2008

It's always fascinating to me to look back on a year. Though the days sometimes seem long and challenging, the years as a whole seem to go by quickly. Looking back, the good usually outweighs the bad and it's fun to reflect. Here are my highlights for this year.

Top 5 for 2008

5- Vacations: We've never been able to go on vacations before. We've always come home to visit our families for Christmas and at other times, (which has always been great by the way families!) so to be able to take some trips this year has been a lot of fun. We went to Washington, Europe (Phil and I), and Disneyland and really enjoyed that time together with each other. Now we understand why everyone does it!! (The boys and I started a change jar today for our next Disneyland trip. I can't wait until Phil sees it!)

4-Sports & Fitness: Jacob has become a much better athlete this year. It's been fun to watch. Both boys played soccer and T-ball and now know what a football is, so that is exciting! Micah tags along with the rest and I'm sure will be our football player, if we have one!! I ran a couple of marathons and have continued running with some great friends (exercise and therapy at the same time - can't beat it!) Phil has enjoyed some bike riding with friends. We love being outside and trying to stay fit.

3- Family Time: Besides having the option of going of vacations, we now get the added benefit of seeing our families so much more! It has been great. We love being close to grandpas and grandmas, aunts, uncles and we LOVE our cousins (I even get to run with one of my cousins - something I never imagined would happen!) It's been a lot of fun.

2- Education: As educators and students! Phil has been able to give many lectures and even participate in international conferences as a lecturer. That has been exciting and something he really enjoys. I finally earned my bachelor's degree and enjoyed taking a few classes to finish it up! Ben started kindergarten and Jacob is doing great in the 2nd grade.

1- Religion: I have the greatest calling right now: The primary chorister!! I have really enjoyed that this year. The kids are great and one of the things we all remember from primary is the songs. So it's great to be a part of that!

The other awesome thing has been reading the Book of Mormon with the boys. We have been reading all year and have one chapter to go. We always tried to read the stories, but to be reading the real thing this year has been exciting for me. Now, I know they haven't gotten a ton out of it (you can probably picture how our scripture study goes...but we ARE trying!!), but I love hearing them say "now it came to pass...", they are beginning to know the stories and we're trying to develop the habit of reading the scriptures. I know that as we continue to study together and separately, their testimonies will grow. I'm so grateful to have the gospel in our home to help us raise our boys!!

Here's to 2009!

Christmas Fun!

We had a nice Christmas. I always love the way the tree looks. We were supposed to have no presents under it because we went to Disneyland...easier said than done!

Micah got Diego legos, Jacob a remote control helicopter and Ben his long sought-after remote control Wall-e!

We couldn't be content to stay home though, we had to risk life and limb to be with family for Christmas. The drive to Idaho was awful - we prayed as we pulled out of our driveway and into Phil's parents drive way! It was a close one!

Ben was thrilled to finally get the Wall-e movie. We're not sure where his fascination came from since we'd never seen it, but we've watched it 4 times since!

We went to the Idaho Falls museum for their nativity/santa/gingerbread display....then headed home to do our own creations...guess who...WALL-E! Of Course!

Phil's family did pictures on Friday, so we had our family's done too.
Pretty good for a bunch of Stevens!

Last, but certainly not least...Grandpa Stevens invested in a Wii. The boys loved it, especially Jacob. But this video of Micah helps us understand why they call it a WEEEEEEEE!

Merry Christmas!

We had to wait to post this until my parents (who are in France on a mission) received their Christmas gifts. This is our family's best wishes for you to have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Wonderful World of...

DISNEY!!! We just got back from a wonderful trip to Disneyland. We decided on a trip for Christmas this year since we already have too much "stuff". We wanted to enjoy the Christmas decor and rides, yet avoid as many crowds as possible, so we went before Christmas.

We talked about President Monson's Talk on Enjoying the Journey for Family Home Evening on December 1st, then told them we were going to do Christmas a bit different this year. We had them open their present from us early. They were quite confused to find Disneyland shirts until we asked them where it would be fun to wear them. Jacob was especially thrilled!

Micah was so excited he couldn't even open his eyes!!

