March is almost come and gone. We are settled into the regular early year routine. No big holidays, so it's school, school, school. When the weather is warm the kids are outside all the time, we encourage it. We all are looking forward to summer and vacations. I have learned a good deal about patience. I want my room done like yesterday, but I am now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I will be patient to wait. We are a week away from new carpet, my Dad had to order a tool to fasten the wood floor with before we can put the carpet down. But I see all the things that we have done and I am content to wait it out. Everyone is healthy, school it trudging along...

Here is January, February and March in picture.

Tayla's class has hero week for each child, they get to be the hero. She had her week and they bring in a flag that represents them and their family, so Tayla (with a little help) made this flag with our pictures on it.

They have a bear at the school and all the kids get a chance to bring it home for a day or two, they then take a scrapbook page to show their time together. The kids get so excited for their turn to come...

Jack attack, with two different eyes. Not something you see everyday...

I like this photo of him, the other shows the eyes better...

I worked for hours on this, Joy had a friend who made one for a bridal shower gift. I really liked the idea and had this old frame that I had around for a long time. I really love it!

Here is our new closet!!!!!

My private sink goes where the clothes are hanging. We got to putting everything in and realized that it wouldn't all fit the way I had hoped. I had already planned to finish my sink later, when we had done other more important things (and had some more money...) So I donated my space with the plan that when we can we will remove the armoirs and replace with a wall system that will cover the whole wall, like the units classy closets make...

I am so glad that I thought of the bench it is great to put things on, and to shave my legs!!! On the other side of the glass block is my shower, completely walk in. I could not believe that all the shower places I visited online where not walk in they were step over the stoop and in. I was finally able to find a company that sells a membrane that went under the tile to make it water proof. My Dad put in so much work to design and slope the floor to make my dream a reality...

His and her heights...

The door to the closet (left) and to the hall (right...)

I picked these armiors up at K-mart a year and a half ago, they were on clearance. I got them for a sweet deal. Our store in the valley sold out so I called down to Salt Lake and found one store that happened to have two. The lady there that evening held them for me and my sister went and picked them up for us.... Yea, love an awsome bargain!!!

Door from the bathroom into the closet that Scott is putting together. You go from the bedroom to the closet into the bathroom. The door to the bedroom is around the corner to the right...

I didn't arrange this. I looked over to the couch and here they were. They were sleeping, but the sound of the camera shutter always wakes them up. I took several shots before Jack jumped down to try to get a closer look at the camera.

Lizzy and Malachi set up this lovely scene. The ape is "Omp" and belongs to Malachi and the Bear is Lizzy's. They put this together in the china cabnit that was newly hung on the dinning room wall, I have since painted it black.

The chef was at the other end...

Esther turned 7 at the end of the year but we celebrated it with her friends in January. We had a lua.... They had lots of fun...

Eating pizza...

Tayla put Jack in her purse...

What a character he is...

Here they are sleeping in my bed, they will come in and sleep during the night until Scott gets home and kicks Aggie out to the kids room...

I was checking out my new flash diffuser... without...

With.....

Need I say a thing...

Cris loves Jack but found in a couple of days of him being with us that he is allergic... He does fine as long as he doesn't sleep with him, and washes his hands. His eyes get itchy and puffy if he is not careful. This was taken before the reactions came on strong.

