What's Important

Lately I have let myself get overwhelmed. I am very good at it.
Years ago I learned the power of negitive self talk, and took a few days to be really concious of how much I do it. I knew I did it, I knew I did it A LOT. But I was SHOCKED when I conciously or subconsiously payed attention to how much of my brain space was really being wasted by it. I even believed it. It stemmed from guilt of a an unhealthy lunch I just had to make for my kids, to not having my house immaculate, to not having the perfect body, etc. etc. etc. Not to mention comparing, comparing, comparing.
It not only affected me but affected the way I was as a mother and a wife and even a friend.
Lately it has seemed to be getting the best of me again and I am determined to not let my kiddos or husband OR myself suffer over things that ARE NOT important!! I am not going to die thinking about the perfect clean house I had or how so and so was more organized than me. I want to die knowing I soaked up every last minute with my family. The good, the bad and the ugly.
I want to be PRESENT!
I feel it's the greatest gift we can give ourselves and the people we love. I want my daughters to grow up with peace inside about themselves. I have a big job to do. It's a hard thing to do in this world but I am going to do my best.
I am grateful for ALL I have.

I came across this video from a mother who I look for inspiration EVERY morning You can easily access her blog by clicking onto the blue type writer on the right of my screen. I know you will come away with a fresh perspective, no matter what faith you are...Enjoy

Blessings, Love and Light to everyone.

Indi's Debut

On her way to ROCK!!

(wish you could see more of her heavenly skirt made by my friend the fab Corrine Jenson)


Here is White Horse performed by Indi, Hayley, her awesome teacher Jeff Jenson. His band played bass and drums. A HUGE thank you to Jeff!



It was a a special night. I was SO proud of Indi. Not only did she get up in front of a lot of people to perform, she was able to do it with her aunt Hayley. She has been playing since December and they both did amazing. I will never forget it.
I LOVE you Indi, I am so proud of you!

California Dreamin'

This is Carly and Darla hopping into the car to take off to Cali.

Aunt Carly and Uncle Griffin left for the summer to work in California. Yes, it is only for a few months but it will seem like a lot longer. They play a HUGE role in my girls life and they love them to death. Like their other aunts, Carly is like a second mom to them. She is always there and willing to help me out. They truly couldn't ask for a more loving, involved aunt and uncle.
No one can make Beaux laugh as hard as Griffin does. Beaux already misses that. Griffin has been out there a couple weeks and has had some great stories to share, such as people opening the door and immediately throwing kitchen utensils at him then slamming the door, to women screaming very interesting profanity, and him eating, BEANS at some one's home and getting sick afterward. I'll keep you posted for more :)
Saying goodbye for just a few months was hard.
BUT Carly has already texted me some very mean photos of her at her pool in the sun, so I can't feel too bad for her. She just might not want to come home. I hope we, or just me :) can possibly make it out to say hi. Cassidy and Nicole are only 20 min away and we are dying to visit them too.

Have so much fun on your new adventure!!
We love and miss you!!

Rocky

Housekeeping is not my forte'. Let's just say I hate it.
I wish I didn't. I think I hate it because I suck at it. Don't get me wrong, I know how to clean...clean good actually. I just CAN'T keep it up.
Lately Hayley and I have depended on each other for motivation when we just don't have any. Today her phone rang and I told her of the horrible loathing I was doing at the thought of getting going on my house. I was lying on my bed, feeling bad for myself, and getting more tired by the second just at the thought of it all. Here is what she told me:

1. Strap on my tennis shoes.
This a trick of hers that she claims gets her moving in her house.

2. Turn on the Rocky Theme, throw a hoodie over my head and get going.

Not the usual motivational talk I get from her but what the heck. I sent her this video soon after.

Now I will get off my butt and get to work.

Turn up volume

Prom ~ Madison and Nick

This isn't a great shot but the best I could do. My girls loved watching all of the pretty dresses come down the stairs. Only one girl fell down about 3 stairs, other girls took their shoes off to avoid the possibility.

Madison looked gorgeous, it was fun to be there as she scrambled to get ready for her date. I kept thinking I'm going to blink my eyes and it will be time for my girls to go to prom.

Sloane+Dehydration+SUN+Exhaustion=MARION

This is Sloane after a LONG day in the sun, a little dehydrated, tired and hungry. Oh and after falling all the way in 50 degree water. She was talking about this person like we should all know who she was talking about. Listen to Hayley laughing in the background, I literally don't think I have ever seen her laugh harder. And for some reason the video truly doesn't do it justice. The 2nd video is funnier to watch but at the time this one was what we laughed harder at. She seriously went from being kind of quiet and a tad ornery right into this weird girl, who has sheep character...and a hunchback. She hadn't had this much sun since last year and this was the result. After Marion she was morphed back into ornery, tired, hungry Sloane. And yes, I call her Beaux in the video...which I do multiple times a day.




Her body posture, hunchback dance and her little scrawny legs just kill me.



"Why do I have to do this?" "It's freaking cold!!"



Beaux never stopped getting in!!! She is a fish who doesn't mind freezing water. I cannot imagine how this was fun.

Spring Break In Lake Powell

Sandcastles with dad after he got some bass fishing in.
Stay tuned for my next post of some video of this trip...we had an unexpected visitor :)



Rainbow Bridge with snow in the background!
We took some of my dad's clients from Kansas City on the lake and up to Rainbow Bridge. They had never been to Southern Utah and it was their first time on the lake. It was his 50th birthday. It was such a neat experience for all of us. I have been on that lake countless times but going with adults who had never seen it before was like experiencing Lake Powell for the first time. They were in pure amazement. The look on their faces and the way they gripped the boat seats as my dad cruised (FAST) up the canyon toward rainbow bridge was priceless. I think they thought they were going to die but didn't care because of how beautiful it was. As they stood and stared at Rainbow Bridge she said, "Today we are blessed." We were, it was a special day.







