We had such a fun weekend! We went hiking with some friends after home church on Sunday which was great, then spent some time with my family!

Memorial Day was on Monday and we went to visit my great-grandparent’s graves which was very special. We talked to my cute missionary sister and had a birthday BBQ with my fam to begin celebrating my sister’s birthday! The kids were SO fun and they are getting great at playing with each other.

The work week actually went by really fast and we had some fun times! Thursday was Liv’s actually birthday so she and I went home decor shopping and then we had sushi and cake with everyone, which was delicious.

Where did the time go!! I can’t believe my baby boy is TWO YEARS OLD.

Graham is the sweetest soul. He is SO polite and kind and I am so proud to hear him say “please” and “thank you” and “scuse me”. He is pretty shy and reserved around other people, but once he’s comfortable he will be screaming and singing in his own little language which is so cute.

He loves going on walks, riding his bike, playing music, reading books, cuddling and being held, playing in the car, pushing his baby stroller, vacuuming and mopping, swinging, and so many other things. His favorite foods are chocolate, pasta, tomatoes, any fruit, eggs, and yogurt. He’s so independent and wants to do things “self” but also just loves being with us and doesn’t love playing by himself. He can count and is starting to sing the ABC’s and things it’s hilarious to tell us the wrong color names.

He’s totally his father’s son and is obsessed with all things Toy Story and with music. He will play drums, guitar, piano, or his musical instruments all day. AND he loves ramen. Totally Randy’s kid.

He loves playing with cousin Melanie and his friends Brooklyn and Hudson. He also likes making friends with the older kids around our neighborhood which is so cute.

He is the best little boy in the universe and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Graham, you are my best friend. I will never get over hearing you say “wuv you” or “why mom why?”

We had a blast celebrating his birthday. On Saturday we went to play in my mom’s backyard, swimming in the kiddie pool and swinging. We ate Chic Fil A and had a great time all together. Sunday we made waffles, Graham’s favorite, had church, watched Toy Story and ate popcorn and candy, had mac and cheese for lunch that Graham wouldn’t touch hahaha. We went over to my mom’s for a party with grandparents and opened presents and ate cupcakes. We went and visited my grandparents from a distance and had the best time.

The party was TWO INFINITY AND BEYOND and it turned out so cute! Graham loved it all so much and it was seriously so much fun. It was seriously the best day, and even though Graham may never remember it I will never forget it!

Mother’s Day this year was too much fun! Saturday the day before Mother’s Day I made a cake to take to my mom, her favorite lemon angel food, and we just had a relaxing day playing in the yard and hanging out.

Sunday started bright and early with Randy making me an amazing QUICHE for breakfast in bed! It went with my gift, both editions of the Magnolia cookbook, and he made the quiche from one of the recipes. It was seriously SO delicious and I couldn’t believe how great it was! And the cookbooks have quickly become a huge favorite and I’m loving getting better at cooking.

Graham and Randy also got me flowers and a card which was so cute. We had our home church lesson, went on a little walk, and then went over to my mom and dad’s house for a delicious lunch! We had pasta salad and steak and bread and two kinds of cake – it was SO delicious and fun!

Being Graham’s mom is the most important thing I will ever do. It’s hard and it’s wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for the world

It’s when he lays his head on my shoulder and gently pats my back.
It’s when he shouts “I miss you” when I come in from another room.
It’s when he asks to listen to the same four songs over and over again.
It’s when he furrows his brow and says “why mom why” a dozen times in a row.
It’s those moments and a million more like them when my breath catches and I feel like this is more than I ever could have asked for. You are more than I dreamed. And motherhood is more than the words I can use.
To my baby and all the babies I will get to hold someday, being your mama is everything. I love you.

Oh my sweet mom. I have no idea who I would be without her.
She is my favorite Monet painting, she is in every Vivaldi song I hear, I see her in Marmee and Elizabeth Bennett and Anne Shirley. She fueled my love of literature and travel and chocolate. She taught me to write and play piano and push myself. She is the best grandma (as you can see in this photo!) and everything I am is thanks to her. Thank you mom, for every second you have given me and all the millions of things you’ll undoubtedly continue to give me in the future.
Happy Mother’s Day!

