Christmas Eve

Tonight we enjoyed some festivities with Honey's family. What fun we had! We played basketball, floor hockey and card games. We feasted, and opened presents. We even enjoyed a white elephant gift exchange. And the kids loved the gifts they received from Grammies and Grandpa Livingstone.

When we returned, as we were getting the kids ready for bed and waiting to say family prayers, I had a little time to reflect. I wonder how Mary felt in the little stable knowing that she would shortly give birth to the Son of God. Did she sleep? Probably not, maybe not so much from discomfort, but I suppose that she was wondering how she would ever raise this special Son. I wonder if she was visited and given some peace as she continued on her divine mission. Did she worry that her first child would be born in a dirty stable? She had traveled so far, did she worry about the long journey back to her home? I can only imagine she felt somewhat inadequate, not only because she was having her first child, but she was charged with raising the Son of God.

I wonder about Joseph, being a father for the first time. I'm sure he worried about the coming days, from birth to how he would raise the Son of God. What could he offer? What would his Father want him to do? I'm sure he felt the importance of the event and was even more frustrated that he couldn't arrange more comfortable accommodations.

What about our Father in Heaven. I'm sure His omniscience helped Him find comfort in the mission His Son was beginning. I wonder if He was even slightly worried knowing that His Son would eventually suffer and die at the hands of His other children, and that the Savior would have to do it alone.

I can't help but feel bad about the attention I've given this holy time, namely the lack thereof. What an amazing event, a miraculous time. What an honor to serve Him. Let us all remember Him, His mission, and His love. We love you and pray that His spirit fills your home.

Merry Christmas.

Ryan and Honey

Snow Angels

So, am I an awful mother if this is the first year that my kids have been fully equipped to be in the snow?? It's not that they haven't played in snow, it's that they haven't had snow pants to play in the snow with. I don't even have a good excuse as to not having gotten them them earlier, like if I had lived in a warmer place where we didn't need snow pants. Nope. So, just this last Friday we were venturing around Target and "stumbled" upon snow pants. I have wonderful memories as a kid playing out in the snow with Reecy after school in the dark. It was a great time! I've realized though, that I think it is (or was) only in Canada where they actually sell children's winter coats with ski pants, combined. That would really help with the whole matching idea also! During our move, we also 'misplaced' our bag of hats, scarves and gloves...these were the best we could come up with. Anyway, here are the kids fully enjoying the snow.



Lucy's not sure of all of this outdoors business. I think she liked her snow pants on better in the house.

Christmas Lights

I love Christmas decorations and lights. Yes, even our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree with only half the lights working.

We found something fun this year though. We replaced our entertainment center a few months back with a large armoire. Well, when it came time to pull the Christmas decor out, we had to be creative in where to place our little village. Here is where we decided..right in our fireplace.

My Happy Birthday

I had a great birthday on Sunday and it so nice to talk with so many people. I appreciate all that called, thank you! Ryan was so nice to bake a cake for me, however it didn't turn out as he had hoped. Let just say it had a few divides. But if it were frosted as the earth, it would have been perfect. It still tasted good and I appreciate the gesture. Ryan, also took me out for brunch the day before and as he mentioned in his post, we had a wonderful Stake Conference. It was a great day all around and many of you made it that way. So, thank you for thinking of me and wishing me well. I'm 27 now, BRING IT ON!!

Wedding Bells!

Our congratulations to the happy couples who are now "officially" engaged! HOORAY!! Aaron (top) proposed to Angela Friday night and Michael proposed to Katherine the following night on Saturday. We are so happy for them all and look forward to having them in our family! We love you guys! Way to go!

Faith and Miracles

As you probably notice, I don't post here very often. Over the past several weeks, I've been assessing our life and counting our blessings. Our experience with baby Honey has helped me realize the fragility of life and made me grateful for so many things, things that I used to take for granted. As I've thought about all of this, I could often hear the many voices in my life that have said we are crazy/courageous for having so many kids, for getting married so quickly and so young, for jumping into a condo and now the house, for pretty much making every big decision in our life. I am in no way ashamed/embarrassed/regretful of any of those decisions. Our life has been a great adventure, and we have been greatly blessed.

This weekend we had stake conference, and our mission president made a comment that has really stuck with me. As I've thought about it more, I realize that the principle he taught has been thoroughly active in our life. He said that he teaches his missionaries the following:

When you feel doubt, replace it with faith, go to work and expect the miracle.

