Lost. and Found. Mostly.

 

My kids and I have grown, in different ways...these were taken last summer. I absolutely love them. I will soon post single pics and expose their personal lives one by one, lol! Once again, Kellie did a fabulous job, and it's just about time to have them taken again! A lot has happened in the last few years. Many good things and many not so good things. I will share eventually. Some things are just too painful to relive just yet. I AM going to try to post more, if only to keep a family journal of sorts. I've never been one to take millions of pictures and I worry that my kids will wonder if I even owned a camera! (Um, yes, I do...I just forget it all the time.) So...I'm workiing as an AmeriCorps member and I am in charge of a volunteer reading intervention program at Brighton and Rosey's school. Hard to believe, but Mia and Mack are in junior high now.  And of course, I'm still 29 years old ;) I am still in college full-time and my world needs a few extra hours a day! More to come....be patient.

Happy Birthday MiaLeigh!

MiaLeigh Marie,
Eleven years old. Really, I can't believe it. Time does fly, I was so excited for you to come home. I spent many sleepless nights dreaming up hair styles and fun things for us to do. I prayed for you to stay little, but I guess you eventually had to grow up. You are quiet, determined, sensitive, sneaky (in a good way), brilliant at the piano, an excellent friend, and one of the greatest joys in my life. I depend on you for too much, and you handle it so well. You take charge of the little girls so that I can study and freak out just a little bit. I hope you find all the happiness you deserve. You are beautiful, outside and inside. I love you so much!
Happy Eleventh Birthday!
love, MOM

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (FINALLY)

I'm praying that next year is better than the last...it's gotta be, right? Hope you and yours are safe and sound.
Happy New Year!

p.s. - photo by my bestest...kelliehalesphotography.com i picked a "grandma would like this one" but there are some great ones this year. seriously. no one can capture my kids like she can... i have the FUNNIEST pictures especially of rosey :)

I'm slowly coming back...

ok, so maybe i feel like writing again. that's got to be a good sign right??? we'll see. maybe i'll even post some random pictures!

Me

I am going away for awhile. Not really away...just away from this blog. I am going to find myself. The real me has been away too long, and I am finally going to find her. (No, I haven't lost my mind...I've finally come to my senses.) I got lost a while ago. I feel bits and pieces of the me I love trying to surface and it feels like bubbles inside of me. They make me want to giggle out loud. I can't wait to find the whole me, again. Good things are coming, I can feel it. Don't worry about me while I am gone. I will be okay. I always am :)
~Love, Amy

I LOVE ROSES!

NEW IN THE SHOP!!! It's never too early to start shopping for Mother's Day :)

Dear Spring,

Try harder. I could really use a little more sunshine and flowers.
Can't wait to see you.
Love,
~Amy

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Traditions.....

Little House on the Prairie. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. Every winter I read my boxed set of Little House books. They are well loved, they are bent, wrinkled, (yes, my only vacation is reading in the bathtub until wee hours!) and stained with Mountain Dew. I still love them. They are so descriptive you can just smell the corn cakes, and hear the rain drops. Parts of these books still bring tears to my eyes.
Yesterday, I gave my beloved Little House in the Big Woods to MiaLeigh to read. I tried patiently to explain why I love these books. In an age of cell phones and computers, I constantly wish for their simple life. Life was hard, but people knew how to work hard using their own hands. Family came first, always. There was no choice but to have meals around the table, and everyone was greatful for whatever food was placed in front of them. People were proud of everything they had. (Most of it was handmade.) Kids knew how to entertain themselves outside in the sunshine. Mama's created beautiful handmade quilts and dresses, and handknit socks, all filled with love because they were meant to keep her precious family warm. Shoes were only a necessity special occasions. Oh, I really do think I was born in the wrong time...

Dear Winter,

It's never been a huge secret that we aren't friends. I mean, you're nice and all for the people who enjoy the skiing, cold, slipping on the ice, and scarves, I guess. Over the years we've had an understanding. I stay home, and you continue to drop that nasty white stuff to cover the dead grass. So please understand my next comment really comes from a good place. What the HELL happened? Are you ill? Smog, really??? Just smog? I know it's pretty bad air when it hits me clear up here on the mountain. I'm pretty sure I'd rather the nasty white stuff. I know it stings to hear that you are slacking, but I have every confidence that you can do it. Please believe me...it hurts me more than you to say this. Just do it. Bl0w in a nasty winter storm to clear away the air crap so I can get on with my sinus-infected life. Please. Remember you have my respect, just not my love.
~Amy

Hey, I'm a celebrity!!!

