A loving husband

This post may seem weird since it looks like it is about me, but really it is about my loving husband. Background first, we have some close friends (she and practically he) was my roommate in college. Bret, the husband, loves to do these photo scavenger hunts. We have done some crazy things. Brad and I even earned $30 worth of chocolate for winning this summer (that sure didn't help the diet but my inlaws enjoyed our winnings on our family vacation). The last one we did was Amber and I verses Brad and Bret. The girls won....yeah girls!!! Well, I guess last week Bret called Brad and said "If you were to name five traits about your wife what would they be?" Brad listed them and then Bret said "Good, now go get pictures that represent your wife in these traits...without her knowing!!" This is what Brad came up with and I have to say I had NO idea what he was doing.

Beautiful – I think she must be wondering…. What in the heck are you doing taking my
picture when we are trying to get ready for church! Well… you look DANG good
sweety!

Friend- Tam is always willing to help a friend. She loves helping others… especially
when it comes to her friends asking to do photography for them. In this picture, Tam is
planning out photo shoot locations with her friend Leesa to take their family pictures.
They got in the car after their careful planning to take as many pictures as possible.

Loving- This picture says it all. Tamara… blue shirt… Lavell Edwards Stadium…
smile… and yes, she was cheering! What is more loving than cheering for your rival
because she wants to spend time with her husband and appreciates and knows the things
that make him happy.

Humble – Don’t know if this one is legal to take. (Taking a picture in Sacrament
meeting.) I had to take it with my phone. This is Tamara during the sacrament. Without
fail she humbly ponders the scriptures or prays during the sacrament. She is a huge
example to me in the way she worships. She is an example to me and those around her of
a humble disciple of Christ.

Caring- Bret… you might look at this picture and say… what? No, Brad… you lose. But
this clearly illustrates her caring to the core. This is Tamara practicing for a Benefit
concert she is putting on for a little girl in our ward. She has been planning it and
practicing for it for months. She may have mentioned this when we got together in the
past. I am very proud of her for the caring spirit she has in proactively finding a way to
help this family.

So, I have to say I have the most wonderful and thoughtful husband in the world. He loves me and I love him back. I think it is important for my children to know how much their dad loves their mom and always have. So, kids, just know how much I love your daddy and here is proof of how much he loves me. He is the greatest!!!

You Never Know

There are things in life I have said I would never do. I'm not talking about "I will never yell at my children" or "I will never give my kids sugar". I am talking about things like "I will never sky dive (although I used to want to before I was married with children that I could orphan), or "I will never run a marthon". These are all things where I greatly admire the peoples courage or stamina that do it. I just don't think I have it in me to accomplish those things. Well, you never know what you will do so I am learning to never say never.
I always said I would never ever ever SCUBA dive. I used to want to be a marine biologist except I have this feddish where I hate touching or being close to fish and I am claustrophobic. Not extreme, but extreme enough that I couldn't imagine being under 60-100 feet of water with only a little mask and tank to keep me from drowning. Well, I am here to say I have taken a great step in overcoming this fear and on September 2nd I became officially SCUBA certified. And, the great thing about it is that I loved it. Yes, on my first dive in the very dark and murky crater at the Homestead up in Midway I had a major claustrophobic moment.....but I talked my way through it and it ended up being okay. The trick now is will I freak out when I am in the ocean swimming with all the fish and wondering if a shark is coming at me around the corner. Funny story, on my first dive in the swimming pool I had a moment of panic worrying about a shark. I quickly berated myself as I realized "DUH, you are in a SWIMMING POOL!!!" Anyway, the ocean will be a true test for me to see if I really love it. I have high hopes.
So, once I accomplished that I asked myself "what will be the next thing I do that I said I never would do?" Only time will tell.
We really are at the crater....it is just so blasted dark in there that with the flash we have a nice black background!!!!

The Hair cut

This week is Makayla's birthday. I can't believe my little girl is turning six. Anyway, for one of her presents I took her to a lady in our ward to get Makayla's hair cut. She got her hair washed in one of those fancy hair cutting sinks and got to sit in the cool stool. She loved it. The final results though are so adorable I can't say anymore about it. Here are the final results!!!

Hair Frenzy

The day I found out Becca was going to be a girl (my third girl)I cried. I know, I know, that sounds horrible....be patient with me. I wasn't crying because she wasn't going to be the brother Ryan really wanted (he loves his sisters so I don't think he ever cried about it). I wasn't crying because I don't like girls. I love girls. I would have a million of them if......I didn't have to do their hair!!! The tears that day appeared as I was having one of the thousands of fights I have had with Makayla over her hair. She, and now Ashlyn, HATE having their hair brushed. They just hate it. If you have seen my girls you will know half the time their hair isn't done. It is their choice...NOT MINE!!! So, you can stop judging!!!
Okay, so this Saturday I thought it would be so great to do the girls hair in those foam curlers they sleep in. It would make my Sunday morning so much easier. Sundays are days I actually force the girls to have their hair look cute. So between me actually doing my own hair (yes, they probably get their not caring if their hair looks cute from me) and then doing the hair and getting ready my three adorable girls that is what I do for around 2 hours!! Ridiculous. Anyway, Ashlyn was all for doing the foam curlers. Makayla, however, was less than agreeable. She wanted NOTHING to do with it. We had even told her Alyssa, her favorite older cousin whom she idolizes, was having curlers in her hair that night. She didn't care. I tried bribing her with a dollar. She wasn't even swayed. Finally, she came up to me and said "For two dollars, mom". Okay, my little negotiator. We both win on this account.

