Ducks with Daddy

The glorious sunshine came out to say hello today! It was actually around 50 degrees and we were loving it. Rebecca and I met that cute Jorg boy at Trivani for lunch.
P.S. Jorg hates it when I call him "boy". He says it sounds like I'm calling him a dog. Oopsies ;)

DeVerl

Our new ward is the Kolob 3rd. I think that is the coolest name. I would like to Hie to Kolob. Here is a Kirby Hayborne version of the song. The weekend before Valentine's Day, Jorg and I went to the ward dinner-dance! We really enjoyed ourselves. It was in the stake center and reminded me of the dance on Single's Ward, minus DeVerl. It was a different experience to be there with a husband. I L-O-V-E-D it. He and I were the biggest dorks and it didn't matter what anyone thought. Why couldn't I have had the confidence to have that much fun as a single gal? I always felt awkward at dances. Here is the page I did with the photo taken by my mom. She snapped it before we left her and my dad to babysit on our night o' fun!

Scrapbook materials from Shabby Princess and Scrapbook Factory Deluxe

P.S. The 2nd Singles Ward is a pretty good flic! We rented it a few weeks back and it made us chuckle.

Rub a dub dub

Steph lives close by and came over to play with us last Sunday night. Being the 'hip' young adult she is, she gave Rebecca this new look with her wash rag :) She's such a fun auntie. We like it!

Dust If You Must

“Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” (D&C 88:119.)

Ladies, this post is for you. Ever find yourself stressed? Feel like your house needs to look spotless, organized, immaculate? Like the home of that sister you visit taught last month? I feel like that sometimes. Though it's true we have been counseled to establish a "house of order", it doesn't mean, "spend every minute dusting/mopping/scrubbing the toilet with your toothbrush, and if you don't, you have failed as wife and mother".

I love it when my house is clean and I do my best to keep things organized. I will teach my kids to work before play. And that "hard work pays off!" (I know, mom :) But I want to remember that my kids will keep in their memories the time I spent with them. Not whether or not the book shelf was dusted. And I cherish the moments my momma spent playing with ME. Going on a walk with me so I could ride my bike around the block, coming into school as a room mom to help with parties and teach a unit on Clouds, taking me swimming over at grandma's house.

So here is the cute poem (shared with me by Jorg's mom) that inspired today's thoughts:

Dust If You Must
Rose Milligan of Lancaster England

"A house becomes a home when you can write, 'I love you' on the furniture."

I can't tell you how many countless hours that I have spent CLEANING! I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect -"in case someone came over". Then I realized one day that no one came over; they were all out living life and having fun!

Now, when people visit, I find no need to explain the "condition" of my home. They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun. If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice.

Life is short. Enjoy it!

Dust if you must, > but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake a cake or plant a seed, ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time, with rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind. And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!

It's not what you gather,
but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

9 Months!

Oh heavens. Do they ever stop growing? Pretty soon she'll be 10 months, then 11, then a YEAR. Alas, our snugly baby is turning into a curious toddler. She can do so many more things than she used to! And, she WILL NOT lay there for a picture with the pooh bear. Though she still loves Pooh, and the classic pooh accessories in her room (I'm sure of it), pictures with Pooh are a thing of the past. Pooh is out and Mr. Penguin is in. We figure we can now measure her height while she stands.Scrapbooking supplies come from Shabby Princess and Scrapbook Factory Deluxe.

Loving Springville

And why do I love it? THIS would sum it up:

Aren't they cute??
Jorg gets to come home for lunch! We like it!

And speaking of Jorg, I got tagged by Emily to share a little run-down on some family facts...mostly about my cutie husband.

