Sweet Dreams!

After living here for awhile now (like 8 years), we have finally taken a stand against our pink curtains and ugly wall paper. I have scraped and painted the kids rooms a long time ago, so when Tyson said, "Why don't we paint our room this weekend?" I literally jumped at the chance! It felt so good to rip down those nasty, slightly indecent, use-to-be-mauve-but-now-faded-to pink curtains and throw them in the dumpster. We spent the whole weekend painting the room "warm caramel" and then added "melted chocolate" stripes to one wall. I am in love with the outcome. In fact, I may never leave my room again! :)

13?!!

Here we go. It is hard to believe (or accept) that my first born child is a teenager. Where has all the time gone? I remember when he was born (I was a teenager) and we found out we had to wait until he was 5 to find out more about his ears. It felt like an eternity! Then I blinked---and now my boy is 13! What do you say about someone who means so much to you? Gabriel is appropriately named because he was my saving angel. He continues to bless my life each and every day. He is a shining example to me in so many ways. He makes me a better person. I don't know why God entrusted me with such a special spirit. I think it was because He wants me to know how indebted I will be to Him forever. I thank God daily for this gift. I have no doubt that Gabe is meant for great things. I hope I can live up to the challenge of guiding him on his path through life. Today he got a blow gun for his birthday. His dad, Ridge, and Gabe are upstairs right now practicing---

in the house. Heavenly help us. I wonder if I should go point out to them that they are disobeying the mom or if I should just smile because I can hear them laughing. . . . :)

Happy 6th Ridge!

Happy Birthday to the baby of our family! I can't believe he is starting on the second hand already. For some reason this birthday is a hard one for his mother. I love everything about this cute little boy that I am so blessed to have. He makes me laugh on a daily basis. It is amazing to me how a little boy can make his mom overflow with feelings of warmth and also feel frustrated to the point of pure anger, all in the same day. I love his logic and the things he comes up with. When I am feeling taxed, I have to remember that one day I will miss this time in his life, just as I miss his infant self. What would I do without my Ridgey-McRidgerton to brighten my days! I love you buddy!

RIP "Lint"

After 9 adventure filled years, my Sugarglider, Lint, has passed on. Mom bought her for me in Salt Lake City one year for my birthday. The people who sold her to us told us that she would love us and be a friendly pet. They were wrong. She never bonded with me, even though I held her constantly for the first 2 months. I did everything they told me to do: I kept her in a pouch under my shirt all day so she would get use to my smell, I fed her, I talked to her so she would know my voice. . .yeah, it didn't work. Finally I gave up and left her alone. I guess I got sick of being bitten hard enough to draw blood. She was so cute, I couldn't make myself get rid of her, so we kept her. I always felt so sorry for her. She must have been so lonely. Sugargliders usually live in family groups. She would let me pet her back and tail but didn't like to be picked up. She was so soft and was a lot of fun to watch. The kids loved showing her to their friends. She was a fun little pet and we will miss her.

13 YEARS!

There is so much about marriage that no one can warn you about. There are things you will just never understand until you are in that situation. I was told that marriage isn't always fun. I was told that there would be bad days. And there definately have been a few of those. There have been times I have wanted to walk out the door and never come back. There are habits and traits in a person that can make you completely insane. I have learned that your wedding day is not the only day in your life that you will need to commit to your marriage. You do it over and over again. You consciously decide that leaving is not an option, you just need to find a way to fix what is wrong. Of course there are deal breakers. We both know what those are.
But no one was ever able to warn me about how much you can love another person. No one could tell me how much you can come to depend upon having a person in your life everyday. I now know how much easier trials can be when you have a hand to hold. Just knowing that you aren't alone is an amazing feeling. I feel so blessed that the good days have far out numbered the bad. I love that I have a person who is always 100% on my side. I love being part of a team. Whenever something good happens, he is always the first person I want to tell. Most of all I love that after 13 years, he still makes me laugh. "Love" is not a big enough word to describe the way I feel about my husband on the anniversary of our beginning.

First Day of School

This year Gabe is going into 7th grade (Junior High), Raygen is going into 4th grade (Mrs. Purser), and Ridge starts Kindergarten (Mrs. Wade). The summer went by way too fast, but the kids are excited to get started on a new year. We missed the bus the first day, but made it on the second day. Gabe so far really likes all his teachers. He has been running with the Cross Country team and is getting in good shape. Raygen loves her teacher (who is also in our ward) and is still the social butterfly she has always been. She is excited to start orchestra this year and is planning on learning the violin. Ridge wasn't even nervous on his first day. I had to make him come back and give me a hug and a kiss before he went into class. It has been so weird to have my baby start school. I am so glad that we opted for the half day schedule. It might give Mom a little more time to adjust to the idea of not having babies at home anymore.

Peas in a Pod

This summer Gabe has spent a lot of time with his best friend, Clance Belnap. They are so much alike it is scary! Gabe has been really into "Indiana Jones" and has played with his toy whip until it totally wore out. One day Clance came over to play. He told Gabe that he saw a package on the front porch. When Gabe went out to see, there was a wrapped present sitting there. In it was a new whip that Clance bought for him. He was SO excited! The two of them spent the rest of the day "cracking" their whips in the backyard, and "exploring" with their dogs. It has been so great for Gabe to find a friend that he has so much in common with and that he gets along with so well. He loves spending as much time as possible with Clance and I am so glad that he found himself a "kindred spirit".