Day 365 FIND THE JOY

Finding the joy has been what this blog has been all about.  I hope that any person who happened upon this blog either by chance, or by me sharing it, that you found that my happy moments reminded you of similar happy moments in your own life, and that a smile crossed your face.

Today I had a cold.  Appropriate for my 365th day of blogging.  It wouldn't be a happy CHALLENGE without some moments of yuckiness thrown in!  I went about my day and I made it to the end of today!  Happy!

We started off this morning by going out to Chick-fil-A for an early lunch and play time.  I swear my children knew that I was feeling under the weather, so they made it extra fun by being especially difficult today.  I am so glad we got to go and they were able to play in the play area of Chick-fil-A for the better part of an hour!  I have had so many happy moments at that place and I am thankful for my phone which lets me read emails, keep updated on people's Facebook profiles, and talk to people.  I got to watch the boys play and quietly pin...very nice!

After lunch, we had some extra time before the boys went to their dental appointment, so we stopped over at my dad's work and the boys got to play with Nancy for a while.  Connor also requested to go pee pee in the potty!  He did that a total of 4 times today and I am SO thankful he is asking to do that now...pooping in the toilet can't be far behind now...or it will take a year, either way I will take the happy moments and the "mommy's SO happy!" from my little Boo Boo.  He even asked for a hug after one of the times he went....those are the mommy moments I will treasure forever!

So off to the dentist we went.  The boys both don't have any cavities and their mouths are looking good!  Here are some pictures I took of them sitting in their chairs.  They brought a smile to my face.  I remember not long ago, getting teeth cleaned for Joel was a very scary thing.  That is why we go to the dentist we do because he is so gentle and kind.  Joel smiles for him now and loves getting his teeth cleaned.






                                                                       

After we got the teeth cleaned, it was off to get Joel's haircut, get an Icee, and order Connor's birthday cake!  When we got to the grocery store, I was so tired and feeling yucky.  So I got the wheelchair cart and held hands with the boys.  They were so helpful and they even unloaded the cart for me!  I am so grateful to have boys who see that their mommy can't always go 100 miles per hour and that they help me.  I know they are being taught to be kind and caring to others and to help them when they see they need it.  Hopefully teaching Joel and Connor over and over and over again to be KIND when they are young will pay off someday when they grow older.  Oh how I can't wait to have one of those "YES!" moments!  Ok I can wait a little while because I am loving my little boys for now!

We came home from the store and David got home early and I slept the rest of the day.  That is it!  I helped put the boys to bed and now here I am.  So there were some happy moments to blog after all today!

With this being my last entry, I want to share some of the happy moments that maybe didn't make it in, but these are things on a weekly, if not daily, basis that bring a smile to my face and make me grateful for the little moments.

• When people wave their thanks after slowing down to let them over in front of you...getting a thank you is rare these days and it is nice to get one!
• Hearing my favorite song come on the radio or Pandora...my whole body gets a warm feeling and I am swept away to the music!
• Hearing "I Love You" said by my loved ones or friends...three little words are so precious
• Having those moments where I laugh so hard that I have tears in my eyes.  It is a great feeling to let loose and laugh with joy!
• The quiet time that comes just after putting the kids to bed.  I am able to refocus, read my scriptures in peace, and then finish out my day being able to THINK once more :-)

A year's worth of posts about someone should tell you a lot about that person.  I can't think of much more to write.  There is a year's worth of writing already done!  I wish for anyone to read this to try to FIND THE JOY in their lives.  I hope that if people read this, they get a picture of someone who went through some very difficult times, but managed to have a smile through it.  I hope people know it wasn't a fake smile.  There is nothing fake about the joys that I have had because there is absolutely NOTHING fake about the emotional and physical struggles that I have had.  There are two paths that are placed in front of each and every person in this life when they are about to go through very difficult times.  I have chosen the path of peace and happiness instead of the path of anger and bitterness.  I hope that this blog can help someone make their own choice for their own path a little easier.  Thank you for reading and being with me for this year.  I am so grateful for this blog and the Happy Challenge and I can say for certain that I won the challenge!                                                                               

Day 364

HOLY COW!!!!  This is my second to last blog!  I am feeling the emotion of being done now.  Tomorrow is going to be hard!  This was something I have looked forward to doing every day for a year.  It doesn't mean I will stop doing it on paper, but this blog WILL be done tomorrow.  No doing day 366 or something silly like that.  I committed to a year and I am sticking to it, no more, no less.

Today was a long day with lots of activities, because Summer time needs to be busy or we get bored, then whiny, then no happy moments lol.

So we started off our morning going to the vet for miss Ginger.  She has gained 5 pounds in 3 weeks!  That's our girl!  She is getting bigger everyday and it makes me sad that the puppy stage doesn't last very long.  We still have so much to teach her and lots of love at this stage to give and pictures to take!  It really does go by fast!

After the vet, I took the boys to our local water park.  They had THE best time splashing, playing with friends, swimming, and smiling!  They have both come such a long way in their swimming skills this summer and Connor was going UNDER the water crawling to a pool toy over and over!  It freaked me out at times, but then he would pop his head up out of the water and smile a great big smile...melted my heart!  While there, we played with my moms group friends and there were some people from church too.  It is so nice to get to know people from church a bit more this summer!  I am so thankful to be able to go up to people and know who they are and talk with them about life a little bit.  Connor was getting tired after playing for an hour and a half so it was time to head home for naps.

When we got home, Connor went down for a nap and Joel went out to water the plants.  He has become the best helper and more responsible this summer and I am so thankful for that!  I can't believe in just a couple of weeks, he is going to be in first grade!  He has grown so much and continues to amaze me with how smart he is!

Off to work I went today....I only worked for 30 minutes so I got to get home and spend some time with Ginger and David and the boys before I went to my MOPS mom's night out.  The moms met up at a place nearby which was really nice because there was a quick drive there and a quick drive home!  It was nice to see familiar faces and meet some new moms who are coming into MOPS this year.  I can't wait until October and MOPS begins!  I am so excited about being a table leader this year and leading the women in prayer and being there for the other moms.  I hope to meet some more moms with boys my kid's age as well!  Joel and Connor have so much fun playing with other boys (there are SO many girls in our neighborhood and they like playing with them, but boys just play differently!)

It was a great night out and I am so happy to come home and blog!  Someone asked me tonight if the happy moments are going to stop because the happy moment blog will be over...for sure...NO!  I am so grateful to have learned this past year how to stop and TRULY soak in the happy moments.  I savor each one and save some of them for not so happy moment times that come.  There have been days on this blog when the whole day was nothing but stress and exhaustion, but there were little slivers of moments that I thought, "ah hah! I will save this to post later on!"  So good night dear readers.  Until tomorrow and the end of a years journey and challenge!

Day 363

Wow, three more posts.  I am really amazed right now.  I feel like I accomplished something really big.  And I did, but I am still amazed that I have blogged for a whole year, that the year is almost up, and that my journey to the end of the blog is almost done as well!

I woke up this morning and headed to the gym.  My arm is getting stronger and stronger every day.  I am determined to lose the weight and get back in shape.  Being in bed for the last year has made many of my body parts jiggly and bigger than they were a year ago, but now is the time for me to do something about it.  I feel like my arm is almost healed and that there are not too many unexpected surgeries in my future...hopefully none, but you know, they didn't take my appendix out last year when I asked them to so never say never lol.

I worked really hard at the gym and Connor and Joel had a great time playing in the kid's gym.  Joel was so cute.  He told me he had a play date at the gym with his "gym friend."  When I asked what his name is Joel said to me, "Mom, I don't KNOW what his name is!  You have to play with a person more than 3 times to learn their name."  Oh how true that is lol.  Sometimes I can know someone for months and still forget their name!

After the gym, we came home and cleaned up and then we went to my dad's work.  The boys had so much fun playing with their nanny from last year.  We ordered lunch and ate, then the boys watched a movie and I did paperwork with my mom and her friend, Alice.  It was a great time and I am so thankful that we have an air conditioned place for the boys to play!  They love visiting their Grand-dad so much!  Couldn't POSSIBLY be because he gives them cookies all the time!

We came home late this afternoon and Connor and I took a nap.  I feel so bad for all of the times when I was little that I didn't want to take a nap.  I take it back!  I want all of the naps I missed as a kid!  Nap time was great and it gave me a chance to get my energy back.  We had a nice dinner together as a family and then we met up with our neighbors.  Joel and his friend and the two dads did soccer practice with the boys while Connor played with all of us and Ginger played with our neighbor's dog, Oliver, and I talked with the mom neighbor!  We were out there for over an hour and it was such a great time!  I am so thankful we have neighbors nearby to hang out with and that Joel can practice his soccer skills in between soccer practice and games.  Very soon I will be a soccer mom!  I am still not sure how I feel about that, but I am all in nonetheless because it is what Joel wants to do this year and I want to show him I am behind him 100 percent in all that he does in life!

