Boy this past week was as busy as ever!

Monday was my kids first day of school after Fall Break (two weeks off)...and we had just gotten in from Utah at 9 p.m. the night before. I got up at 5 a.m. because I really want to be a morning person and thought getting up that early would be an awesome way to start the week. I read my scriptures and wrote in my journal for an hour. Then I did this really hard work out, showered and was dressed for the day before the kids woke up! We had a wonderful FHE that night! if you want...I can email the lesson to you!

Tuesday I was up early again. I cleaned the bathrooms then I made whole wheat waffles from scratch....with fresh fruit on the side.

Wedneday I went grocery shopping. It is a fun way to spend time with the kids and get food for the family. They are great at helping me pick out nutritious things snacks and meals.

Thursday I was up cleaning the house again. I think It is awesome to get the house work all done before the kids wake up. At least the house is clean and sanitarty for them...even it if it is only for a few minutes!

My parents watched the kids for us Friday night and Brandon and I went to his cousin's daughters wedding reception in Phoenix. It was fun to see and visit with family there! There was a live band that was really very good!....a little loud...but good!

Satruday, we had time to relax...since I had gotten all the house work done earlier in the  week. So nice to have a day off!

Sunday, we got to church early and sat on soft benches! It was nice to not be sitting in the "over-flow" where you have the sounds of metal chairs scooting across hardwood floors to deal with.

And today....I am typing this post....which is 98% false!

Can guess which TWO days events are true!

Life

 My Grandpa Barrett...working on the farm

Holy Cow life has been busy around here!

I have pictures of stuff...but I don't feel like digging out the camera and downloading any of them.

September 22nd, my Grandpa (Golden Wesley Barrett Jr.) passed away in Los Alamitos, CA. He was 87. I love that guy! I am SO greatful for a Grandpa who as able to make my siblings and cousins and I feel so loved. He lived a good life. Up until he got cancer 5-6 years ago, he'd been as "fit as a fiddle"!

Last Monday (Oct. 7th) we loaded up the minivan with kids and luggage and headed up to Utah for my Grandpa's funeral. It was a good trip. Our kids like roadtrips...and staying in hotels...and since they were on Fall Break, we were able to take our time driving there and back. We loved seeing family that we haven't seen in five years or more.

Brandon and I loved taking the kids to Temple Square. I LOVE Temple Square. I have a lot of good memories from going there as a child and teenager. We hadn't been back since they renovated and created the City Creek Mall. That place is beautiful. It rained for sprinkled the whole day we were there...but we are from Arizona...so we LOVE rain! We walked through the Joseph Smith building, both visitor centers, the Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle...we sent a good amount of time in the Church History Museum. They have a great exhibit for kids. Then we took a tour of the Conference Center. Our guide is the best friend of one of my good friends mom who lived in Show Low. She was the perfect person to do our tour because she raised 5 boys and knew we had to be quick when the kids were impatient or let them take their time when they were interested. We ended the day at Sizzlers with a table away from everyone else and a chance to talk about our day.

My Grandpa's funeral was Saturday October 13th. It was a beautiful Autumn day in Logan, UT. The trees still had their Fall colors. There were also a good number of leaves on the ground.

The funeral was good for me. I hadn't cried about my grandpa passing until then. He was so sick and miserable. He just wanted "to go". We took the kids to California and visited my Grandparents in July. I knew that my Grandpa's life would be coming to an end soon. But the funeral was a time for remembering. I remember so much about my grandpa and it just made me cry. Mostly they were tears of knowing I will miss him...but also tears of joy. I know I will see him again!

My dad and I took the kids to the zoo today.

They have a cute area called "Harmony Farm". You can pet the goats and milk the fake cow. I sat down on a bench in there to feed Cameron while my dad kept an eye on the kiddos.

When I finished nursing him I noticed that I had fed him right next to this sign:

Nice, right? I guess I will have to be more careful next time I pick a place to fed the kid in public.

We had a good time though.
We saw the animals,
 rode the train...
the kids played at both splash pad areas.
We ate our snacks...and then it was time to go!

Bloggin'...

This, my friends, is what some people call, "fun". Other people call it crazy. Brandon and two of his brothers (Doug and Tyler) participated in the "Wild Cow Milking" event at the Snowflake Rodeo over the Pioneer day Celebration weekend. That's Brandon holding the cow by her horns...and that's his brother Doug...milkin' her. They didn't win but they had fun tryin'. Plus they got their picture in the White Mountain Independent newspaper looking like 'real cowboys'! Although...I don't know how often real cowboys milk wild cows...?

