Category Archives: North Dakota

Buddies

Ava and I sat on my bed with our legs stretched out scooping the last of the crumbs from the bag of chips. It was quiet except for our talking and crunching and the few cars going by outside. “I can’t wait until Hyrum wakes up so I can play with him,” she said.
These two have been playing together a lot lately and it’s one of my favorite things. He follows her and copies her and runs around dancing and chasing monsters with her and she couldn’t love it more. And I’m right there with her. I couldn’t love it more. #mamanotes

A Family Valentines

I sat on the back porch in the afternoon sun watching the kids squeal with excitement to be outside. They chased bubbles on the steps and down the only narrow pathway paved from snow. Ava made some new tracks through the backyard mounds and Hyrum got stuck trying to follow. Then she sat on the fence by the little tree and said, “Hey mom do you remember when I used to climb this tree?” like it’s been years since it had leaves and branches warm enough to climb. Sometimes it feels that way.

Then Jake came home with chocolate covered strawberries and an empty snack container to make a piggy bank with Ava. She was so excited.

We lit candles and ate on paper plates to avoid dishes after dinner. Hyrum kept trying to blow the candles out and turn back on the lights (he’s only seen candles on a birthday cake and that’s just what you do!) We pulled the sparkling grape juice from the snow outside and cheers-ed to a Happy Valentine’s Day with our four paper cups.

We finished the night with a game of candy land and cinnamon rolls from a dear friend then watched the kids dance to music across the family room floor before tucking them in bed with lots of I love you’s.

Ava fell asleep within minutes of cuddling, and when I laid next to Hyrum to try to help him fall asleep, he pressed his little hand onto the side of my face, brought it right against his and gave me a kiss. I smiled the happiest of smiles and told him I loved him, to which he replied, “Love you Mom.” My heart could burst I so adore him.

Between the love of my life and these two little love bugs, we’re all just full of love over here and I just feel so lucky. #mamanotes

Fair are the meadows

I woke up to some hefty tantrums from my two year old, was already feeling emotional for whatever reason (feeling trapped in winter, lingering sicknesses, pregnancy hormones, etc.) and by the time Jake was heading out the door to leave, I could hardly say goodbye through my tears as I put the kids’ socks and underwear in the drawer.

Later that morning I stood at my kitchen sink washing dishes from the night before, staring at the hazy mounds of white and bare branches out the window. Winter has been hard this year. It’s only January and yet I am feeling so trapped in this cold, insatiably dreaming of warm places and green trees. Even the desert sounds dreamy. Cliche as it all sounds, these feelings are so drowning sometimes.

Lately I’ve been trying to focus on getting things done, playing with the kids, and appreciating every ounce of sunshine that beams through our windows. I am trying to be positive, to keep my head up.

This morning I sang hymns while I did the dishes.

Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer the moonlight
And all the stars in heav’n above;
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer
And brings to all the world his love.

As I sang the words to this children’s song, I realized they were exactly what I needed to hear.

Fair are the meadows,
Fairer the woodlands,
Robed in the flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer.
He makes the sorrowing spirit sing.

Jesus is fairer. He is more than all those meadows and flowers and beaches that I long for. He can make my sorrowing spirit sing. I need to be reminded of that. While I wait for those beaming rays on my legs and toes, He can be my light and my warmth.

As I finished the song, I felt a calming peace around me, like I was being wrapped in a hug. It filled me from the inside out–every longing hushed. His Spirit was there, lifting me from my sadness, reminding me that He is there, He is always there. I felt the Savior’s love, and that was more filling than any sparkling seashore or desert sand that I have so lately craved.

I really needed that, and Heavenly Father knew. That’s why He sent His Son to be our Savior, because we really need Him, every hour we need Him, even when we don’t realize it at first.

Grateful for that reminder today. He made my sorrowing spirit sing.

New Year’s and Nerf Guns

“And thank you that we could stay in Utah longer than seven days, and please bless the twins that they will grow healthy and strong, and bless all the people of the world and bless Daddy’s eye and mommy’s lip that they will get better…” (Ava’s bedtime prayer tonight)

We drove home from our trip to Utah today. We pulled up to snow drifts up to our waist, a walkway shoveled by our kind neighbor, and a warm house that didn’t stink (no hidden diapers or smeltering garbages! 🙌) Jake hauled everything in from the car while Ava and I started unpacking inside. We cooked up some food from the freezer, snacked on Christmas truffles, and unwrapped the package of 200 nerf bullets that Jake ordered from China over a month ago (we just got the package.) And since we realized after ordering that they wouldn’t arrive by Christmas, Jake ordered another 200 from Amazon so we could all play with the four nerf guns we got on Christmas morning. 😂
So, we piled the new 200 with the other 200, strapped on whatever glasses we could find, piled up the suitcases and laundry baskets, and teamed up to shoot at each other.

I soon learned that those little foam bullets pack a punch!! I told Jake we should’ve just gotten those little guns that shoot soft, colorful rings but we settled on these eye poking, lip numbing, red mark-making foam bullets and had so much fun regardless. (After Hyrum shot Jake in the eye and he lost his peripheral vision for a while [somehow it got him WITH his glasses on] we decided shooting targets at the laundry basket would be a better way to end the night. 😬👍) It’s good to be home.

Cheers to a happy new year!
#mamanotes #welcome2017

Update: I ordered safety goggles! It was funny because when I was browsing on Amazon for some, many of the items in the “frequently bought with” section were nerf guns and nerf ammo. Haha! Why didn’t I see any safety goggles on there when we ordered our nerf guns!?

Well, we have them now. 🙂

The kids really like them, except Hyrum’s pinch his cheeks in half and cover over half his face so he doesn’t like to keep them on long. Totally ok, I don’t last long in nerf gun battles anyway.

Making Christmas in Our House

 

Ava waited all day to get out the Christmas tree and the Christmas decorations. We cleaned the house and waited for my hard drives to finish backing up before we could move the desk and computer for the Christmas tree.

Then Jake put on a coat and his super tall boots and trudged through a few feet of piled snow drifts to the garage to get the tree and all the fun Christmas stuff.

 We’ve been hibernating the past few days in our warm little townhouse while a true North Dakota storm has been piling snow and blowing it all around us. No school and work from home means a lot of together time and we really like that.

I’m supposed to drive to Bismarck tomorrow for an important ultrasound  that needs to be done no later than this week so we’ll see if we can make it out there. School is closed again tomorrow.

 We put up the Christmas tree, broke a few ornaments, and noticed that some chunks of lights weren’t working on the tree. So we decided to hold off on the ornaments and ribbon until we could get those working again, and tucked the kids into bed.

 Ava sat up in her bed marveling at the little Christmas tree we set up in her room, the same one I had in my room when I was young. Her bed time prayer went something like this:

 “Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the Earth and for Christmas. Thank you that we could have Christmas and make Christmas in our house today. Thank you for our bodies and that we could have a nice home to keep us warm. Please bless Mommy and Daddy and Hyrum and the babies and help us have a good day tomorrow. . In the name of Jesus Christ Amen. “

 She fills my heart this little one.