This week was full of Randy being finally done with school, so he was a great stay-at-home dad and helped do a ton of cleaning. I tried a few new recipes (Lebanese salad and fatayar which Graham LOVED and was delicious) and worked a LOT. We played with cousin Melanie a few times, and got all ready for Graham’s upcoming birthday! I can’t believe he is almost two! It’s so wild, but I’m just so happy to have him!

Saturday I made homemade biscuits and gravy (SO GOOD) and we went hiking in the morning, and spent the afternoon swimming and playing in the yard at my mom’s house. It was SO fun and Graham loves being outside and running around. It was a great way to kick off birthday weekend.

We had a jam-packed week!!

Last Saturday my cute sister Beth threw my mom and sister and I a Mother’s Day tea party! It was SO cute she had made a ton of delicious snacks and had my dad and Randy serving us. It was SO cute and so fun. We just sat in the garden and ate and chatted. It was so thoughtful of her and so fun. We had lemonade, herbal tea, bread and brie, Oreo truffles, cheesecakes—it was SO delicious. Jarem and Beth had made everything for us which was so kind of them.

We had Chinese to celebrate Randy’s graduation too, which made it even more fun!

We spent the next couple days with my family a lot to hang out with my sister before she left to go back out on her mission, eating yummy food and playing lots of volleyball and spike ball. She left on Wednesday morning to go to Everett, Washington. It was SO sad to say goodbye to her again but she’s going to be great in Washington! She took coming home and getting sent back out like a champion, and I super admire how great she did with everything.

We worked and Randy hasn’t had to worry about school anymore which has been SUPER awesome! So we just have been enjoying lots of time together.

Graham loves dressing up in the knight costume at my moms, and uses his sword to cut the floor which is so funny. He and Mel are getting much better at playing together too which is great.

Utah has opened back up from coronavirus a little bit, but we are still being careful. We are wearing masks, not going many places besides family and the grocery story, etc. I think it’s really important to continue to be careful so we can beat COVID-19.

Thursday we went to Riverton to get some social distant family photos and it was GREAT. They turned out SO CUTE! Perfect and just in time for Graham’s second birthday.

Our niece Charlotte had a birthday this week so Friday went to their house in Saratoga Springs and ate dinner in the backyard, roasted some marshmallows, and went to their local pond which so so fun!! It was a great time and fun to hang out before they add a new baby to their family!

He did it.

There aren’t words to express how proud I am of Randy today.
Story time, since he will never share how hard he worked to get here himself. Randy came home from his mission with a 1.7 GPA and no clue what he wanted to study in school. I remember long nights trying to figure out what he liked, what he wanted in a career, struggling to learn physical science or economics.

He attended UVU and then BYU Salt Lake. While there, he took an accounting class. The professor said if they got an A and didn’t hate the class, they should do accounting. Randy got an A and didn’t hate the class, he actually enjoyed it. So off he went to Utah State to do his generals and get his grades up.

I remember how crazy it was trying to meet with counselors and get every GPA point he could so he could get into the U’s business program, then the accounting program. We spent so much time on the phone with counselors, researching how classes transferred, and more.

He then got into the U’s accounting program, and he kept working SO hard. He excelled, getting better grades than he ever had and landing an amazing internship at EY. I don’t think he thought it was possible, but he won them over with his interview.

That internship turned into a job offer and more school to get his master’s degree. Today, 5 years later, he is finally done. I am so proud of every test he took, every minute he studied, every hour he spent meeting with friends or professors trying to learn. I am so proud of how excited he would get to tell me about a class or project. I am so proud of how he was an amazing husband and father the whole way. I am so proud of how he tackled every obstacle in front of him head on.

I am so proud of how he went from hating school, to being so sad he couldn’t finish in-person. Randy was genuinely crushed that he couldn’t finish his master’s degree in-person at the U. He absolutely loved his time there—after going to the major universities in Utah, the U was the place that became home to him. It’s been so hard watching him want to finish his education there on campus and having to do it on the computer instead. Which is why this graduation is even more meaningful. He has overcome some incredibly hard things to get here, and I am so insanely proud.

