Diamonds in the Rough

Friday, June 8, 2012

LYDIA'S FINALLY 4 !

Lydia was so excited to turn 4, she had been looking forward to it for months. Then the day after her birthday she said "mom, when am I going to turn 5?". I reminded her she gets to enjoy being 4 for a while. Time keeps flying by and I wish it would slow down. I sure love the ages and stages of my kids right now. They are so fun to be with and are so easy to please. Lydia is a talkative power packed personality in a itty bitty body. She comes up with the funniest things to say and often thinks she can out smart mom and dad. She is an independent thinker and is very coordinated. Some how she is able to mimic all of Dave's expressions...hilarious!

Lining up youngest to oldest for the egg hunt.

We did an egg hunt for her birthday, which worked out well for cousins to come. and of course Grandma Bevells oasis was a great place to have it.

Caleb trying to figure out if he wanted the plastic egg or the boiled egg....tough choice!

Happy hunting!

Chelsey and little Sadie....great pic.

an egg made especially for Baylee from Grandma Bevell.

Cupcake time

Making a wish...

hooray! now she gets to eat it.

Lydia got great gifts from everyone, she felt well loved. Sweet aunt Kathy make her this pink cape....so cute!

Love this pic dave took of Grandma Bevell, enjoying having family around. We sure love her!

Gettin' wet

I remember having so much fun as a kid doing this same thing... just with a sprinkler spraying under the tramp. Only in Mesa can you be enjoying this in early spring.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Desert Cookout with the Durfees!

It's always good times with the Durfee's. So they discovered this new desert cookout spot by Lehi Monument and the Salt River wash. So fun to just be together, roast hotdogs on the fire and enjoy the Mesa winters. The sunset was great to watch ...I wish I could capture it better on my camera. Amy, Bobbi, and I had fun begin goofy and taking fun silhouette picts.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

St. Patty's Day!

Traditions are so fun! so we celebrated green day and the girls made their Leprachaun traps.

Baylee had a well engineered trap, sure to catch that little guy!

I attempted to get kiddos together for a pic, but this is the best it got...oh well!

Treasure hunt time!! Lydia is a proud finder of #3 clue

Aunt Chelsey is always so fun and volunteers to be the Leprechaun at the end of the rainbow..

Of course the hunt is finished with a bowl of colorful rainbow jello.

Baylee's science project..

Baylee got to do her first science project for 2nd grade, she was so excited. Dave and I gave her ideas of what to do but she wanted to create her own, so she chose to experiment with magnets. I was proud of her doing it on her own and she said the kids like it at school.

Tippy Dog!

Tippy has been such a good dog and has outlasted all of our other pets. We have had to learn to distinguish him from the many other black dogs in the neighborhood ... not sure why black is the popular dog around here.

Dave's latest and greatest...

This is a recent photo of our "bug spray guy" who Dave uses for a model for his fine art....in art terms its considered a "scrap photo". I really liked this one, hopefully he will use it for one of his next pieces.

After 2 years in the making, Dave finally finished his teen political book "What would the Founding Fathers Think"...yeah! A hot topic these days, he is working hard to market it nationally. I learned something from reading it and as usual, it has his witty humor and fun visuals.

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.