I am tired.  I am going to go to bed now.  Good night.

LEAVES OF AUTUMN

As summer turns to Autumn
The leaves begin to turn.
About God’s love and beauty
This is the time to learn.

Just look outside your window
At colors bright and bold.
Leaves of red and orange and brown
And some look like pure gold.

You say you don’t believe in God?
I say, how can you doubt?
When you go to your window
And simply just look out.

Outside my kitchen window
A tree grows strong and tall.
It brings such joy and peace of mind
To watch leaves of Autumn fall.

It sways in winds but never falters.
And from it’s pattern never alters.
It must be God… no man can say
I made that tree to look that way.

The sun rays form a halo
Around that big strong tree.
And there’s a voice that seems to say
Look up and think of Me.

~~By Carrie Reger~~

This very thing is happening all around at this very moment.  We have some gorgeous trees in our front that stand in their glory, strong and tall.  These simple, beautiful creations bring all together to joy in God’s creation.

A couple days ago Tyson raked together a bunch of leaves that had fallen from our front trees so that the kids could play in them.  It didn’t take long until we had a bunch of kids from the neighborhood over to play too.

Who needs toys when you have leaves?

Jacob & his friend.

A little game of hide and seek:

“I want to play, too!”

And the kid in us all comes out (or in some people’s case it is always there):

Joshua worried about dad being buried.

Sometimes you just have to take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the earth and the simple things in life.  It can’t get any better than that!

Whether spoken by us or expressed by another, we often will hear the phrase, “time flies.”  I find it peculiar that despite its redundancy in our lives, we never become desensitized to the fact that the things that we once knew as the present are now only a memory of our past.

If you look at life, creation, existence, matter, the Universe (or whatever term one might use to illustrate “everything”), and even the laws by which they are all governed, it all tends to be guided by one basic sub-law, principle, or truth – achieving an equilibrium, a balance, a one-‘ness’ with its environment.

For example, if you put ice in a glass of water, the two distinct temperatures will cohere to find a common temperature; from Newton’s Three Laws we learn that not only does the weight of a rock’s force “push” down towards the earth, but the earth will also “push” up equally against the rock eliminating the imbalance between the two.

People also tend to follow this pattern.  If I get new shoes, they may hurt my toe; however, after consistent use my toe begins to build a callus and I eventually become numb and unaware of the pressure that once caused me pain.  When Nicole was first born, the tiniest little sounds she made at night would cause me to wake.  Now, it is rare if I ever hear one of my kids cry at night. I sleep like a baby through it (lucky me!).

With things/occurrences that take place which are out of the ordinary, when consistent, we have a way of adapting to them, in that they no longer are anomalous to us.  Just as with physics, we have a tendency to adapt and change with the environment so that the unordinary becomes the ordinary and the different becomes indifferent.

However, regardless of our nature to evolve and adapt to our surroundings, and despite the fact that time is always consistent, present, and equable (at least in our lives – we won’t get into the Theory of Relativity right now:)), it’s passing never seems to become commonplace to us; we never cease to be amazed at how time flies.

With that being said…

I can’t believe that fall is already here. Time flies! The sprinklers are now shut off, and with the cold that came so quickly, the fireplace is on once more - which Joshua loves.

It’s strange to think that just a little more than a year has passed since he was born.

Now here he is, already loving to get himself into mischief.  When you look at him, he can seem so innocent and will put on the cutest little faces; but trust me, there’s a little devil inside that kid. (He got that from me!:))

Speaking of how fast time flies, I can’t believe how old Nicole already is.  She’s already starting to wear makeup!  She was so proud when she showed us what she had done (this is her famous “forced” smile she does for the camera - it’s usually either this or a crusty on her face (view one here) because I’m taking more than “just one more” picture).

It seems like it wasn’t very long ago that she came into my life and changed my world forever.

And then, as if in almost as it were a day’s time, came her very best friend – Mini-Me.

Now here I am, standing in the present looking back at the past once more.  I’ll never get used to it, used to how time flies.  It causes me to wonder with each and every time that my baby boy comes and snuggles with me while I’m playing guitar, if this time just might perhaps be the very last time – just as it once happened to be with my princess, Nicole.