It’s amazing to see someone you love accomplish something so huge.
Congratulations babe. Can’t wait to make you actually walk and take even more pictures in December!

WORK and PLAY and RUNNING and HIKING and SCHOOL and LEARNING.

That’s what our quarantine week has been. We went outside in Randy’s parents backyard and got to see them for the first time in a month which was great.

I finally got all my computer files organized and that was HUGE.

We had to postpone our Disneyland trip and that was sad, I’m not sure we’ll even get to go but we’ll see I guess!

Today we are saying BYE BYE to the pacifier. We’ll see how that goes.

It’s a crazy time, but we are happy and healthy and feeling so blessed.

Oh my goodness it’s been a crazy time! My sister has been home from her mission for 2 weeks so we are less quarantine strict which is great! We had a great week leading up to Easter with a fun activity each night. We made Palms on Palm Sunday, Monday we talked about the temple, Tuesday we took a hike and talked about Jesus teaching in parables, Wednesday we talked about forgiveness, Thursday we made unleavened bread and talked about the Last Supper and the Atonement and I washed Graham’s feet (which was the absolute sweetest moment ever. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much Christ loves my sweet son and me and I couldn’t stop crying), Good Friday we fasted and talked about Christ suffering on the cross, Saturday Randy shared about his missionary work and we talked about Christ ministering in the Spirit World.

We also went hiking a couple times, went to Antelope Island, colored Easter eggs, did some outdoor egg hunts and enjoyed lots of time together. I also made a DELICIOUS charcuterie board and some AMAZING lamb and am SUPER proud of myself.

Easter Sunday was amazing. Graham woke up and was THRILLED to see bubbles, a bike, books, candy, and a T-ball set. He was SO excited and was a natural with the baseball. He’s getting more excited about his balance bike too!

The egg hunt was funny, he just wanted to open the eggs and eat every piece of candy inside! But he did a great job finding them. We made resurrection rolls and had a beautiful Sunday service. I have eggs that hold all the symbols and elements of Easter and we talked about all the things that made Easter special. We talked about how much Jesus loves us, and how we can be with him again because of what he did. It was beautiful.

We had a great dinner and played in the backyard with my family.

We have spent this week working, Randy is getting ready to finish school. Graham has his Zoom music class which is fun, and we jump on the tramp and take walks. He’s been loving playing with his pom-poms in the kitchen, coloring, and of course flying Buzz and Woody around all the time.

He is SO sweet. The other day he was sitting in his high chair he said “Mom, hug please?” And I stood up to give him a hug and in his tiny voice he said “I wuv you.” and my heart BURST. We had a beautiful Easter and are doing well with all the corona crazy. We’re trying to be sensible and positive so we can get back to normal life as fast as we can.

We are so lucky. We are doing well. Life is OK even with all this crazy.

Thursday night we went on a fun hike and took some cute pictures. Hiking is a great way for us to get out of the house but avoid being around too many people.

Friday was all work and jumping on the trampoline and movies. We are getting into a more steady daily routine and I’m very grateful.

Saturday and Sunday = CONFERENCE. We started the day with pancakes and homemade syrup that turned out incredible, if I do say so myself. We set up the big Mac monitor (thanks Dad!) to watch conference and Graham wanted to sit down and listen to the singing which melted my heart. The choir started singing “He is risen…” and Graham GASPS and turns to me and says JESUS. I just about started crying right there. It was so precious and sweet. Conference was absolutely beautiful. It wasn’t always easy to listen with a crazy toddler not wanting to sit still, but I just felt so happy and at peace. It’s been so easy to feel anxious and scared but the messages were all about peace and hope and that’s what God brings.

Sunday we made muffins and watched more conference and then made delicious stroganoff since we couldn’t be with my family. It was a great, relaxed, calm day. Saturday night Graham started to have a fever. Sunday he had a fever all day which was no fun. We texted the doctor who told us if it wasn’t gone by Tuesday we should probably go get him tested for flu and COVID. That made my mama heart pretty anxious.

