Picking Blueberries

Today my mom and I took the kids to pick some blueberries and it was a great time. Kadin got really into it and was very careful about only picking the blue ones (he reminded my mom and me about this fact several times). Kylee was a little bit more impatient with the whole affair, faily interested in the buckets at the beginning but then pitching a fit and tossing them around (losing several handfuls of blueberries in the process).

I am trying to play around with my camera a little more and take more "artistic" and interesting pictures rather than just the standard shot. I was inspired by my sister-in-law, Molly, on our family vacation. She takes amazing pictures and tried to give my mom and me a short tutorial on how to take better pictures and use all the tricky functions on our cameras. It's one of my goals to learn how to use my camera more; since Jeremy got me such a great one, I might as well learn how to use it! I am also playing around some in Picasa to edit them differently. Once I get comfortable there, maybe I'll work my way up to PSE . . . we'll see. I'm still a little intimidated from playing around with the trial version. I'll get there!!!

Revamp and restart

The past couple days I have been listening to some digital scrapbooking podcasts in the car while I run errands and one of them was about incorporating blogging into digital scrapbooking. It really made me think about my poor neglected blog and why I started it in the first place. I have tried different ways of keeping a journal and it always ends up shoved in the back of a drawer or an unopened file on my computer. But for the same reason that I started scrapbooking, journaling is important to me. I want to remember. I want to hang on to all the little moments that make life was it is; the hilarious things that Kadin says out of the blue, the new things that Kylee learns each day, the frustrations of being a stay-at-home mom. So I am revamping my blog and restarting with my resolution to keep writing. I'm hoping that the accountability of having other people read what I write will help me keep up with it!!!!

Tender mercies

Tender mercies . . . I have seen a lot of these in my life recently. Whether it has been in a book I have read, and Ensign article, or something someone has said, I have had the answer, reassurance or comfort I needed when I needed it.

Recently, I attended the funeral of a family friend. The feeling at the funeral was a mix of sadness and . . . I wouldn't say joy, because I don't think anyone feels joy at the death of a loved one, but there was something of relief because he had been fighting ALS for the last three years and was deteriorating rapidly. There were wonderful things said about him but the thing that really hit me was something that his wife said during her remarks. She was talking about their early life together and how difficult it was for her with young children at home. She spoke about feeling restless and agitated with her life, thinking that this was not the direction that she envisioned for her life. Then she talked about how she woke up one morning and made a conscious choice to choose joy. Those words really stood out to me, "CHOOSE JOY". I can sit aaround waiting for the stars to align and everything to work out like a Disney movie, or I can look at the life I have (which is pretty dang good when I sit down and think about it) and find the joy already there.

I have been making an effort to "choose joy" lately and it really has made a difference. I feel happier, more able to tackle the difficulties that inevitably come, and I feel like my relationship with my kids and husband is going so much more smoothly. I am making a cute crafty sign for my bathroom to remind me every day that joy is a choice and one I am going to make!

July and August (so far)

Wow, I just realized that it has been a LONG time since I have updated this! But it all makes sense when I look back and see what the last few months have been full of . . . holidays, a wedding, a few birthdays, and just plain life! So here are some quick photo highlights of life since the last post.

Kylee has learned a new trick; sticking her foot in her mouth. It looks incredibly painful, but she seems to enjoy it!Kylee is looking cute and ready for a dip in the pool!

I set the timer on the camera to capture this moment with Kadin in our kiddie pool on the deck. We spent quite a bit of time in that pool when the temperatures hit the 100's for a while.

Jordan came home for the 4th of July weekend and he spent a bunch of time with Kadin, particularly getting him to expand his eating habits.

Kadin had a great time digging in the sand pit right outside the front door of our beach house.

I admit it, I am one of those dorky mothers who dress their kids up for every holiday. But when they look this cute, how can I resist????

After getting up at 4 in the morning to catch our early flight to Utah, Jeremy was whisked away to Lagoon for Jordan's "bachelor party".

After their Lagoon adventure, the boys met back up with Mom, the kids and me back at my Grandpa Batty's and Devin joined Kadin in the AMAZING pay structure they had just built back there.

Congratulations to Jordan and Molly! They looked AMAZING and so incredibly happy. Whaty a great experience to share with them.

The four Theurer kids together again.

What a cute couple! To see more pictures go to http://wendyandersonphotography.blogspot.com/ and look for the entries labeled "Jordan and Molly" wedding. They are beautiful pictures.

Relaxing on the lawn before the reception. It was SOOOOO hot that day, we were all melting!

Because of the heat, Jordan and Molly had Otter Pops at their reception. What a great idea! It was certainly appreciated by Kadin, who had about 10, I think. By the way, doesn't he look studly in his little orange tie? Funny story: I asked Ben and Devin to get the kids dressed up in their nice clothes while we were in the temple during the sealing and when I came out, Kadin ran up to me and proudly told me "I loook 'sax-y'". Apparently, his uncles had thought it would be funny to teach him to say he looked sexy. Now whenever he sees the orange tie, he tells me how "sax-y" he looks in it.

I just love this picture!

The boys have a constant competition going on about who is the favorite uncle, but I think they have met their match. Kadin immediately latched on to Molly and followed her EVERYWHERE! Jordan gets points for being married to her, but the other two . . . better step up your game!

Playing in the pool at grandma's house. These two kids LOVE the water and love to splash each other.

Kadin got an ice-cream cone as a reward for peeing in Grandma's potty but more of the treat ended up in the lawn and on his clothes than in his mouth. Side note: that was the last time he peed in the potty for the past few weeks . . . any hints/help for a stubborn potty trainee would be much appreciated!

Kadin is taking a tumbling class at THPRD and is loving the chance to jump on trampolines, crawl over and under mats and turn somersaults.

My mom and I took the kids to a pool nearby that had a shallow kids section with a waterfall, spouts and a water-slide. Kadin was FEARLESS on the water-slide. He went down a couple times with my mom while I held Kylee, but then he was all about doing it himself.

We had Jeremy's birthday party (I cannot believe he is 30!!!!!!!) at my parent's house. The pool was set up and I didn't think that the kids were going to get in because it was a little bit cool outside, but that didn't stop them! Clothes and all, they were splashing up a storm.Jeremy requested my dad's FABULOUS ribs for his birthday dinner. YUMMY!

The boys helped Jeremy blow out his birthday candles.

Jeremy also had PLENTY of help opening his presents.

WHEW! Looking back it has been a crazy, but fun, few months.