Thanksgiving 2009

For Thanksgiving we loaded up the family and headed south to Dixie. The weather was wonderful! We stayed at a condo with a pool and enjoyed a little swimming. I managed to keep up my running schedule, enjoying the warmer weather and palm trees. Growing up in Southern Nevada for me it was all the memorise... Our family lived in St. George for about 9 months and I was just amazed at the changes to the area. I was determined to take my kids to Las Vegas where I spent most of my childhood, but we never made it, I had planned on going to Mesquite, where my Grandparents had lived. But we never got out of St. George. Our days were filled with sight seeing and being with Bob and joy and Bob's parents. So now I am determined that we will go again and make it to Mesquite and Vegas. The grand canyon, maybe... I have a fear of heights and am shocked that the Hover damn is still just a wall away from death....So that one may have to wait until they are in their 30's...
I have always enjoyed the beauty of the desert, but am the first to admit that the summer time is not enjoyable at all. The kids fell in love with the red sand and rocks; the cactus and palm trees and the wonderful weather. They all vow they will go there to go to school when they graduate, I wonder what a summer vacation might do to their plans! We drove down on Saturday, took most of the day with all the stops. We dropped Aggie off at my sisters in West Jordan. That was hard, will they take good care of my baby, she is exuberant and their dogs are old and mellow, will she get out of the yard and lost or stolen. Will she be miserable and feel abandoned? Oh, I am obnoxious! But I did it, and I was able to spend the entire week without being stressed about it. Of course... I did have Paige text McKayla to see how she was doing. They enjoyed having a puppy again for a week, but I know the feeling of having the mom come and take the child away! So we were happy to get her back and they were happy to be done puppy sitting.
Sunday we attended church with grandpa and grandma. For me it was a relief to spend a Sunday elsewhere and not have the raw reminder that my Sundays were not the same anymore. Being released from my calling has been so hard. Harder then I would have ever imagined. After church we walked over to a park around the corner from the grandparents.

The park has a pond with ducks and so we took some old bread and fed them. Here is Malachi and Elijah walking around it...

There was also a small waterfall into the pond that came on at intervals.

Tayla and Esther

Tayla feeding a duck. She was so nervous, the kids would drop it on the ground at the last second because they were a little afraid of the bill coming at them!

We drifted over to the play ground and played for a little while. It was getting late and a little chilly by the time we rounded them up to go home. The red head coming down the slide is me and Elijah is on the structure and the blond bomb is Paige....

The kids loved the condo, it was a small two bedroom and by the end they all wanted to sleep on the floor in the living room so they could watch t.v. into the late hours. We don't have cable at home so they all were so glued to the set and turned channels like they just discovered a new toy...

Lizzy slept over with us a couple of nights. Scott had the camera and so Eli and I stuffed popcorn in our faces...

Most people would have to get botox to get lips like that!

Monday morning we went for a hike up the airport mountain. I remember driving up to the airport and looking over the lights in St. George. It has changed so much!!! Where Bob's parents live was just desert wasteland, with no roads through it and now there are communities all over.

Paige is meditating on the path...

Here we are at the top overlooking the city.

This is a group shot overlooking the opposite side, where the grandparents live. Esther was with us, I don't remember why she isn't in the picture, then here is Scott and I.

Tayla at the grandparents home. She keeps toys in the hall closet, that is where the little kids spent most of their time...

After the hike we went back to the Condo and did some pool time. The boys got done sooner then the girls and they played some B-Ball.

Tayla in the pool...

Lizzy hanging from the ladder rail.

Paige in the hot tub, it felt so good!

Tuesday we went to the Brigham Young home. I had not been there since I was a kid. There were things that I remembered about it. The sister missionary who took us on the tour was delightful. She took the family photo for us. Bob and Joy met us later, they had been just a couple of years prior and were not up and ready to go so early...

We went to the Tabernacle afterward and waited for Joy and the kids. Bob was on call until noon and needed to stay at his parents home with the Internet to work. I was surprised by the park next to it. There is this little wading stream that the kids got wet in, it was a cooler day and I really didn't want them to get wet but it was impossible to keep them out, especially Tayla! We were getting a little hungry and found this great old store across the street that sold every old time soda imaginable. Scott got three to try and then we got some warm bread sticks to share. After the tabernacle tour and the Godwin's were with us we went back for ice cream.

This park must be very busy during the summer...

She is such a poser!

This statue is up for sale, at only $24,000. I am certain it is a bargain.... I think the girls add some distinction to it, but they don't come with it...

This was an unusual statue, the photo does nothing to give you the idea of how fun it was...

Had to get a picture with a cactus. This is the first that they have seen their whole lives!!!

After the Tabernacle we went and played miniature golf. What fun, we divided into two teams. I won for ours, I hit so many 2's and 3's, I was laughing so hard. Who would have thought that I could be so good at golf! Scott was anoyed but happy for me... I tried not to rub it in too much...

