Farewell

We just spent our last night in our house. It's interesting when your whole life feels like it's in an upheaval. It has helped us separate. It's nice, I guess. Dallas and I sat on our porch last night to watch the stars and our street go to sleep. To say that we'll miss this place is a tragic understatement. I know we didn't structurally build our house, but we definitely built our home. It was here that I told Dallas I was pregnant, came home after we were sealed in the temple, brought our sweet William home from the hospital, and learned everything we could about remodelling/renovations. I have spent the last few days carefully committing it to memory. I hope that in the next life, our memories will be sharp. For now, I'll just share some of my favorite "house pictures".

Just a sidenote: Look how short Austin's hair is!!!!

Here's to 5 Years

August 21, 2003

February 4, 2006- We became an eternal family.

5 years later and still going strong.

Happy anniversary to the most incredible man I could have ever married. Thank you for the best years of my life. Here's to many, many more. I love you.

(Thanks to sweet Laurel Hansen Photography for the bottom picture.)

Truth

I cannot express how I feel right now. However, once again, I am grateful to sweet Angie Smith for putting into words what I cannot.

"The depth of sorrow has a way of changing the way you share your life, your heart, your God. It makes you want to shout the name of Jesus because you realize that after all, in the very midst of it, He is real. It isn't just a big book. It's the truth, and it has changed me. He has used this season to show me an image of myself, kissing His feet while the tears slip to the ground."

... and found!

Obviously I have found my dog. I feel kind of over dramatic now that I have him back. Yesterday in the space of the 6.5 hours that he was lost , I called the animal control, the 2 vets in Heber, had my friend Angie call the police to see if anyone reported hitting a dog (I couldn't do that one myself), wasted about 1/4 tank of gas in my jeep, went on 2 LONG walks, Dallas went on a bike ride, we printed up and put up 25 fliers, I posted on here just to make sure I was doing everything that I possibly could, and we went for another bike ride (in which we found him). I have caught someone trying to take him out of my yard before, so I was worried that was what happened. I figured if we started out early we would have a better chance of finding him, right? Now I kind of just feel like a freak... so, here's the story:

On our final bike ride we were going to turn around because we had Will and McKenzie and they were both saying they were "all done" and trying to climb out. I said we would just go up this last street. On that street there were some kids playing and I asked them if they had seen a dog. They said they had, and showed me where. There was a fence that was crossing a creek (the same one that runs by my house), and you could walk underneath the fence through the creek. So, Dallas waited and I just jumped in the creek and waded on up. Behind the fence on one side was a small garden with some stalks of corn, and on the other was a bunch of old cars and garbage (it literally looked like a dump back there).

When I was calling for Scooter I heard a little yelp. I called Dallas and told him to find a babysitter for the kids and to come back and help me look through all the garbage. I thought maybe something had fallen on him and he was trapped. I kept calling his name and walking up and down the creek to find where I could hear the yelp- that's when I turned around and looked in the little corn field. There was a white raccoon cage, and there was something in it- Scooter! I was beyond ecstatic. I called Dallas back and told him to stay home and that I would be back in a minute. I had to knock on the old man's door whose trap it was to help me get him out.

He was such a mess, but I was so glad I found him. When I rode back home with him following me (he was just on the other side of the block from our house), Will saw him and just ran to him saying his name. It was so cute! All afternoon he kept saying "Where'd Scooter go?" and carrying around one of the posters that we made with Scooter's picture on it. (That made me even more sad when he was lost). I gave him a bath and he drank a ton of water. We were able to relax after that and have a fun night with Will and McKenzie watching the Olympics. (Yay for Men's Gymnastics, Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh, and Michael Phelps!!!)

Lost

I know a lot of you don't live in Heber, but some of you do. We lost our dog Scooter today and would appreciate any help in finding him. He just wandered away while I was painting doors under our carport. I noticed he was gone within 5 minutes, but he wouldn't answer my calls. Just keep an eye out and let me know if you see him. We are offering a $50 reward. Thanks.

"Redeem" Team

Need I say more? I love the Olympics. Go team USA!!!! Yay for getting me my basketball fix early. If only Korver were there....

The Swears

Will is at the age where he is repeating everything (unfortunately for us). It finally happened. Will said his first swear word. (Pick your jaws up off your desk- I know it's a huge surprise to know that either Dallas or I would ever use a swear word.) Today I was making pancakes and I accidentally dropped an egg on the kitchen floor. Before I could think about it, the dreaded "S" word escaped my lips. Next thing we know, Will has repeated it. Now when this situation comes upon first time parents we would like to think about how we would react explaining to our child how inappropriate and wrong it us to use these certain swear words. However, in all reality, it was hilarious. We laughed and turned our faces trying to hide our smiles. It was too late. He saw. He said it again. Our No, Will!'s were falling on deaf ears. He's said it several times throughout the day. I think ignoring it is the best option at this point. It's my fault. But, I blame my mother. After all, I learned it from her.