Moving

There are never enough tape or sharpies!
They get left in every room of the house.
The box collecting is an adventure.
This is MOVING...

Brad drove the minivan to Utah, so I have his car. Not so much "box space", compared to the mom mobile!

Martha has an article about moving in her mag this month, you know 10 years ago I could have moved and made it look just like Martha does. What is going on? I am getting distracted by the littlest thing! I can't wait to be there, I just don't want to pack the boxes. However I have been a "color code" everything you can girl since my second child was born~ it's the only way to go!

Oprah had a show about "hoarding" yesterday and I looked around my house that I thought was a mess and was sooooo grateful that I am not a mess like that!!

Tomorrow is another day! :)

SPRING

Spring is here.

When I think of Spring, I think of The Atonement, eggs, daffodils, cherry blossoms and the occasional warm sunny day. I think of a poem that my grandmother dearly loved:

"And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with daffodils."~ William Wordsworth




Spring cleaning.
Children scurried, husbands fled, and servants groaned under the necessity that came with warmer weather: spring cleaning. The carpets were taken up, the rooms were emptied, the woodwork was polished, the chandeliers were washed, and neither comfort nor hot meals were to be had until spring cleaning was done.

The Victorians did it because of all the coal burning that left dirty residue on everything in the house.
I usually do it because it feels good to purge and put everything in order.



This year I am doing it to get ready for the move.
While I don't have servants to me in this ordeal, I do have great, helpful, and hardworking daughters! Jessica is thinking, "wow, I got out JUST in the nick of time!!" I am sure. She is correct!
The good thing is that our house in Bountiful was bigger than the house here, so I still have lots of things that are still boxed up.

Eggs are always abundant in the spring. As the daylight gets to last more and more hours in a day, the chickens begin to lay more eggs. This year I miss our chickens, they were such great pets! And the eggs, oh my they were so yellow!! The creme brule was always such a beautiful color!



Easter, Jesus Christ, the Atonement.
President Hinckley said this of Jesus, the cornerstone of our faith:

None so great has ever walked the earth. None other has made a comparable sacrifice or granted a comparable blessing. He is the Savior and the Redeemer of the world. I believe in Him. I declare His divinity without equivocation or compromise. I love Him. I speak the name of Jesus Christ in reverence and wonder. He is our King, our Lord, our Master, the living Christ, who stands on the right hand of His Father. He lives! He lives, resplendent and wonderful, the living Son of the living God.




I hope as we all have our Easter dinner that we remember why we are celebrating.

Plan to be surprised...

I watched a movie this week, well actually watched it 4 times!
"Dan in real life"is the title.
Great Movie!!!
The closing statement in the movie is " Plan to be surprised".
Well, we have been surprised.
The last 24 hours have been stress full to say the least.
Brad was laid off on Thursday.
He told me Friday afternoon.
We are making a decision on if we will stay in Seattle or move back to Utah.
So I guess we will be surprised...

Teenagers...

For most adults, parents and non parents this word can conjure up a huge variety of images. Some are good and some are down right scary! I have heard through the years from other parents "enjoy your kids while they are young, once they are teenagers it all changes", more often with a hint of sarcasm. Since Jessica moved out I have though a lot about this teen subject, am I a good mom? I would like to think I am. Parenting a teen is different in obvious ways to parenting a child. The physical demands of parenting changes, I don't have to cut their food, bathe them, hold their hand in public places. But the emotional parenting is harder, I am a mentor. I think parenting teens is so far my favorite part of being a mother. I love getting to know who they are, what they believe, what they enjoy. They are forming thoughts, opinions and habits that they could possibly embrace over the course of their entire life. They are also trying on all the many hats of life. I love to see them do this. Sometimes it is frustrating to sit back and watch, but I have to remind myself that I did it too! I have one daughter who didn't want to conform in Jr. High, so everyday she was different. The way that looked for her was that one day she would dress preppy, the next she was a punk princess, the next sporty girl. As she did this she was able to decide which of these persona's she felt more connected too. She was able to get real world feedback, natural consequences.

Listening is by far the biggest tool in my box, definitely the most used. Being there to listen to the joys, tears and ranting is mandatory. They will test the limits, and by doing so learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not. The next tool would be food and fun. Before our girls got to be teens, Brad and I made a decision. That decision was this, if the girls were going to "hang out" it would be at our house whenever possible. We had to supply the entertainment to keep them home with out controlling their lives. We knew that having a variety of things would help to keep it interesting. The first was the trampoline, they spent hours on that thing. Brad didn't want to get it, but we did and it was the center of entertainment for years! Sometimes the whole family would get on it! From Summer sleepovers to Fall leaf pile jumping. It was used almost year round. The X-Box, was another thing that kept the kids gravitating to our home. They could have 4 people playing games at a time. But I think that the biggest was just the open invitation, the girls and their friends, boys and girls, knew they were always welcome to be with us. I spent several years feeding teenage boys after school snacks and dinner, doing homework with them, and listening. I breaks my heart to hear about teenagers who are not close with their parents. I am so grateful that I have a good strong relationship with my girls! Jessica is a very smart and responsible gal, I hope that I gave her the tools she needs to carve a place in the world. But she knows that I am always hear to listen...

The Nest will never be the same

I knew this day would come, I guess I just thought it would take longer to get here. Jessica is moving back to Utah. I am really happy for her, I am really sad for the rest of us.

In our society kids become "adults" at 18, legal adults. That means that if she robs a bank, I am not liable, she can vote in the general elections, and she is legally free to move out of mom and dad's home. If we were still in Utah, this would be easier because we wouldn't be 800 miles apart when she did it. But we are not, so it is not easy. First of all, she knows how to run all the television electronics and x-box! Yes we will be calling you Jess if you are reading this! Second, not in any order, she has little sisters who don't know how to handle the emotions of losing her. Jess has always been there, she is our stable rock! Third, I am an only child. I have never lived with anyone this long and had them move away, except my parents. I am gonna miss her!!

~ JESSICA EVAN HARRIS ~


Smile
Love
Truth
Strength
Joy
Funny
Spirit
Loyal
Peace

These are the things I think of when I think of you.

I am going to miss having you around here every day. As I write this I am thinking of all the things I want to teach you, things I wish I had told you, and moments I cherish.

You are starting a new chapter in your life.

Excitement
Fear
Anticipation

You will have those feelings! It is a whole new experience for you.

My hope for you is simple:

Appreciate what you have while you have it, we don’t keep everything/ things always change

Never say I will be happy when…/ live in the present

Continue growing your testimony~ everyday!

Surround yourself with beauty~ people, music, clothes, art~ that is what you will become.

I love you, MOM

Broken Bones

Sarah broke her foot.

Wednesday she was walking home from school, tripped and it broke!

This is Sarah's 2nd broken bone.

The ohter one was her left arm in 1st grade playing on the monkey bars.

She is praying that it gets her out of doing the dishes!