Well, it is my last Tuesday of blogging.  Very soon, I will be able to go and work at the Family History Library on Tuesday nights once more.  It has been so long and I miss it so much, but I got an email saying my spot on Tuesdays is waiting for me!  I am so thankful to have the chance to do some serious genealogy research again soon!  Today was a great day all around.  My two little ones went potty a lot where they were SUPPOSED to go today.  What a feeling of relief that was LOL!  Have a great night and just two more blogs to go!

Day 362

Three days to go!  Tonight I am going to blog, probably for the last time, in bullet form....

• woke up this morning with a Connor snuggle bug.  He watched Yo Gabba Gabba while I tried to sleep with a pillow over my head.  I used to do that with Joel when he would wake up early.  It was nice to do that with him today!

• I met my mom and her friend for lunch and got to take Joel home with me after he spent the night at my mom's house.  He had fun and I think he was glad to be back with Connor.  When we got home, the two of them played upstairs for a while and I rested on the couch
•  Work today was good and challenging.  There is a fine line between a melt down for an autistic child and them just not wanting to do something.  I skirted that line today while I made one of my clients work and thankfully, he did try to work hard...whew!
• I pinned like crazy today!  There are so many recipes on Pinterest!  I think I will probably have one of the world's largest cook books online by the time I am done finding all of the recipes I want to try!
• After dinner tonight, we did a nice family home evening and Joel was eager to participate.  Then David took the boys swimming at our local pool and I went to the gym with my friend Jennifer.  We swam and swam and got a good workout in!  Then we drove home and talked and talked....such a nice time with one of the world's nicest and kindest girl!
• When I got in the house, Joel had taken a spill so he was on his bed with ice on his chest.  Those little tears made me so sad, but it was so nice to scoop him up into my arms and sing to him and give him kisses.  He went right to sleep after that and I am so grateful to have had that healing mommy moment with him!

Well, it is getting pretty late and I am so sleepy!  Time to head to bed and begin again tomorrow.  I am so thankful for all of the happy moment Mondays I have had.  I can't wait to look back and see what different themes of Family Home Evenings we did over the course of about 52 Mondays posted.  Good night and catch day 363 tomorrow!

Day 361

Well, today is my last Sunday for blogging.  It is interesting as each DAY is done with blogging, I can go back in my mind and think about what happy moments are the usual for that day.  By now most people know going to church and Sunday naps are the top two happy moments of these days!

I am so thankful I belong to my church.  Today, as we sat and listened to a young man who prepared for the past years of his life to go on a mission, and then got called to El Salvadore and Belize, I was so thankful to get to hear his talk.  As he thanked his mom for all of the love and support she gave him, as he told his siblings how much he loves them, and as he shared his joy and love for the gospel of Jesus Christ, I thought about Joel and Connor and all of the many years I need to prepare them for that moment!  When that day comes for each of them, I pray I get the moment where my sons look down into the congregation and are grateful for the spiritual preparation and great love I taught them for our Savior each and every day.  I hope they take with them the spirit of joy that our family has to whatever culture they get sent to on their mission.  So many tears in the audience today from us women all thinking the same thing...that mom did it RIGHT and we all hope to be able to get there ourselves!


Church went by quickly today.  During the third hour with the younger primary learning songs and a lesson, Joel sat on my lap most of the time.  It is fun to be able to teach the 5 year olds and have Joel's class right behind me.  I am thankful that I can watch both Joel AND Connor next year in primary...it will be fun and hopefully little Connor will behave!

We came home to Connor and David (both of them not feeling so good today) and relaxed.  I sat with the boys and ate popcorn and watched a movie while David took a nap.  It was a really nice snuggle time with them!  After that, I took Ginger to puppy social at the vet office where she played HARD for an hour with two "double doodles."  Face it folks, if your golden doodle was bred with a labra-doodle...you have a mutt....not some new designer dog lol.  Four different dogs were involved in the process....if you can't tell what your dog is and have to say FOUR different doggie names...yeah...mutt lol!  They were really cute dogs and Ginger had the best time running around.  I got a really cute picture of her "frog dog" pose that she does.  I will post it on here.  Hoping she sleeps well tonight!  So far she is down in the crate crying her little puppy heart out...this too shall pass.

 

We did dinner with my parents tonight because David was feeling hungry and a little better.  I am going to take Connor to the doctor tomorrow...at this point I am thinking ear infection but we will see!  We all had a good dinner and Joel go to go spend the night at my parent's house.  Something he loves doing so much and I am so grateful for his little smile and joyful walk as he headed to their car tonight.

Well, the rest of the evening was pretty much just resting.  I am so tired lately and hoping to perk up soon!  I am grateful for all of the Sundays that I have had the chance to write about.  I hope that in these blogs, anyone reading can see that I dedicate my life to being obedient to God and his teachings.  I am so thankful to have the opportunity each Sunday to attend church, take the sacrament, and renew my promises that I made to God and Jesus.  To always remember them and keep their commandments.  I hope my life each day can be an example for others to follow, or want to follow at least.  I am so very thankful for my loving Father in Heaven.  I know Jesus died for me.  I taught that today to my little children.  That it was difficult for him, that he prayed for another way, but that he accepted his Father's will in the end.  Our Father in Heaven has a plan for us.  We have to have faith in His timing of all things.  That is something I have TRULY learned in the last 361 days.  Have a good night all!

Day 360 FIVE days to go!

Well, the blog is beginning to wind down, but the happy moments from today still need to get posted!

We woke up this morning and David headed to the Cannery to do some canning of food storage with other people from the ward.  Connor and Joel played downstairs and I was on Facebook.  I found this amazing doughnut shop that just opened and someone posted how amazing it is.  So I posted pictures of it and that I would love to go sometime.  Well, before I knew it, a friend had said she would meet me there in 20 minutes and the kids and I were off!  There was also another person from the ward with his kids that had seen my post on Facebook.  It was a great morning with some really interesting doughnuts!  I got a few dozen for the guys at my dad's work and they were all oohing and aaahing over the different kinds.  It was great to see their faces light up as they opened each box to find crazy doughnuts like blueberry madness or Nutella with rainbow sprinkles.  The one I had was a peaches and cream and it was OH so yummy!  The boys were in doughnut heaven as well!

It was a really fun morning and I am so glad we had a fun doughnut adventure!  It was great meeting my friend, Lori, and her kids at the doughnut place as well.  We got to chat for a while which is ALWAYS nice to have girl talk.  However, we now understand why we usually leave the kids at home and do frozen yogurt and movies just the two of us lol.  We didn't get to talk as much as usual.

I got to take a nice couple hour nap today!  It was LOVELY.  I have been so sleepy and exhausted lately.  Pretty sure it has to do with the progression of my RA, but I am so thankful for David watching Joel and playing with him while Connor and I took naps.  When Connor woke up, he came into my room for a long snuggle...oh so nice!

We hired a babysitter and went out tonight!!!  It has been a long time coming, but I am so thankful we got to do something just the two of us.  We went to dinner at a restaurant that was new to us.  It was nice and hopefully we can go again sometime.  Then we went and saw The Dark Knight Rises in an IMAX theater...that was totally worth it!  The floor rumbled during the action scenes and it was an amazing movie to watch on a really big screen!  David and I had such a nice time being together kid free tonight.  It just took us a little while to get to the theater because we were both talking and forgot to get off at the exit on the freeway by about 5 miles.  We laughed so hard!  We never get to talk UN interrupted and we were both enjoying the moment so much we weren't paying attention to the road....we both thought that was pretty funny! 

I am so glad for Saturdays and the joy that can be found with spending time with the family.  From going to theme parks, the beach, the pool, walks, flying kites, or just sitting in PJs all day long snuggling and cleaning, there is so much opportunity for happy moments on the weekend.  I treasure my weekends with the boys.  As they get older, they will want to go out with friends and not be around us as much.  I am so thankful for the time that I DO have to create happy moments with them.  Joel learned how to put laundry away in his drawers today.  His "allowance" is either money or spending a few hours playing video games.  I am so thankful that he did his chores and was eager to get his reward.  Time is slipping through my fingers with them, but I try to make the most of each day that I can.  At times I fail miserably as a mom, but I kneel down and pray each night and ask to do better the next day.  To love MORE the next day and be able to teach my children how to find their own joy.  Today is the last Saturday of my happy moment blog.  I am thankful for each and every Saturday I have to look back and read the weekend happy moments of our lives.  I look forward to all of the Saturdays and happy moments included in them in the years to come!

Day 359

The weekend has arrived!  Lots of happy moments today....

I got up and went to physical therapy early this morning.  My PT worked me hard and I am hoping all of those arm muscles start remembering how they used to be used lol

After PT, I took the boys with me to the gym and my personal trainer worked me even harder.  It is great to be sweating again!  It was such a happy moment when my personal trainer told me that I inspired her!  Last time, she was making me do an exercise and I was almost out of breath and it was getting harder and harder with each step.  She told me, "I know this is really hard but keep going!"  I told her, "don't say hard! It makes it even harder to do....just keep telling me how easy I am making it look!"  So today she told me that while she was leading a work out class, she kept telling the people, "Just keep going this is so easy you can do it!"  Someone came up to her afterwards and told her what an inspirational class it was and that they really did feel like it was easier!  My personal trainer was so happy to tell me that and said to me, "What a fun mom you must be!  You are just so happy and you look at things in such a great way!"  One of my happiest moments in a long time to not just find the joy, but pass it along!  SO WONDERFUL!