Let me explain. In our life, we have, at times, questioned the decisions we were making. We prayed and probably wanted that huge revelation with angels and lights and visions and the like. Many times, we received very little. Many times we felt very little. Most times, Honey and I had looked at the decision, analyzed our options, prayed about it and were still "left on our own" to make the decision. We felt good about our analysis and acted on that knowing that we would receive guidance as we acted - as Elder Bednar said, feeling the nudging of the spirit to go in one direction or the other. When we made the decision, we jumped in knowing we would make the best of it that we could. When things became difficult, we prayed more and went back to work. We became committed. Only after much analysis, prayer and action did we actually see results. Looking back, those results have been truly miraculous. We are blessed with four healthy, beautiful children, one waiting for us, and a host of blessings too long to list.

When you feel doubt, have confidence in the decision you've made (replace doubt with faith), go to work and watch the miracle come.

Lucy

Lucy is our spunky little girl. She's 18 months and loves to be around people. She is very sweet and happy, but when she's not either, she is sneaky and scowley. She loves to walk around in anyone else's shoes and do what her siblings are doing. She does do something though that none of our other kids have done, on a regular basis. She diaper dives! If we don't catch her in time, she gets messy and it is gross!! Just last night, we caught her dipping her binky in the toilet! N-A-S-T-Y. Aside from her gross behaviors, she makes us laugh. She learned to twirl a couple weeks ago. It's more of a pivot, but twirling none the less. If she hears any music, any time, any where, she stops to get her groove on. Here are some pictures of our little Lucy:

Our little thespian

This is the second year that Rylee has been involved with her acting class. It's called Acting Apprentices and she has it after school Monday. Last Tuesday was their performance and she was a donkey owner. I don't recall the name of the story, but she did her part (2 lines) fabulously. Last year, she was the little red hen and had quite a few lines, so it was nice to have an "easy part" this year. She has such a great time and enjoys her teacher, Mrs. Gregory.

With Thankful Hearts

Thanksgiving has past now, but I wanted to share what we, our little family, is especially grateful for this year: the Plan of Happiness. This has become more real to us than ever with the loss of our baby, Honey. The day we found out she had died, for FHE we decided to talk about the Plan of Salvation with our kids and talk about what was happening. Ryan did a fabulous job describing it with our Candy Land board game. We all lived together with Heavenly Father before we came to earth. We chose to come here. Then starting on our journey here in mortality, we receive great blessings that help us move forward faster. But we can also feel like we're stuck in the mud, like we're stationary or sometimes even feel like we're moving backwards. Our hearts can hurt, and we face life with sadness and sorrow. Ultimately though, our goal is to live faithfully and return as a family back to Heavenly Father.

The kids seemed to grasp what we were saying, and it was nice to be reminded of why we are here. That we knew there would be tough times and rough patches. We are so grateful for the temple, for the promise of eternal families. The night we went into the hospital, Ryan and I were able to go the temple. What a comfort! To be reminded that as we try our best here on earth, we can be with our families together forever. That not being able to have our little baby right now, we can look forward to being with her and enjoy her on the other side.

There is no way we could have done this alone. It is such an amazing experience to feel (and I mean really FEEL) all of the love, support, fasting and prayers that have been said on our behalf. And thank you to all who are still offering this support, who have called us up to see how we're doing, to see how we're managing and offer love and support. Our lives have changed and our hearts are still tender and we appreciate (tremendously!) the thoughtfulness. Our ward has been and still is so supportive and loving. What a great Plan! To not only have families, but ward families. So it is with thankful hearts that we share our love and gratitude for you, not only during this holiday season, but for always.

Outstanding Citizen

Congratulations to Rylee who received the outstanding citizenship award yesterday for the third time!! During the year, each trimester, Walt Whitman Elementary has an awards ceremony and present the kids with certificates. Last year in kindergarten she received this same award twice in a row and earned it again this year. Whenever I visit with her teachers they mention how shy she is, but what a gem she is. They all adore her. As do we! Besides her little mood swings at home at times (normal right?) she is so helpful and bright. She was presented this award because she "leads through example, makes good decisions and respects others." We're so proud of her. Way to go Rylee!

