Simply put...

Cooper is working on his Faith in God goals.

He wanted to I told him to write a poem about a principle of the gospel.
He chose prayer.
He was having trouble getting started so I gave him the first little bit...

Each night before I go to bed...

He quickly added,

I kneel and say my prayers.

I asked how he felt when he said his prayers.
He was able to put the rest together.

Each night before I go to bed
I kneel to say my prayers.
They make me feel warm and good,
They keep the worries from my head.

I love this boy.

 

Discovery...

I found an artist that I absolutely love.

Her name is Caitlin Connolly.

(you can follow her on Instagram @ladyhue or her website is here)

I will have one of her pieces in my home at some time. I promise.

 

I first saw a couple of her pieces on another blog.

I remember the day of discovery clearly because my mood was rather...well...weighed down.

 

The first print I saw was this one.

 

I was absorbed by this.

I found myself in her.

The feeling of being "heavy laden".

I felt emotion welling in my eyes and then with a blink,

the reservoir was spilt.

 

 

Next I saw this.

 

 

I let myself go through the rolling emotion.

 Like the ebb and flow of the tide.

Soon my heart gave way to gratitude.

 

This piece is titled...

"she became herself through tears"

I hope to purchase this sooner than later.

 

In Matthew 11:28 I am taught

"Come unto me, all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

I find peace in that truth.

To know that I can lift my eyes my toward heaven and find Him waiting to take whatever I offer.

It is the beauty of the Atonement.

 

 

 I also find great comfort in the fact that I am not alone.

 

Sometimes I ask myself...

how did I get here?

where I'm standing. where I'm working. where I'm loving. where I'm trying. where I'm kneeling.

where I am.

 

art by Caitlin Connolly

 

This sketch is an absolute favorite.

It is perfectly titled...

 

"how did I get here?"

 

I know how I got here.

It's because of those hands.

Some soft like a cushion and a safe place to land.

Some strong and unbending that stand me back up.

Some bent with wisdom and time.

Some tiny and smell of heaven.

Some wrapped in honesty and forgiveness.

Some stained with hard work and determination.

Some clenched, some folded, some open.

Some grasping, some slipping.

And most humbling,

pierced.

 

Have I mentioned how much I love Caitlin's art?

Discovery is a beautiful part of life.

 

Turning the page...

Fresh start.
Clean slate.
New beginning.

Whatever cliché you choose...


I remember turning "that page" in my life like it was yesterday.
Okay.  Maybe it was a week ago.

But I'm sure it was only yesterday that this beautiful baby came into my life and changed me for the better.  Total JOY!!  Holding her close and breathing in her fresh from heaven sweetness.

Now I have to steal those moments whenever I can.
But I positively know that as blissful as yesterday may have seemed that today is truly magical.

College shmollege.  She's got this.

Pieces of me...

Taking a trip back home is one of the B E S T parts of my summer.
We always go over the 4th of July.  It's my favorite.
 

We usually stop in at Kristin's.  She and John are always so kind to let us crash at their home.  We enjoyed a wonderful Sunday in their ward and felt so lucky that we have remained friends with such a great family.  Plus they have a gorgeous view of the mountains right from the comfort of their yard.  And I always end up with a yummy recipe from Kristin.

Taking flowers to mom's grave is always tender.  And catching a moment when my dad was telling a story about the time Grandpa Stauffer shot a buck and carried him down that mountain back into town was priceless.
Dinner or lunch at Maddox is a must and goodness gracious...It's a meal I look forward to each and every summer.
 

But the highlight is always spending time with the girls.  My twin nieces had babies just weeks apart and cuddling them was oh so sweet.  My brothers married the sweetest girls, had sweet girls of their own and they each have been blessed with their own sweet girls.  This visit made me miss my sweet girl and wished she could have joined us.  We got lots of sweetness going on!

Amazing that I was the only girl in my family and now we out number the boys!
(Maddie, Hailee, Danielle and Erin were MIA)

Maddie's summer...

After graduation...
 

and Seminary graduation (love these kids!)

Maddie decided she wanted some time away.
We said okay.

She and Mariah spent two months in Medford, Oregon.
I put her on the plane without shedding a single tear.
After a few days I missed her immensely.
 

She turned 18 while she was gone.
That was a hard birthday for me.
Her there.  Me here.

For fun...

This turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be.  After all, I'm not much of a one word kind of gal : )
Give it a try...

Answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only!

1. Where is your cell phone? bedroom

2. Where is your significant other? work

3. Your hobby? reading

4. Your mother? gone

5. Your father? Bob

6. Your favorite thing? music

7. Your dream last night? sad

8. Your dream/goal? endure

9. The room you’re in? kitchen

10. Your favorite sound? laughter

11. Your fear? loneliness

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

13. Where were you last night? home

14. What you’re not? tan

15. One of your wish-list items? patience

16. Childhood favorite? dolls

17. The last thing you did? breakfast

18. What are you wearing? jammies

19. Your TV? off

20. Something you do you wish you didn't? soda

21. Your computer? annoying

22. Your mood? pondering

23. Missing someone? wholeheartedly

24. Your car? gasguzzler (one word, right??)

25. Something you’re not wearing? shoes

26. Your summer? HOT!!

27. Love someone? completely

28. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday

29. Last time you cried? yesterday

30. What are you good at? lunches

We interrupt these updates for...