There are those moments during life when we don't think we are doing enough, or we feel like we are failing (potty training a dog and a kid...I feel so down sometimes) but then when someone comes your way and tells you that you made a difference in their life, it really perks you up and makes you want to keep going!  So thankful for that moment today!

After the gym, Connor seemed to not be feeling so well, so we came home and did lunch.  After lunch, Connor was pretty sleepy and I was SO tired, so we took naps and Joel got to play his favorite computer game.  After naps, Joel and I cleaned up the house together while Connor rested some more.  Joel has become such a great helper and he is really getting in to doing "chores" now.  He wants me to make him a chore chart...how cool is that?

David came home tonight and I was so tired still, so we ate out.  Right after dinner we put the kids to bed and then watched some Friday night TV and played with Ginger for a few hours.  It was a nice time with Ginger with the adults...she felt like an only child for a while lol.

Well, today was a happy but hot day!  Hopefully Connor will feel better tomorrow and we can do some fun Saturday things!  Have a happy Friday all!

Day 358

Happy Thursday!

Today was filled with lots of kids and lots of happy moments!  Joel spent the night at my parent's so it was just Connor and me this morning.  We went to the gym and then home...happy to be working out once more!

At noon today, I had my class party down at my dad's work.  They had so much fun playing, eating pizza, and watching Disney movies.  I am so glad I could do that for my Primary class!  They are one great group of kiddos and I am so thankful for the smiles they all had today while playing.  Joel and Connor got to play too and it totally wore Connor out!

Which leads us to coming home and taking naps! YEA!  I don't get many naps these days, so I am grateful for when I DO get a chance to lie down and snooze for a bit!

After naps, Joel and I headed out and got on a train to Anaheim.  We went to another Angel's Game and had a blast!  We loved eating the food, watching the game, and talking.  There is nothing better in this world than having a good conversation with your kiddo...they are so funny and clever and with each age, something new comes along.  Joel really got into the baseball game and how fast they were throwing the balls.  The Angels lost BIG time tonight, but it was still one happy moment after another with Joel.  After the game, we walked back to the train area and watched the Disneyland fireworks.  Joel loved it because he could SEE them but not HEAR them.  They were beautiful and I love watching things I love through Joel's eyes...so fun!

So we took the train home and sleepy Joel is in bed.  I myself and now off to bed as well.  I am so thankful for this day and all of the happy moments.  Children are amazing and have so much joy and energy!! Would that I could bottle some of it for myself!  Have a great night all!

Day 357

The middle of the week is here!  This blog will probably get done before my bathroom does, but just know, it was a VERY happy moment when the bathroom was finished lol.

Today we woke up and headed out early to meet some friends from church for breakfast.  It was really nice and the boys pretty much behaved.  There were lots of little ones there and it was nice to chat and see how cute everyone's babies were! 

After breakfast, we headed to the doctor for another X-ray.  I am sad to say that this blog will end without anyone ever knowing if my arm really did heal or not.  It IS healing, but it isn't HEALED and for that I am so thankful and happy to share that happy moment.  But I am constantly filled with dread because until I hear that it is OVER, that this arm is HEALED, I can never really feel like I can move on from this.  Now, people get really excited for me when they hear my arm is healing and that brings so much joy to my life.  But I hope people understand that I have lived with this for 15 months now and the ONLY thing that is going to have me TRULY filled with joy and make me believe it is over is when the doctor SAYS it is OVER and that my arm is whole once more.  Until then, I feel like I am floating through life, waiting for the lightening bolt to shoot down from above and rip my arm in half again.  I hate feeling scared all of the time!  I don't like feeling weary and uncertain, but I am pretty sure ANYONE who had their arm in HALF for over a year would want to hear that it is OVER before doing a celebratory dance lol.

So after the doctor I talked and texted family members.  It was nice to hear people so joyful and happy!  We played with Ginger for a while and then headed to lunch with my mom.  Then we did some shopping at Target...well, I think we all know how shopping at Target goes lol.  We went in to buy a few things and came out with a basket full of items!  Hey, we NEEDED the paper towels and the groceries, and the school supplies, and the lunchables!

After Target, it was time to head home, unload, and head to work.  Work was good and it kept me busy and happy.  Joel went off to spend the night at my parent's house so it was just the three of us.  David wasn't feeling so well, so Connor and I ordered Pizza Hut and had a little dinner just the two of us.  It was really cute.  I LOVE watching toddlers eat pizza.  There is something so simple and SO funny how they always flip it upside down and take big bites.  He was so serious when he chewed too!

Well, here I am ready for tomorrow!  Below I will post the most recent pic of my arm.  Feel free and send the happy moments you had looking at it my way!  It always brings joy to my heart to hear that people were praying for me and sending me good thoughts.  I appreciate it OH SO MUCH!  Have a great night all and catch me tomorrow for day 358!

Day 356...9 Days left...

The count down is on!  If you don't read it now, it'll be gone soon!  Let's do happy moments in bullet form shall we?

• got up this morning, got the kids dressed and out the door and we were on our way to the gym.  Joel got to play for free there while I did my first session with my personal trainer.  For now, shocking as it is, I will not be riding horses much.  I will still try to do some trail rides and train with a person every now and then, but my body and getting it in shape and HEALTHY is most important to me right now.  Working out is a big part of feeling better all around and I am excited to be doing this a couple of times a week now!  I worked hard and pushed myself during the 30 minutes and here is hoping I see some results in a few weeks!
• After the gym, we came home and Joel asked if our neighbor could come with us to a Lego play day near the movie theaters we go to.  His mom said yes and so we were off to the Lego playtime with 2 adults and 3 kids.  It was SUPER hot there, but all of the boys had SO much fun playing and making towers.  We were drenched in sweat by the time we were done, but it was nice to go with our neighbor and see friends from my MOPS group, and see friends from my moms group, and see a person and her children from church!  
• After Lego playtime, we headed to Island's to eat.  It was so nice and cool inside!  We had a nice lunch and talk time and then headed home.
• When we got home, our neighbor, her son, and her Corgi puppy came over for some more play time.  Connor took a nap and Joel and his friend played for a bit and then we all watched The Lorax....interesting movie...
• Ginger and little Oliver played for SO long today and I think she is tuckered out tonight YES!  
• After dinner that I MADE...you read that right....I helped get the boys to bed and then I got to go back to the gym for a swim.  The main reason I joined this gym is because there is an indoor swimming pool like the one where we lived in Brea before and my body LOVES the water!  I feel almost totally flare-free in the water so it was a nice break at the end of the day!

Well, that is pretty much it for today!  I am looking forward to watching some Shark Week with David and then heading to bed.  It has been a fun but long day.  The heat and humidity make me tired quickly!  I am ever so grateful for this blog and the joy that comes from typing the fun things and happy moments that come my way!  Until tomorrow...oh how I hope to have the happiest of ALL happy moments to share on this blog tomorrow!  X-ray!

Day 355 10 DAYS TO GO!

WOW!  I cannot believe I am down to just ten days until my Happy Challenge is over!  It is truly amazing that I have been able to find happy moments each day.  It is funny that I wrote that last sentence because today truly was a happy CHALLENGE.  So much went wrong today.  It was just one of those really bad crazy mommy days!  But, at the end of the day, there were happy moments to be found!

The kids and I did not get out too much today.  Work was good and I enjoyed each one of the children I worked with.  I love it when the 2 yr olds I work with giggle.  Nothing brings me more joy than to have them laughing and happy and talking!

After work, I went by TOGO'S and got dinner for us.  The boys and David were already at one of the pools in our ward with some members of our congregation and their families.  It was a really fun time to swim and talk.  Connor and Joel had SO much fun and were so happy.  That made coming back to my family after work so nice!  After swimming, we ate dinner and got to know the people in our ward better.  I think I have said before that we don't do much with members of our ward and this was SO wonderful to be invited and hang out!  The boys had so much fun and it was hours and hours of happy moments!

Finally it was time to leave and get the kids to bed.  It was a great way to end a crazy day!  I have officially given up trying to get Connor to poop in the potty.  It has to be his choice.  He CAN do it, he just does NOT want to, and my couch keeps suffering for it!  At some point in the future I hope to be able to LOL about all of that, but until that someday comes, I am thankful for the lessons I learned on patience and being able to say I made it through today and tomorrow will come!

Day 354

Happy Sunday!  Today is the end of a long weekend.  One filled with lots of potty accidents, but hopefully we can gear up and get inspired to carry on in the battle of potty training this coming week!

We woke up this morning and had a slower morning than normal.  It is nice to wake up at a decent hour on Sunday and not feel so tired.  We all had breakfast, got dressed, and made it to church on time!  That hasn't happened in a while so it was indeed a happy moment!

I came home early with a pretty bad headache, so I got my Sunday nap in early today!  David took Ginger to puppy social today, so I spent time playing games and reading to the boys while he was gone.  It was a nice time with them.

