San Clemente

We survived another week at the beach! This year was extra special because we had our cousins come from Tennessee to be with us!



No, the weather wasn't perfect and a few family members got sick, but we did our best to have a good time!


Four generations of family in a place that holds a lot of my childhood memories and being able to share them with my children is very unique. Plus we had baby Drew with us this year who proved to be a champion camper.



Dillan's confidence riding his 2 wheeler bike skyrocketed this year. He got the bike last year on his 5th birthday, but has only rode it a dozen times since, and mostly with "advanced" training wheels. This week he rode without training wheels, rode fast, and figured out how to start on his own without using the curb! He was very proud and called himself the show-off on the bike.

Leah loved being around her cousins Roxy and Jo-Jo. She also hung out with Grandma and begged snacks. She had fun doing whatever the big kids were doing, including sprinting down the steep beach trail. Of course she eventually tripped and scraped up her elbows and knees pretty well. But that didn't stop her from enjoying the sun, sand and water!

It's always fun to be together with family!



Side note: Thanks Cougars for an exciting season! Jimmer shoots from Provo! POY!

March Madness

It's tradition. There winner gets a prize, like picking a date night of their choice. I know I have a losing record with my brackets to Chris', but I KNOW I won at least once. He says I haven't, and I have nothing to prove otherwise.

So here we are again. I refuse to listen to the experts on "bracketology," I don't see how you can be an expert. Any team can win and lose at any time, so it's not really a science. I love cheering for the underdog. And why wouldn't I pick my beloved Cougars to go all the way? Who says they can't? This is as good a year as any, in my opinion. And as a true blue fan, I will always believe. JIMMER'D!

Chris takes the brackets very serious. He pays close attention to all the teams in the country throughout the season, and very carefully makes his selections. He throws in some upsets to mix it up. He won't tell me his strategy for his selections, but it must be complex. It takes him hours.
Me? Well, I choose my favorite first of all, then have my own system from there, working backwards. Like if I don't like the schools' colors, they lose. If I've heard of the school in another sport, like football, and think they are overrated, they lose. I hate the teams that every year are always listed in the top 10 because their programs have amazing successful reputations. Blah.
It takes me 3 minutes to fill mine out.

Let the fun begin!

Drew's Blessing

On Sunday our sweet little boy was blessed at church. It was amazing to see all the love from in the people who were there. The Taylors were well represented, Chris' mother and stepfather came from St. George and my sweet friend drove from Las Vegas that morning to be there.

Four generations were present.

All weekend I had been making preparations for that day, including a luncheon after church for the family. It was crazy. Even as the meeting began there was the constant greetings taking place, keeping the kids happy, and catching up with one another.
Before I knew it, Chris was carrying him to the front of the chapel. It hit me that we hadn't discussed the blessing at all. I was surprised that I hadn't mentioned it to him before, because that sounded like something I would do. And I'm grateful I didn't.



Chris was cool as usual and did an amazing job. I don't believe he knew what he was going to say beforehand, he just spoke the words that came to him.



It was the first time the family had seen him, so he was passed around the entire rest of the day. Lots of love, it was a beautiful day.

Life with 3

This is my perspective. Life was smooth. Like driving at a cool 45 mph along the coast with 2 kids and a husband, wind blowing through my hair, perfect sunshiny day, etc etc.
NOW suddenly life is driving at 105 mph, with 2 kids fighting constantly, a baby attached to my chest 24/7, and a husband who's doing his best to cope with me and everything else but looking at me like I'm a crazy person that he doesn't know what to do with!

I know we'll get there again. We'll find our rhythm that works and life will be so much more enjoyable with a 3rd child. I just need the patience to allow things to get there! It was hard enough dealing with the patience to allow my body to heal and recover from this birth. Which I really didn't do and still not 100%.

Really the baby is perfect. He doesn't demand much, sleeps a lot and looks cute all the time. Dillan and Leah have been different. The afternoons are the hardest. After school and everyone is hungry or bored or both. Hopefully the weather will get nicer and we can spend more time outside and keep ourselves occupied and HAPPY!
I also look forward to some spring cleaning with completely reorganizing my kitchen, going through everybody's clothes, having tons of enjoyable afternoon activities planned for everyone, having a plethora of healthy snacks readily available, having dinner perfectly planned every evening, clean clean CLEAN everywhere and not feeling a day or two behind!

And this is my perspective II: