I Stand All Amazed!

I'm way over due for an update. Where does the time go? I know, it goes to unpacking, organizing unpacked junk, having adventures, exploring our new area, re-organizing junk, new callings, work and organizing junk once again.

We have completely fallen in love with Utah. It has a beauty all it's own. All around us are these amazing mountains! We live in Cedar Hills (Alpine/ Highland area), from our neighborhood we have an amazing view of Utah Valley. It never fails to take my breath away. You look out and you can see forever! Several times on my morning runs I stop just to enjoy it. It makes me wonder what Brigham Young saw when he came into Utah. Was he shown what it would look like now? Did he have any idea how beautiful it would become? I like to think he did.

There is so much to do here. It's actually a little overwhelming. So far we have explored the local area (American Fork, Pleasant Grove), which really means we have eaten out a lot. Thanks to some good friends we have become addicted to a few different places, thanks Megan Pilkington! :)

Our first big outing was to Temple Square. It is so amazing to see in person. To see the Temple and think about how much the early Saints sacrificed to build the Temple helped me to appreciate how blessed we are to live in the current times, where we have eight Temples with in a reasonable driving distance, not to mention that I didn't have to sacrifice any thing to see them built. Their dedication to their beliefs is inspiring.

We also toured the Tabernacle. It was a really neat experience, I would love to see a performance there. The way sound moves in there is so amazing. I'm sure the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sounds heavenly in there. After that we moved on to the North Visitor's Center. The kids enjoyed hitting all the buttons on the model of the city of Jerusalem that light up different parts of the city. Then we went up to view the statue of The Christus. It was absolutely beautiful. At one point they have an audio recording that plays, Charlie thought the statue was talking to us. The look on his face was so cute. He looked completely surprised. I wish I had gotten a picture of it. Not on this trip to Temple Square, but a later one, the kids and I were able to go see the statue again (Jason was in DC) with the Wright family. On this visit Payton was completely enamored by it. His whole face lit up, like he was seeing someone he knew well. It was touching and of course made me tear up. We all stood in front of it to have our picture taken and I had to keep a good grip on Payton as he was trying to crawl out of my arms to craw up to the statue. It is a memory I will never forget.

We also toured the Conference Center. Wow is that place big. Walking into it makes you feel like an ant. To picture it filled to capacity with Saints coming to listen to General Conference fills you with awe. To say the organ is huge is an understatement. Everything was larger than life. I hope to one day be able to attend Conference there one year.

A few weeks after that we ran our first 5k! So much fun. It was during the Cedar Hills Family Festival. We got the kids up early so they could come and watch us start the race and later cross the finish line. Katrina was so wonderful to watch all five while we ran. It was a nice run and even more importantly it was a nice cool morning! I don't think I would have run this if it had been in Georgia. It was such a great time running it with Jason. We laughed, acted like teenagers and just had a good time, all while running. Thank you sweetheart for doing this with me. It's just another wonderful thing we can share. I love you.

Don't you just love the dorky head phones. OH yeah by the way, they're Faith's...from Kindergarten.

Good time on our run, plus it's always good to get Jason on film acting like a nerd, makes for great blackmail later.

After the run we went to IHOP. What better way to celebrate your first 5k than by eating a bunch of pancakes. After filling our tummies it was time for a nap so that we could be rested for the rest of the activities that were being held for the Festival. We went over to the city park and enjoyed rides, games, food and sitting in the nice cool grass as a family. Later that night they had fireworks at the park by our church building. We brought sweaters (yes it was cold and windy, it was great), blankets, hot cocoa and Jason bought us all a bag of kettle corn. It was a great fireworks show. You would have thought it was Fourth of July instead of June 25. It was a very fun day for all of us.

"Look mom, I can actually enjoy sitting on the grass." He wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first.

Practicing his salute! Could he be any cuter? I think not.