Also while David was gone, we got to talk to our family back in Louisiana.  David talked to them when he got home.  It was nice to chat for about an hour with several people and get an update on what is going on.  Joel can't wait to get back there and bake cupcakes with Aunt Joyce!  He also asked if she could make a cape for Connor with a C instead of a J for him....such a sweet thoughtful thing to ask!

After the boy's naps, we met up with my parents for dinner.  The boys were GREAT at dinner tonight and I think we might have finally gotten over the hurdle of MOST of the terrible twos! Now if only I could get my almost 3 year old to potty train, life would be good lol.  Someday I hope Connor gets to read this blog and see what grief and what joy he brought to my life during his 2 years.  I LOVE the fact that I got to blog during his 2 yr old phase of life!

After dinner, we came home and got the boys mostly ready for bed....doing that and THEN doing Skype with my in-laws is far less stressful.  They can act so badly when we Skype and I feel so bad for my in-laws that they have to deal with two crazies that they are trying to ask questions and talk to!  They were pretty good at the end and Connor even said a very sweet goodbye, so I will take it!

Well, off to bed now!  Looking forward to tomorrow and hoping this next week is far slower than the previous week.  Got to get the bathtub ordered so it gets installed...I want my bathroom back! LOL  Have a great night and I look forward to the 10 day count down of The Happy Challenge Blog beginning tomorrow!

Day 353

Saturday came and went quickly today, but there was a lot to get done!  With our house being torn to shreds from the bathroom being torn to shreds, us all sharing one bathroom, and me being wiped out from the stress of it all.  Today was a day to clean and put things away.  But first up for me was the gym and then a girls day with my mom and niece!


My mom came and picked me up this morning and we went to a tile store to figure out what kind of tile I liked for the bathroom floor.  Happy moment was deciding and being on our way.  My niece was an angel for us and we had fun holding hands and looking at the pretty stones.

After the tile place, we headed to the Lazy Dog Cafe for lunch.  David goes there sometimes for lunch and now I know why!  It is SO tasty!  We had a nice time relaxing at lunch and eating yummy sandwiches.  Then it was time to go home.

At home, I felt pretty productive as I did a couple of loads of laundry, picked up, and then watched about 40 hours of Olympics in just 2 hours lol.

Before dinner, we decided to go for a family swim in the nearby pool.  It was a great time and I think the kids could have swam for at least another 2 hours, but it was nearly 7 and we had to eat dinner.  So home we came for dinner and then bedtime.  The boys had so much fun hanging out with us and doing FUN things tonight!  It has been a while since we didn't feel stressed and it was nice to unwind in the pool and then at home together.

I had a nice time browsing Facebook tonight and catching up on some Pinterest things.  After that, I read the scriptures and I am now ready for 9 AM church in the morning!  Not a lot of exciting happy moments today, living live and just taking it in.  I am thankful that there are DULL days where things are not going so horribly wrong that there are sweeping highs and lows.  Quiet time is a blessing for us and for the most part, today was a good, quiet, happy moment kind of day!

Day 352

Well, the bathroom machines got turned off today! HAPPY MOMENT!  And while I am on the topic of the bathroom, I found a bathtub that will work with the budget and is nicer than our last one so yea for that!  Did you know there are now bathtubs out there that will re heat the water for you?  There are also bathtubs with jets, bubbles, and a myriad of other fancy stuff...really interesting!

So I went to physical therapy this morning.  I am finally in the weight lifting stage of my healing!  I really hope my arm is TOTALLY healed by the time my blog is up...what a great way to end this 365 day journey to be WHOLE once more!

I took Joel to his last day of Ocean Camp, and Connor and I headed to the baby beach at Dana Point.  We were there for 3 hours while Connor splashed in the water and met new friends to play with.  It was a really fun time and I hope we get the chance to go back next week.

After the beach, we headed home and got ready for nap time.  Miss Ginger ran all over the house to get her wiggles out from Mommy being gone all morning, and Connor and I washed off.  Then we ALL went down for naps and I actually got to take a nap for the first time in 5 days!  OH IT WAS SO WONDERFUL!  I even went all out and took a nap in my own bed!  WAHOO!

After nap time, we picked Joel up and headed to San Juan Capistrano for dinner at Ruby's Diner.  It was good and Joel ate all his dinner AND got a milk shake!  Being out in the sun for hours and hours at a time really increased his appetite this week!

We put the kids to bed tonight and David and I finally got a mini date night downstairs watching some DVR TV shows.  It was really nice and pleasant until we heard Connor crying upstairs.....well...he had gone into Joel's room to play and was jumping off of Joel's bed and hit his nose.  It isn't broken, but it is pretty darn bruised!  Joel and Connor both got a big talking to and then Connor came down to snuggle with us and get an ice pack for the nose.  So the date night was short lived, but Connor was pretty adorable snuggled up between the two of us.  David and I SO need to get out!  Hoping to find a babysitter for next week!


Well that is all for tonight.  Gonna get ready for bed and look ahead to the week!  Hope all of you had a happy Friday!

Day 351

Hello all!  Well, today was mostly about poop.  Being pooped, cleaning dog poop, and having Connor NOT poop in the toilet.  Among the poop today came the happy moments, so here they are!  Enjoy!


Joel had a great time at Ocean Camp today!  They got to see dolphins and sea lions.  It was so great to hear about his fun times and it was such a happy moment to see his excitement as he told me about his day!

Before all of that, though, I did lunch/a late breakfast with my visiting teachers today.  It always amazing me that, no matter where we go, we are able to share so much joy with one another and so much life.  I have shed more tears with those ladies and am so very thankful for the love that they give me each time they visit!  Also at the restaurant, I got up to get Connor because he had run outside to try and hide and poop...that child!  Well, on my way back in with Connor, I bumped into a friend from high school eating lunch with friends.  She had her adorable daughter there and it was so nice to meet her and get to give my friend a hug!  SUCH a surprise happy moment!

Connor and I had a lot of fun in his room today.  He played with toys as I was cleaning out his closets getting things to donate and putting all of his 4T (yes a 2 yr old wearing 4T!) clothes in his closet. He has so many!  So while I cleaned, he played in his room and had a great time finding new toys he has not seen in a while.  He was so cute playing pretent with a cow puppet and hugging stuffed animals he hasn't seen in a while.  He cares SO much about stuffed animals and takes inventory each day on who is present for his nap time lol.

After David got home from work, I picked up a friend and we went to the mall to visit our friend who works at GAP.  We had a nice time chatting and shopping.  I also got a surprise happy moment of seeing my friend Lisa and her two daughters shopping there as well!  We never get to hang out as much as we would like, so it was nice to stop and chat with her for a bit.  I found some great things on sale for Joel (NOT for Connor because that kid does not need one more article of 4T clothing! I already feel guilty for how much he has!)  After shopping, the three of us went to the Cheesecake Factory and sat and talked for the next 2 hours...it was great!  Such a fun way to end a crazy day and it was so nice to unwind.  Well, time for bed now and physical therapy in the early morning.  I am really hoping I get a nap in somewhere tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!  I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already, but I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend and hopefully one without any machines in my bathroom!

Day 350

Well, just 15 days left of the blog...and that much time until my lil 2 year old turns 3...I can't believe it!

I barely slept last night because the air mattress had a hole and Ginger was up at 6....sure feel like a mom of a newborn now!

This morning was a bit crazy, but I am thankful Joel made it off to Ocean Camp, Connor and I made it home, and we both got to eat breakfast...it was indeed a happy moment to SIT and eat my breakfast after attempting to for 2 hours lol.

I found out my babysitter had the flu and so did her children, so Connor was off to my mom's house today.  I am SO thankful that worked out alright!  It was rough going for a while, but I got to play with Ginger on and off today and that was a lot of fun.  Her retriever instinct is starting to kick in and it is fun to throw toys and have her bring them to me!

I was off to work today for a bit and that was nice.  I had a good time with my kids and then I did dinner with my mom, David, and the boys at a Greek restaurant.  My boys love gyros!  There is a little water area out in front of the restaurant and the boys were giddy that we let them play in the water tonight.  It has been so hot, and it was only water.  They had a blast and wore themselves out splashing and running around.  It is always nice to see how well they get along and how much they love one another.

The bathroom continues to dry out and get cleaned out.  I talked with the contractor tonight and he said we can choose a bathtub that we want as well as tile for the flooring, so that was a happy moment! 

The boys are asleep now and I am so thankful for that!  I am hoping to head to bed in a few minutes.  Today, the happy moments were the little things like getting my hair done for the first time in almost 3 months.  I got it cut shorter because I can FINALLY blow dry it with a round brush!  What a happy moment to be able to do that with my arm!  I am thankful for the happy moments on Facebook and finding really funny phrases to post about mommyhood.  I am looking forward to tomorrow and hoping that we get to do some fun things along with the necessary things of the week!  Have a good night all!

Day 349

WOW!  Tuesday is over!  Hope all of you had a good day with happy moments.  I am so sleepy!  Well, time to bring on the happiness from the day!