I wish I could say this picture told the story of the rest of the
evening. But, my sweet and spunky five year old ended up pulling them all out before the night was through. Yep, she did NOT earn $2 that night. I had to do her hair the next day....much to both of our chagrin. Ashlyn ended up pulling only a couple of them out. Her hair looked like a true princess that day. I meant to take a picture and forgot!!! Darn it. It was so beautiful. Becca's also didn't last...but I didn't expect it to. They were merely for fun. Now, in defense of my daughters, I do remember having to wear those blasted curlers EVERY Saturday night. I wouldn't like it....but I had beautiful hair the next day. The things we girls go through to look beautiful.
I have to say that my girls are beautiful even with their hair everywhere. They really are. I was at a store yesterday and their hair was....kind of done. I met a girl from high school I hadn't seen since high school and she commented on how beautiful my girls were. So, I guess I can ease off the hair thing a bit and let girls be girls!!

Moments

There are moments in life that make your stomach literally sink and your heart stop. I have to say those moments are far and few between, but they forever etch a memory in your mind. Memory isn't quite the word because you don't just remember them, you can feel what you felt at that time. I have had several, and all have been related to my family. One was the time when Brad left on his mission. Others have been with my several miscarriages. Another was when Ryan was lost at the county fair at age 2 1/2. Well, yesterday we added another to the "photo album".
We were enjoying a wonderful day at Lagoon for Brad's work party. Once the kids warmed up to it they really had a good time and didn't want to leave. Yet, by 9:30 pm we were all exhausted and decided it was time to depart. As we were heading out to the exit Brad suddenly realized Ashlyn was not with us. We looked around and sure enough she was not there. Brad then went running back to where we had made a turn to the exit and she was not there. By then I started panicking. It was dark, we were close to the exit. What if someone took her and got out of the park without anyone knowing. We were so close that it could have happened. Well, Brad went looking some more and I went to security. I was hoping she was in there with some nice person, but she wasn't. My heart stopped once again. I tried to calmly ask what to do if I lost a child. They told me to fill out this paper and they would radio all of their personelle to look for her. As I was filling it out a lady that worked at Lagoon walked in with Ashlyn. She wasn't crying, and I did everything I could to not cry myself. She had missed the turn and kept walking. This nice employee said Ashlyn didn't know my name or cell phone number so she brought her here. What a HUGE blessing.
Let me tell you, I hate these moments. The fear is so real....even if it was for only 5 minutes. It seems like an eternity. The worst part is if you allow yourself to think....what if? I have not in this instance. I just can't. I am just so grateful it worked out just fine and that I have my moody, emotional, loving, destructive, darling, kissable, lovable Ashlyn. Today, she can't do any wrong in my book. I guess maybe we have those moments just to remind us #1-keep a better eye on your little kids and #2 to remember just how much we do love them!!!

BTW-The security people recommend when you are going to a large theme park or a place with a lot of people to take a black permanent marker and write your name and cell phone number on their arm someplace. It may look funny, but that could have saved me some grief and worry.

Summer update

So, I am even worse at blogging than I am at journal writing....well, not quite. This summer hasn't been a huge one for us. We have just been living life around here. There have been some fun things like Brad's 30th birthday and the Bell Family Reunion. My pictures are on Brad's computer so I will update those shortly. I am hoping once this summer ends, which is on Monday, things will settle down. Probably not. I will be teaching 26-27 students this year, teaching an intro to music choir class for 3-4 year olds with a friend, and I am doing a benefit concert in October for a little neighbor girl (more of this to come). Oh, did I mention I have four children, a home, and a husband to take care of? Hmmm....yeah, so I guess I probably won't be blogging for the next millenia...please forgive me. Anyway, keep up on all of your good blogs because I do like to see what you are up to.

A Carson City Adventure

So, my little sister Tiffany was schedule to come out last Friday, June 13th to Utah. She was three weeks away from delivery her third child. Her doctors were out in Utah and she wanted to deliver with them. Well, her little baby would have nothing with that. He decided he wanted to come to Nevada. On Thursday Tiffany went into labor. She delivered a very healthy baby boy named Landen William Sorensen. He was 6 lbs 13 oz, 19 inches and has tons of light brown hair. He is such a beautiful boy.
I am now here in Carson City, Nevada where Tiffany and her family are currently living. I have had the wonderful opportunity of helping her get things in order after having a baby. Plus, she is flying on a private plane with here girls tomorrow up to Utah. Don't you worry, my sister Nicole and I and our two babies get the wonderful privilege of spending hundreds of dollars of Tiffany's money by driving out Tiff's tahoe so she has a car to drive while in Utah. I have had tons of fun here. The best time was yesterday when I did a photo shoot of my 4 day old nephew and his sisters. Here are some of the results of my labor.