Anyhow.

SO. It's been a while since I have blogged. There are lots of reasons for that but it mostly comes down to this: I am not sure what to blog about when I have the time to blog.

I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking lately. Books like, "Daring Greatly" and "The Gifts of Imperfection" both by Brene Brown have me thinking about myself and life and others in a different way. I want to have more courage, compassion and connection in my life. I want my kids to feel loved, understood and guided by me as their mother. I want to remember that I am going to mess up and that it is okay. I am learning that, for me, I have to be constantly seeking self acceptance because when I am not, I am not just standing still...I am regressing back into comparing myself to others, and hustling to make it look like I can do it all when under the surface I am drowning. SO...see...like I said...I have lots on my mind to blog about...I am just not so sure how to go about sharing it.

I will share something from my morning though. 

I went to wake the kids up for school and remembered that today is picture day for Kaitlyn. We had already talked yesterday about how she wanted her hair done (curled) and that we'd either have to put her hair in rollers before bed or get up early to curl her hair. SO...we forgot to do both. Long story short...I really wanted her to feel like she looked extra nice, so I ended up curling her hair, which meant that I was curling her hair and hollering at the other kids to brush their teeth and get their shoes on...and doing Adelin and Weston's hair in between curling sections of Kaitlyn's hair. I was feeling stressed when my phone alarm started going off telling me it was time to leave to take the kids to school and I wasn't done with Kaitlyn's hair. 

Things like that happen around here often. Daily even....there's multiple things that need my attention all at the same time. What bothered me this morning is that I let it get to me. And what really bothered me is that I snapped at Adelin. She wasn't listening and I was a little too hard on her. I apologized and told her I love her...but it's bugging me even still that I wasn't more kind and gentle with her earlier. 

After dropping the kids off at school I came home, and sat down to nurse Cameron and read my scriptures (I still can't seem to let the chance to multitask pass me by...darn it). Before I read I prayed to read something that would help me today. I am in Alma chapter 48....lots of talk about Amalickiah and all his evilishness. Then, in verse 7 I read, "Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God." I read that and thought, "That's it! That's what will help me today!" Today, I can prepare my children's minds to be faithful to God as I let them see me as the imperfect mother that I am...as I let them know that I love them, but I am not perfect at showing it. As I let them know that I am trying and that I know they are trying too. And, as I let them know that none of us are going to be able to do anything good without trusting the Lord enough to ask for His help. That is one way I can help them prepare to have faith in Christ....today.

It is nice to know that I can have a bad moment and that it doesn't have to lead into me having a bad day. 

That's something worth bloggin' about. :)

update

Well my mom said to post something so i will
WE ARE GOING TO CA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)
oh and on Sunday  we saw a gopher hole in our  front yard and today Weston and Connor thought that if they peed in the gopher hole then the gopher would leave they were wrong and instead they got a scolding from my mom telling them to pee in the backyard and not in the front yard 
good times
~Kaitlyn M. F.

Our baby...

He's cute

He smiles

He laughs

He babbles

He sleeps through the night

He weighs 16 lbs

He's 4 months old

He makes us happy

Life for the past month...(a year late...)

**I found this post in my draft file. It is not complete....but that's okay. I am posting it anyways!**


...of course I am not going to blog about ALL that's gone on in the past month...that would take me a few hours to even do it justice. (we've been busy!)

The girls finished up school on May 25th. ({{{big sigh of relief!}}}) I love summer break! This year we go back to school August 9th. (What's up wtih THAT!?...I am not too thrilled about having my kids back into the daily grind so soon.)

The week before the last week of school...we took the kids to Disneyland for the first time! I was not looked forward to taking our kids to Disneyland. I grew up in So. Cal. and went often. When we went as a family, we'd get there when the park opened and leave when it closed. We kids, had a blast...but when I have thought of going to D.L. from a parents perspective it's just sounded like...something I really didn't want to do with 4 little ones. But, the time was right. Kaitlyn is still 9 (she would be considered an "adult" by Disney ticket price standards if she were 10) and Connor is 2...so he's still free. We found the perfect place for us to stay. My Uncle Larry  helped us get a good deal for 3-Day Hopper Passes...and we were set! (Here's something we've learned about 6 people traveling in a minivan...PACK LIGHT! We took only 3 changes of clothes each (and other essentials)...we just washed and wore the same things! It saved us so much room and made packing so much easier!)