We all had such a great time. We went with my brother Brian and his family. Most of what I remembered about Disneyland was the long lines (Phil too), but we were just as excited about all of the rides as the boys were, and the crowds were manageable. Jacob and Benjamin even got to fight Darth Vader! Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Phil and I were both very impressed with Disney's ability to go all out for each ride and at their use of space (maybe they could come make more room in our home!) We're hoping this will be a fun Christmas memory for years to come!

Joy to the World!

The lights on temple square really are glorious!! We enjoyed them together last night.

You gotta love it baby!

It was with great honor on Wednesday night that I accompanied Jacob to his first Jazz game!! I was so excited! Growing up I LOVED the Jazz. I almost passed out once getting Karl Malone's autograph (he asked me my name and I frantically spelled it out for him so it would be correct - that would be awful if he spelled it wrong!) I had a pictures of John Stockton and his boys on my bulletin board and even listened to the post game shows with Hot Rod. My journal entries were about the Jazz and the only fights my little brother and I ever had were Jazz vs. Bulls fights.

We had a great time. Many of my siblings and some of the older cousins went. We were in the nosebleed section, but loved it anyway. I'm hoping that enjoying Jazz games will become a family tradition to share with my boys for years to come. Go Jazz!!

FA, la La, LA, LAAAAAA!

Believe it or not, this is unstaged. This is our contribution to my parent's Christmas video in France. Though my French is poor at best, it was fun to do and represents, very well, our life!!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Dear Abby,

I have a five year old son, whom I adore. The past few weeks he has turned sour. I'm not sure what is wrong, but he is never satisfied, always complaining, picking fights and blaming it on the fact that he doesn't get what he wants. This is my happy-go-lucky child who always makes my life better. I need him back desperately!! The bigger problem is that this turns me into a ranting lunatic. I become a five year old myself saying things like "That's right and you're never going to get anything you want if you act like this," or "Life isn't fair and you need to get used to it...." The speeches go on and on. It turns a switch in me that I can't control and feel like I'm making the problems worse. What would you do? Any suggestions are helpful.

Sincerely,
Kindergarten Cop

True Aggies

Phil and I took a stroll down memory lane last night. In the cool, crisp autumn air, we walked around the campus of USU after dark. The same great campus where we started dating and fell in love 10 years ago! As we walked around, the memories flooded back. We wandered past where Phil used to work. He'd put up his "back in 5 minutes" sign and come find me in the library or watch my intermural softball games. We went through the building where we went to our first dance, and many dances afterward. We talked about where we had what classes and reminisced about College Hill. Hand-in-hand we started to feel the excitement and energy of being back in a college town.

And then Micah came up behind us, put an arm around each of our legs and split us apart, wanting to hold mommy's hand. Suddenly we were back in 2008 with three crazy boys running laps around the quad. What an odd feeling! To think back to the way things were and to realize what has happened over the last 10 years. What if someone had shown us a glimpse of us at that moment in the future? What would we have thought? (Probably that we were crazy!) Life has changed so drastically and so much has happened in not so much time. It's been a great ride and I'm proud of the little family we've become since our story began.

Would we go back? Yes, we decided, if we didn't have to relive the whole 10 years!! It's a long time. Those were such sweet days! But I think we've started to come full circle. Perhaps true aggies are the ones who return and share with their kids all the exciting and fun things about college life, saying things like "This is where dad had microbiology. This is where we lived and met... And maybe someday you'll come to this great school..."

"...Kids...kids? Get down from there...watch out...What? Again? You just went to the bathroom..." Oh man. Those were the days!

Oh Brother, where art thou?

Rainy days and Mondays usually get me down....

But this helped! I hope they always stay good friends.

Role Reversal

I have started babysitting three little girls a few hours a week. It has been fun and Micah looks forward to "the girls" coming and enjoys observing them. I say observe, because he rarely just picks up and starts playing with them, but is very interested in what the girls do.

I found myself with the same wide-eyed wonder the other day as we played house together. I was the big sister, Micah was my brother, Cooper (he still asks if I'm Carrissa and if he's Cooper). One of the girls was our sister, one the baby, and one the mom. I was flabbergasted, and I don't think I've ever been flabbergasted before!, at how well the mom served her role. It took her most of an hour to get dinner on the table. And this was plastic food, I remind you. The reasons it took long were very real and true to life. She'd start getting it ready, then someone would distract her. She'd need to pick up kids from piano lessons, break up a fight, help one of the kids do something. Always, calling them "honey," even if it was in a stern, reprimanding voice.