...a little piece of heaven.


After the arduous task of beginning a new school year, I thought an end of the week/after school snack would definitely be in order.
 

Just pulled these from the oven.
 

Chocolatey, chewy, peanut buttery.
Cookie dreamland people.

Do yourself and those you love a favor and mix these up.
Quick.
You will also want a glass of ice cold milk.
Your welcome.

 Recipe from Picky Palate
Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies

Like it or not...

"School starts in the morning" was all I said and it was met with moans and groans.
"Like it or not" was my reply.


Davis ~ Freshman
Cooper ~ 5th grade
Maddie ~ still in bed. college doesn't start for another couple weeks after all.

Once in a while I'm nice...

Like the day I declared
"the last half day of the school year, no one has to go to school!"

 

I was their favorite that day : )

April events...

Opening day is a tradition.
We take the kids out of school.
It's a big deal.


A field trip with Cooper's 4th grade class to the State Capitol.
 

I actually learned a lot and enjoyed the afternoon.
 

 

Cooper had to do a report on a famous person that had an impact on Arizona.

He chose Pat Tillman so we took him to ASU to check out the memorial.

 

Moving on to...

All Stars!
#15 ~ Cooper Brown

 

Head down...
 

Up on his toe...
 

 

I get super nervous when he catches.
 

A lot is riding on his 10 year old shoulders.
 

No past balls is key in baseball.
Past balls lead to runs.
And that is not good when you play defense.
 

But Cooper is getting so good at diving, blocking and scooping those pitches. 
 

One night they played under the beginnings of the Super Moon.

In order to move forward...

I am going to post a bunch of pictures from my phone (finally figured out how to get those to here) so that I can have something recorded of days gone by.  Then I can be much more productive with the present.

 

I love this little man with all my heart.

Spring Break called for a little pizza time with my boys.

Sis was playing on the beaches of Florida!

Spring time means baseball around our house.

Cooper had an amazing season as the Rivercats catcher and homerun smasher!

 

He was chosen to play on the League All Star team and had a great experience. 

 

A good night for a ball game.

 

Ouch...

So we do have two other children in our home.
One of them had a little accident with a throwing knife.


And just because you are an Eagle Scout doesn't mean you can become casual when you play with toys.

Celebrating her...

S E E K:
to go in search of;
to try to discover;
to ask for;
to try to acquire or gain.

In every part of your life may you SEEK to find happiness and all of its wonder.

And then...

she graduated.



A little story I don't want to forget about this special morning...
For a couple weeks before this day I knew I wanted to put together a little "celebration entry" to mark the occasion.  I also knew I wanted a WORD that I could give to Maddison on her graduation day that would be meaningful and help set this day apart as significant in her life.  I pondered for sometime and finally decided on the word S E E K.  I bought black and white 4 x 6 cards with each letter and planned to hang them on my "clothesline".
Graduation morning dawned and while Maddison had gone off to rehearsal I hurriedly got my things together that I had been working on all week. Everything was set and ready but I could not find the 4 x 6 cards.  This was very important to me.  It was the focal point.  It was meant to be more meaningful that anything else.  I tore the house apart.  Brent was looking as well and trying to help me remember where the last place was I had set them.  I repeated over and over that I had already looked in that basket. I was pleading, no, I was more like demanding my Heavenly Father that these cards appear.  This continued for some time and I was frantic that Maddie would come home and the entry wouldn't be complete to start her day.  For some reason it mattered.  It mattered very much to me.  Why?  I'm still not sure.  Then Brent stepped into the living room and said, "Honey, remember last night when you were gathering your things one of the cards had a bow in it.  You wanted to place the cards under some books to flatten it out."  INSTANTLY I knew where they were.  I went straight to the bookshelf and lifted the stack of books I had put the cards under.  I hugged Brent in a tearful embrace and asked how he knew.  What he explained to me is the beauty of the story.  Brent saw me frantic and getting upset and he told me he knew how important this was to me.  With tears in his eyes and a choked up voice he said that he didn't want this day to start out unhappy for me so he lifted his eyes toward heaven and asked Heavenly Father to please help us find the cards.  Brent isn't one to offer up a silent prayer in a circumstance like this.  He even told me that and I nodded my head in agreement.  But he said "as soon as I offered my prayer my mind was filled with the thought of the card with the bow in it."

As silly as it may seem to others it was confirmed to me once again that the Lord is involved in the details of our lives.
 

 

And the rest of the day was exciting!
 

I had remained very composed the rest of the day until this moment.
When she found us in the crowd and she blew us a kiss.
My heart just couldn't have held anymore love and so the tears poured down my cheeks to try to ease the weight of what my heart was trying to hold.
 

 

 

 

You did it SIS!!