Manos Arriba!

Kim captured this great picture of Gunner this weekend. He fell down while running through the dirt and then I brought him home. He was in a happy mood and when we said, "manos arriba!" this is what we got. "Manos arriba" means "hands up"in Spanish, and is the equivalent of "stick 'em up" in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. Just one of Gunner's many cool tricks (though, he usually sticks both hands in the air).

Thanks Kim.

Turn off the rodeo!

On the third and fourth we went to the Gunlock rodeo. It was a lot of fun, and we love the tradition of going to this rodeo every year (often on multiple nights). Gracie chased chickens both nights (an event in the arena for all the kids- if you catch a chicken, you can trade it in for a dollar or keep it). Gunner sat next to us like an old rodeo spectator, clapping at all the right times and singing intermittently. We stayed both nights until about 10:30- which is early in terms of the Gunlock rodeo, but late in terms of 1 and 3 year olds. :)
Our little family. I think this is a cute picture, but sorry I didn't crop out the background people :)
Gracie loving a snow cone. By the way, the title of this post comes from Gracie. She says most words right, but calls the radio the rodeo. She likes to call up to us from the back seat and ask us to turn the "rodeo" off. It makes me smile every time.
Father and son. This was the first night.

A little bit of heaven

I realize that I have been HORRIBLE at sharing our summer with all of you. And I probably wouldn't change my ways, but we have 2 sets of grandparents that are missing all the fun and who might not even recognize our kids if I don't finally post some pictures. The picture above is Larry and Carol Ann's place in Pine Valley (where we are living for the summer). I took this picture from the fishing pond behind the house. Isn't it beautiful?Justin got ambitious when BOTH kids wanted a shoulder ride. What a nice dad!Can you believe these curls? We can't, but we LOVE them. Gunner is starting to talk and is saying all kinds of words. This morning he said "boy". He also says: cow, Mom, Dad, cat, dog, shhhh, happy, chip (for chips and there is also a horse named chip), good job, let's go, diaper, milk, and he'll say a few others here and there. There are also a few words that he sings, like, "Hello" (so cute- I really need to record it because it makes me melt every time.) He's getting to the point where he is starting to try to copy more and more words.Gunner with Justin's cousin Jordan. Looks like he'll be mowing with Gardner Lawn Mowing in no time.Gracie at the pond. She loves climbing on the rocks and playing with her many cousins. A funny story from a few days ago. I was listening to Allison Krauss and cleaning our room when Gracie suddenly turned the music off.
Maggie: Gracie, why did you turn the music off? Were you trying to make me sad?
Gracie: No, Mom. I just didn't like the beautiful voice.

She makes me laugh.

Soon the duet will become a trio... lady ode lady odelay

Yes!! Baby #3 is on her way. I am 15 weeks and due on November 29th. I had my first dr. appt./ ultrasound last week (the reason this wasn't on my blog sooner). The baby has a strong heartbeat and they told me that they are 99% sure it is a GIRL!! So fun!! We are really excited and can't wait to add more people to the party.

Sorry for the lack of blogging. We have no internet in Pine Valley and I haven't been in St. George much. Hope you all are doing well.

Pine Valley

Hello There! I just thought I would give a quick update. I promise I'll post pictures next time I post. We made it to Pine Valley safely and have loved the nice weather (and the cold weather:). Justin is mowing lawns with Jeff (his brother) and the kids and I are exploring and having fun. We've been able to see a lot of local family and were also able to see my parents and some of my siblings on our way down. Have I ever mentioned that we LOVE Utah? We do- and we love our families and being able to see them. We miss those of you who we haven't seen in the past week and a half.
Justin finished the semester just over a week ago, so we officially only have 3 school years left. Still sounds long, doesn't it? But... it has gone quickly and we like Colorado, and his program, and our ward and friends there.
Anyway, I thought that in case there is anyone who still checks my blog that I should at least give a status update. More later.

Optimism

An article from the church news recapped the address President Thomas S. Monson gave to graduates at Weber State University. While discussing attitude he said,

"You too, can choose to have a positive attitude. You can't direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails. In other words, you can choose to be happy and positive, regardless of what comes your way. The definition of an optimist, according to one man, 'is someone who isn't sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play.' "

I guess the drama queen in me really related to this. It reminded me that I need to enjoy the play a little more and "act well my part". This has kind of been one of those weeks. Gunner is teething, I'm packing, Justin's studying, and Gracie is getting cabin fever with pre-school being over and not spending enough time at the park. I do need to cherish these moments though- I will miss them, right??? Two more thoughts and then I'll be done-

1) This morning, Gunner woke up at 5am crying and crying (he didn't even stop when I picked him up and held him). He cried off and on until 8am and I was up with him the whole time just trying to comfort and guess his needs. I was so tired. Gracie came down and snuggled up to us on the couch. I asked her to sing Gunner a song to help him feel better. In her best "lovely loud" primary voice she sang, "Mother, I love you. Mother, I do." It was so sweet and I loved that Gunner stopped crying to listen. It was just what I needed to get through the day.

2) A few days ago at an RS activity my visiting teacher was there with her tiny, brand new baby. Her baby started to fuss and that's when I looked over and thought, "Oh, how sweet". Then I caught myself. What?? A crying baby? I laughed inside thinking that this mother was probably feeling stressed out, and here I was thinking that anything the baby did was precious just because she was so new and tiny. It was one of those glimpses into those "you're going to miss this" moments. (People always tell me that when my kids are throwing tantrums at the store. I haven't quite caught the glimpse of missing that just yet).

So... let's go on with the show.

Organizing

I'm sure I've confessed to all of you that I'm a packrat. I'm actually a recovering packrat, and trying to overcome my "old self". We've all heard the idea that even if an alcoholic stops drinking, they will always be an alcoholic an have to overcome that temptation on a daily basis. That's me with stuff. The cartoon below is kind of silly.

It IS getting better. With our 12th move in 5 years rapidly approaching, I'm trying to purge again. For those of you who have not heard, we are moving to Pine Valley in about 9 days. No, we aren't quitting school. No, we aren't moving anything but ourselves and the truck full of our summer stuff. We will come back to FC in August. Our great friends are moving in for the summer and I decided that some major organization needed to take place before someone else was looking in my cupboards.

Anyway, I've taken some big steps lately:
- Throwing out 6 pairs of black tights from the mission (6 PAIRS??? Yes, glad to see them go. Not sure why I've held on to them for almost 6 years since I got home).
-Got rid of all my Sunday dresses from high school that I knew I would wear all the time when I was a mom. Nein, danke. At the same time, Justin gave away most of his mission shirts (this was actually last Spring).
- Ditching my high school pajama pants that were worn and hideous.
-Gave away sweaters and shirts that I've been hanging onto in case I get super skinny and none of my other clothes fit.
-Matching every sock in the house and throwing out the rest. AND- throwing out socks with holes.
-Organizing tupperware- throwing out stuff with missing lids and getting it down to a manageable size (I threw out all "extra containers" like sour cream and cool whip containers).
-Filing papers that I have had in stacks
-organizing closets

Sorry for the super long post. My main reason for posting is wondering what the rest of you do to stay organized. I would love any and all tips.