11/30/11

Thanksgiving

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Tons of family, tons of fun, and tons of driving. The actual Thanksgiving meal was delicious! We spent most the time in St. George with Dax's parents. The weather was gorgeous, great for a carousel ride, fun friday shopping with Preslie, and a walk in beautiful Snow Canyon. We saw parents, sisters, brothers, new baby, aunt and cousins!

11/21/11

date night

Last Sunday was stake conference, but we didn't realize that until we showed up to our 9 o'clock church (at 9:05, of course), and our ward wasn't there.

We made it to our 10am Stake Conference on time! And although it is always a physically/mentally exhausting experience to keep 4 kids sitting down and quiet for 2 hours, it was worth it; The talks were so good. One in particular stood out to me. Tad R. Callister of the Seventy spoke about marriage and how husbands and wives should commit to each other and work together and love each other. It seems like common sense, but I think so many go into marriage thinking "what can this marriage do for me" instead of "what can I do for this marriage". Elder Callister related a story about Winston Churchill and Nancy Astor. Lady Astor, who was unimpressed losing patience with Churchill said, "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your soup." To which Winston replied, "If I were your husband, I'd drink it."

I don't remember many of the exact words from the talk, but I remember the feeling and the main message, which was that a good marriage takes commitment and hard work and humility and is the most wonderful and rewarding of life's relationships. I came away from the meeting feeling good about my marriage and my relationship with my husband. There is always room for improvement, though and one thing that was touched on in that talk was that couples should continue to date and have regular date nights. We do go on regular dates twice a year: on my birthday and on our anniversary. I am thinking we can/should improve on that!

Since it was our anniversary this past week, Dax and I went on a date and it was so nice to talk and enjoy uninterrupted conversation! Wow. It was a simple but perfect date.

I wish I could have had a video camera when we left the restaurant and Dax got into the car parked next to ours by mistake. There was an almost identical red Durango parked right next to our red Durango in the parking lot and Dax opened the door to get in until I started yelling, "That's not our car!"

I am hoping to have more frequent date nights with my husband; I really like hanging out with him!

11/13/11

superweek: baptism, baby, conversations,

It has been an extaordinary week. Hunter was baptized and confirmed a member of the LDS church! He had a very neat day. All 4 of his grandparents were here to celebrate with him/us. Preslie sang a solo at his baptism. I am proud of her guts to do that. I am proud of Hunter for his good decisions and his desire to do right. He is a delightful boy and a blessing in my life.

Two days later, Dax's brother and his wife gave us a new nephew! I can't wait to kiss his cheeks and snuggle his 10 pound little body!

Mack and I put up a Christmas tree in the girls' room. The boys got it in their room last year. I know it is early but I knew Mack would have fun putting it up/decorating it and it would keep him busy and happy for a while.

We have been doing a few school projects: Preslie's forest diorama and Hunter's robot garbage can.

And I am still smiling over some of the conversations...

Mack: Who makes eggs?
Me: Chickens do.
Mack: How do they make them?
Me: Their bodies make them and then the egg comes out.
Mack: What part does it come out of?
Me: *pause*
Dax: Their cloaca [pronounced clo-AY-kuh]
Mack: I don't know what part that is.
Dax: Most people don't.

That particular conversation aided nicely in our "big talk" with Hunter. I promised him when he was eight, we'd let him in on a big awesome and really important secret. You know, where babies come from. He took it great, like I knew he would.

Mack: Jesus never makes things how I want him to.
Me: How do you want things to be?
Mack: I want to pull a lever and have candy shoot out.
Me: Pull a lever on what?
Mack: EVERYTHING.

That child loves sugar with every fiber of his being. Whenever he's hungry, he never says, "I'm hungry." He just goes in the pantry and starts eating brown sugar. Or marshmallows. Or he asks me, "Can I have a cup of molasses?" The other day I asked him what he felt like eating for lunch and he said "a gingerbread house".

Quinn has started saying a bunch more words this week. She can say Mack, juice, hat, dog, light, doll, bear, Hunter, hot, and door. She is so much fun and such a darling little sweet baby. She cruises around the house with a necklace on and one finger in her belly button and writes on walls and doors with any pencil, pen or marker she finds. She loves phones, makeup, the doorbell, animals, and reading books.

Dax ended his hunting season this week with a nice buck he got in Colorado. While he was butchering and packaging the meat this evening, I had him hold up the testicles from the deer and show Preslie and Hunter (I thought it would be interesting to them since they both know about reproduction now). Preslie of course freaked out. Dax told her to calm down; that it was just apart of science. She said, "I like science but I hate private parts." Then Hunter (unintentionally) said "I hate science but I love private parts." We had a good laugh.

Saturday we all worked on outdoor projects. Preslie and I stained the posts that hold up the roof over the back stairs. When she came out in a cute little outfit to help me, I told her that her clothes would probably get ruined so she needed to put on crappy clothes. She said, "I don't have anything crappy. All my stuff is awesome."

We cleaned and detailed the Durango and also cleaned out the garage; we can actually park both cars in it. It was a great day's work.

It is so unfair that housework that takes many hours to complete can be undone by kids in a matter of minutes. Like this afternoon when Mack comes running in my room covered in Eucerin cream. The carpet and chair in his room also got a nice dose. That stuff is like Crisco. I did the best to clean it up all the while asking Heavenly Father, "How am I supposed to teach and raise this child?" This is the same afternoon that he sneaked the scotch tape and matches out of the kitchen. Quinn's crib got taped up really good. Luckily I caught him as he was running away with the matches. Seriously, I think he would challenge someone with the most advanced parenting skills. But lucky for him his darling face is now even more soft and kissable than ever..