I dropped a happy Joel off at Ocean Camp again today.  I am so happy that it makes him happy!  We stopped by to visit my dad at his work for a bit.  It always brightens Connor's day to hang out there and get fed whatever my dad has stashed in his desk lol.  After Dad's work, Connor and I came home and hung out for a while and did the potty training thing....this kid is SO stubborn!  Hoping all of the bribes that I keep telling him he will get will start to work soon! 

I got my lunch ready and put Connor down for a nap...what a nice little break to watch the Olympics!  Equestrian Jumping is one of my favorites and it was fun to catch up with some other sports as well.  After nap, it was time to pick Joel up.  We got him and headed to a pizza place for an early dinner. 

David watched the kids so I could go to my first MOPS meeting as a table leader.  I am so blessed to be doing that this year and I can't wait to meet the ladies at my table and lead them in prayer and help them on their journeys as moms and women of God.  It was so nice spending time with my friends and learning more about MOPS.  We had some great dessert and fun lady talk time.  It was truly needed this week!


Well, the bathroom is coming along.  They ripped out everything and put in a dehumidifier today.  That has to stay in and then they are putting in a HEPA filter tomorrow to get rid of the rest of the mold.  The happy moment will be when my bathroom is put back together and is an entirely new bathroom!  REALLY looking forward to that!


I hope I get some sleep tonight on the air mattress my parents lent to us.  We can't really sleep in our room right now because it is like a sauna and the machine is pretty noisy...fun times camping in the boy's room!

Day 348

Good evening all!  Tonight will be happy moments bullet style....enjoy!

• Got up this morning and, after our crazy dash out the door and letting the contracters in to demolish the bathroom, Joel was at Ocean Camp, and Connor and I enjoyed a nice breakfast at a restaurant in Dana Point.
• I took Connor and Ginger to a park after dropping off my timecard...payday!!  We had fun playing there and lots of little kids came to pet Ginger.  Also, one of Joel's good friends from school was there.  It was nice to see her mom and the kids.  We made plans to get together next week and play at a different park when Joel is available...so fun!
• We came home and Connor took a nap and I started cleaning up the kitchen a bit.  I made a good dent in the cleaning and got to take a nice break.
• Work went by quickly today and it was a good day!  I came home and we headed OUT to dinner and off to PetSmart to get some more items for miss Ginger...buying her things is just as bad as buying the kids things!  I really wish I could throw a puppy shower...that would help a lot lol.

We got home and Ginger and I headed to my neighbor's house so she could play with their puppy and I could have some girl adult talk time.  David put the kids to bed tonight.  They were not behaving well at all the WHOLE way home, so we will try to do Family Home Evening tomorrow night....their chances of survival are much better that way lol.

Well I am off to bed!  I hope all of you had a great Monday.  Joel had so much fun at camp today and learned so much.  I am so jealous he gets to go to an ocean camp and learn about different things in the ocean!  I would have died and gone to heaven if my parents had signed me up for this when I was little!  I did take an Oceanography class in Jr. High and loved every minute of that....so there is that lol.  Well, all done for the night and ready for sleep.  The demolition continues in the morning.  I hope it all gets put back together better than it was put together the first time!  Boy are they finding nasty stuff in our bathroom!

Day 347

Super excited that Sunday is over and the new week is beginning!  I have a lot planned this week and I hoping that it all happens and is great!

For starters, we made it to church almost on time today and enjoyed a great Sunday!  I got to get up and bear my testimony in church and testify of God's love and how grateful I am for the Book of Mormon, my family, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Little Connor asked me when I got back to my seat, "mommy talk, mommy crying?"  So precious...I told him they were tears of joy :-)

So I got back and taught my class today.  Well, another teacher was not there, so what WAS just 4 of my kids today, turned into 12 4 year olds in a cramped little room...but I managed them!  HAPPY!

It was fun being back in primary and singing songs with the kids. 

When we got home, I took lil Ginger to puppy social at the vet office.  She had a great time playing with other puppies!  I hope she is more worn out tonight...she has more energy than Joel and Connor combined!  But she keeps the boys busy and they all played together this afternoon.  Tonight, Connor fell asleep in just 10 minutes thanks to Ginger!

I got to take a little Sunday nap today and that was SO needed!

Well, it is time to get back to work.  We are cleaning out our bathroom because they are ripping out our tub and replacing the tiles this week.  A homeowner lawsuit is a big happy moment for me because I get a new sparkling bathtub!  I will take it!  It is just going to be a lot of work packing up our bathroom and moving into the boy's for a while.

Well, I am off, but I am so thankful for this beautiful Sunday and all of the happy moments.  I am looking forward to Joel being in camp all week long...he is going to have so much fun!  Take care all!

Day 346

What a fun Saturday today!  It was a busy day full of exciting and happy moments...

We started off the morning getting up and eating a yummy breakfast of Cinnamon coffee cake from Trader Joe's...SUCH a great recipe!

Then we were out the door early this morning to the Circus!  The boys had THE best time watching all of the acts, taking pictures with clowns, taking pictures with family, running around a bouncy house at the Honda Center, and looking at elephants!  I loved sitting there watching them watch it all.  That is one of my favorite things as a parent.  Getting to see things that I did as a child through the eyes of MY own children is simply priceless!  There are no words to describe my joy as I watched Connor, all big eyed, watching the lions roar or the elephants do tricks.  It was so fun snuggling with Joel as we watched 8 motorcycles vroom around in a circular cage!  So thrilling!

After the circus, we went to one of our favorite restaurants in the area.  Twice today, Connor told me he had to use the restroom and he did!  72 hours of naked potty training REALLY paid off this week and I am so happy about that!

We came home and played with Ginger for a little bit.  Then Connor and I took naps while David took Joel to the pool with some friends.

It was a really busy day today, but everyone had so much fun, Ginger included.  I am so thankful for some wonderful happy moments that came our way.  What a great way to end the night!  I teach my class at church tomorrow, so I am off to prepare for that.  Many more happy moments coming tomorrow!

Day 345...20 DAYS to go?!

WOW!  I cannot believe there are only 20 days left of bloggging!  Which also means there are not so many days left until my little 2 year old turns 3!  It is a bit overwhelming, but with each year, the kids do get more and more fun, and we are able to plan different things than when they were younger.

Today was one of those trying days that we moms have sometimes.  Joel woke up and threw up...no fever, just one of his random things he does sometimes.  Connor and Ginger were demanding breakfast, and by 10 AM, I was drenched in sweat and calling David BEGGING him to come home lol.  Thankfully he DID come home by about 1.  I managed to save the day with lots of Nick Jr., Disney Jr. and movies (oh and I just realized why they call it Disney Jr. after all of this time LOL ....it used to be called Playhouse Disney)

So for most of the morning it was taking care of one kiddo, or puppy.  I did alright and when David came home, I got to get out, eat lunch, and go grocery shopping.  So yea we have food now!  I came back home and Joel's friend was headed to a park and we all got invited to go.  So off to the park Joel, Connor, Ginger, and I went to play.  Ginger got to play with our neighbor's puppy and she truly wore herself out...for a little while anyway.

We had fun at the park and we came home and rested from the heat for a little while.  Joel was feeling MUCH better, and because Connor did such a great job potty training, we all went to McDonald's to celebrate.  Connor kept shouting at all of us that we were at McDonald's lol.  We pulled into the parking spot and he kept yelling our names and saying "MCDONALD'S!! LOOK! MCDONALD'S!"  I am not sure if he thought we weren't going to go in or what, but he was sure one happy kid to get to go there.  We ate dinner and the boys played for a long time.  Joel found a little girl to play with and was REALLY sad to leave when it was time. 

We came home and ate some chocolate chip cookies I bought at the store today and all finished watching The Incredibles together.  Even Ginger sat on our laps and was a good girl...yea for family time!  Then it was time to put the little ones to bed.  So I got to read Joel and Connor a story each tonight.  That was nice that there wasn't a mad dash for bed and that I got to really enjoy bedtime tonight.

I am so thankful for my kiddos.  They mean the world to me.  I am so excited for the fun family time we get to do this weekend!  I am looking forward to more happy moments and finding the joy in all that we will do together!  Have a great Friday night all!

Day 344

Pretty boring day today...lots and lots of taking care of three kiddos...I bring you happy moments in bullet form...

• Connor's potty training came along really well today!  He only went through 2 pull ups, so not too bad!  We stayed home most of the day to do naked potty training, but I got a bit cabin feverish, so out to the park we went....Connor's bare tooshie and all lol.  Hey, we had fun and he had a longer shirt on AND he came home and peed in the toilet...I will take what I can get!
• Miss Ginger is still the highlight of our days.  She is so precious and cute and we love her so much.  Training her is tough, and she is for sure more stubborn than Daisy ever was.  My goal is to stop comparing the two and start loving Ginger for who she is....a little stinker lol
• Joel is growing up so much!  He is for sure a KID now and not a preschooler or kindergartner.  He amazes me with how clever he is and how computer smart he is!  He plays video games that David does and loves it!  
• I made dinner tonight for the first time in about 2 weeks!  It was a great meal and I am thankful that we have fruit and veggies delivered to our door every couple of weeks so that I can prepare amazingly fresh meals for the family...YUM!  And who knew Asian Egg Plant could taste so good! LOL

Well that is about it for tonight.  I am so so sleepy!  Hoping to sleep well and make it through my last weekday of the week!  Have a great night and yea for it being almost Friday!

