Happy Christmas!

Have you seen this yet?  It will put a smile on your face, we LOVE it!  We have listened to it over and over and it just makes me happy!  My kids have talked about doing their own version, Chelsey, they want you to be the singer.  They also mentioned Uncle Chris.  I don't think they even knew about Uncle Chris and his Neil Diamond powers.  Happy Christmas!  Also, I can't help but be in awe of Mariah Carey's voice, she sounds amazing!

I'm Out Of Room

My poor little blog has been pretty neglected for the past year, I was going to type couple of months, but really it has been a bad year of blogging.  When things settled down after my trip to South America, I had great intentions of getting this blog going again.  I started with my trip, got one part posted, and later started on more, BUT it wouldn't let me load photos.  It said I was out of space and wanted me to buy some more from google.  Has this ever happened to anyone else?  I'm not sure what to do.  I guess I will buy more storage because ever since then, I have spent a little bit of time reading my own blog.  I know that probably sounds so weird, but it was such a fun thing to do.  And it turns out, I like my own blog!  I love that my little family has a few things documented.  Although last year was mostly a travel log, but I was planning on fixing that and then I ran out of room....

So we'll be back!  And a lot better!  My boys are growing up so fast, I can't miss these days and months because they are changing so much.  It is fun and scary to see them growing up and hard.  I don't know how to teach them all the skills that they need to cope in this life.  As I watch my twins grow up and head towards being teenagers, it scares me.  Kirk asked David to read How to Win Friends and Influence People and Jacob to read The Tipping Point.  Their dad does such a great job at helping them grow up, but they are still just little boys and some days I want them to shrink and have them be dependent on me. But the truth is, most days I just want them to be more independent.  And I wonder, will there ever be a day when I don't have to remind them to brush their teeth, with toothpaste?!?!  I sure hope so!  Maybe one day I will be able to post that the twins brushed their teeth and did a good job without being asked!  Let's just hope it is before the Second Coming.  So here's to a better blog!

Florianopolis

So on Tuesday, October 16th, I returned to Brasil after about 15 years.  It was so exciting and so scary because it had been so long.  I was traveling with my parents and husband, me being the only one who knew portuguese, a language I hadn't used since my mission.  And I was speaking in church, as well as my parents and husband, and I was going to be the translator.  Plus I was preparing to leave my kids and home for nearly 2 weeks.  Just the preparation of leaving for 2 weeks is enough to kill me, but add the talks for church, worry about the language, the unknown of how Brasil would be after 15 years, and all the other getting ready stuff, and seriously I barely made it.  I woke up Sunday with the worst pain in my neck and it only got worse, on Monday I sought out some help, knowing that as soon as I made it to the airport and there was nothing more to be down, it would probably go away.  And it did!

At the airport in Salt Lake, we met up with 2 missionaries who were traveling to Brasil as well.  They arrived on their own and by the time we got to Atlanta, there were about 10 of them who were all reporting to the MTC in Sao Paulo.  It scared me to think that if any of my boys get called to Brasil, I will just say goodbye, and drop them off at the airport by themselves!  Scary!  Anyway, it was comforting to fly with missionaries.  We had a 3 hour lay over in Sao Paulo until our next flight to Florianopolis.  We barely made it to the right gate.  The airport in Sao Paulo was a disaster!  So after hours and hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Florianopolis!!!

It was fun to walk off of the plane, just like I had as a missionary 15 years earlier.  And it was beautiful.  And it had changed!  After picking up our car, we headed to my first area because it was close to the airport. I couldn't even find the house where I used to live.  And on our way out, we passed a new church, I'm assuming that is where the members of my old area go to church now.

One thing that amazed me about returning to my mission was realizing just how much my mission has in fact changed and shaped me.  The obvious assumption is that your testimony grows and you become more independent and confident.  And while my mission did do all of that for me, it surprised me how much of who I am made more sense during this trip.  I truly loved those people and that country as a young missionary all those years ago.  And I feel exactly the same way.

 So back to Campeche, while I couldn't find anything familiar, except the beach, those sandy streets hold such a special place in my heart.  It was walking through the sand to an appointment where the spirit touched me and I realized my greatest calling on this earth was that of mother.  I don't know why it happened there or even on my mission for that matter, but I knew that was what I needed to be and it was so powerful, I have never ever doubted it.  I had always wanted to be a mother, this wasn't a new revelation, but it was such a spiritual confirmation of what a special job it is to be a mother.  And I have never wanted another job.  With all the changes in the world and opportunities available to women, I have never needed a career to be fulfilled or felt like the extra money was worth it.  My job is to be a mom and I love it!

We stayed in Florianopolis every other night for 3 nights while we traveled around Brasil.  It was such a busy trip, but one of the best!  With the ocean and sand all around, I realized why I love Hawaii so much and daydream about living there!  I did live on an island for months and listened to the ocean everyday.  No wonder I feel like I'm coming home when I go to Hawaii.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So I turned another year older along with my grandma and niece.  We have kept our little birthday tradition alive and celebrated at Cheesecake Factory, this time at City Creek!

I had a wonderful birthday just like I do every year and just in case you were ever wondering what to get me, I have decided that one of my very favorite things are the sweet notes I receive from friends and families, I love them.  

But I do have to mention one more birthday/Christmas present that I received.  Next month I get to return to my mission in Florianopolis Brazil!!!  AND then I get to join my parents in traveling to Chile to get my sister from her mission, I am so excited.  Kirk and I, along with my parents will visit Brazil, then Kirk will fly home and we fly on to Chile to see Kaitlin.  It has been so much fun to pull out photo albums and journals trying to remember names and places.  It has been 14 years.  I vividly remember the plane leaving the ground in Brazil and I was crying, knowing that I might not see any of those people again in this life.  I never dreamed I would get to go back, it will be such a neat experience!  I just hope I survive being away from my family for such a long time.  And I hope I survive the language!  I had great plans to brush up on my portuguese, but the time for travel is quickly arriving and I have found no time for that.  Sometimes I get emotional just thinking about returning, it will be a really neat thing for me.  I am grateful to my sister for serving a mission and to my parents for this great gift!

First Day of School

 Tyler-2nd grade (what!!!!!)

Ethan-5th grade

 Jacob-6th grade

 David-6th grade

 Their feet are all huge!

This is the last year that they are all in the same school together.  It is so fun and so sad to see them all grown up.  I love being their mom, I love taking care of them.  I will be sad when I am no longer needed to do these things, so I try to enjoy it as much as I can right now.  

Summer 2012 Happenings

 I love getting a visit from Nicole!  It doesn't happen very often, I'm glad she has family in Utah so I get to see her once in awhile!

 Tyler earned a high yellow belt in karate!  

 He also got lots of pokemon cards this summer!

 We had a blast at Seven Peaks!

 Reggie loves to sunbathe.  Kirk took this picture and sent it out as a text to friends and family saying "R.I.P. Reggie..."  It was a joke, but our sweet friends came right over with yummy popsicles!

 Fishing in Fishlake with family

 Tyler finally starting losing some more teeth!  

It certainly helped his pokemon funds!

 More fun at Seven Peaks...Ethan was the only one of us brave enough to tackle this slide.

 Lots of fun at the Demolition Derby.  Ironically Ethan was not brave enough to tackle the carnival rides after being the bravest at Seven Peaks!

 David and Jacob get braces:)

 We went to Rodizios!

 More fishing at Daybreak...

Reggie enjoying a nice quiet, clean house after the kids go back to school!

Lake Powell 2012

Well here comes another post with too many pictures.  We made it to Lake Powell twice in July and had so much fun both times...