The Meaning of Life

I met an amazing man today. He is staying at the Spa and is here from the Dominican Republic. He mentioned that he had been married for 35 years. When he saw my surprise he told me what he believes is his secret. He said it was never easy, but they took life step by step. First with their small apartment, while saving all their money to buy a lot to build on. Then later they built their home. One step at a time they worked up their wealth. They didn't mind not being able to buy a boat, or a nice car right away because they knew that later in life they would reap the benefits. They both had the same goals, and the same plan. Now he is one of the wealthiest men in his country, as well as having an healthy happy marriage.
There were many instances where he would have to travel alone for work. He knew how hard this was on his wife, so from time to time he would tell her "Regardless of what you have going on, regardless of it we can afford it, I am flying you out to meet me and spend the last few days of my trip with me." He said she was a wife and mother before anything else, and his family was first priority in his life.
"When you are twenty and thirty years old, your mind is different than when you are older", he told me. Now, years later they have 3 children, two son-in-laws, and four grandchildren. He says that when there are four children in pajamas all jumping and climbing on his bed in their pajamas, he knows what the meaning of life is.

THEY are the ones that matter

Life has been crazy. And in all honesty, it sucks. Some days I am at my wits end. I love my kids more than anything, but some days all I want to do it lay in bed. All the crap that this divorce has brought on has really drawn me to the end of my rope. I am back to work full time, and preparing for school this fall. Between work, 3 kids, and attempting to keep a decent home, I am exhausted. So when I have a day like yesterday, when all I want to do is sleep, and Chloe finds a random marker and colors on her legs and any other hard surface she can find, or pours nail polish on my coffee table, Mattix is fussy and refuses to nap, and Bentley is needy and clingy - its enough to make me lose my cool. Then I read something like this. This family lost their youngest child and this blog is dedicated to the memory of her and marks the families grieving process. This post in particular struck me. She talks about how shortly after the death of their daughter Camille, two of her other daughters broke some treasured figurines. Her first instinct was to get mad, but then she stepped back and realized how lucky she was to have them in her life at all. It really put things into perspective. I was instantly humbled and suddenly grateful again. I can't imagine losing any one of my children, and need to be grateful for them every single day. The other things don't matter.

Bentley Boy

I had to post the funny thing Bentley said to me today. I was getting ready to head to the gym and I realized that the only work out pants I had clean were capris, so I needed to shave my legs. So I went into the bathroom and Bentley followed me in. The bathroom in my new house is kind of small, so I asked Bentley to go out so I could shave my legs. He then asked "well, can I shave my legs too?". I about died! Then a little while later I was putting his shoes on and my moms dog walked up and was standing next to us. I reached for his other foot and he pulled away and said "oh, I thought Indy was pooping on me". What?!?! Yeah, cause that happens so often.... weirdo!

Happy Half Birthday!

Mattix had his half birthday yesterday! He is getting to be such a big boy!Here are some fun facts about little Mattix Jett:
He will sit up on his own for a few minutes before slooooowly falling over.
He loves tummy time, and can turn himself in circles. He gets his little legs moving, so I don't think crawling is too far behind.
He loves his brother and sister and gets giggling so hard when they talk to him.
He only wakes up once or twice a night, and still naps 2-3 times a day.
Still no teeth.
His head circumfrence is on the 60th percentile.
He loves to pull on Belle's tail.
He has moved three times in his short little life.

I got a little mixed up on my doctors visits, so instead of going for his 4 month immunizations, we went when he was 5 months, and will go again next month. Here are his stats at 5 months

Playing Catch-up

I went to Salt Lake last weekend to watch my little sister swim at the State Competition. She did awesome! She is only a freshman, and is still swimming in the fastest heats. She also took 4th place in one of her events. We are so proud of her and all the Desert Hills Swim Team. It takes so much dedication to be a swimmer. She has early morning practice before school and often has afternoon practices on the same days. Almost every weekend is filled with meets. She says its a love/hate relationship.


I also got to see my best friend ever ever ever. Chelsey!

I am mad I didn't get any belly shots, but you can check her blog to see them We went to Ikea (my new favorite place) and the Quilted Bear (another new fav). I got so much stuff at Ikea I couldn't believe their prices! I can't wait to go back.

The other night my neice Daisy performed at the Snow Canyon/Pine View basketball game. It was so cute to go watch her dance. She get so shy sometimes- it is so cute!
Here is a video of the performance. Unfortunately I filmed up with the camera lengthwise, and can't figure out how to flip it. So just tilt your head to watch! :)


The other day Chloe was being silly while I was cleaning. I usually turn my music on shuffle and blast it while I clean, and this day was no exception. I was working on the kitchen when I looked over at Chloe. She was dancing to Britney's "Womanizer". She would do this move where she gets low to the ground and barely moves her hips. Its so cute. Then on the part when Britney says "you, you, you" she would point off into the distance. SOOOO funny!

SuperBowl Sunday

We had a little get together Sunday in honor of the SuperBowl. We aren't football fans by any means, but we do love to have people over and eat nummy food. My SIL made "tinga". Its a delicious mexican dish that is shredded chicken, onions, tomatoes, and chipotle peppers on a tostada with sour cream. I made these...
Yummy wings. Got the recipe from Pioneer Woman. If you haven't read her blog DO IT! She is hilarious and all of her recipes are delicious!!!

I also made my world famous meatballs.
Ok, so they aren't world famous, but people like 'em.
Here's how you do it. Its so easy you will want to run out make them right now. Well, maybe....





Chili Sauce (simply spiced up ketchup... found right by the cocktail sauce), grape jelly, and frozen meatballs. Toss 'em in the crock pot. Leave them there. Stir occasionally. See, easy! Trust me, if I can do it - you can!

Before the big game, we played some Guitar Hero, World Tour.

Even Chloe wanted in on it.
Here is some of the crew.


While the game was on, my neice Ava found lots of things to keep herself busy. Including locking herself in the kids bathroom and emptying every drawer, cupboard and linen closet. Then later we found her in my bathroom, rubbing on shampoo like it was lotion. It was a great day, and we loved spending it with friends and family.

Slacking On my Blogging

I know, I know. I suck. Get over it! :)
This week was a good one. Chelsey came down and I got to have some "girl time". I got a babysitter and we went to lunch and did some shopping. It was so nice, and very much needed.
Then, Courtney, my little sister, had regions for her swim team. She is only a freshman, and was competing against kids from her age up to seniors, and still managed to get first place in 4 of her events. I am so proud of her. State is the first weekend in Feb. at BYU so I am going up to support her (plus it gives me a dang good excuse to see Chelsey and her gestating belly!).
I also finally found some new bedding for my bed. I have been looking for months and just haven't seen anything that jumped out at me, let alone something that Jesus liked also. Then on Sunday we found it. We also found the picture above the bed. It really filled up and empty space I was pretty clueless about what do with it. I still need to get new big fluffy pillows. Anybody have suggestions about good brands or places to get nice pillows?


This is a little craft that I did on Sunday as well. I found these letters at the fabric store for 50 cents each. Then all I had to do was string a ribbon through the holes and VOILA! Quick cheap and easy.