Last night Baden pulled his first top tooth (actually his dad pulled it).  Losing teeth at our house is a big deal because we tend to like to hang on to them.  Last Fall the dentist had to pull two of Baden's and Gavin is getting ready to have a few pulled also.  So last night when that tooth came out we all gave a big cheer!  We then spent the next ten minutes talking like Daffy Duck (tho thilly).  This morning the boys were counting the quarters that the Tooth Fairy had left and Gavin said "Only five? Thath Dithpicable!" Ohhh good times.  I'm still giggling about that.  All five of those quarters were promptly spent on Squishies down at the pharmacy first thing after school.  He got several he had been hoping for including a green alligator.  I could see the joy on his face as he ran back to the car and said "YETH! Thith ith the luckieth day of my life!"

We'll have a Jack-O-Lantern for Easter this year. 

Dad's the best tooth puller!  I guess I don't have the guts. 

  

All winter long I have been waiting for a day when my chores would be done and I could sit on my couch and just watch the snow fall.  Well today's the day, although I've realized my chores are never through (what was I thinking?)  And today might be my last chance, it is after all March 25 and even though it sometimes seems like it might...Winter does not last forever.  So when I went to pick up the kids from school today I went barefoot in my car - because feeling the hot air from my heater blowing on my cold feet is one of my favorite things (next to driving with the windows down and the AC on in the Summer).  There really is so much to enjoy in the Winter time.  Hot chocolate, cozy sweaters, going to bed early, fluffy socks, ski days, the way my kids look with their backpacks over their coats, putting on my snow boots to shovel the driveway (I don't love shoveling, but I do love putting on my boots), savoring the way the oven warms up my kitchen as I bake.  How many times did I bake snickerdoodles for my kids this Winter? Dozens. These are things that do not happen in the summer, and I will miss these snow days when they're gone.  But spring will soon come, and after this lovely day I will be ready.

Hooray!  We got Kelsey dropped of at the MTC today!  She was very brave, though a little stressed that her luggage seemed bigger than the other missionaries ; ).  She's ready for this and it will be great to see what adventures she experiences.  My mom started a blog for her if you'd like to check in on her.

We will miss her dump truck loads.  But like I told Baden last night, there are people waiting for her to change their lives.  We are glad to share her!  And we will be so glad to have her come home again in 519 days (who's counting?)
  

New Beginnings

Several years ago I was a Laurel advisor in our ward.  It was a calling I loved, and there were three girls who I felt a special closeness to.  They were all as different as can be, and I loved them for their uniqueness. In the last few weeks I have watched each of them begin new and important chapters of their lives.  One was married, one accepted a mission call, and another began chemo therapy.  The love that I have for them has caused me to step back, and reflect on God's love and awareness for each of us on our own journey through life.

Last week my family was able to go to the temple on behalf of my brother Tanner who died from cancer thirteen years ago.  It was a day we had looked forward to, and as we stood together as a family, all I could think was, "he's here!" It was good to feel close to him.  My friends battle with cancer has kept him on my mind.  I love the way she has met this challenge head on, just like Tanner did.  Their courage seems to lift everyone a little higher.

When I got home from the temple we found out that my new little niece, Sage, had been born in Idaho. Again, I had to step back and reflect on the new beginnings that were happening on both sides of the veil that hour.  Every aspect of our lives are beautiful when you can see God's hand in it.

The other day while grocery shopping I happened upon a line of products that had aroma therapy fragrances in them.  They featured two of my favorite fragrances, lemon verbena and geranium.  Mmmm.  So of course I bought the hand soap and the counter spray.  later while I was cleaning up the house I thought to myself (seriously) how much my family would appreciate me for making such a lovely home for them.  I cooked dinner and had everything just right as Jer got home from work.

Well, nobody liked the dinner I made.  Everyone was grouchy.  Reese cried all evening. The phone kept ringing. Before I knew it, it was time to put the kids to bed.  After they were asleep I folded some laundry and one last time sprayed and wiped the counter tops.  As Jer walked out of the kitchen he casually said "that stuff kind of stinks, huh?"

Needless to say, I overreacted.  I was destroyed. I realize that Jer is entitled to his preferences, and this matter was after all, only about preferences.  So why was I so sad about it?  Jer looked at me like I might be insane when I said "I don't think we're meant to be together"  Ha ha - only joking.  Jer is perfect for me actually. I guess I was just trying to show off the 'invisible work' that I do .  I thought of a talk I heard a while back by Doctors Bill & Chris Marshall called "Love at Home".  They talk about 'invisible work'.  The endless tasks like laundry and dishes that nobody realizes has even been done until it hasn't been, and then you get assaulted by kids needing socks and their favorite shirt or tinkerbell jammies.  And now every time I use that delicious soap I feel like i'm causing offense. Grrr.

Well this morning when Avery opened her closet to find her favorite outfit waiting for her she said "oh my! I am so happy! You're the best mommy in the world"  (she's always this passionate about small things, it's her gift).  Funny how such a small amount of recognition can make me feel so warm and fuzzy.

The Empty Sea

On Sunday, Kelsey took Gavin and Avery for a drive.  She asked them "Do you want to see where I'm going to live for a few months?" So she drove them down to the MTC to get a good look.  Gavin then asked "Kels, is there really an empty sea in there?" cute.

It's been 18 months since I last posted. It's been a really busy time in my life.  But a great friend recently inspired me to once again commit to this 'journal'.  In the last year we have experienced some significant events.  Here's an update:

On August 16th 2010, Reese Jean was born.  She is a character.  Our only baby born with hair (brown hair!), she is a beauty.  She is full of life.  Curious, playful, noisy, silly, hungry, delicious.  These are words we use to describe our little Reeses Pieces (Pieces for short). 

In the last few months, we have lost two grandmothers.  First was Jeremy's paternal grandmother Francell Blickenstaff.  She was someone special, I love her so much.  It was hard to let her go because she continued being a mother to all of her family until her last breath.  From the first day I met her, she adopted me as her granddaughter, and I always felt so loved by her. She is so missed. 

Last month my maternal grandmother, Margene Kirk, passed away.  She also was filled with unconditional love.  Her last years were painful, difficult and lonely.  She had lost her eyesight, and was completely dependent for her care.  Yet, I am grateful her life was prolonged, because I was able to see her through adult eyes, and better understand her life.  She was a beautiful person.  There will come a day when we will meet again, and when we do, I will share with her my gratitude, my love and my respect for all she accomplished in her life.  I hope she already knows.  

 Baden was baptized in January.  It was  HUGE moment for us as well as him.  He seems to understand the promises he made much better than I did at his age.  My love and appreciation for the gospel has taken a new meaning as I experience it through my children's eyes.   

My baby sister Kelsey has received a mission call to serve in South Korea.  The process has again allowed my to apply my faith, and see Gods love unfold.  She leaves on the 23rd of this month.  She will be so missed, But I couldn't imagine a better place for her to be right now.  Love you Kels!

  

First Day of School!

This picture makes my laugh because it looks just like the ones my mom took of me in this same exact spot. The sun comes up over the mountains and shines bright in the eyes of all the elementary students each fall!

Grand Cayman

The water in the bay lights up like a glow stick when you run your hand through it because of little "water fireflies". It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. It doesn't show in the picture. But this is my brother Ryan and my cousin Scott. They hogged the Kayaks every night. : ) We had to be careful though, because the jellyfish stung those brave enough to swim in the bay.

Sting Ray City! A very cool place where you swim with the rays (out in the open ocean). This is my sister Kelsey. Jeremy was our amazing underwater photographer this trip!

The water was a little deep and the rays were a little big for the comfort of my kids. You can see on Baden's face he is on the lookout for danger.

The diving was amazing and the water was so warm! We saw plenty of turtles too!

My dad taught me to sail on this little hobie cat. I loved it, it was my favorite part of the trip!

Baden feels like he can do anything with his shark goggles on!

We really wanted to take one of these cute turtles home with us!