Our Sweet Baby

Sadly, we remove our baby counter as our baby girl was delivered yesterday at my 20 week mark. It was on Monday when we found out that our baby had no heart beat and had probably died some two weeks ago. It was my worst fear confirmed and the anticipation of having to deliver this tiny infant was unbearable. But, we truly feel blessed. We have felt the love and peace of the Savior in a tremendous, unexplainable way. Our family and friends have been here for us and we cannot express how much this has meant. As we held our tiny, 2.7 oz little girl, we were overwhelmed with love. She was only 7 inches but still, a perfect little body. What a miracle! How we wish we could keep her and have her in our home, she will always be in our hearts, a part of our family, our little Honey Mary. We drive out to Utah tomorrow to bury her little body with our Grandpa Carlos Rodriguez on Saturday. There is some comfort knowing that little Honey will be buried near family, perhaps watching over her. I'm sure there will be rough days ahead, perhaps even months or years. It states in the chorus of the song that I was named after "And Honey, I miss you, and I'm being good. I'd love to be with you, if only I could." We know that our baby girl is well and safe, waiting for us to join her. We love you, baby Honey, and we long to be with you.

Halloween 2007

Here are our Halloween pictures this year. Our kids were thrilled to be able to trick-or-treat two nights in a row! Tuesday night was our ward's trunk-or-treat and everyone came away with plenty of candy. Last night we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Hunt's house and were thrilled that Grandpa had just come home! YAY! The kids decided they weren't quite finished with the trick-or-treating so we ventured out again hitting about 10 houses. It was quite a bit chillier last night that Tuesday, but everyone had a good time!

A huge thank you to Grandma Livingstone who made the Dorothy dress for Rylee. She absolutely loved it and looked great! And for sending the unicorn costume that KC thought was great. KC loved the idea that one night she was a unicorn and then the next, a red power ranger! Another huge thank you to Grandma Hunt for inspiring Rylee with Toto in the basket (sorry, not pictured on here) and the red power ranger outfit (originally for Clay until KC put it on). The cutest power rangers I've seen...Thanks to our wonderful grandmas!

What's your favorite time of day?

I flopped down on our bed last night after all the kids were tucked in and I layed there thinking that this is my favorite time of day, especially Sunday night. The kids are quiet, sleeping in their beds, no TV, cuddling, talking with Ryan. Although he usually is lulled to sleep with my thinking out loud, just those peaceful moments were I can count my blessings and reflect. Too often I find myself rushing around trying to meet the demands of the day, hushing children that are bickering, and some days just trying to find an "escape" and not giving much thought to what a great life I have.

Do you find moments in your day for reflection? What's your favorite time of day?

I Love My Boys!

My favorite boys in the whole world celebrate their birthdays just two days apart. Ryan turned 29 and Clay turned 5. This year we decided to combine the cake and ice cream party the night of Clay's birthday. Here are some pics of the fun! Happy Birthday Guys!

Lemonade

We got this card in the mail yesterday from Reecy and Eric and thought it was so true and hilarious that we had to share.


(On the outside of the card)

Hang in there...

Sometimes life
hands you lemons,
but then
you can make lemonade

(on the inside)

Of course, sometimes life
pulls down your pants,
runs a power sander across
your naked butt,
then pours lemon juice on your raw,
abraded buttocks.

In that case, a cool citrus drink
wouldn't really help, but darn it...
you've got to hang in there anyway!

Thanks Reecy, so sweet and it really made us laugh! Although we have to replace our newly laid wood floors, we still have our health, our family and tremendous blessings! What more can you really ask for.

Tagged...You're It!

Short and sweet, kind of.

What I was doing ten years ago: I had just started my senior year at Farmington High School in Michigan. I was working at my first job as a server at Bill Knapps. I was also applying to Ricks College and BYU.

What I was doing 5 years ago: Let's see 2002...I graduated (on time baby!) from BYU in Sociology in the Spring and in then in the Fall, end of Sept, we had just come back from Boise, Idaho for our nephew Nathan's blessing. I was super huge and ready to give birth to Clay in just 4 weeks. Rylee was almost 16 mos and ran the house. Ryan was starting his senior year at the Y in Economics.

One Year Ago: We (Ryan, me, Rylee, Clay, Kaycee and Lucy) were living in Mom and Dad Hunt's basement as we had rented out our condo and were waiting to close on a house. Kaycee was recovery nicely from her tonsillectomy and I was driving to and fro dropping off and picking up Rylee from Kindergarten. Ryan was working at REMAX for Protiviti and I was trying to get a handle on toting four children around.