Then her phone rang. I couldn't help it, I had see what she'd do. "Mom, mom, mom," I tugged at her sleeve. "Just a minute, I'm on the phone," she mouthed to me. I had to push a little harder, but eventually she excused herself from the conversation to see what I needed. From the wagging of her finger, to the clearing of the dinner table, this little girl has been observing and I dare say, preparing for being a mom. It was really quite enlightening to watch. So that's why it takes so long to make dinner!!

Daylight Savings, Shmaylight Savings

My 6th grade teacher was not fond of Day Light savings. At some point in her life she had worked with sheep and was adamant about the fact that sheep woke and slept at the same times regardless of time on the clock. For some reason(s), this discussion has stuck with me over the years.

I could have been a shepard! My boys rise and fall on a pretty routine schedule and sure enough, Sunday morning they were up before the crack of dawn (4:45 to be exact) bleating at our bedroom door for breakfast. Did I mention I'm not really a morning person? We held them off as long as we could, then I said the magic words (for them and me!) "Why don't you go play computer, eh?" It's the same story every six months, trying to talk their little inner clocks into new schedules while managing to get enough sleep ourselves.

And then, there's the fact that it gets dark at 5:30. I know, I know we're now back to the "real" time and it would have been dark at 5:30 for all of October had we never changed in the first place. But it really does make me feel better to blame it on something! We've spent all fall racing from soccer game to soccer game, parks etc and have often come home with late bedtimes. Now in the matter of a few days, it's dark, we're tired, the night drags on and it's only 7:05. Can we please pretend it's the old time and put the boys down for bed yet? Perhaps we need a winter sport, or a life in general, but the darkness is one thing that depresses me about the long winter coming up!!

On a happier note, our furnace will not be leaking carbon monoxide into our home this long winter! yeah!! We had a routine physical done on it Monday and found that there were little cracks in our whozamawhatsits that could allow carbon monoxide into our home. They were REALLY sorry about it, but had to turn off the gas and deem it unsafe to run. We'd need to buy a new one immediately for the safety of all who would enter our home. So, Merry Christmas one and all, we've got a new furnace!!!

Happy Halloween!

This weekend we had some Halloween fun. We went to spend time with my brother, Jeff and his wife Kristin. We decided to have some fun of our own after the boys were in bed. We carved pumpkins by ourselves. Wow, sometimes you forget how to function when no one is telling you what to do and how to do it!!

Phil's parents came up and we also headed to Logan to the pumpkin walk, a family tradition from my family growing up, college days and now our little family is continuing the tradition. If you haven't been there, you ought to try it. Some people are so creative!!

Last, but not least, the boys ran in their 2nd Mantua Spooktacular Kids K race. It went....ok! We'll just say as soon as they use their energy to run the race instead of fighting and chasing each other around before the race starts, they'll be in great shape!!

We love primary!!

We had our primary program today. I'm lucky enough to be the music leader and they did such a great job. Our second song was "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus." I've never been affected by it before, but as they started singing, it just hit me what a sweet song that is, sung by sweet innocent little children. I started bawling and as Phil said, scared the kids!!! The looks on their faces were quite sweet as they wondered what was wrong with me!! I'm so glad that our kids learn from the get-go that they are children of God. What a blessing and good reminder for us as adults too!

Autumn Rocks!

What is it about large bodies of water that attracts children of all ages and rock throwing? I can remember a family vacation when I was in high school. We went back east to see my brother graduate from Dental School in Viriginia. We'd gone on a beautiful drive and found a peaceful lake. Pretty soon the whole family was at the water's edge, rocks in hand. As I remember, we spent quite a bit of time skipping rocks that afternoon. Each of us content to stay as long as we could.

We went to find some fall color this weekend and found ourselves down south at Payson and Maple lakes. To the fishermens' dismay, my little family found itself at the water's edge, rocks in hand. The boys didn't mess around with the little, skipping rocks though. They went straight for the biggest ones they could find, creating the biggest splashes. I think Phil won!! I love this time of year and am grateful for the beautiful world in which we live!

