Josey, you have no idea how beautiful you really are!

Spencer has been doing gymnastics at our local rec center since he was 18 months old.  We started with a mom and me class and then it turned in to a once a week class to keep my very energetic little guy busy.  Now he goes to gymnastics twice a week and is moving up to the Boys Pre-Team class next month.  It has been fun to watch his skills and strength grow.  He is amazingly strong…seriously you should see his biceps (I think they are bigger than mine!) and the kid already has sixpack abs.  Not fair!  It has given him an outlet for all of his energy and he loves it! 

This past Saturday they had a Twisters Gymastics All Star Show where the kids got to show off their skills and what they have been working on this past year.  Spencer loved that he got to have his own gymnastics uniform and show off his talent.  He did such an amazing  job and we are so proud of him!

      Spencer with his buddy Gabe.

While we were waiting for our food to come out we went and played arcade games, except that Spencer clung to Chris’ leg and wouldn’t do any of the games.  He warmed up a little after dinner, but when it was time to leave and we headed down the “tunnel” to the bathrooms Spencer would NOT go in the Mates bathroom by himself.  Oh that boy cracks me up!

So our best friends, the Lawsons, bought property last October near Kemmerer, WY out in the middle of nowhere and have raved about how beautiful it is for months now, but had yet to invite us to visit.  We finally got the invite.  As we were planning our yearly camping trip…Greg piped up and said that we were going to the cabin for our camping this year.  So off to Wyoming we went…2 1/2 hours of driving through sage brush and nothing you wonder if they are off their rockers, but out of nowhere this oasis pops up and really is breathtaking.  Shocking for WY…a state whose state flower is the sagebrush…j/k! 

We spent two night there with no agenda…it was heaven!  Spencer fished in the big pond and caught a fish the first cast out.  We 4wheeled til we were sick of it, going off the jump near the entrance was Spencer’s favorite thing to do.  Even Josey loved 4wheeling and would say, “go wheelin’” and point to the 4wheelers.  We ate too much good food(gourmet for camping) and played games until late into the night! We even made the guys watch Lorna Doone with us.

Chris and I slept in the “tree room” because when you turn the lights out you can see the tips of the pine trees swaying in the breeze and the sky full of glittering stars…so beautiful!  Ari, Spencer and Josey all slept in the same room and it was hilarious to listen to them at night before they went to bed.  Josey would say Ari’s name over and over again until Ari would answer and Spencer and Ari would giggle. I love that they all get along so well together!

Greg and Chris went on a two hour ride up to the ridge and after they came back Melissa and I went for a walk down to the old beaver dam and teepee and took some fun pictures of the two of us.  One of my favorite things was when we would ride the 4 wheelers down the tiny road underneath a canopy of huge pine and aspens there were butterflies that would flit across the road and rest on the wildflowers.  What a relaxing trip and so fun to hang out with our friends in their own little oasis in the middle of nowhere!

So that being said, Sundays have been my least favorite day of the week because Chris is so busy with church stuff.  So today I decided that I wasn’t going to do anything but spend time with my children, and that is what we did.  While eating dunkin’ eggs for breakfast I read to them out of The Friend and then we decided to watch a Living Scriptures movie about Jesus.  When that was over we played together.  At noon when Chris came home the kids were eating cereal for lunch and we were all still in our jammies.  He looked at me and raised and eyebrow and I said, “Don’t say a thing!”  It was a lovely morning.  Everything else waited until bedtime tonight!  It always waits until a later time…ALWAYS!!!

This is the time of winter that I don’t like so much. We are all sick of being couped up seeing the 4 same walls of our house over and over again. I am sick of the tv being on too much and I am ready to open my windows and air out the germs of the winter! How many more weeks until Spring?

If anyone is passionate about the emotional struggle of infertility in the LDS culture and then adoption, it is I! I am excited for the spiritual uplift that will come to my life as I prepare, and the ability to really focus on my story and what may be said to help someone else who may be struggling!

I got to go to a presenters meeting last week where BYU president, Cecil Samuelson, and General RS presidency member, Silvia Allred, spoke to us. It was amazing and the spirit was really strong. While there I thought to myself, ‘Wow…Heavenly Father must have known that I needed something like this in my life right now! I am so blessed!’

So if you want to come, I am on Thursday, April 30 at 2pm in the SWKT room 250.

Saturday was Josey’s 1st Birthday.  We had a Princess Party.  She was so cute in her princess tutu and tiara!  She didn’t know what to think of the presents and wasn’t sure if she wanted to dig in to her castle cake or not, but she did love all the kids and the attention she got.