(My Nicole)

(My Joshy… around 4-1/2 years later)

Times flies all too quickly; and I’m sure not too far off in the distance, in some similar way, we will find ourselves echoing the same closing words of the prophet Jacob, “…our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream.”

How do I want my dream to end when it’s my turn?

With fall now here, one of the things we love to do is take a drive up Butterfield Canyon to see the changing colors.

Of course, since we’re already there, we have to take some family pictures too!

I finally have gotten to our “Photo Album” (kind of:)).  You now are able to make comments on the photos and also follow it as an RSS Feed for new photos, comments, etc (when in the “photo  album” page, links are on the left-hand side).  There are some new photos posted on it, which haven’t been posted on our blog (e.g. Nicole at the Miss Utah Pageant).  I still have a bit to do on the album, but it’s better than it was!  Check it out on the main link, or you can click through here.

For those of you who may not know I celebrated my __ birthday this past week (or 2 weeks, who really knows I have lost count and track of the days.  There are so many and they go by so quickly).  Ha, ha.  I’m not telling exactly how old  young I am.  Not because I really care, but because isn’t that the stereotypical female thing to do?  But let me say this…I am NOT over the hill and nowhere near 30.  Yes, you must savor your youth while you can.

So, I love to succor this day as much as possible, be pampered, and basically not lift a finger.  It really didn’t start out that way this year.  I was so busy.  It was Jacob’s first day of the neighborhood preschool, which I organized.  Needless to say there was much to do.  It was incredibly successful and I am glad that I have undertaken this enormous, gigantic task that I have placed upon myself.  [Jacob is LOVING school.  Finally he gets to do what his big sister has been doing:). ]

Even though I didn’t get any R&R, I had a blast.  I didn’t get to go to lunch with the fam because I was so busy.  In fact, I was busy until the afternoon.  True to Tyson form, he comes out of nowhere and tells me “let’s go!” 

My mom watched the kids.  I fulfilled my hankering for Cafe Rio.  We were going to go shopping (Yes, Tyson’s idea.  Trust me, this is his LEAST favorite thing to do).  Then off to see Iron Man.  However, that was put away when my lil’ big bro called from the east and informed me it came out of DVD that day.  I decided I would rather rent it and watch it at home and leave more time to shopping.  (It only came out on Blue Ray!)

But, this brings me to my point, FINALLY!!!  After hours upon hours of mindless shopping (oh, the joy), I made it to the “maternity” section.  I concluded that this pregnancy deserved a new set of jeans that are not stretched out from previous babies.  Oh, how I love those jeans.  They are so cute.  I know that sounds weird.  So, now is the time to find some new cute ones.

How was I to know that the style for “M” jeans has turned into this…

NO WAY, NO HOW, and why in the world do women purchase these completely hideous looking “jeans.”  They claim style, elegance, and (most laughable) COMFORT.  NO WAY, NO HOW, not gonna do it.  As if you are not uncomfortable enough with your expanding belly, why not add extra weight and (support?!? ha, ha, ha). 

Women, I plead with you to stop buying these completely hideous “clothes.”  Trust me, there are alternatives.  I, for one, will not buy into this fad.  If I have to I will wear my cute, completely un-maternity-looking style jeans that have been stretched out x 3.

So, the search continues.  There are still several places to look, so I still have hope.  I suppose I have a little while longer before this becomes a necessity.

So instead of maternity pants, I got some completely cute non-maternity pants that will fit me for another month or so…

Long title, I know, but all of you women out there know exactly which book I am titling about.

• After 2 near perfect, no morning sickness, no throwing up pregnancies does not leave you immunity!  I liked Tyson’s theory of my body getting tougher, used to being pregnant, and basically being superwoman.  I was pretty sick with Nicole, so my theory is this little bun in the oven is a girl!
• Extra bed room for the expanding belly.  I need my pillows completely surrounding me as I grow.
• More sleep for the excess tiredness.  Growing a baby requires 24/7 attention!  That’s a lot of work.
• To be able to eat whenever you’re hungry.  Sometimes the nausea always wins.
• That icky in-between the regular clothes and maternity clothes phase looking cute.  I will savor my regular clothes for these last fewish weeks before that phase kicks in.
• Regular thrice-daily massages for the achy back from the hubby. (Okay, so the back pain hasn’t started yet thanks to that car accident that left my back in bad shape…the pregnancies are always the worst; but it’s never too early to start and aid in early prevention, right?)
• Oh yeah, and a cute, extremely small looking baby on your first ultrasound.  They look a little more like a black bean than an actual human growing inside of you.

