This is a video that my brother in law shot at the party at my parent's house last weekend.

Something about it makes me want to watch it over and over again.

People tell me all the time that these are the best years of my life, that while my children are small is the very best time I'll ever experience. And something about this video captures that for me.
It's only 16 seconds long but in that 16 seconds you can see a lot:
 

There I am, young and healthy, holding a birthday cake for my beautiful tiny daughter on her 6th birthday. We are at my parent's house and she's being sung to by both my immediate and extended family- all the people that I love. At the far left side you can catch glimpses of my wonderful Mother, fixing food. My brother, Jason, is in the shot and I never get to see him enough. You can hear my Uncle Don's voice singing clearly and at the end my sweet Grandma Phyllis sings "and many more!".

 

I love it.

 

I know that in 10 or 20 years my children will be grown and gone and things will be different.

So I'm glad that I have this little video to remind me of a moment in time when things were just right, and I'll kiss my babies a few extra times and try to savor these moments just like everyone tells me to.

celebrations

 

It's been a busy few weeks at our house with a lot to celebrate. The last week of Justin's school, Audrey's birthday, a new baby and Mother's Day all fell close together. Let's start with Audrey's birthday:

 

Since we're right in the middle of moving and we knew we were going to have a big party at Grandma's house later in the week, we decided to keep Audrey's birthday small this year. She wanted a ballerina party so we wrapped up some ballet birthday presents and she got to have two friends over for dinner. (pancakes per her request)

 

Then there was a small gathering at the ISU History Department to celebrate the students graduating from their program.

 

Afterward we packed up Justin's office and took a corny picture to remember it by, then turned in his keys.

 



 

On Saturday morning Justin surprised me with flowers and some new ramekins (I've been wanting some new ones, in white of course) for Mother's Day since we'd be with my family on Sunday.

 

He also gave me his "Stole of Gratitude" and a sweet card for helping him through school.

Loved it.

 

After that we packed up and headed down to Twin Falls to have a nice goodbye lunch with Justin's family, then we drove to Wendell to have a baby blessing/graduation/mother's day/goodbye/birthday party at my parents house. They invited my whole family including grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and cousins. It was so great to see everyone.

 

We ate too much of my family's famous baked beans and my Mom's delicious texas sheet cake

 

My sweet Mother went to a lot of trouble to make sure that Justin was fawned over properly for all of his hard work in school.

 

And Audrey got a proper not-store-bought ballerina birthday cake.

 

Then about 30 people sang to her and we opened presents.

We snuggled Beth's darling baby lots

 



 

but the best part, for me: seeing everyone all together.

(and sitting around until 9:30 at night listening to my Dad and my Uncles telling old horse stories and laughing and laughing. )



 

It was a great party that required lots of time and effort from both my parents.

Thank you so much!

announcement

so....

 

We're moving to Portland!

 

 

We've studied out and weighed all our options, we've done research, we've planned and prepped and prayed about it. And we feel like this will be the best move for our family. We're moving May 24-25 and Justin will start the history graduate program at Portland State University in the fall.

 

We're really thankful for the opportunity that we have for Justin to go to graduate school. Most programs are pretty competitive to get in. Also, we're excited for a change of scenery and to continue along this path that we hope will bring security for our family's future in the long run.

 

So, right now there is a huge stack of empty boxes in our shed that keeps getting smaller and the pile of packed boxes in the corner of our living room keeps slowly getting bigger and bigger. I have exactly 11 lists that I'm constantly checking to make sure that I don't miss anything.

 

And....

 

Congratulations to Justin!

He's decided not to walk in his graduation ceremony because technically he graduated back in December (a semester early!) and then was accepted into the graduate program here at ISU and has been working hard already at the graduate level for a semester. He's slightly uncomfortable with the spot light sometimes. So, to commemorate I forced him to put on his cap and gown, his cords FOR GRADUATING WITH HIGH HONORS and his stole for being the PRESIDENT OF PHI ALPHA THETA and take some pictures. In case you couldn't tell, I'm so proud of him.

 

Also, thank you Justin, for the example that you're setting for our children. Although we both already had associates degrees, I love that you're continuing and getting your BA and masters degree. Education is so important and I love that Audrey and David will remember seeing their Dad work so hard for his and that they'll always have these pictures to look back on.

 

 

baby Natalie

 

Beth  and her husband, Justin, had their little baby girl, Natalie, on Friday night. I was able to be in the room for the birth and it was an amazing experience. The feeling that was there when she was born was so wonderful. My Mom and I just kept crying and hugging each other. Thanks so much for including me Beth and congratulations!

meanwhile...

 

so we spent the weekend in Wendell baking/decorating/chatting up a storm in my Mother's kitchen. I loved it. At one point my Mom turned on a CD that had "Mull of Kintyre" playing and when I looked at my Mother and sister and daughter all baking together it made me teary.

 

By the way, today is my Mom's birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you

 

Then we took a break to go see the new baby horse.

 

And Audrey asked Uncle Luke if she could ride a horse.

He obliged.

Then Davy had to ride too.

(and he had to borrow Grandpa's hat so he could be a cowboy. He gave it back right after the he got off the horse.)

 

After both kids had their rides Luke turned to me and said, "you getting up there Becky?" and so...I got on a horse.

And everyone gasped and fainted and took out their phones and started taking pictures.

Apparently it had been awhile since I had been in the saddle.

 

like 12 or so years.

 

 Although I don't really get into the horses and the ranching as much as my siblings, I am glad that my children will have the chance to experience those things. I love that my kids get to ride horses and feed chickens and help Grandpa in his big garden and make homemade huckleberry jam with Grandma and run around in the safety of my parents large property.

 

I like that they get a taste of the "country" life that I grew up with.

Thanks for that Mom and Dad.

Davy is still talking about riding a horse with Uncle Luke almost a week later.

 



 

While we were partying it up at my parents house Justin was bound for Portland, Oregon to present a paper that he'd written on race at the Phi Alpha Theta Conference.

 

 

He did great and his paper was even nominated for an award. Only 15 papers out of 150 were selected so even though he didn't end up winning, it made him feel good.

 

 

Just a few days before he left we received a letter in the mail informing Justin that he'd been accepted into the Portland State University history graduate school. We were really excited and this school will be a great fit for what Justin wants to do.

 

So.... we may be moving to Portland in a little over a month. 

 

 

It worked out well for Justin to be able to visit the campus and talk with some professors and students while he was there.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll keep you posted.