Feeding Ducks



Getting brave in the 50 degree water.





That's COLD!!!



Sloane a tad mad after falling all the way in.



TRICKS!!



Beaux didn't seem to notice the entire trip that the water was really too cold to swim in. It would make my feet numb and sting the moment in stepped in.



Creative sandwich eating.



SANDCASTLES!!





Again Beaux thinking it's summer.





YUM

bubble bath

What is better than having a fab photog sister to take pictures of your kids?....When she SURPRISES you with fabulous photos!!!
Over spring break while at Lake Powell Hayley stayed back at the condo with my girls while we went on a long boat trip up a canyon. Today she texted me that there was a gift in my email. I checked and found these!! They are going up in the girls bathroom ASAP!!
Thanks Aunt Hay!!!!! They are so perfect!!!

dinner

Our last meal together as a family was chaos. (and a long time ago) Today's was perfect.
After WAY to many grilled cheese and chicken nugget runs, I had to get my act together and MAKE REAL food for my family.
So today we sat down to my own YUM homemade spagetti, sourdough garlic bread (not pictured) and corn. I know....fancy.
The girls actually ATE everything and told how yummy it was. (miracle)
Then the girls conversation led to them believing it would be a good idea for Rocco and Lulu to get married. (our dogs) They spoke about wedding dresses for Lulu a tux for Rocco and how the slide could be the isle where they could push them down to the bottom to get married. I suggested Greg perform the ceremony. Maybe he could do an online course to get certified.
Then Sloane got off her seat and walked over to Greg, grabbed his arm and said, "I want to marry Daddy." She was serious. She was looking up at him with the cutest smile and you could just see how much she loves him. I pray one day she will marry someone as wonderful as her dad. She pulled on his arm and said, "Kiss me Daddy!!" They kissed and in her mind they were married. Then her arm that wasn't wrapped around him, shot up in the air and she said, "I am all of yours mommy!!"
Happy Times

Enjoy!

This is exactly how he started the concert in Colorado.

Moms Bday and April Fools

We had to celebrate Mom's Birthday a little late due to her horrible cold. But doing it on April Fool's Day ended up being pretty fun. Carly pranked Madison and asked her to prom and Greg and Indi played a fabulous trick on Grandpa Jerry! (check out video below)
We love you Mom thanks for being the wonderful mom that you are. You make life more special.
Happy Birthday!





Indi had no idea that one of the presents brought out for mom's party was one for her! Grandpa had this coming in the mail but it didn't quite make it for her birthday. A pink, very sparkly Daisy Rock left hand electric guitar. She was stunned and THRILLED!! She hasn't stopped smiling. I think our house is going to get even louder!!
Thank you Grandpa and Tutu!!

video

PERFECTLY LONELY


Here are some videos I took with my phone. Not the best quality and they look strangely far away, I am dead set on getting great video next time!!! The sound was a little too intense for my little phone but still worth watching :)




SLOW DANCING IN A BURNING ROOM




CROSSROADS I was SO bummed this one didn't sound better, it was SO good live.



VULTURES

Therapy in Colorado

The night we had been waiting for had finally come and it did not disappoint!! AMAZING. He is just AMAZING. He even played 'Comfortable' a song he RARELY plays. It's an old one and one of my favs. I was in heaven. What was also amazing was our seats were 4th row right smack dab in front of his microphone. The exact place we were for his Continuum tour in SLC. Here is a taste of our night with JOHN.






John, Steve Jordan on drums, Robbie McIntosh and Sean Hurley on Bass. Not pictured, David Ryan Harris and Charlie Wilson









Playing on the floor. It was crazy good.











Hay and I in mourning after the encore.




Andee-Carly-Hayley-Madison-Me
After STUFFING ourselves at the Cheesecake Factory and right before Hayley and I watched Madison go DOWN hard on her back in the parking lot as she was trying to scrape snow off the windows. The parking lot was nothing but snow, dirt and slush!!! Good thing we just took 2 hours getting ready! Hay and I stopped breathing we were laughing so hard.




During the concert John announced that ALL roads were closed due to the BLIZZARD that was going on out side. Yea we were going to get snowed in with John and he would just play through the night!! Not...we went out and soon were STUCK in this!!






Being in the most insane snowstorm I have ever witnessed, I was thankful our driver was taking things so seriously.
Andee I LOVE you!!!






Sitting on a closed freeway gets boring. We joined in on a freeway snow ball fight. This man got out of his car and threw one straight through my window past me and smacked Carly! SOO funny.



Hayley looked smokin in her new shoes but they weren't so weather friendly. Thanks to these babies we paid for valet parking.



By the end of the concert we believed we had a new convert. Carly stated it was one of the funnest nights of her life. I was sad it was over. Till next time.



MERCH...



John tweeted this picture after we were back cozy in our beds. Lucky for them the roads opened back up in the EARLY morning hours and they headed for California.

I had four days of laughing till I was sick, singing in the car, eating paninis, staying up till 3 am, eating mini bundt cakes and shopping. And I got to do it with 4 of my favorite people on earth. My sistas and my sista from anotha motha.
I LOVE YOU ALL...LET'S GET PLANNING OUR NEXT ADVENTURE!!

NOTICE: I did not post the list. ;)