Just kidding. Really. I gave an interview to the Weber State University Signpost. I originally thought that it was just going to be a one-liner in an article about the internet. Well, I actually got my own article :) Go and read it here, it made me feel famous for a day! Sad, really sad!

GO VOTE....RIGHT NOW....PLEASE!!!!

In my sidebar there is a "vote now" button. This is VERY important. There is a law being written that states that after August 2009 it will be illegal to have a handmade item for a child under the age of 12 in our great United States. This includes toys, clothing, booties, blankets....anything you basically find on ETSY for kids and babies. We will not be able to give handmade gifts for showers, birthdays or holidays. The law was written to protect us from lead and other imported nasties. Obviously it needs to be rewritten. I will move to Canada if this law goes through. I cannot imagine my personal world without handmade items. Please go vote so we can change this law. It is very important to me and many other Mom's across this country!!!

Sad, but true....

Every year I say I won't do this.... but every year I stay awake until wee hours trying to get things finished for Christmas Day!

I hope your holidays are perfectly wonderful!

xoxoxo,
Amy

Family Christmas Party!

The PRINCESS is finally four!

Brighton Hannah Summers (Super-hero Princess). Where do I start with Nanna? Well, I'll start at the beginning. Nanna is named after my Grandma Hannah Hazel Scott. As I've mentioned before, she was my favorite person ever and I think about her every day. I think my Grandma must have had a very hard time letting her go from heaven, because Nan was VERY hard to get here. I wasn't sure if she would ever be mine! I knew there was a Hannah somewhere for me...I kept fighting and fighting and after many, many miscarriages I became pregnant with my Hannah. I felt instantly at peace because I knew this one would be okay. I sang to her everyday while she grew in me. I knew she was a girl, I never even doubted it. I even knew her name was Hannah. Then I dreamed about a beautiful light haired, hazel eyed little girl named Brighton. I knew that this was my baby and that her name was supposed to be Brighton Hannah. From the minute she was born I called her Nanna. She isn't just Brighton to me. She's my Hannah. But her name fits her...she "brightens" up the room the minute she dances in. And yes, she doesn't walk, she dances. She loves everything girly, doesn't realize that little girls can't always do what big sisters do. (She does it any way!) She loves make-up, dressing up, and changing clothes (about 10 times a day!) There are just not enough accessories in the world for Nanna. The world just doesn't move fast enough and you can see the curiousness in her eyes. She refuses to leave the house without lip gloss. (I tell her every day she is too pretty for everything except lip gloss!) She is every little bit feminine that I am lacking. It is just a part of who she is and I LOVE it. She will share anything, loves babies, wants to help do everything and hates to clean her room. She says it isn't mess, it's just her stuff. (Where do you think she came up with that?) Nanna is always good for a snuggle, she comes and climbs in our bed every morning (If she ever makes it out the night before!) Nanna doesn't look a thing like me, but she processes things the same way I do, and I believe she inherited my ability to see beauty everywhere. She gets so excited over things that I don't always see and she helps me to see them too. I love the world through Nanna's eyes. Nanna doesn't have an ounce of stage fright, loves to be the center of attention and I know she will do great things in her own time. I am thankful everyday that I kept trying, it was worth absolutely everything. I love you Brighton Hannah! Happy 4th Birthday!

Randomness

I'm way too busy to take new pictures, so please enjoy this random pic from my stash! Poor Mialeigh, I don't think she knows how to play the piano without "help"!

Today is my baby brother's birthday. Obviously he isn't a baby anymore, he got married last year and now they are expecting their first baby :) Happy Birthday Big D!

Now that we are on the subject of babies...I get to babysit my newborn niece a few days a week! Brian went out and pulled out the pack'n'play, bouncer seat, and other assorted little objects that haven't been seen around here for quite some time. My house looks a little more normal to me now. (Pack'n'play set up in the living room!) Wish me luck, she's only 3 weeks old! I'm very, very excited! (Can you tell?)

Warning...Possible Future Therapy Issue:

I have no idea where she learned this. Who could she possibly know that is this freakish about ownership of a drink??? :)

I am thankful for...

My family. Every day they make me proud to call them mine.

My home. When you lose everything, you learn the hard way what is actually important... and it isn't the mansion on the hill. Love really does grow best in little houses.

My hands. They have provided a constant source of comfort when my body stopped working the way it is supposed to. Yarn is magic in my fingers.