What is his name? Jorg
How long have you been together? Nov. 5th was our 2-years-since-we-met-aversary and our 2nd wedding anniversary is next month
How long did you date? 5 1/2 weeks
How old is he? 33
Who eats more? He - but not by much
Who said I love you first? He
Who is taller? He (6'5")
Who can sing better? We're both soooo talented
Who is smarter? He - I'm smarter for knowing him
Who does the laundry? Me
Who pays the bills? He
Who sleeps on the right side? Me
Who mows the lawn? He (will...right babe?)
Who cooks dinner? Both
Who drives? Both
Who is more stubborn? Me
Who kissed who first? He kissed me (of course)
Who proposed? He
Who has more friends? Me - here, He - in Germany
Who is more sensitive? I am...oooooh yaaaaah
Who has more siblings? Me
Who wears the pants? ME!!! heheheh...
I tag: Kristin, Kirstin, Kim V., and Kim U.

I love you, Jorgi Smorgi!! I am one lucky woman.

The Hamster Dance

Our tiny dancer loves jammin' to the Hampster Dance. Whenever we turn it on, she goes nuts!

Crawling to Mr. Penguin

I took this clip once she got to the top of the stairs. You can see part of her room and the loft. You can also see the feet of the famous, "Mr. Penguin". It's so funny how she puts in her binkie. I see that it's time to start weening her from the bink ;)

Unser Kletterer (Our Climber)

Rebecca and the stairs have a love/hate relationship. She loves them so much, all she ever wants to do is climb them. She loves them when she is free to climb up, up, up. She hates them when she falls down them (it's happened twice). And she hates them when her evil parents blockade the way and even with her brains, agility, and whit (you can actually see the wheels turning), she cannot concoct a way to get over the barrier (a bench on it's side). In this clip, she is feeling the love.

The New Place

By request (hi Seesa), here are some photos and a description of the new place. I took the main floor photos this morning. From the garage you walk into the pantry/laundry room. From there, into the kitchen/dining room/family room/stairs. There is a half wall between the family room and the front room (living room). There's a storage closet (leading to the crawl space) and a half bath off the living room.Then my camera died. So here are a few pictures we snapped of the upstairs before we moved in. There is a loft area at the top of the stairs. If you go right, there is a hall storage closet,
followed by the master bed/bathroom. Left from the stairs, there's Rebecca's room and bathroom and the guest room.

I feel just ridiculous living in a place with this much space. It's pretty empty right now, but I know it won't be long before we fill it up. Though, it's hard to imagine it's possible to have more ju-stuff than we already do. Hopefully, we will accumulate strictly...more furniture and more children. That's about all we need. OH, and some curtains. And some new frames, wall decor, and vases would be nice. I am "making do" with what we have right now. Making "tables" of stacked boxes with sheets over them. And a sheet also serves as a curtain over our back sliding glass door. Everything is white! I am itching to paint, but it will have to wait until spring break (mid-April). We are also doing without a garage door opener. But, don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining! I would choose to manually open the garage ANY day vs. hauling Rebecca and our stuff down our apartment stairs, through the snow, and to a freezing car. Any day. We are very blessed. We Li-LOve it!

Moving Day

Everyone looks tired in these pix. Jim and Birgit spent the night Friday and spent Friday, Saturday, and the previous Friday helping us box up our place. Rose and Steph also helped us with boxing that week before the move.Saturday was a gorgeous, blue-skied day. Perfect moving weather. The temperatures had to have been in the 30/40's! Miraculous for this icky winter! I like to think that it's, yet another sign, that we were supposed to move into our house.
Our movers were also heaven sent. One "pay-it-forward" type of service we had was from this cutest couple who showed up at our condo, walked in the door and said, "We're here to help!" We had no idea who they were. Apparently they live in St. George and were here visiting her sister. They wanted to play basketball, but the court was snowed-in. They saw the festivities at our place and the rest is history! I wish I had their contact info so I could thank them. They were amazing. We also had a few of our neighbors (Malia Hoyt, and Josh Rasmussen), and our family: Jim, Birgit, John, Rose, Jon, Joel, and Steph. I cannot thank these guys enough. We could never have done it without them. I think we all had a good time hangin' together. And soon we will have you over for a house-warming dinner! Thank you so much!!