My Perfect Husband Soothes My Soul

Brad is an amazing husband. He always has been. Even during our 8 year stint in school when we were desperately poor he would find ways to make my life sweet and memorable. One night, for instance, I needed a break from 3 lively (and, yes LOVELY, in retrospect especially) children and all of the cumbersome responsibilities of daily living. His solution...it was stormy. He strapped me in our minivan, laid my chair back and turned on Diana Krall, my all time favorite jazz singer, he then drove me around Philadelphia and I soaked in the liquid gold of Diana's voice and the hypnotizing rhythm of the downpour on the roof of my Plymouth Voyager. I was soothed. 

Today wasn't a lot different. Sure, we have an income now, five children instead of three...although those first three are now all teenagers, which is its own fun and stress, we live in Idaho now, and had sunshine today, but I was not in good spirits. You know the days when it feels like the harder you fight to inch forward the more you are sucked backward? By the time Brad arrives home from work, I was returning a truck to my brother after taking garbage to the dump. Looking at my house, you would've never been able to tell that we taken anything to the dump, because my house looked like it was a dump! There was no dinner. I needed to get the kids from swimming. I was tired. I was cranky. I was frustrated. The kids and I pulled in, in my Dodge grand Caravan, almost a full hour after Brad had gotten home from work. His healing today? Clean house, dinner packed up and ready to go, and a picnic outside for all of us! Once again, I am soothed. I need Brad. He is perfect for me!

Bottle Me Some Snow King Resort In Jackson Hole Wyoming

I wish I could bottle the smell of this place! Pine, grass, chlorine, sun, and altitude. Every year Brad does continuing education. He usually chooses to come to Jackson and we try to come with him. 

Three years ago Brad and I came alone for THREE LUCIOUS days! It was divine. We ate at local tasty shops and restaurants, sat in the hot tub, I slept for hours recovering from girls camp, and woke up to a gloriously green mountain view.

Last year the boys were on a 50 mile hike  so Brad and I brought the girls. They climbed rock walls, swam in the pool, shopped with me and I read my book poolside for hours.

This year we jumped on the chance to return. Two and a half hours of this viewed not enough. Bottle me some Snow King Resort in Jackson Ho

le. I'm in the market.

Summer nights

I love summer. Tonight I am sitting on my stairs (inside) with my windows and doors open while a summer wind stirs the curtains and carries in the sounds of my children playing night games. It's what contentment feels like.

Ice Skating

Just across the street from our neighborhood, there is a parking lot where they make ice skating rink every year. All it is, is an oval, rimmed with gravel, where the fire department sprays water to form a little outdoor rink. The girls had scoured neighborhood yard sales for iceskates the summer before, and we're all equipped. Madsen bought some secondhand skates at Play It Again Sports. Because the winter of 2013-2014 was nice and cold, we had months of skating!

So fun! I loved watching the kids skate, fall, and help each other.

Koko The Cute

On Thanksgiving day 2013, Suzee died. We had loved her for over 5 years, and if you had to have a dog, Suzee was the one to have. She will always have a place in our hearts!

After Suzee left us, I thought we should never get another dog again. It was too painful to have Suzee leave us. But it wasn't very long before I realized that we needed to have a little doggie in this house. I began looking around for the perfect dog for our family. Brad wanted something small, something that didn't shed, and something that would be good with kids. We wanted something that would be young so that we didn't have to worry about it dying old age anytime soon, and I wanted a girl so that we can put bows in her hair.

I had found a couple of dogs on the Internet that were close to what we wanted, but it wasn't until the middle of December that I saw an ad on craigslist for a little 4-week old Shih Tzu puppy in Idaho Falls. The very next day I went with my friend Amberly Christensen to meet this dog and see if it would work ou for ust.

The house was a little tiny dump on 17th St. Garbage was piled up by the door. When the door opened you could smell cigarette smoke overwhelmingly. And there, on the floor, sat a little tiny ball of fur which was just shaking in fear. I picked up the fur ball and looked at it...and knew that I would not be able to leave this cute little dog there, but that she would have to come home with me. As we left Amberley made the comment that she was glad I had taken the puppy, because if I hadn't, she would've had to!

I put my little rescue in one of Suzees old kennels in the van. She reeked of cigarette smoke. I brought her home, put her in my jetted tub, and scrubbed her two or three times. By then the smoke smell wasn't quite as bad. She looked like a little brown drowned rat. She was so small and so terrified, that I couldn't help but feel compassion for her. I used the blow dryer to return her to her puffy state. After that I brought her out to the kitchen. She followed me everywhere. She never left my heels until I went to get the kids from school.

The kids came home from school. I had left the nameless puppy in the bathtub where they would not find her, and turned on music to drown out any whimperings they might hear. Our Advent clue that morning had been "do you want to open a present early?"  The kids had been promised that that evening they would get to open a Christmas present even though it wasn't CHRISTMAS yet. Brad got home from work, we gathered the children in the living room and I brought out a big gift bag that was slightly wiggling. The kids all reached into the bag...then, to their amazement, they pulled out a puppy!!! They screamed so loud it scared her and she wet on Madsen. But it did not take her more than a minute to realize that she was going to be very loved by this family!

That little tiny dark puffball needed a name. Because of the color she was, which reminded us of chocolate, we thought we would name her Cocoa. But because her breed is Japanese in heritage, we changed the spelling to Koko. The hardest part of that day was going to our ward Christmas party that night and leaving poor baby Koko on her own.

What a wonderful Christmas gift! We think Suzee would like her! We know we do!

Stephen and Stacy Move To Weiser

One of our favorite things about living in Idaho Falls, is having Stephen, Stacy and their family in the next town over. Hours and hours of plays, games, dinners, treats, movies, NBA Jam tournaments, dancing, talking, enjoying...life is good. But then.....

One day Stephen and Stacy broke our hearts by telling us that they were moving. Stephen had received a job promotion and their family was moving to Meridian.at this time since grandma and grandpa were on a mission, Steven and Stacy's family decided to stay in the of the farmhouse.

We were very sad. Our girls were best friends. We knew that it was right for Stephen and Stacy's family, but it made us lonely for them nevertheless.

The morning they took their big budget truck and pulled out of our driveway, there were tears. Now, because I procrastinated writing this post, I am happy to report that they have since moved back! The nine months without them made us appreciate them even more.