My ability to find beauty in the most random things. I consider this my greatest talent.

So, so many more things too numerous to mention.
I am very blessed, even in my darkest hour, I can always find many things to be thankful for.

May you always have much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!






Note: Of course there has to be something negative. Here it is, my HUGE pet peeve of the day...
Christmas decorations should not even leave the storage shed until the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a very under-rated holiday. Let it have it's glory before you let Christmas throw up in your house and ESPECIALLY in your yard. You know who you are. Come on, there only needs to be one Griswold family. One big stupid blow up thing is plenty. Really, plenty. That being said, anyone who knows my husband probably knows he is terrified of heights. We are the red neck family who leaves our christmas lights up year round. (BUT I DON'T TURN THEM ON UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING TURKEY!!!)

Funny, so, so funny!

You might be from Utah if..... *You keep your clothes in "Chester Drawers" *You don't pronounce T's in the middle of words.(Moun'n, Lay'n)* You think a "G" at the end of a word is silent. (You comin' fer dinner?)* You know what Fry Sauce is made of.*You go to the duck pond to feed the Seagulls.* Green Jell-o with carrots mixed in doesn't seem strange.*You can pronounce Tooele.* The Y is not just a letter - Neither is the U.* You have actually eaten funeral potatoes.*You've gotten both heat and frost burns off your car's door handle in the same month!*You are not surprised to hear words like "Darn, Fetch, Flip", "Oh, My Heck" and "Shoot".*Your tulips get snowed on three times after they come up and twice more after they bloom.* The largest liquor store is the state government.*You can go skiing and play golf on the same day.*30% humidity is muggy and almost unbearable.* You know the difference between a 'Steak House' and a 'Stake House'.* You've broken down on the highway and somebody stops to help you.*You can see the stars at night.* You were an aunt or uncle before you were three.* You have more children than you can find biblical names for.*Your family considers a trip to McDonald's a night out.*You feel guilty when you watch Monday Night Football.* Your kids believe the deer hunt is a national holiday.*You drink Coke from a brown paper bag.*At least two of your salad bowls are at the homes of neighbors* There is a similarity between a ward basketball game and the L.A. riots.* You think Jack Daniels is a country western singer.*You negotiate prices at a garage sale.* You can make Jell-O salad without the recipe.*You've heard about BYU football in a testimony meeting.*You have two gallons of ice cream in your freezer at all times.* Your father-in-law thinks Ronald Reagan was a liberal.*A member of your family wrote in Lavell Edwards for president in the last election.*Sandals are the best-selling shoes.* Hotel rooms all have the Book of Mormon.*You buy your wardrobe at the local grocery superstore.* You learn about the Mormon Church by taking history in elementary school.* You live in a state where Democrats always come in third place, unless a zoo animal is running. Then they come in fourth.* Schools stay open, even if two feet of snow falls overnight, but closes for the opening of hunting season.*People wear shorts and T-shir ts if the temperature rises above 32 degrees.*People wear socks with their sandals.* There is a church on every corner, but they all teach the same thing.*The most popular public transportation system is a ski lift.*In-state college football rivalries are bigger than the Super Bowl.* You don't have to breathe cigarette smoke until you walk outside.*Every driveway has a minivan and a pickup truck.*When you buy a new vehicle, cigarette lighters are optional equipment but ski racks are standard.*Every time a new family moves into your neighborhood, the local elementary school has to hire a new teacher.*Every time a new family moves into your neighborhood, your whole family has to go and meet them the next day, after you helped them unload their moving truck.*Your paycheck has an additional 10 percent deduction .* More movies are filmed in your town than in Hollywood.*You've never had a Mormon missionary knock on your door, unless you are having them over for dinner that night.*You make a toast with red punch at your wedding reception.* You have more raw wheat stored than some Third World Countries.*Your idea of a good time is playing Pictionary in the cultural hall.*Your idea of a wild party is a six pack of Pepsi and a PG-13 movie.* You and all your friends come to your mother for a haircut in herkitchen.* You measure Kool-Aid by parts per million.*The bride isn't pregnant, but either her mother or future mother-in-law is.You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Utah.

I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy.....

Lucky for you I didn't put the sound of my voice singing that song. Today,I have Christmas in my head. This is the most unprepared I've ever been for the Holidays. (Having lack of funds does this kind of thing.) My Christmas Crafting List. Insane....absolutely. Impossible...maybe. We'll see. More later.