Here is Tayla with Malachi behind...

Scott taking his shot with the others in the background.

Wednesday Scott, I, Bob and Joy went to the Temple. The kids stayed at Grandparents home. For Scott and I it was especially nice because it was close to our anniversary (18 years) and we got married in the St. George Temple. It was great! I asked Joy to take a few photos for us. So here is what 18 years looks like, not bad...

Scott is a little thicker around the middle and truth be told I am sure I have a couple extra pound. A lot more wrinkles, 4 kids and hopefully more wisdom. But I know I love him more then that day 18 years ago... We never would have imagined all that life has brought us, we may not have acquired all that we had hope materialistically, but the challenges and trials that we have faced have blessed us and made us rich in other ways. We haven't always done it right, but in the end we are better friends and lovers then we have ever been. And if in another 18 years life has gotten sweeter and we have more wrinkles and wisdom then I will count myself very lucky that 36 years previous we knelt at the alter and covenanted with each other and God. Life's blessings do come after the endurance...

He still sweeps me off my feet and makes me smile.

Snow Canyon is beautifull, but when I lived there you didn't pay to go in. I can see the reasoning, the canyon is being preserved and cared for. It was so fun to see it again after all these years. This is on top of a mound of petrified sand and out of the top is growing this tree, where it's root systm is I don't know. What a reminder to bloom where you are planted...

The kids loved climbing and exploring the hill.
We went on friday. Thursday was turkey day and we ate and ate and ate...

Our girls...

Views from the hill looking over the park.

They found an adorable little cactus growing on top and had to get a photo with it. I don't know what I was thinking that morning when Tay got dressed and put on her dress shoes, I knew where we were going, I just didn't think to have her wear better shoes!

This is the classic picture taken to look like you are hanging on for dear life over the edge of a steep cliff.

The kids loved the mokey marbles ( Indian, I am guessing on the spelling) But we had to limit them to two. This caused a great deal of stress and unease amoung the masses. So I offered to photograph the ones they loved but couldn't take with them. Here is Esther with hers.

The Atwins on the hill...

This picture is suppose to look like the kids are in the Dad's hands...

Here are Tayla's marbles...

Cris made his name with his...

This was a high mountain that had a few rock climbers going up the side of it. Tayla and malachi and Esther are at the fence.

There are names etched into the side of the hill that date back to the late 1800's. We are sitting down at the base the older kids went up to them.

You can see them vaguely on the wall above the kids.

Tayla and Esther.

I always look so awful in these self portraits, no matter how thin a Flake gets they still have extra skin around the kneck, very unflattering... but I think scott looks particularly adorable... Blue is his color.

This was the last spot that we went to in the park. The guys had climbed up here and were just coming down when a park ranger came and said that it was too dangerous in that area, people have gotten hurt and so they were no longer alowing people to climb there. They guys got down safe and sound...

Here is before the ranger came.

Here is another tree growing in a place that you can't imagine how it survives, let alone flourashes.

The red in the sand is so unique and beautiful.

Amazing how sand can turn to stone...

This is on top of the Dixie mountain. This too has changed to accomadate all the tourist and sightseers. The sky was brilliant. The perfect end to an adventuristic day... And of our vacation. The next day we headed home. That was an all day trip too.... It was wonderful to be reunited with Aggie again. We got home to Logan at about 10PM. Tiered and ready to be out of the van but grateful for a trip together and all the experiences that we were able to have. What a blessing our family is to us. As we sat at the dinner table on Thursday with all the good food and desserts that are a part of our Thanksgiving day tradition, I was struck with how blessed we were. Life seems so much more precarious ever year and I didn't know if our lives would be full of such a bounty the coming year, but for now it was. And I gave thanks that the Lord has looked over us and guided us, and I pray that his blessings will be with us always. No matter where we may be or the circumstances that we find ourselves in, I know that if we have the Lord in our lives we will be o.k.. May God bless each of you, that you will feel him guide you and your families, that he will walk with you through whatever your year may bring also....