Diamonds in the Rough: January 2010

Friday, January 15, 2010

Our little Violinist

Baylee is really enjoying playing the violin

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A few note worthy picts

These picts are complements of my sister and too cute...

Typical Lydia with food in her hands...

Typical Kami the camera clown...

Jaxon and Lydia, sharing is caring...

Lacey and Baylee trying on Aunt Amy's prom dresses, its good thing they don't fit them yet.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

...So to liven things up, knowing I wouldn't be able to stay awake till midnight, Dave and I planned the New Years Countdown. Dave made a scavenger hunt and I filled the bags that the kids were to find each hour starting at 7:00pm. Each bag had a fun activity to start the hour. We had some serious fun with Sardines, Family Fitness, etc. and especially our 9:00 icecream run to the grocery store in PJ's. Dave had Elyssa, Anna, Baylee, & Kami in the grocery cart for a memorable ride. You never know what to expect when Dave pushes the cart. Then we brought in the New Year with lots of noise.

Visiting the Bowmans!

This is the elementary school Dave went to. Argonaut - what is that? -memory lane for him. We noticed from the classroom pictures that 98% of all the kids there now are Asian or Indian-interesting!

We got to see Kathy and Darren's new baby (Benjamin Bowman) - what a sweet little guy.

Cousins all played non-stop in their make-believe world.

After Christmas we drove to Bowmans in CA to spend the rest of the break and New Years. It was good to see Dave's family. We did a lot of visiting and playing games at Mimi & Pabo's house. They have such a fun yard to explore and the girls loved being outside in the warmer weather. Dave and I got a new camera from them and its awesome-thus, the better quality pict. One afternoon just Dave and I went to get Thai food -it was so good-I was savoring every bite..maybe it was one of those pregnancy cravings.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Well the big awaited day was fun and exciting. We actually had a white Christmas in Snowflake. Santa did come and the girls tried hard to stay awake and see him---but he never came until they were asleep - imagine that! Mrs. Clause sure did a great job making the wrapped presents look pretty. Santa brought Baylee a sewing machine, Kambria rollerskates, and Lydia a bike toy- just what they wanted, and the family got a cool snow sled and plasma car. We had fun giving gifts to each other and Lydia quickly picked up on the joy of presents. Later in the day we went to Holbrook and helped serve lunch at a homeless shelter. Then we had friends over in the evening and played games. A great day! and a close to a wonderful season of celebrating the gift of the Savior. How blessed we are as a family. We are looking forward to the start of another year of our adventure together as a family, with more opportunities to learn and grow.

The young performers!

The girls had been working up a few christmas numbers and decided to perform them at Grandma Bevell's--- Jingle Bells, Silent Night w/ sign language, and Feliz Navidad. Baylee carries the tune, Kami livens it up with the dancing energy, and Lydia bares the cheesy grin.

continued...

...Dave led the kids/adults on a scavenger hunt to the workshop where gifts were awaiting for all. Grandma has always been good about teaching what matters most and her gift was a righteous princess poem for the girls and a righteous warrior poem for the boys - along with the fitting attire.

...Santa even made an appearance. Lydia still preferred to stay at a distance in Grandma's arms.

Grandma Bevells Nativity!

What a great tradition Grandma Bevell has carried on for as many years as I can remember. She seems to have the infinite capacity to show her love. She always works so hard and cares so much about each of her children (including inlaws), grandchildren, great-grandchildren. She has a huge growing posterity and still manages to shop the bargains and get gifts for everyone. We had a tasty dinner at her house followed by kids entertainment, then our favorite part is getting to act out the nativity. The pluthera of children dress-up and grandma works wonders in turning her yard into Bethlehem. Baylee thrilled to be a shepherd for the first time. Kami adored her gorgeous angel attire. And Lydia was hilarious to watch waddling in her sheep costume and hugging all the stuffed sheep.

Christmas get together at Randalls!