Day 343

Happy Wednesday all!  This week is just flying by and there is so much to do!  Ginger kept us pretty busy today....as expected, but we were able to find some happy moments in the day and enjoy our time as a family.

We started out the morning potty traning both Ginger and Connor.  Connor is being naked potty trained and by about 11 I had pretty much caught cabin fever.  So out to the park, with just a shirt on and nothing else, went Connor, me, and Ginger.  We had fun playing around and Ginger wore herself out!

My parents came over to see Ginger for the first time this afternoon and it was fun to see them meet their newest grand-daughter!  Joel had a fun time telling them about our trip to Utah and all of the fun that he had.

I got to go back to work today, and it was so nice to be back with some of my favorite kiddos.  One kid has come so far, that I am going to be dismissing him at the end of the month.  It makes me sad to see him go, but I am so happy how far his language development has come! 

After work, we left Ginger at home and headed over to Chick-fiil-A for dinner.  Now, the line was about an hour long out the door, and the drive thru was pretty long as well.  Today was support Chick-fil-A day as they have been verbally bashed in the media recently for the head of the company saying that this restaurant is run on biblical values such as traditional marriage and not operating on Sundays.  Well, there were people protesting and boycotting Chick-fil-A after people heard that, twisted it, and turned it into some sort of hateful speech.  So, those of us who support Chick-fil-A and their biblical standards, went there and supported them...us and about a million other people...it was quite a sight!

As we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, David's boss, and owner of his company, walked in with his wife.  David's co-workers also had their wives post on Facebook that they were all going out tonight to Chick fil A as well.  It was fun to see so many people we know there tonight and hear about others going to their nearest restaurant.

To some, this might seem like a weird happy moment, supporting a cause that so many people are against, or think hateful.  But I believe in standing up for what I think is correct and true, and I believe everyone should have a right to their own opinion and not have an OPINION protested.  It was a happy moment for us to stand up and show support for a restaurant that does so so so much GOOD for so many people.

After we came home, Joel and I snuggled on the couch and watched the Olympics for a while as Ginger ran around us and played with her toys.  It was a fun day today and I am hoping to be able to get out a bit more tomorrow with Connor having clothes on....we shall see!  I am so thankful for my little family and all of the blessings that we are enjoying right now!

Day 342 Bringing Ginger Home

Well pretty much the happy moment for the day today was bringing our sweet puppy HOME!  What an incredible and emotional day today.  I am so thankful for this sweet puppy that we have.  At the same time it was emotional because I know that Daisy was smiling down on us all day today, so happy and joyful that we have her sister!  I am sad that Daisy is not here, but I feel so blessed to have a precious puppy to love as well.

Little miss Ginger played hard today.  I got to show her off via text message and going door to door.  We got to visit our friend, Peter, who is moving  in a couple of days.  His dogs were Daisy's best friends, so it makes me a little sad they did not get to meet Ginger, but they will get to next summer....something to look forward to!

Our neighbors here in our little sidewalk area have an adorable Corgi, and he and Ginger played for a really long time today!  They had so much fun and Ginger slept and slept!  It is fantastic to have another dog near for Ginger!

Connor and Joel are so excited to have a puppy and they played with her all day today, taking turns walking her, kissing her, and finally taking a bath with her tonight.  After Ginger's bath, we wrapped her up in a towel and David took her downstairs so I could finish up with the kids.  Well, I came down to find that sweet little girl asleep in David's arms, still wrapped up in the towel!  It was too cute!  So instead of writing any more tonight.  I am going to try and post some pictures from the day.  Ginger truly was my happy moment for the day today.  I feel so lucky to have that sweet girl in our home, and I KNOW Daisy is so happy that we are finding the joy with her sister!

Day 338-341 Vacation Blog

• Friday- after having a day of rest, it was time to get out and go go go again today!  We headed out to our favorite water play area in Provo Canyon, but before that, we got sandwiches at a Provo favorite that everyone talks about back home.  It is called Gandolfo's and really did have amazing bread and even MORE amazing chocolate mousse cake!  So we went up to the canyon and headed over to Bridal Veil Falls.  The boys had THE best time climbing, throwing rocks, splashing, and getting pictures taken.  I had the best time getting to watch them splash and laugh!  It was some great family time, and even when it started to rain, the boys just kept right on playing!  They played for almost 2 hours in the water, but when it started to really rain, Connor got pretty cold, so we headed down to a park for a picnic lunch.  There was a nice park that had a big parking lot, a covered eating area, and a nice playground.  We had such a nice family meal and playtime!  The boys were so happy to have us all together and they loved having David and me watch as they went down slides, chased each other, and made lots and lots of noise!  After all of that, it was back to the house for naps!  Nap time was great and when that was over, we headed over to a great restaurant in Provo, The Brick Oven, to meet a bunch of my family members who live near there.  We had a wonderful dinner catching up and chatting.  Connor was so cute and formed a really quick attachment to my cousin, Kamberly.  They call her the nanny.  She is a nurse at a children's hospital.  I told her she is for sure a child whisperer.  Connor would not leave her side for the rest of the night!  After dinner, we headed over to a church parking lot where another one of my cousins shot of a TON of fireworks (yes that makes 3 nights now lol).  They were loud and amazing, but the boys got really tired so we had to leave early.  We all had such an amazing night and I am so grateful for our wonderful happy moments!

• Saturday-today we packed up and finished some laundry and headed to a hotel for the last 2 nights of our vacation.  The Olympics were on while we did laundry, and it was so fun to have Joel watch them with me!  Four years ago, we did not leave the house for 2 weeks while the Olympics were on.  It was so fun to see Joel get excited about archery and swimming.  After the laundry was done and we said our thank yous and goodbyes to the White Family, we headed to the hotel.  We got an upgrade like we did last year and it was SUCH a happy moment to go to the room with a king size bed and a pull out couch in another room for the boys!  We were blessed for that!  After getting to the hotel, we headed right back out again to go to my cousin's house.  We all headed out together to Heber Valley for some dinner at a really cute diner and then it was off to the demolition derby that we had waited an entire year to see!  Connor was SO cute, he sat next to Kamberly for a long time and snuggled down.  He barely moved!  She has some special power on that little boy's heart!  The demolition derby was amazing and the boys had such a great time watching the cars crashing together....ok on this one we ALL had a great time watching the cars smash into one another!  What a great night!  AND we also got to try Utah's famouse Hawaiin shaved ice for the first time....Pina Colada mixed with Tiger's Blood was just OUTSTANDING!  It was really great because it was pretty warm and sunny for a while so we all appreciated the ice concoction....very refreshing!  We made it back to the hotel safely and enjoyed an AMAZING night's rest!

• Sunday came around and Connor slept in until almost 10AM!  We decided since it was our last official day of vacation to make it a vacation day.  We went to a restaurant called Chuck A Rama for breakfast/lunch and the boys LOVED eating their yummy scones.  It was a nice lazy day.  We headed back to the hotel and had some really nice family time.  After that, Connor and I took a Sunday nap while David took Joel out for some father/son time.  Later on, we headed back to the White's home where Robin cooked an amazing dinner for us all!  It was so nice and we got to enjoy cookies out in the backyard while the kids played.  What a perfect way to end our vacation!  I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family and I am so thankful for the time that we spent with them all...if only we had another week, we could do even MORE things!  All good things must come to an end I guess, but it sure was fun while it lasted!

• Today was an 11 hour drive back home....it is 8 hours from Provo to our home, but with two crazy children and potty and food breaks, well, 11 hours it was!  For the most part they did alright, and the DVD player and tablet got used A LOT today!  I got to drive for quite a while and I have learned that I love to have a head phone in one ear and listen to my favorite Pandora station while I drive.  It keeps me from listening to the kids fight, and I am able to focus on the drive more.  So 11 hours later, we pulled into our community and got to see our neighbor who is moving in a couple of days.  We are going to miss him and his family so much, but next summer, we are planning a BIG drive to go and see them in Oregon, so that is a very happy thing to look forward to!

 I feel so blessed that we made it home in safety.  What a great vacation that was!  There is still so much to look forward to this summer with Joel going to camp, Connor hopefully getting potty trained, and us getting our puppy tomorrow!  Looking forward to blogging about it all.....not too many days of blog left!

Day 334-337

Well, being on vacation did not leave much time for blogging, but it DID give me time for many happy moments!  Since it WAS a vacation, I am going to mesh a few days together to go over the happiest of the moments....so I give you Monday through Thursday on this blog....

• Monday was a fun day filled with going to Temple Square, enjyoing an organ recital, taking pictures, and then off to the Church History Museum kid's area to play play play!  We had the best time doing SO many family things!  After all of that, Connor was in need of a nap, so Joel and I walked around the new City Creek Mall area and had SO much fun shopping and sight seeing!  (I also got two new pairs of shoes that I have been looking for in California for a long time so YEA for that!)