Monday Graham’s fever wasn’t quite gone, but he had no other symptoms. We had a lazy day in the house watching lots of movies since he wasn’t feeling great. Thankfully by evening his fever broke and we texted our doctor, who confirmed it was probably a viral infection and that he is OK! Thank heavens!

Tuesday we took another hike and got LOST. It was a littles stressful for a while not knowing quite how to get back to our car. Luckily we got onto the mountain face and could see the area where our car was, and at least could have gotten to the highway and walked down there if we needed to hahaha. We still had fun and vowed to go back and get on the right trail sometime soon! We got a little HEART ATTACK on our front door from my family which was so fun because we haven’t been able to hang out with them.

Wednesday was busy with our landlord installing a brand new sink for us! It’s DEEP and amazing and I’m so excited! Randy has been going to teach Zoom classes for his gym students and it’s nice for him to get out for a bit. They are very safe and clean to ensure nobody gets sick by going to teach the kids over video, which I’m grateful for.

Thursday: We’ll probably go on another hike today, play with new crafts, I’ll shop for Graham’s birthday presents online and we’ll get through another day of this coronavirus craziness.

Friday March 27: My sister is home! We go sit in my parent’s back yard while my family sits on the porch and we visit. It’s really, really hard not to go give my sister a huge hug. She seems good and happy—it was really hard for her to leave Brazil and it’s really hard to have no idea what’s coming, but she’s doing really well with it all. We talk and visit and Graham swings and it’s nice to be together, even though we’re far apart. We go for a drive-by of one of her friends who also just got home from his mission and shout as we wave out the window.

Saturday: We eat chocolate chip waffles and have a dance party, then go feed ducks and run down the trail. It’s hard to fill up all the hours but it’s also really fun. We got Graham some new little toys and he loves playing with them and finding new things to do. We watch Toy Story before bed, and the fact that Graham loves it SO much is Randy’s favorite thing in the universe. We get a new dishwasher thanks to our amazing landlord and Randy helps him install it as carefully and socially-distanced as possible while I work on a website for a client.

Sunday: We have church in our house and it goes well, Graham does a good job of listening and loves the fun activities we try to do to make it more fun. We make big delicious meals and read books in the afternoon. We go visit my family in the back yard again. Graham doesn’t understand why he can’t play with his cousin or why Grandma can’t hold him, which is really hard. The neighborhood has a surprise drive-by for my sister and some other missionaries who just came home and it’s SO fun. I hang out the window and wave and scream while Graham laughs from his seat.

Monday: Back to the grind. I work and head to the grocery store to get some produce and other staples. I buy some things for my family since they can’t go to the store and drop it off on their porch. We make a delicious pasta dinner and Graham LOVES it. We go for a long walk and read lots of stories and work on counting, which Graham can totally do, he just doesn’t like to perform on-demand.

Tuesday: More work, more school, Graham is having a hard time napping and going to bed which is SO strange. He is usually the BEST sleeper alive. We spend the day singing songs and putting cars and toys down the slide. The days blend together, it’s so easy to forget which day is next and what is happening.

Wednesday: APRIL FOOLS. Graham eats blue eggs and we go and get Fiiz drinks for my family. My mom wipes down the cups and we play in the back yard while they sit on the porch. It’s a bit colder and I’m praying for more warm weather so we can continue outside, distanced visits. Graham LOVES helping me vacuum and mop and we spend the morning cleaning. We go outside and jump on the trampoline and dig in the dirt. Naps are still somewhat of a battle for some reason, and I research a 2 year old sleep regression. That plus all the strangeness of our new lives must be putting him in a funk. But that’s OK.

Thursday: We work and do school and deal with cold weather. It’s a more indoor day and we try new crafts, order Easter egg dyeing kits, and I fight off feeling like this is going to last forever. I’m SO excited for general conference coming up and hope to get peace and understanding with it. Only time will tell I suppose.

I am SO grateful for amazing employers right now. I’ve been assured many times that they are not having hiring freezes, they are not planning lay offs, and that things are OK. Randy got an email from EY that his job offer is in tact, that they are working out his start date for the fall, and it is all OK. We are SO lucky. And I absolutely won’t take that for granted.