Diamonds in the Rough

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

I love the Fall!

I love the Fall season. It seems to be the best time of year, at least in weather, in Snowflake. School is well underway and all the kids love their teachers. I am so proud of Baylee, Kami, and Lydia who are all doing exceptionally well at their school work and responsibilities. Lydia was bursting at the seems waiting for her first day of school at Montessori with Mrs. Merrill and Mrs. Brimhall. I had the hardest time getting her potting trained for Montessori and on the first day of school is when she decided she could go potty without being told to. I guess she needed the right motivation. then that same day I found her sitting in the living room cutting her hair. When I asked her what she was doing she said "oh, just cutting my hair, mom". Like no big deal, "I can do this, I'm big now".
Caleb now has regular play time with Canyon, since I babysit him 3 days a week. There favorite thing to do is ride plasma cars in the back yard or wrestle Tippy dog.

Kami is the soccer player this year and runs hard to keep up with all the fast boys. She is fun to watch because she is not afraid to get after the ball.

Good ol' George!

This was just too funny...definitely worthy of a photo. Dave got called last minute to help out with a constitution fair in Showlow. He was asked to play the part of George Washington in a dialogue. The costume was awesome.. I 'd say he looks the part.

Interestingly, what started out to be a favor for someone, ended up being a great blessing. He met someone at the fair that turned out to be a great connection for his work. Dave is currently writing a patriotic book for teens and has found a great resource for promoting it.

The Pool,,,

Okay, so this summer Merrills and us went in on a pool together. We were tired of paying to use crowded public pools and we wanted our kids to swim more. Of course our bargain shopping instinct meant we were only going to buy one for a smoking' deal. But after all was said and done, we did have to do some repair work on it and hopefully it lasts through the next summer. But we did enjoy it swimming in it lots and even Lydia got over her fear of it. The best part is making the whirlpools!

Woowa...pull out the shades... Dave and Troy are glowing white.

A camping tradition.

This was an especially fun year camping at Horseshoe Lake. Maybe because I actually had more relaxing time than usual... no nursing baby and my kids played nonstop on their own. We had the usual good food, kayaking, and creek playing. Although, we did get hit with the largest hail storm I have ever seen in the mountains. Literally hills of hail piled up. Luckily, our tent trailer held up without a leak. The kids still insisted on sleeping in a tent. What little adventurers they are! Unfortunately, I have none of my photos to document this occasion due to their loss. These couple photos of the area, however, were capture by Amy...aren't they fabulous!

...and look at these two munching munchkins. Boys...its all about the food.

FROG HOPPERS

This pict is from Amy. Simple summer fun at Aunty Amy's house...frog racing. My girls couldn't stop talking about it for days.

A few summer highlights...

A Randall Family 4th of July celebration....and of course we always believe food is key to a great time..can you tell.

Loved the flag raising ceremony followed by Amy reading wonderful stories from the founding fathers. The kids loved it and what a great reminder of our great country. God Bless America!

It's not a gathering without a little family entertainment....and boy do we have a kids who love the spotlight!

Well sad to say the Bowmans did not succeed and winning any of the family relays. But we sure had fun trying.

Catching Up...

OK...so life has been extremely busy and blogging has not been on the priority list. So now that the holidays are fast approaching and I will only get more behind, my goal is to get my blog updated before Thanksgiving. After all, my main purpose in doing this is to have a record of the years highlights so I can make it into a book at the end of the year. I consider this an important part of my journal keeping. Unfortunetly due to computer failure some of my photos have been lost....aaah! dreadful I know....but not much I can do about it. Here it goes..

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.