• Tuesday was Pioneer Day in Utah and BOY do they like to celebrate!  We watched a parade on TV while getting ready for our day.  Then we headed to the Gateway kid's science center and the boys had a blast playing there.  We went back to the hotel for naps and then off to Thanksgiving Point where there is the largest collection on dinosaur bones in the world.  We spent a few hours exploring and Joel and Connor LOVED looking at all of the fossils and bones!  Then we headed to our friend's, the White Family, to spend a few days there.  We bought some fireworks on sale at the local store and after Connor went to bed, the White family, their daughter, Joel, and the rest of us set off fireworks with a few hundred of their neighbors!  Imagine July 4th on steroids....that is what Pioneer Day is like in Utah!  They legalized aerial fireworks this year and some of the neighbors were shooting them off until well pas midnight!  It was so fun!  Joel had the best time watching his dad light the fireworks and he begged us to do it again....then off to bed we went at about 11:30 that night!

 

•  Wednesday (day 336) was a fun day in the sun!  We headed up to Heritage Park (or what is sometimes called This is The Place Monument).  Where the pioneers first came in to the Salt Lake Valley.  It is now a fun pioneer town full of crafts for kids, train rides, pony rides, old pioneer houses to tour, a general store, restaurants, and more!  We saw a really neat Native American act and had these really cute doughnuts...Connor's favorite part of the day I am sure!  It was some really nice family time together!  We also got to try a slushie with the flavor Tiger's Blood.  Now, that name should have thrown me off, but I have heard good things from people in line lol.  So we tried it...SO good!  So don't be thrown by the name if you ever get shaved ice or a slushie...go with it...it might sound gross, but boy is it yummy!  The boys had fun playing in the water at the park with a pioneer lol.  My happiest moment from the day was just being with all three of my boys and watching them all smile!  Later on, we did another firework show with Joel and the White Family's oldest daughter.  We didn't end up getting to bed until almost midnight again, but we had SO much fun shooting off fireworks that flew into the air!  It is amazing what you can buy and do outside of California!

• Thursday- after doing so much and getting to bed really late the night before, we took it really easy and spent much of the day resting.  We went to breakfast with Robin White at this restaurant called Kneaders.  Oh my!  What an amazing place!  They have the most incredible all you can eat cinnamon French toast!  So if you are ever in Utah, that is the breakfast to have!  We all loved it and it was a great breakfast for the little kids as well!  We came back to the house and everyone took naps.  It was nice to have some down time that day!  That night for dinner, we went and had Five Guys burgers.  They are putting one near where we live and Joel cannot wait to get another hamburger from there!  We spent a lot of time at the house and all the kids got to play together.  It was a true day of being lazy and being on vacation!

So there are some of my vacation days!  I will make the next blog the rest of the days.  We had so much fun and I am so thankful for all of the happy moments that I was able to capture on film as well as in my heart.  It isn't easy being on vacation with two children sometimes, but other times it is worth all of the stress when the kiddos are so happy and enjoying one another!  Until my next blog!

Day 333 HEE HEE HEE

Wow, I just can't believe I am 333 days down!  I am so glad that we have internet access here at the hotel so I can blog!  I am not sure about what will happen when we stay with friends and family later on this week, but for now I am enjoying being able to type on a regular basis.

Today was so peaceful and spiritual.  We went to church with our friends that we are staying with in a few days.  Joel and Connor had a great time in primary and nursery and I got to hear my friend give a lesson in Young Women...it was really great!

After church, we headed over to a buffet place that the kids LOVE and had a late lunch/early dinner.  We came back to the hotel and took a great Sunday nap....YEA for Sunday naps!

After nap time, we headed out so the kids could get their wiggles out.  We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City and walked around the temple grounds.  We went inside the Tabernacle and took some cute pictures of the kids.  After that, we went to the grassy area on the other side of the Tabernacle and let the kids run for a bit.  (The Tabernacle is home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.....hoping to hear them sing on Tuesday!)

The kids had fun running around and I got some cute pictures of them by the temple and on the grass.  We are going back tomorrow to do more things at the large Temple Visitor's Center.  We decided to walk over to the Conference Center and see if we could look around.

WOW!  If you are ever in Salt Lake City and want to take a tour of one of the most amazing buildings with some of the most beautiful artwork, go to the Conference Center!  We were there touring for more than an hour looking at original pieces of art, water fountains, gardens, and the inside of the Conference Center itself where our semi-annual General Conference is held.  21,000 seats with no beams or posts to obstruct anyone's view!  AMAZING!

After a wonderful evening, we headed back to the hotel where we put the kids to bed and I got to finish watching the last episode of the Bachelorette.  Joel was so cute because he was still awake and when the guy was proposing to the bachelorette, Joel kept saying, "please say yes! Please say yes!"  It was adorable!  I told him he will get to ask a girl that someday!

Well all, time for bed and hopefully another great day tomorrow!  Going to try and start the day off with some Lion House Cinnamon Rolls...we hear they sell out quickly so we will see!

Day 332

Fun day today!  We made it to Salt Lake City and enjoyed the drive along the way.  We stopped at one place and loaded up on slushees, yum!  When we got to Salt Lake, we walked around and ate lunch at one of our favorite lunches from last year.  We are going to try to eat breakfast there on Monday morning as they were out of cinnamon rolls this afternoon!

After our lunch, we took a drive up to the Salt Lake Cemetery.  Now, a cemetery tour on vacation might not sound like too much fun, but it is something my family and I have done for years.  There are many prophets who have passed away buried there, and more importantly, a lot of my ancestors are buried there!  We weren't sure that we would be able to find the Hill gravestones because it is a huge cemetery, but after driving around for a bit, we found the headstones!  It was really neat to get out and take pictures of the kids at the grave of their great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents!  The boys also were able to get their wiggles out running up and down the grass....who knew cemeteries could be fun right?

So we checked into our room and are really happy to have both a microwave and refrigerator....that is going to come in handy with the milk and snacks we packed....small happy moments are the best!

I am so thankful that we get to be here!  I hope we get to enjoy lots of fun moments and happy family time....I also hope Connor takes a nap soon because traveling with a NON napping toddler is not all fun all the time lol  Happy Saturday all!

Day 331

Hello from the road!  Lots and lots of driving today.  And driving with children for 6 hours may not bring too many happy moments lol.  They actually did pretty good and I am proud how they treated each other....mostly. 

So off we went at 6 AM.  I have Pandora on my cell phone and I was able to plug in my head phones and put one of the little speakers in my ear.  That way, I was able to listen to the kids and help them out when they needed it, but be able to tune out any whining or little noises....it was great!  I love that I can listen to whatever music I want to!

We made great time and when we got to the hotel, we were the only people here!  So I let the boys run up and down the hallway of the 3rd floor, outside our room.  They had the best time and I am pretty sure they thought mom was a little coo coo for letting them do something that is usually a big time no no....hey, when on vacation!

After settling down, we got on our swimsuits and headed to the indoor pool.  The boys had a lot of fun swimming with mom and dad!

After swimming, we went to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants that is not in California, Cracker Barrel!  Yummy food as always!

After dinner, we drove over to see the Saint George Temple.  It is interesting.  I remember the temples being much more gated off than they are now.  I don't remember being able to walk the grounds or see the visitor center when I was little...but I am so glad my kids have that chance!  Joel and I walked around the temple and watched as a bride was getting her pictures taken in front of the temple steps.  It was a great moment to talk with Joel about eternal marriage and he was so cute!  We have a list that he has been making for a long time about what to look for in a bride.  Well, he told me he wanted to add one to his list lol, she has to like playing video games with him..."that's a must!"  I told him that was a good idea....I love playing video games with David and some of those games are really fun!

So that was our day one of happy moments here.  Hope everyone is having a nice summer and staying cool because my goodness it is HOT here!

Day 330...35 days to go!

WOW, I can't believe I am down to just a little over a month until I am done blogging!  What an adventure this has been to do this every day!  I have actually found books where people wrote down happy things every day for a year and then wrote about that experience, lol I don't think I will be doing that, but I will treasure my 365 day blog for a long time and I hope my children and their children get to read it to learn and to grow from my experiences because what a YEAR it has been!

As we look forward to heading to Utah, I think back to last year when we went.  We went to ease our heartache over the loss of our puppy and to find some joy in another state.  Little did we know that we were just at the beginning of what would be a VERY long journey of surgeries and emotional trials.  I am so looking forward to finding the joy in Utah once more, but this time, no urgent cares please :-)  My dad actually had emergency gall bladder surgery in Utah one summer when we were up there, but that was taken care of for me in October last year, so really, we should be good LOL.

Lots of laundry and getting things done today.  Joel had a great time at Vacation Bible School, and what better way to end his time there and begin our trip to Utah with learning about Jesus today?  I am so thankful he came home with a little testimony that Jesus lived and that he died for us and that if we live good lives and believe in Him, that we can go to Heaven someday.  Hopefully that little foundation of faith can be strengthened as we tour Temple Square and visit sites where we feel the spirit and the love of God.