We went down to Mesa to help mom & dad get the house ready to leave for their mission. Boy, did we all work hard cleaning, hauling, and packing. It was fun to be able to help them. Then on Saturday all the syblings got together in the morning for a fun Christmas gift exchange. It was so great to play together. Mom was amazing. She came up with all these fun gifts, just by cleaning out her office.

Bobbi gave me a very cute wooden sign to put in my house and a Food Saver (awesome).
Dave got the PVC bottle rocket from papa. Dallan made our family a really fun golf game. Baylee got an ATM machine for her money from Nana-how cool is that! Kami was thrilled to have a walking dog w/leash from Nana. Lydia got a blue pony.

Nana's big gift to all the girls was making black/white kitchen aprons. They were really cute and all so different.

Silly Sisters!

All piled in the the foot stool

Our Adventure

Our adventure together started when a city boy met a country girl at heart (even though she grew up in the city). We are so glad that our paths crossed and that our destination was the same. Now after almost 8 years of marriage we continue to enjoy the adventure of our lives together. While I try to keep up the pace along the path, he makes sure I don't miss any of the scenery along the way. We want to appreciate each stage of our family journey together, by treasuring the moments that matter. With so much to be grateful for through ups and downs we like to carry on the phrase "never has life been better than this".

Describing Myself

So, I have always thought it challenging to describe myself. Maybe it’s a second child syndrome or maybe its because I am a melting pot of quircky traits. Luckily I am not alone in that, its genetic, haha!

So, here is my attempt at describing myself.
An Arizona native, though I was actually born in CA. I love Arizona and its diversity. The desert can be so beautiful. I come from a family of 4 kids. I am #2. I loved taking care of my sister Chelsey, who was 8 yrs younger than me and growing up I always loved babysitting, because I could just play with the kids. I have a lot of self-motivation and a challenge never stops me from trying. This trait was acquired at a young age when I wouldn’t let being the smallest and shortest be a disadvantage. I have always loved horses, since I can remember. It’s in my Randall blood, though I have never actually owned one. I love the outdoors and sometimes its hard to be doing the mundane house jobs when I would rather be outside. I really enjoy figuring out solutions to problems. I like gadgets (a trait from my father). Thus, when my Sunday School teacher hired me as his secretary, when I was a Junior in Highschool, I was in my element and thoroughly enjoyed getting his company out of the old and in to the new computer world. This job supported me through college. I truly love learning. School wasn’t easy, but I enjoyed what I learned and was able to go to BYU. In college I had a hard time deciding on a major because their was so many subjects I wanted to learn about. I took classes in Engineering, science, business, dance, recreation, and music. - so, I probably could be labeled as knowing a little bit about a lot of things. An experience I’ll never forget was living in Jerusalem and Egypt for 4 months doing a BYU study abroad. It gave me a bigger perspective. I am more of a listener than a talker. I love hearing about peoples experiences and I am good at keeping confindences. I remember as a youth sitting amongst my adult relatives, just listening to them talk. I am so grateful for a close extended family that loves to share ideas. I am a detail person and a planner, I am working on being more spontaneous. I am learning to appreciate the different stages in my life, and now that I am 32 I really wish time would slow down. I am so grateful to be married to Dave, a super wonderful husband and father. Above all, I love being a wife and a mom to 3 beautiful daughters, it gives purpose and meaning to my busy days. I enjoy music in my home - playing the piano, singing songs, and dancing with my kids. I especially love to dance with Dave, even though we don’t get to very often. I love doing projects with my kids and reading to them. I enjoy cooking healthy nummy foods and I have way too many cook books. Cleaning the bathrooms is my least favorite house chore and sweeping the floors (since they need it so often) is therapeutic. I will sweep and sweep with a million thoughts going through my head. I have always loved giving hugs (the big bear hugs), when I was young it was my pets, now it is my kids. So big hugs have become a tradition in our family. I love it when I can use my talents to serve others. I love the Gospel. I love that the Lord makes up the difference for our imperfections. I am so grateful to have a forever family.