Boys vs Girls

My sister-in-law posted a video of her girls "Dancing with the Stars" on her blog. It is adorable. Sweet, graceful little girls enjoying each other's company, keeping time with the music. While I was watching, my boys were sword fighting and slashing each other in the family room.

Eventually I will come to accept the fact that boys are simply different than girls. Jacob informed me this morning that dad told him, "The reason mom doesn't allow violent games is because she doesn't know what it's like to be a boy." Well, frankly, that is exactly right!! There are things about being a boy that I just don't get. They like to fight and burp and wrestle with dad. This is all foreign to me. I don't understand how a piece of half-chewed up bread can become a gun. A lovely centerpiece, yes. A gun, no. (And I'm the mean mom who doesn't allow guns...how does my 2-year old know what to do with a bread gun?) So while I dream of boys who will grow up opening doors for people and asking for another serving of casserole please, I need to accept that boys are still boys. And I have some great ones!!! The following video may be as close as I ever get to "Dancing with the Star Wars," but we get what we get, and we don't throw a fit!

May the force be with you, my young Jedi Knights!


(The true star wars fans out there will recognize the amount of practice that was required for R2D2 to pass Luke his light saber at just the precise moment! Way to go boys!)

JacobD2

Why do we do it? Surely we aren't the only ones, but it's happenend again. It's got to be one of our built-in parental survival skills of some sort. Whether it's science projects, birthday cakes, pinewood derbys (I can't wait!), or, in our current case, Halloween costumes, we as parents seemed to get sucked up in the momentum of a project that somehow no longer means anything to the kid!!

Jacob has a Star Wars birthday party tonight. The kids are invited to dress up and they'll watch the old Star Wars movies and cut off each others hands etc. A seven year-old's dream come true! So Jacob happens to mention he'd like to be R2D2. With Halloween approaching, we decided we might as well figure out a costume for him that he can wear to both. 120 hours later, half of which have been spent actively creating this darn costume, the birthday party can go on because we are finally finished!! (OK, we didn't spend 60 hours on it, but it seemed like it!) Phil made a very sturdy frame and helmet at work, making various luxuries like arm holes, shoulder straps, and arms that really swing back and forth. He did a great job! I was in charge of decorating, taking special care to follow as closely as I could to R2D2's pattern. We finished last night as we watched the VP debate and felt great satisfaction in our hard work (or maybe that was relief that we were finally done.)

So here's the kicker. We know once he puts it on, Jacob is not going to like the thing. He will try it on and take it off after about 5 minutes, being altogether bored with the idea and wanting to be something else. This isn't the first time it's happened, and it won't be the last...but doesn't this costume look great!!!

You'd better believe one of us will be wearing this costume for Halloween. It might be Phil, but it WILL get used!

Sisters in Zion

I just got done listening to the General Relief Society Meeting. Because we got to go see my niece baptized in Rexburg this morning, I didn't make it to the meeting live. I am by myself, sobbing in front of my computer at 11:44 Saturday night. I must say it's a bit lonely. As it finished, I sat and thought about the different churches I've sat in over the years and participated in this meeting. It's always been one of my favorite, not just because it usually ended with friends and ice cream, but because of the spirit that women united in faith can bring. I could feel it even in front of my computer screen by myself. Thank you, my dear sisters who I've met along the road of life. Thank you for doing as President Uchtdorf suggested and making life beautiful. It would be a long, lonely journey without you. I am grateful to know such amazing women who are making a difference in this world and to me! You totally rock!!

Fabulous Fall

The rain made it a bit nippy this morning and I was almost giddy. I LOVE fall. I love the crisp clean air. I love the changing leaves (though I crave for New England every year - the above picture is from Walden Pond). I love the cheesy decorations I pull out from when we were first married and extremely poor - as opposed to our wealth now- when we had to really think before we bought anything. I love the smell of sweet spicy candles, cinnamon and cobblers.