Yesterday: We took Rylee to school at 9, Clay at 9:30 and then headed over to the condo to make sure the fans were still drying the carpet. (yeah, so I went over to the condo on Saturday to check things out before our two showings scheduled that day, only to find a running and leaking toilet tank. WATER EVERYWHERE!! The bathroom floor had an inch of water on it and the carpet was completely soaked past the vanity area, closet and into half the master bedroom. YAY. Who knows how long it was leaking. Anyways, Ryan and I sucked up about 10 gallons of water and then pulled the carpet back to dry it and the pad out. Thankfully, everything is okay now, the carpet laid back down nicely, yet we still missed the two showings...bummer.) Back to yesterday, we came home and then picked Clay up at noon and Rylee later on at 3:40. Then calling Ryan to tell him we have water under our new hardwood floor. Our darn dishwasher! We ate dinner while waiting for Ryan to come home. Then after an hour of getting kids in pj's and watching Chuck (still waiting for Ryan) we said prayers and went to bed. After checking in on the condo, Ryan came home at 9pm. Long day for him, poor guy. I crashed around 10pm.

5 Snacks I Enjoy: Candy (sweet and sour), snap peas, rice krispie treats, Swiss Rolls, anything else with sugar or chocolate (or both!).

5 things I would do if I had $100 Million: Pay off our houses, buy some more houses and hire all the work to be done, buy a bigger vehicle (or two), buy a cabin and a boat, and put away a bunch for my kids and for Ryan and me.

5 Places I would run away to: I would love to go back to Hawaii with Ryan. And then anywhere where someone would take care of me and I wouldn't have to "lift a finger." Just a nice relaxing, stress-free environment.

5 TV Shows I Like: America's Test Kitchen, Everyday Food, Law and Order: SVU, The Office (with Ryan) and King of Queens.

5 Things I hate doing: LAUNDRY! It's the thorn in my side! It's never ending! Waking up tired. Paying bills (watching money going down the drain!) Weeding and yard work. Yuck!

5 Biggest Joys of the moment: my family, going to bed, eating delicious food/treats, feeling well, having hot chocolate with toast listening to Christmas music - love it!

People to be tagged: YOU'RE IT!

They Make Me Laugh - cont'd.

I was just going to add these to my list below, but then I was afraid you wouldn't see the cute things my kids have been saying and doing. Here they are:

1.Clay heading out the door to continue playing with KC, says "bye mom" and then pounds his fist to his chest and throws up a peace sign. Nice.
2.It was a Friday night and we all headed to the grocery store to find something really tasty for dinner. The kids were wandering off a little so Ryan told them to stay by me, by the cart while he picked out some meat. The kids obeyed yet Rylee noticed that Clay was moving away and in her big sister voice said "Clay didn't you hear what Daddy said? Stay by the cart, or you'll never see the sun again!" (WHAT?!)
3. I was fixing something in the kitchen and Clay and Rylee come in. Clay's making horse sounds and then asks if I was in the wagon with the horses. What? He continues making the noises and then asks, "or did you walk?" It took me a second as I was trying to figure out what he was talking about. I ask "Are you asking me if I was a pioneer??" Clay: "yeah." I know kids think they're parents are old, but COME ON!! :)
4. I handed each of the kids a caramel to eat after they'd climbed into their car seats. They all say "thank you" as I'm backing out the door Clay asks "is it your pleasure mom?" I don't know where he gets it!

I found this picture the other day and it made me smile. This picture was taken exactly one month before our wedding (7 years ago) at Jason and Christina's wedding and in fact two days before our engagement was official with the proposal and ring. Looking back at how Ryan and I met (a blind date) and getting married two and a half months later, there's no other way I would have done it. I love my Ryno and all that he is and is striving to become. He is my favorite person in the whole wide world and the best dad to our 4.25 children. (Yes! Number 5 should be joining us the end of March! Can you believe it??) I love you Ryan. Thanks for all you do and for being you.