We had many hunts for starfish and sand dollars.

We were surprised how fast they actually move!

The kids spent most of their time creating and re-creating homes for the many hermit crabs they caught.

Before the trip, Gavin would not put his face in the water. Only hours after arriving, we found we couldn't get his face out of the water. He swam morning till night and even became a good snorkler.

Lake of the Woods

Canada

I can't get enough of this beautiful place! It's a few hours out of Winnepeg.

It's a huge lake with 1 acre islands scattered all over it.

We do some great fishing here, and some great sight seeing too.

If you know Lunds, you know we do plenty of teasing too - sorry mom!

Happiness is a good handmade swing!

Ahh...fishing in the rain.

Can you believe this?

This is when we discovered Jeremy has inner ear issues. We played the 'spin around with your head on a bat' game. Jeremy won after he tripped over the boardwalk and landed in a heap. One of my favorite moments!

A vacation's not complete without a few card games!

Gavin caught the trip's smallest fish!

(along with many dozen other fish!)

Jeremy caught the trip's largest fish!

(at least the largest caught on camera! My dad caught one that was so big it wouldn't fit in the net - and then it got away! Baden says it was as big as a small crocodile!)

This was my first glimpse of a bald eagle in the wild! There were so many in that area!

The picture does not do it justice.

This year we spent the Fourth of July in Blanding, Utah, whereJeremy's grandmother has lived her whole life. It was a really fun, small town, very american weekend. We went to the ruins, the parade, a boxing match, and watched the fireworks. Avery didn't like the fireworks much - she hid under a seat in the car. My favorite part was playing tag with my kids in grandma's yard during a heavy rainstorm. It was a perfect weekend!

Today's Gavin's fifth birthday! I can hardly believe it - but he promised this morning that he would stay five forever.  We had a Star Wars party for him.  All of the kids dressed up like Jedi's - it was cute.  We played "Heavy Hang Over" while we opened presents, and Gavin wished for each of his friends to be part of his family.  

I've lived in Utah Valley for most of my life - and had never climbed up to the Y on our mountain!  So my neighbor and I packed up the kids one morning and set out.  Wow, it's steep!  We were both carrying toddlers (hers was bigger than mine, but you don't hear her complaining!) and trying to motivate the rest to keep on trucking up that mountainside!  Luckily it was a cloudy day which provided a happy amount of shade for us! I am glad to have that checkmark - but don't expect me to do that again anytime soon!

This swing is so fun! It hangs from two phone poles and hooks to a wench on another phone pole behind it. The wench pulls you up so high that you feel like you are about to fall out - and then releases you into a second of freefall! Avery is my daredevil and she loves this swing! Here she is riding it with my dad. It's such a beautiful place!

On Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Mesa, Arizona, where much of my extended family lives to visit my cousin who is on his way to Boise, Idaho to serve his mission! I've been thinking about families a lot lately because we have been talking about them in primary so much this year. And lately I have come to better understand how important those relationships are! Last weekend I went to the baptism of my friends son. They are a tight knit polynesian family, and there were so many family members who attended that we had to move the meeting into the chapel. After the baptism, while we waited for the father and son to change out of their wet clothes, a younger brother, about 5 years old, sang primary songs to us from the microphone. It was so sweet and I was thinking how brave he was, when suddenly in the middle of a verse of I Am a Child of God, he stopped singing! He had forgotten the words. Within a second, the entire family joined together to continue the song! The boy was able to remember the words, and he stepped back up to the microphone to continue where he left off. I started to think about my family, and how when someone loses their way (including myself) the rest are there to continue on, to show us the way and love us. And with time we are able to remember who we are and what we are supposed to do.

Baden graduated from Kindergarten! He made a lot of friends this year, learned to read, write and do math, loved recess and P.E. and was sad to say goodbye to his teacher Mrs. Stewart! It's been fun for me to see him go to the same school that I went to. Many of the same traditions are still being carried on, and many of the same teachers are there. Baden is looking forward to 1st Grade mostly because now he can play on the Big Playground!