Diamonds in the Rough

Monday, October 26, 2009

Carlsbad Beach Trip

Too funny! Lacey's googly eyes. the kids did crafts at camp

Nana and Papa

Skateboard fun by the campsite

Dave loved the hearty camp breakfasts made by Dallan.

Well we had a fun October break going to the beach with Nana,Papa,Chelsey, Dallan & Bobbi's family, and Durfees. We camped on the bluff and played by the ocean for 4 days. We all had such a fun time-great food, great company, great fun. Baylee really got into boogy boarding and drip castle building. Kambria swam in the ocean with her floaties. Lydia liked the ocean at a distance, but loved all the puddles in the sand. Dave ocean kayaked with the men and boogy boarded. He got tumbled pretty good in the rough waves. I played on the beach with the kids and got brave enough to enter the cold water and boogy board. Much Fun! The only sad part is that when we drove back to the valley and visited Dave's parents in Phoenix, my camera got stolen out of the car and all my great pictures are gone forever. I had some really great ones, too. I am missing the pict I took of Lydia in her bright green cover-up sticking the top ofher head into our sand pond we built, with her naked bumb up in the air. Another favorite was Lydia guarding the water faucet by our camp. She was in her pink pajamas sitting next to the water faucet with her bucket, waiting for whoever to come along and turn on the water so that she could play in it. She sat their the whole time we packed up and got soaking wet and muddy- laughing & loving every minute of it. So, needless to say any pictures I post are thanks to Bobbi, who had some picts of our family on her camera.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Montessori At Last!

Okay, so Kambria has been asking me sense Baylee started school if it was her school day yet. So Monday night when I told her school is tomarrow she was thrilled and got her backpack all set out. Then she comes into my room at 6:00am fully dressed in her school clothes and says "mom, I'm ready for school" and then falls asleep at the end of the bed for another hour. After I did her hair in some tight curls to look cute for the first day, she later noticed herself in the mirror and said "I look like George Washington" --where did that come from--I guess GW had tight curls,too. Anyway, it was an exciting first day of Montessori for her and Baylee. Baylee reported that she is going to challenge herself in Montessori 'cause kindergarten is too easy. Kambria felt special getting to stay at Montessori a half hour longer, since Baylee catches the bus early,--and she couldn't stop talking about how she was "specially" chosen on the first day to take the snack basket home. oh, the simple pleasures. Dave and I were chuckling the other night about the dominating dinner conversations of our 2 school goers. --just one in particular --Baylee has a spanish girl that rides her bus to kindergarten. Baylee heard her speak spanish (she thinks) and decided she wanted to speak spanish to her too. So, she says she gets on the bus and says "Ola" "Como Esteh"-only the girl never responds. But, Baylee keeps trying. Then one day the spanish girl waved to her on the bus, and another time she got Baylee's backpack that was left on the bus. so I guess the friendship is budding. Only, maybe she doesn't speak spanish.

Anyway, our little Lydia feels a little left out in the backpack department, so today when she was saying "packpack, packpack" I found one in the closet her size and she drug it around all day.

A Super 6 Birthday!

Baylee had a great 6th birthday. She is so easy to please and so enthusiastic about the simple joys of a birthday. She got to do 6 special things that day. 1. Dad made her german pancakes for breakfast. 2. she got to take a treat to share with her classmates at school & found a note from mom in her lunch. 3. She got to choose whatever she wanted for dinner (pizza). 4. Choose her cake. (mom made an nummy apple cake, and dad drew the horse on top) 5. She got to open great presents. 6. She invited Merrills, Willis, and Braelyn over for a pinata bust. Lydia got the first hit and Rustin made the smashing bust of the pinata. It was really a great day for her and she felt so loved. Baylee loved each one of her gifts and has played with each on of them. My Baylee is growing up.

Lydia's Obsessions

Lydia's latest obsessions are shoes and toothbrushing. When I am getting her dressed in the morning all she wants is her "shoes". She will find any family members shoes and put them on. I also keep finding her with all the kids toothbrushes and the toothpaste. Though, I don't think she actually brushes her teeth as much as she likes putting the toothpaste on the brush and eating it. too funny!

Last of the Harvest !

Baylee and Kami had fun harvesting the last of the garden all on their own. Then they arranged them into colorful bowls and were so excited to show mom. After all that work it was worthy of a photo.

Picture Day !

So, we got Baylee all cute and ready for school pictures, with the "don't mess it up until after the pictures" talk. Then I happened to look at my calendar and pictures weren't until the next day. oops! So after all that effort we decided to take a picture anyway. What a cutie pie!

Bella Dancerella

Baylee, Kami, Braelyn, and Lydia decided to put on a dance performance. I got some good laughs out of their dance moves.

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.