Bikin' with the Fam

Nearly a month ago (man..I can't believe it has already been that long) we headed out to Warner Valley as a family to meet up with the Lefevre's for a day in the desert.
We packed up the boys bikes, shovels, buckets, and snacks.

Poor Caleb only got about 30 minutes of riding in before he popped his tire.
And man was he bummed, until he figured out that he could build the "big boys" jump for dad.
And after that he manged to have a ball.

Here are some random photos from the day.

 Here are a few of Kurt, Farah, and Torsten too....

(Beau get me a bike...I wanna ride...this is a subliminal message---hahahaha)

 Caleb hard at work while the Dad takes a rest from biking.
Man- he really loved building the jump!

Who says the desert isn't beautiful?
It really is!

Sweet Dreams

I feel overwhelmed when I think about my children. 

Not overwhelmed, like I can't handle them, but overwhelmed that they are mine. That the Lord has entrusted me with me. I love that, although they are getting older, each one still enjoys to cuddle. They let me still hug and kiss them! 

(o.k. maybe tolerate me )

I enjoy their laughter, their tears, their unique personalities, and the way they do things.  I also enjoy going in their rooms every night, while they are sleeping, to stroke my hand through their hair and whisper in their ears how much I love them!

Even though they are sleeping and maybe can't hear me, I do it anyways.

I love watching them each sleep for a few minutes. 

In those quiet, still moments I am completely overwhelmed with God's love for me and them!

He has to love me so much to entrust me with these four beautiful children!

I love that they are all mine! 

That I get to be their mother!

I feel overwhelmingly blessed!

Rhino Rally 2011

This is one of my favorite Desert Races of the year! It is in a beautiful location, the perfect time of year, and put together really well. Although none of us were quite so prepared for the rain and sloshy mud puddles. 

Lukas woke up sick, but I had already missed Beau's first race and didn't want to miss another one! So we loaded up the kiddos and headed out. Beau's friend Mark raced with him. Our good friends Jake and Ana, came along for the adventure. And Beau's dad, Dean, and Uncle Don were able to come down and see him race as well! 

Here is the pit crew line  and then below that the starting line.

Getting ready for the race....

(Beau and his friend Mark)

And they are off.......

This guy flew off his bike right in front of us. You could hear him hit. It was bad!

He had to be taken off in the ambulance.

This chopper would fly back and forth to get all the starting lineups.

Beau had to take his googles off his second loop which slowed him down. 

He couldn't see anything with the amount of mud that kept flinging up to his goggles!

Seriously we have the greatest friends in the world!

They always support Beau in his races.....even with the rain and mud, they still came!

Here is what we got to drive out on...it took FOREVER!

Beau's Uncle took us to dinner afterwards.

 It was nice to visit with him and Beau's dad!

Beau with his Uncle

 I was so worried after seeing That guy fly off his bike. I am glad that even though Beau's eyeballs hurt for a week, he was OK, and had fun! And even though it wasn't his "best" race, as he would say, he still managed to take 5th in his class!
WOOT WOOT!!

Valentines Weekend

What a LOVELY time of year! 

I love everything and anything about valentines day. 

There is nothing wrong with showing affection or saying "I love you" to the ones you love.

We all know I am straight from a Hallmark movie..sooooo the more sappy the better right!?

Our V-day weekend was super great too! Sunday, before V-day, we went for a picnic up to Kolob Canyon as a family.

It was beautiful day. The weather was perfectly sunny.

We enjoyed sight seeing, reflecting, exploring, picnicking, and best of all being together!

We watched these birds forever. They didn't seem to mind us getting close either.

Here are some of the beautiful sites to see.

I think by the end of our adventure we all wanted to do this face (below).

Lukas was soooo tired!

 It was nice to have the time with the kids to show them how much we love them and LOVE spending time together as a family!

*****************************

We had a romantic Valentines Day with a candlelit dinner, games, and laughter.

(here is the Hallmark movie me coming out now....so stop now if you can't stand the mushy gushy!)

I am so in love with this person I am married to.

I have sleep insomnia pretty bad. It seems like the times I finally am able to dose off I am just as quickly awoken to my husbands snoring. (sorry babe-I am totally ratting you out) It is irritating ,to say the least.

At the beginning of the month I crawled into bed, waiting for what seems like forever, until sleep would find me. Expecting that at any second I would  be irritated further by the sound of  my husbands slumber. But something else happened instead. He started to snore, and as weird as it may sound, I was overcome with emotion and gratitude. I started thinking about all the women I know who have lost a spouse to death or divorce. To those women whose husbands are serving our nation over seas and spending their nights alone. Quickly I welcomed the snoring.

I quickly put my arm around him and easily dosed off with the comfort of knowing he was right by my side!

So,

I love ya babe----snoring---and all!

I would rather have sleepless nights filled with your annoying grumbling snores, than any nights (and days too:)) without you by my side!