Which brings me to my point. I smelled pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the store this morning and it made me so excited about eating fall foods. When we lived in Texas I used to turn up the AC so we could have chili. I love carmel apples and cider and yummy pumpkin treats and stew and all the great flavors that come with fall. So, what do you love about fall and love to eat in fall? I'd love to try something new!

Life's a Marathon

So after I ran the Ogden Marathon in the Spring, I was pumped and ready to do another one. I didn't take much time off and started training for Top of Utah. I love the long summer days, when it's light at 5:30 and I'm out getting my tempo and quality runs in. I started to get weary towards the end, but knew the hard work would be worth it.

Well, if you read my last entry, you can probably guess I got a bit distracted. Mind you, it was a GREAT distraction, but frankly I wasn't prepared for how tired my body would be. I was supposed to taper the last 2 weeks anyway. I got up and ran 13 tough miles before my flight to England and figured I'd take it easy on our trip and be refreshed and ready to go. Phil ran with me in the mornings in England, and I walked all day. I was so tired!!! I felt completely out of shape from traveling, the time changes and being a tourist.

So as I ran the marathon yesterday, I realized that running a marathon is like life. You can think you're prepared, and try your hardest, then you bonk at mile 8 and finishing is the best you can possibly do (to experience the meaning of bonk, run a marathon! I was hoping to bonk later this time - like mile 25 - but I just didn't have it in me!!) However, finishing is a pretty great accomplishment, even if the road to the finish is long and torturous. We are told to endure to the end and at times "enduring" is the hardest part.

I also had to notice how dependent I am on the Lord. I woke up at 4:00 am on Saturday to hear the rain coming down. So of course I started to pray (probably with a lot of fellow runners) that it wouldn't rain too hard, that the roads wouldn't be slippery and that I would make it through. Well, it turned out, the sky was quite clear, the sun started pounding down and before mile 14, I actually started to pray for rain!!! The Lord must have been laughing, in fact, I know He was because He sent a rainbow! I'm glad He knows the end from the beginning and knows how to answer our prayers with what is best for us!

So...the moral of the story is: In life we have to be flexible, roll with the punches and take it as it comes. It's not always going to turn out exactly how we plan, but all we can do is give it our best and enjoy the ride, or run in this case. (Can you tell I'm still trying to talk myself into it!!!) Here's a picture of one me and one of my biggest fans heading for the finish line!

By the way, the top photo is from the TOU last year. It was in the Logan paper and I'm that red dot above the "F" in Life. Yep, I'm famous.

Bonjour!

We've just returned from our expedition to England and France! It seems as if we've been gone forever, yet now just a dream. We had a wonderful, exciting trip! Here are some of the highlights:

• Shakespeare in the park, in Oxford, while eating chocolate bavarian cream crepes
• Tour of Warwick Castle and Shakespeare's birthplace
• Walking tour of Oxford, strolling down Logic Lane
• Singing along with the Salvation Army band on a Sunday night to welcome the St. Giles City Fair (they sat on the Carosel and sang hymns...)
• The beautiful flowers all over the old buildings
  
• Big Ben and Westminster Abbey
• "Wicked" (the show) in London - it was fantastic!!
• Shooting the breeze with some Scottish folk - they are so funny!
• Hauling our luggage through metros, trains, ferries and streets trying to make it to Paris (we were supposed to take the chunnel across but there was a fire so we had to make our own way there - very exciting and exhausting!)
• The great couple that we met from Colorado that helped us cross the pond all day long! We would have broken down much sooner without them (yes, I did have a break down after walking a mile with our luggage to a train station in France, everything in a different language, not sure if we were going to be able to get to Paris and unable to reach my parents. I bawled...but eventually regained composure!)
  
• Seeing my mom and dad!!!!!! It was wonderful to see where they live in Cherbourg, France. Quite a lovely little place they've got there.
• Normandy
• Sitting in church with a bunch of people that spoke a different language and feeling their testimonies and the universal truths of the gospel.
  
• Gazing up at the Eiffel Tower on Sunday night - it seemed like a dream or perhaps a backdrop that someone had put in front of us to stare at!! I loved it!
• Notre Dame
• Coming home and rocking with Micah at 2:00 in the morning. After a week away, it's good to be a mom again!

Here are some of my favorite shots!