They Make Me Laugh

I wish I had done this over the past 6 or so years. The kids have made me laugh with some of the things they've said and done. Here are some of the more recent things, in no particular order:

1. Rylee came into my room crying one day and said "Clay hit me for no reason." From the other room Clay yells "I had a reason!"
2. Kaycee came to me whining saying that Clay hit her. Now, we'd had this conversation before with Kaycee about a little boy in nursery that is a little rough. I asked her if she'd told Clay that she didn't like it and to tell him to stop. She answered "no" so I jokingly asked her if she punched him in the nose. (Ryan had told KC that if this little boy didn't leave her alone in nursery to punch him in the nose..not sure how serious he was.) So I begin doing something else and seconds later KC comes burning around the corner and Clay is screaming in the other room. I asked KC what happened and she didn't answer and started to hide as Clay's crying grew closer. Clay came in holding his nose! I couldn't punish her as I told her to do it, but she did have to apologize.
3. In the car on the way home from Utah, Clay takes tattling to a new level: "Dad, Rylee's going to tell on me." (Hmmm...)
4.Me: "Clay, you can come out of your room now." Clay: "I am out of my room."
5. Clay: "Dad, my bed doesn't want me to make it. It wants you to."

Our Cute Kiddies

Here are some pics of the kids we took the other day. Ryan did such a good job capturing their natural smiles. I had to include KC's "Chandler Bing" picture. We love our cute kiddies!

The Denver Post

Here is a scan of the front page. If you look closely, you'll see me. Also, notice the flames behind the cabin. What a ride! Here is another clip from The Rocky Mountain News newspaper. It gives you a better idea of how close the fire actually came to our cabin. These were both taken when they let us go back into the cabin (30 mins)to get all the bags out.

On the Front Page

Funny story:

Okay, so Monday June 25th, Girls Camp, we (44 girls, 10 leaders and I) have just arrived at the YMCA Of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch. We are having a wonderful time in our own cabin and the girls are playing games and getting to know each other. After two hours of being in the cabin we are chased out by a fire that has started about 100 feet from us. We evacuate the girls and move our vehicles, only to see now what had started as minimal flames to a full blown wildfire raging above the trees with black smoke everywhere moving towards our cabin! (Anyways, if you want the full story, you'll have to call me for it.) We watched as several emergency vehicles came in and of course media people come in. There were helicopters flying overhead and it seemed only reasonable for the media people to come and talk to someone from our group since we were the ones to report the fire and were the most put out by it. Alas, no one was interested...so I thought. The next day we woke up (obviously not in the cabin) we realize that because of the poor air quality and having some girls with asthma, we cannot stay there at Snow Mountain. So we decide to move over to the YMCA of the Rockies over in Estes Park about 70 miles away. We made the trek over there. We arrived there to find that our rooms were not ready so we took the girls over to the pool. After being there for 20 mins, the lifeguard blows the whistle and tells everyone they need to get out of the pool and leave the building due to lightening (the building had a metal roof - of course they did!). After feeling we cannot catch a break at Girls Camp another director informs us that the activities that we had planned at Snow Mountain, we can do here. The girls were very excited. The next day they would be in groups for archery, the climbing wall and the high ropes/zip line. In charge of the zip line group I escorted the very excited girls to their activity. They donned on their gear and practiced on the low ropes. When it came time for the high ropes and zip, what else could happen but lightening AGAIN!! Oh, these girls were so disappointed. We waited half an hour to see if it would clear, but it didn't, and they wouldn't get their chance. As a leader, by now, I just had to laugh and tell the girls that they would never forget this camp. We'd been chased out by a fire (it ended up completely surrounding the cabin - I wish I had my camera!) then the lightening had prevented us from any activities we wanted to do. Luckily that morning we had snuck our hike in. Anwyays, that night as the Bishops from the three wards came up for the last night and testimony meeting, one of the bishops that had helped me and some other leaders clear out the cabin brought me a clip of the front page of the Denver Post Newspaper. It was me! I was carrying out pillows and bags from our cabin with two fire personnelle further down digging about the smoldering ground. WOW!! After "whining" that we were the group that the media should be talking to, there I was, on the front page! I was so embarrassed!

A day at the pool

We absolutely love our new neighborhood and (of course!) the pool. Here are some cute pics of the kids (excuse Clay's "friend" under his nose...). Did I mention we got a new camera too? YAY!

Kaycee's 3!!

We had such a fun week with 2 graduations and 2 birthdays. We finished off the week with Kaycee's birthday. YAY for Kaycee, she's three now! She had a great birthday this year and enjoyed it on Memorial Day too! She was so happy all day and was so patient to open her gifts. We can't believe how fast she is growing. She is developing into quite the character too. She insists on changing her clothes at least 3 times a day (which makes for quite a bit of laundry), but she is so cute and always smiling. We love our "Kiki Woo."