Our trip started Mother's Day weekend. First, Brandon and I got up early and went to an onsite Ma and Pa training for our Stake Pioneer Trek. Then we came home, showered, and headed on out! (We had packed the van the day before). We got to Mesa, had dinner with my parents and then drove on to Blythe. I had booked us a hotel room on Price-line. It was the worst hotel room I have stayed in in a LONG time...but it was only $56 and it was only one night and I really thought that Blythe wouldn't have much of anything better. (We found out on our return trip that they do!) So, the next day was Sunday (and Mother's Day). Brandon and the kids brought me breakfast (free hotel food!) in bed :) then we got ready for church. We drove and went to church in Rancho Mirage. When we were leaving, we ran into Debbie Lybert...who was in the ward I grew up in in Rialto. She has two kids close to my age and she had been one of my YW leaders. It was fun to see her! I LOVE running into people who know me! That doesn't happen often where I live!

After church, we drove to Rialto and took the kids on a mini tour of where I grew up. They really didn't seem all that interested...even though my High School is bigger than any building here in Snowflake....and my house that was once a cozy yellow with white trim is now pink with pink trim and I think there is a Virgin Mary statue in the flower bed. :) I did get to visit our old neighbors, the Skalicky's. Michelle was my first real friend. We had so much fun together when we were young. Luckily, since it was Mother's Day, she was there at the parents house. Again...it was so nice to visit with people who know me! Then we went a few streets over to see Dolly and Jim. The kids loved checking out their little RV. They had just gotten home from AZ (ironically) a few minutes before we pulled up. Dolly is one of my mom's best friend. Our families spent a lot of time together when we were kids. My mom and Dolly took us on fun field trips to places like the Museum of Natural History, Doheny Beach and The San Juan Capistrano Mission.

Well, we left Dolly and Jim's and drove to Norwalk (where my mom grew up!) and had a yummy dinner with the Down's prepared by my Auntie Bev. (She's a good cook!) It was fun to show the kids my grandparents old house and to tell them about all the things my cousins and I used to do...lemonade stands, walking to the "chink market" and celebrating the 4th of July on Lowemont Street with all of the neighbors.

**Fast Forward**

Monday, was our first day at Disneyland. We got Fast Passes for Splash Mountain, then went on Pirates of the Caribbean first. All the kids but Connor ended up going on Splash Mountain (at some point...and the girls got to go twice!) We found out that the girls LOVE roller-coasters...and Weston does NOT. :) He's like me when I was little. My all time favorite ride was "It's a Small World". He liked that one too. We had so much fun at Disneyland. We rode every ride we wanted to (except for Mr. Toads ride and Peter Pan) and never waited for more than 35 minutes...thanks to fast passes and being able to get a pass to switch riders. We ended that day with what is now the "Nemo Ride"...the Yellow Submarines. Connor put his little face on his hands up in one of the port-holes and fell asleep. It was a long fun day! We walked back to the condo and went to bed.

Tuesday....we met up with my Aunt Bev, Uncle Larry and my cousin Kristian at their house and followed them to Cabrio Beach. Brandon's sister Kayla and her three little girls met us there! Cabrio Beach is another place we went to often as kids. My Aunt Bev would take us and we'd go poke around in the tide pools. I also went a few times with my school on field trips. It's a fun place to go. It's free and they have their own touch pool where you can go see and touch all the things that are in a real tide pool...and then, if the tide is low, you can climb out on the rocks and go see what you just learned about. The day we were there was a high tide, and even though it was super windy, the kids had fun playing in the water and sand. I think their favorite part was the showers though!

Wednesday we went to CA Adventure. We loved everything about it from "Bug's Life" (the first thing we did) to "World of Color" (absolutely AMAZING...water, music, scenes from Disney movies being projected onto the water, fire....like I said...it was amazing.) Weston and I went on "Soaring Over CA" together. He was so cute. When we got off he was like, "Mom, were you scared that the fireworks were going to burn you because I was!" We left CA. Adv. and hurried over to D.L. and took the kids to "Toon Town" real quick before that park closed. They got to have some one on one time with Mickey Mouse!