Get ready for the upcoming sequel.  Publishing date is not set, but is just a few months away!

1.  Reaching over to my nightstand in the middle of the night and Tyson knocks over some water all over the clock, wood, and my neighbor’s borrowed book.  Not cute until I realize that it is the water from the flowers Nicole placed so lovingly by my bedside.  Very thoughtful and very sweet.

2.  Nicole coming home from school with the giddy sound of joy (I have never seen her enjoy school as much as this day…and she loves it!).  The theme is the gingerbread boy.  They have been reading various versions and even made a gingerbread boy who sprouted some movable legs.  Her class went on  a hunt to find him, which they found the next day.  She has hardly been able to stop talking about it.

3.  Jacob playing in the front yard with the yellow ball.  Suddenly I hear a shrieking sound and yelling “mom,mom” like I have NEVER heard from my kids before.  I thought he must have been hurt.  It turns out his ball started rolling down the street (darn that hill…it sure makes it hard to even play on our own basketball hoop, which I love).  I was so glad that he heeded my counsel not to run after the ball.  A neighbor down the street picked it up and was in hysterics because he thought it was so funny.

4.  Joshua and Jacob at the splash park (Nicole’s in school).  I didn’t even bother putting Joshua in his swimming suit this time because so far my efforts have been in vain for some water play.  This time he couldn’t get enough of it.  He loved the rainbow tunnel and walk back and forth, back and forth… He loved the water spraying out of different spouts and was giddy with joy.  He was soaking wet.

5.  Nicole and Jacob had a sleepover at grandma’s and went on the Heber Creeper.  They do it every year and love it!  That meant Tyson and I had the house nearly to ourselves.  Party time!  Though we(and by we I mean he) did spend most of it in the yard.  It looks great.  ‘Course now there isn’t any room for the garbage this week!

6.  Jacob telling me “not to go like this” (He proceeds to mimic my face…I guess I make a funny mad looking face when I am telling the kids no).  “Go like this” (and he smiles).  How can that not melt your heart?  He’s pretty dang smart because it works everytime!

7.  Nicole coming over to Joshua and he points to her and says “GO!” because he is a little jealous and wants all of mommy’s attention.  Nicole thought it was hilarious.

So many, many more I am sure, but I really needed to post a little something for all of you faithful readers who keep checking only to find the same thing over and over. I just love the little moments in my life that make me smile.  Hope it put a smile on your face, too.

As you can see from Tyson’s post below we did a lot of fun things in July.  One of those FUN things was our annual trip to Bear Lake(though we haven’t been up for a few years).  We went with gram and gramps, the Sweet’s, Johnson’s, and Barney’s.  We went camping a few weeks before that (swimming and four wheeling fun) and stayed in something similar to this:

This time, Tyson said he was going to bring up a trailer.  Before he picked it up, he said it was an old smelley trailer and that I probably wouldn’t like it.  You can imagine our surpise when he came rolling up the street in this!

The motorhome was huge!  It had tile floors, 3 TV’s, a double-door fridge, and even a king-sized bed.
 

Joshua loved the steering wheel.  He would play and fall asleep holding onto the steering wheel.  We even had a great view of the lake from the window.
 

As if the motorhome wasn’t fun enough (and trust me, being pregnant and having to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night is NOT fun, especially camping… but when you have a motorhome it’s no biggie!) - Tyson even surprised us with 2 waverunners to enjoy. 
It was so much fun we’re going up again.

One more side note to all my pals at good old Jordan High.  I know I said I would attend the reunion, but when you have the choice between this and that…well- this wins!!!  Hope you had fun:)