Music of the House

We are music people here. Thank GOODNESS Rob felt it necessary to build up a surround sound system for his birthday and Christmas over the last few years. It’s hard for any of us to even listen to anything without all the various speakers turned on, usually very loud. There isn’t much point in going to the movies anymore because watching them at home is almost just as good. We have a big tv, but I wouldn’t mind an even bigger one to match the sound. Someday…

Here’s the music that has been playing at our house lately.

Caroline loves: Anything by The Chipettes and the Caillou theme song.

Madeleine loves: Princess music, theme to Angelina Ballerina, and classical ballet music.

Nate loves: Anything we have a music video of, which isn’t much. Dave Matthews Band “Funny the Way It Is”, and The Airborne Toxic Event song “Numb” and many Def Leppard songs.

Julie: Clarensau album Until Our Lungs Give but especially the song “Love”, Sleeping at Last especially Yearbook: January and February, and Dave Matthews Band’s new single “Mercy”.

Rob: So many…Here goes. Minus the Bear’s album Infinity Overhead coming out tomorrow, Dave Matthews Band album Away from the World coming out 9/11, the last two White Rabbits albums Milk Famous and It’s Frightening, and Young the Giant In the Open sessions.

And I can’t forget the song our whole family rocks out to over and over again, “Africa” remade by Reliant K. The funny thing is that I listened to the original over and over again when I was young. I never thought I’d still be singing it at the top of my lungs with my husband and three children so many years later. So fun!!

You should click on some of the above recommended songs and albums. But only if you like great music ;)

Tripping with Tom Petty

Figuratively, of course…

Last night Rob bought me the album Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Greatest Hits. He knew I liked many Tom Petty songs but I didn’t own any. This afternoon while slicing up 35 peaches I listened to the whole thing. Man, talk about a trip. No, I’m not that old. But it took me right back to my 19th year of life. Let me set the stage for you.

My boyfriend at the time gave me a big box of his prized cds for safe keeping. He had introduced me to the mind-blowing talent that came out of the 70’s, namely Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Queen, The Steve Miller Band, and others. He knew I would love them and take good care of them while he was away. He had just left for two years to serve his mission, but as soon as he got back we were getting married. Yeah, I was one of those. Well, two weeks after sending him off at the airport, he crushed me with a Dear Jane. I understand the “why” now, of course, but at the time I was floored.

This cd was my soundtrack during those months. One of the things I always did was drive. I drove and listened to the music.The songs explained everything I was feeling as I went through the healing process.

Here Comes My Girl
The Waiting
Breakdown
Even the Losers
Runnin’ Down a Dream
I Need to Know
Don’t Do Me Like That
I Won’t Back Down
You Got Lucky
Don’t Come Around Here No More
Free Fallin’
Learning to Fly
Into the Great Wide Open
American Girl

Seriously. Does it get more perfect for a broken relationship? Now, don’t think me naive. I know many of the songs actually have less to do with relationships with people and more to do with relationships with stupifacients. But I choose to feign ignorance for my own gain.

As I was enjoying the ride of memory this afternoon, I started thinking about how grateful I am that he dumped me. If it weren’t for that, I would have missed out on so many experiences that helped me grow and realize who I was and who I wanted to be. Since I was free of any obligations (mostly emotionally), I did some great things. Had my plan to marry been kept intact, I wouldn’t have:

Moved in with my brother, Brian. I didn’t know it at the time, but I would someday look back on that time spent with him with tears of gratitude.
Solidified relationships with my friends and made new ones.
Worked harder at my job and was promoted three times.
Traveled solo to England and France.
Gone back to school and earned my degree.

So I’m not sure I would have been “me” had it not been for that kick in the butt. And if I hadn’t been “me” I wouldn’t have met and married the best person in the universe, Sir Robert. He is the one that understands and loves me more than anyone. And I him. We have three incredible children and a life we all love and live together.

Thanks for the album, Rob! It brought me some much needed clarity today.

And, yes, I did give my ex back his box of beloved cds, albeit regretfully :)

Trekkies

This title is for you, Rob ;)

Our ward did a family pioneer trek at Martin’s Cove. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. Madeleine hates walking. Caroline is a handful and had never been camping before. It was in July and hot and I had decided there were enough strikes against going. I was staying home with the two girls while Rob took Nate.

Then I went to a Relief Society activity and the beginning of it was an overview of what Trek was going to be like. Many women in our ward had already been on Trek at least once before and they all had many positive things to say. But what they said isn’t what changed my mind, it was what I felt. I knew that supporting the ward and dragging my daughters on an adventure a state away in the heat was what I needed to do.

Now, I can’t say that the feeling I had changed my attitude much. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t very happy to be doing this. As the weeks went by and the Trek got closer I thought about changing my mind back to not going, but I never got very far before halting that train.

Rob was called as one of the ward photographers for the trip so we have many fun photos from the weekend.

The drive up was pretty easy. We stopped in Green River, Wyoming and got a pizza and played at a splash pad.

