation for you, like I should either." And that was that. No tears, no silent treatment, no tantrums...I guess we have now officially been married a long time.

Life is full of questions...

Will my son graduate? Will we get to build our house? Where is the remote? Is that MY phone ringing? Why doesn't anyone answer their phone? What is THAT? Why do they have late start days? Why are there four more days of school AFTER Memorial Day? Do they even DO anything in those four days? Have you brushed your teeth? Is there gas in the car? When will you be home? You're going where? with whom? doing what? who are their parents? Why doesn't someone invent laundry that does itself? Have you checked on mom and dad? Is it REALLY that late?

Put pizza business up for sale, Sold pizza business, Got pizza business back, Working pizza business, Pizza business for sale...again, trying to start rebuilding the house.

I know everyone says this but, "Where does the time go?" So much has happened since I decided to start this blog. And now I don't even know where to begin. Several big things have happened since September. My house burned down. We decided to put the business up for sale. We designed a new house, drew up the plans, then changed our minds. Moved into a rental (which is nice) moved into a new ward, got new church callings, been through another swim season (State is next week) finished up another soccer season. My kids are growing like crazy. So much, so much, SO MUCH. Can we make it stop? Just for 24 hours?



Okay, on with the update. My 100 year old house burned down...to the ground... lost everything...pictures, momentos, piano music, journals, books, clothing, dishes, cookbooks, DVDs, CD's, birth certificates, immunization records, school papers, tax records...everything. If I had one piece of advice for everyone, it would be... Make electronic copies of everything. Then (and this is the important part) store it somewhere else. Your parent's house, a bank box, a sibling's house, anywhere that you can retrieve it, if the unthinkable happens.



On the up side...we have amazing family and friends, and live in a totally unselfish community. I am amazed and terrribly humbled at the outpouring of love and help from our lovely little Brigham City and Perry. Before the smoke cleared, people came by with clothes, blankets, pillows, toys for the kids, and money. Luckily we had family to stay with until things could be worked out. We were so tired that night, we went to Mom and Dad's just wanting to lay down and go to sleep, then realized we had no pj's, no toothbrushes, no contact lense solution, (all the little things you take for granted) The next morning at 7, we got a call from a friend with a scanner. Our home had re-ignited during the night. Anything that was save-able, was now toast. My wonderful hubby, told me to go back to bed and rest, he would go check things out, and let me know if anything was needed.



So, we had nothing, except what people had given us. We took care of immediate needs first. You know, clothes, toothbrushes, medications. Then some friends approached us. They wanted to take the boys shopping. Let them buy whatever they wanted. Reminding us that sometimes kids need things that are not necessarily needs. I was so touched. People, some that didn't even know us, were looking out for my family. Making sure that this hardship was just that, a learning experience for all of us, a bonding time, yes, a difficult time, but hardly a tragedy. How grateful I am, that when I drove up to my burning home, I could tell the firemen, that Yes, I know exactly where my family is, and it is not in that house. No one had to risk their life. Everyone was safe.



I am sure I will be blogging more about the fire and details, especially when we begin the rebuilding process. For now I am still overwhelmed at the kindness and generosity of others that I get all choked up, just thinking about it.