One of the BEST happy moments today did not happen to me, but I got to be an onlooker to such a sweet act of love, that it warmed my soul from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes!  I was taking Connor up the stairs for nap time today when he asked if he could get a Joely kiss...or as he calls kisses "puss."  So he asked, "Joely puss mommy!  Joely hug!"  So I asked Joel if he could come give Connor a hug and kiss good night.  Well, on the stairs, there were both boys, hugging and kissing one another and being beyond sweet.  Oh that those moments would last forever!  You better believe this mommy praised them like crazy for the love that they were giving to one another.  It was beyond sweet and I am so thankful for that sweet happy moment I just got to sit back and enjoy!

Well, I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!  I cannot wait to see what happy moments happen and I pray for a safe journey for us and anyone else traveling this summer!

Day 329

My blogging is all caught up tonight!  I don't know what I am going to do when we go on vacation soon.  I might just blog offline and then add it all when we get back home so I can keep track of it, and be able to post all of the vacation blogs at once.  We shall see!

Today was another busy day.  I am trying to get road trip folders ready for the boys so they have plenty of writing and coloring to do in the car and not just watching the DVD player the entire trip.  I used to love looking outside the car and watching the cars, plants, animals, and other people go by.

Joel had his second day of Vacation Bible School and he loved every minute of it.  I am so thankful he is learning about people from the Bible and sharing it with me!  Connor and I took a trip to Target and got lots of snack items for the rest of the summer, and for our road trip.

I got to visit teach one of the ladies in my ward today.  She has a 2 month old baby who is out of this world adorable!  It was so fun oooing and aaahing and getting to talk to the little baby.  Connor had a lot of fun giving the baby toys and trying to put the Paci in the baby's mouth....he would make such a great big brother! (No we are not having any more children...it is just an observation that can never have a conclusion :-(  )

So then after that, we got Joel from VBS and had some free time at home.  Joel and I watched Ghostbusters upstairs and Connor watched a Baby Einstein downstairs...it was a lot of fun and I am glad that Joel is starting to like movies I used to when I was little.

After work, I got to go out to dinner with my friend, Tara.  She is moving next week and I won't get to see her much after tomorrow.  I am so sad she is moving, but so happy for her and her family's new adventure!  Everyone needs a great adventure now and then, and I think they are going to have a good one in their new place where they are moving.  We ate at a nice Italian restaurant and had a great time talking.  After dinner, I got to go to her house and see her dogs.  Both of her dogs were Daisy's best friends and they are a big reason why we love Golden Retrievers so much.  I had THE best happy moment getting licked, hugged, and nuzzled by Riley and Bella tonight!  One of my favorite happy moments of the day was getting my ear and armed licked over and over again!  I can't wait to bring our puppy home so I can have that everyday.  Dogs are so amazing!

Well, I am off to bed.  Lots to get done tomorrow, but I am grateful for today and all of the joy that I found!  Have a great night and check back tomorrow for more happy moments made!

Day 328 Tuesday

Finally getting caught up on the computer with my happy moments!  Since I was gone all weekend, I had to write my happy moments down on paper and then transfer them to the blog....gotta keep it going even IF it is just on paper for the day!

So today was a fun day with the kids.  Summer time is so wonderful!  I love being able to spend this much time with Joel and Connor and today was no exception!  We headed out to Legoland today for some fun in the sun.  It was wonderful and so nice that Joel could ride by himself.  It made him SO happy to go alone on some rides and it was nice that I could ride with Connor without Joel feeling left out.  We had a nice lunch and then hit the little water area inside Legoland.  The boys played for over an hour running around.  After that, we did some more fun rides on the other side of the park.  My cousin, Heather, was at Legoland with her family, so we got to meet up with them towards the end of the day and play with her kids for a while.  It was a lot of fun and Joel and Connor were so cute when it was photo time with the cousins!

We headed home happy and tired tonight.  On the way out, I bought the boys cold cereal and milk for dinner to eat in the car....it was quite a treat and they were quietly eating most of the way home!  I put Connor right to bed tonight and Joel got to stay up and play on the computer while I did some unwinding and eating dinner downstairs.  After a while, I gave Joel a bath, gave him a haircut, and then put him to bed.  It was nice just putting one kid to bed at a time tonight.  They each got some quality mommy time in!

After a while, I got to talk to my mom on the phone, David came home, and I began to type up my happy moments on the blog.

Overall it was a great day but a busy one!  I can't wait for tomorrow!  The weather has been so nice lately.  Looking forward to getting things done for our upcoming trip!

Day 327 Monday

Happy Monday all!  Not a lot going on today, but happy moments happened nonetheless!  Here they are!

• It was a lazy morning this morning.  After a while, I took Joel over to Vacation Bible School at my friend Lauren's house and then I went and took Connor to get a hair cut....he looks so cute now!  

• After lunch and putting Connor down for a nap, Joel got to go and play at our neighbor's house for a bit.  I got a power nap that was fabulous!  Then it was off to work...it was a great day at work and my one kid who usually gets really upset was calm the whole time...yea!
• After work, I came home to help David with dinner.  We had a nice family meal and then got the kids rushed off to bed so we could do a PJ run!  We got them out of bed right after we put them INTO bed with the flashing of lights...they get what is going on now so it is really fun!  We went to McDonald's this time and had ice cream.  The play area was totally empty so Joel and Connor got to play just the two of them!  That was quite the treat!  We also did Family Home Evening there and talked about what we are grateful that God made.  David said me....aw so sweet!  Joel said Corn....not sure why he is grateful that God made corn, but we went with it lol.  I am very grateful that God made animals.  They bring so much joy into my life and I am thankful for ALL of the wonderful happy moments I have had with animals over the years.

• After the boys went to bed, I went to my friend Lauren's house again and we watched The Bachelorette together.  Her husband ended up watching it with us as well and it took us about 3 hours to watch it because we were having so much fun commenting on it and talking about our trip to Ojai with her husband!  Fun times!  I am so thankful to have friends to watch fun TV shows!

 Today was a fun day.  I am glad that I go to have so many happy moments with the kids.  They are my little treasures, but they are growing up so fast!  Tonight while brushing Joel's teeth, I found that two 6 yr molars are growing in!  Time goes by quickly raising kids, but I am so thankful that I can write down some moments of joy each night from the day.  I hope you all had a great start to your week!  Until tomorrow!

Day 326 Sunday

One last day at Ojai today....boo!  All good things must come to an end, but what a good thing it was!
We started out our morning eating breakfast at the same restaurant where we ate dinner.  There was a really nice breakfast buffet with make your own waffles and an omelet station...OH YEAH!  It was so yummy!  Then we headed back to our rooms to clean up for check out.  I went with my friend Lindsey to the shops and did some shopping for the kiddos.  I got Joel a cute watch and I can't wait to give it to him in the morning!

After shopping, we got our bathing suits on and hit the pool.  I stayed in the shade and read magazines, ate a great lunch, and then did some swimming with friends.  We didn't stop doing all of the above until around 6 PM when we loaded up the car and headed for LA.

In LA, we stopped by Tito's Tacos for a bit of late night dinner.  The drive home was great and we had a great time girl talking it up!  The food at Tito's did NOT disappoint and we all left the restaurant happy and full and ready to go home!

I got home at about 10:30 tonight so I will have to see the kiddos in the morning.

What a fabulous trip this was!  I learned so much about plants from one girl who is a landscape architect.  I had more fun listening as she pointed out the name of various plants.  Our planet is amazing and I am so grateful I got to take the time this weekend to appreciate all of the beauty on it!  I am so thankful I spent two full days with some wonderful women and got to know some other ladies I didn't know before.  I am thankful that my husband watched the kids so I could get away and relax....I truly do have an amazing man and I called him and told him so about every hour on the trip lol....he NEEDS to know!

So that is the end of my adventure for the weekend!  Bring on Monday and all of the fun things in store for the week!  Going to be a fast week, but a good one!

Day 325 Saturday

WOW!  What a fun filled day today was!  We met at my friend Lauren's house at 7:45 this morning and were off to Ojai!  The drive didn't take long and when we got there, I was off to the spa for some treatments.  Now, I have never done almost a whole DAY at a spa before.  But my sweet husband told me to go and have fun and relax.....after all, I am currently off ALL medications, so relaxing and being completely stress free is what is going to keep me FLARE free for the time being.  Oh how relaxing it was!  My nails looked great, my feet felt SO loved after all of the massaging, and I was full of herbal tea!  It was such an amazing day at the spa!

After all of my spa treatments, I headed to the adult pool to join the rest of the gals.  It was a fun time sitting and visiting with them for a while before we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner.  Dinner was at a fabulous restaurant at the resort and we spent about 3.5 hours talking, eating, and laughing really really hard!  Some of the best medicine I have had in a long time!

After dinner, we headed back to the suite where some of the ladies were staying and talked for a while.  Now, all of us are moms and lead very busy lives.  So our version of "staying up late" was till about 11pm and then we all turned in because we could sleep without anyone waking us up in the middle of the night! LOL

It was a picture perfect day today in Ojai.  The sunset was amazing, the gardens here on the property are so beautiful, and the weather is so nice and warm!  I am so thankful for this amazing trip and the chance to get to know some lovely ladies even better!  Until tomorrow!