By the time we made it to Martin’s Cove the group was leaving on the walk to Devil’s Gate, about a mile roundtrip. We were slow. I mean really slow. Madeleine goes about as fast as a desert tortoise. But that’s ok. Sister Reihart kept us company.

 

I think one of the other ward photographers took this picture.

It is a beautiful area and it was neat seeing some kind of deer/antelope animal roaming close to us on the prairie.

By the time we got to Devil’s Gate, we had about 10 minutes before turning around and heading right back. We would have liked to stay longer and explore and play in the water but we needed to be off. Again, we were dead last getting back. By a long haul.

Then we were all off to set up camp, enjoy some wonderful dinner, and visit with fellow ward members and friends.

We went to bed that night not knowing how Cara would fare in a tent. She did wonderfully, though! After I let her play off some excitement, I rocked her in my arms and sang to her. Off to sleep she went in just a couple of minutes. I, however, didn’t sleep at all. The ground was so hard! My hip bones and back were killing me. I piled diapers underneath me for cushioning but it didn’t help at all. I felt like I was sleeping on concrete. Not a great way to start a day long handcart pull. Oh, well. I’m buying air mattresses for our next camping trip.

That’s it for this portion of the Trek. There’s just too much to say for one post!

Father and Sons Campout

On the road up to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon. Nate and I had such a marvelous time during our ward Father and Son's campout. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed our time together in the canyon. Nate is a joy to be around and to camp with. Here is one of us on the ATV.

We camped at Granite Flats campground near Tible Fork Reservoir. We had the large group campground. The facilities here are just so wonderful. Here are a couple more quick images of the canyon. I love this place. I love the dense trees climbing the canyon walls, lakes, and snow capped mountains!

There was a little bit of something fun for everyone. Here is one of Nate exploring the woods. This is one of his favorite things. And one with our neighbor Trystan.

Our team for night games. Nate really enjoyed this. We were in charge of guarding the prisoners. We played again later that day but this time as boys against dads. They were totally cheating but we still kept them on the defense so aggressively that they never were able to mount an offensive before we just blew them out of the water.

Roasting it up.

One of my favorite things of the night was watching Nate play war with so many of the other boys. We was having a good night. His finger was sticking out like that because he suffered a minor burn.

We stayed up until nearly midnight around the campfire and later telling stories (mission stories also) in the tent. Nate has talked to both Julie and I about this several times so I know it means a lot to him. It was very special for me also.

I didn't have a tripod but I was able to take this shot hand-held. I love it.

The next day we had a pancake and bacon breakfast, played more games, rode ATV's, and went for a canoe jaunt on the lake.

Here is Nate and Will hunting for stuff living in the ground.

It means so much to me to have a son that enjoys spending time with me. I've very grateful for these years where he still wants to be around me so much. Nate is such a joy to me. I love his playful personality, the value he places on relationships, his energy, his enjoyment of nature, and his humor.

Here is the gallery to see more images.

Gerbera

 

 

 

 

 

 

My thoughtful mother got me flowers. Aren’t they beautiful? You know me, I just love taking pictures of flowers. It never tires me.

31

In commemoration of my 31st birthday I had a whole idea in my head about how I hate getting older but at least I can still do a mean backbend. My plan was to have Rob take my picture doing backbends randomly around Utah (Escalante area, on a picnic table at the park, etc). Well, a couple of weeks ago I did yoga as usual but the next day I pulled my back BAD. I was out of commission for the whole day and still sore the next. So much for still being young…

Then I had the idea to post 31 things that you may not know about me but as I started I realized that I really couldn’t even think of anything. It’s hard for you not to know me pretty well if you’ve been following our blog long enough.

 

Below are some other pictures Rob took of us at Teresa’s wedding.

 

 

On an unrelated note: I started blogging 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Nate. Rob was excited about this new thing people are doing called blogging. It took me a few months to really understand why anyone would want to do it and be interested in reading others’ blogs but once I started I couldn’t stop. This marks the 713th post!!! Our top 3 most popular posts of all time are “Awkward Posing”, “My Kitchen Want List”, and “Snakeboarding”. Random!

But the one thing that everyone already knows or should know about me is that Rob is just entirely too good for me, as you can see from the Snakeboarding video ;). But, seriously, he is.

Teresa & Tom

The end of June brought a wedding to the family. Teresa married Tom and a reception was held in their honor.

We love Teresa. She is very kind and genuinely cares for others. She has a big heart. We are happy she has opened it to Tom and all the love he has to offer her, Chase, Justin, Addison, and Michael. We haven’t gotten to know Tom really well but what we have seen of him, he is just as kind and caring as Teresa. He has devoted himself to my niece and nephews and will raise them well. We wish them all such a happy life together!

Rob wasn’t the official photographer of the reception but Teresa asked him to get some shots of all the fun. And fun they were having!

                       

                        

 

 

 

                       

 

 

 

Here’s the link to more pics.