Just a couple of weeks ago we celebrated Emma's sixth birthday. I can't believe she is six. She has grown so fast. She is still the sweetest little girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family. For her birthday she wanted Bar-b-que and to go to Seven Peaks. We were happy to be able to do both. She is fearless when it comes to the water slides. She is our little thrill seeker. All the kids had a great time playing at the water park. It was a wonderful day spent together.

My little Emma Claire Bear! Getting so big. We love you tons!

Payton is ready for his bar-b-que!

Who doesn't love a naked baby?

We call it his "stink eye" look (totally stealing the name from my sister, thanks Molly). He's yummy!

On the morning of Emma's birthday we took Payton to his first appointment at Shriner's! What a wonderful place, we are so blessed to be taking him there. The staff was amazing. We learned more in one day there than we had learned in the last eight months with MCG. We won't have to amputate his feet after all! They are going to take molds of his feet and make him special prosthetics to fit. We go back the day after Labor Day. They are talking about removing one of his toes and attaching it to one of his hands at some point. We are supposed to get an appointment with a plastic surgeon soon to look into that more. It won't be a functioning thumb, but it will be a post he can pinch things between. We are very optimistic that it will be possible. Every thing looks great otherwise. In fact the doctors were all very amazed at how much he could do. One doctor, Dr. Pond, couldn't believe how adaptive he was. He said, "He is an amazing child and will accomplish amazing things." I know I'm his mom and I think he is amazing and that he is a very special spirit, but to have someone else recognize it, it made me tear up (it seems I'm doing that a lot lately). We are very proud of all the things he has been able to do. He is right on track for all his milestones. In most cases he's done them sooner than our other children. He is a blessing in our family. We couldn't imagine our family without him.

It's official, he likes Shriner's. How can we tell you ask, well the tongue is sticking out. That's always a good sign.

Lastly, yesterday Jason took me to a wonderful dinner at The Roof Restaurant for my birthday. It is right across from the Salt Lake Temple. The view from up there is amazing. Not to mention that the view across my table was pretty nice too (love you babe). When we were walking to our table I notice that Jason has ordered a dozen red roses to be placed on our table. They were beautiful, now they are beautifying our living room. We enjoyed an amazing dinner and view. Everyone thought we were celebrating an engagement. How sweet, huh? You should have seen their faces when we told them we had in fact been married almost 11 years and have five children. Then Jason made it a point to tell them it was my birthday. He loves to make me blush. All the ladies at the restaurant thought he was just the sweetest thing (which of course he is). We followed up our romantic evening with a movie and then passed out when we finally got home. Celebrating your birthdays in your 30's is a lot different than celebrating in your 20's. Now I'm not just 30 I'm IN my thirties. That's ok, bring it on 31! It's going to be another great year with my family.

The view from our table.

The view across the table. He's yummy too!

Had to get one last picture before we left dinner. Breathtaking!

I know I said the previous paragraph was "lastly", but I lied. I like to keep you on your toes. Jason finally got a calling today! He has been called into Young Men's. He is way excited (he loves sports and really anything kid like). I was called almost a month ago to Nursery. I'm actually really enjoying it. I'm with Hyrum's class (Sr. Nursery). I love getting to see Hyrum interact with kids his age, instead of always being the little one playing with the "big" kids. He is a very sweet child. We don't usually have any problems with him sharing, which is funny because he is not nearly as generous at home with his siblings, but then again in our house it's eat or be eaten. I love him so much.

This week we are headed to California! So excited to go see family. We have a niece and a nephew we haven't met yet and most of our family members haven't met Payton yet. We realized the other day we haven't been to visit since Hyrum was six weeks old. Can't believe it's been almost three years. Then when we get back the girls start school. They can hardly wait and to be honest I'm more than ready.

Ok, now I'm done, promise, now go out and enjoy your families! Here are some pictures from recently. Enjoy.

Yes, I'm nerdy too.

Look at Faith's face. I don't think her smile could get any bigger. Well, maybe if it were the real Justin Bieber.

The boys love playing on the tramp, especially when daddy crawls under it and gets their feet. He's a good daddy like that.

Eating his eggs so he can grow up to be big and strong. Yes he can feed himself.