Diamonds in the Rough

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Sunsets & Rainbows

I love the wide open skies of Snowflake.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Sunflowers & Sunshine

This is a great time of year in Snowflake when then sun is shining and sunflowers are blooming everywhere.

Two girls in school now. Baylee 1st grade and Kambria Kindergarten. Kambria was thrilled to finally be going to Kindergarten and getting to ride the bus and see Baylee on the playground. Sweet Baylee faithfully waited for kindergarten bus to arrive at the playground at lunch time, so she could meet Kami and play with her before class. Kami has Mrs. Slade and Baylee has Mrs. Dennee. Both girls are doing well in school and I am so proud of them. They enjoy learning and are being good friends to their classmates. Kami has discovered her favorite toy on playground is the merry-go-round. Baylee created her own bag of playground activities to take to school, that has plastic spoons, cups, and misc household items ;) - so creative!

...more camping.

So many great photos of camping. I think I had fun taking pictures and capturing memories.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

...our favorite place to hike, while camping.

We have been visiting Ditch Camp since I was a little girl. It is truly one of the prettiest spots in the White Mountains, especially this year from all the rain. There were so many wildflowers. We like to visit our traditional spots, like the natural spring, wildhorse meadow, the fort we built 20+ yrs. ago, and of course the creek.

"NR" Here is my initials carved by the spring when I was like 12.

Amy and I by the spring, lots of memories of this place.

My brother Dallan and his family..such a pretty meadow of sunflowers.

Lacey and Amy another kodak moment.

Dave always makes a good "packhorse" these trips are so much easier and funner when he is around.

Friday, September 24, 2010

White Mountain Camping

Yes, camping is one of our favorite things to do. So many good memories camping. I love that the kids can just explore and play, and I get a chance to relax, read, hike, and enjoy the outdoors.

Kami discovering the honeysuckles

Cute cousin Jaydon

Kami the fisherman

playing by the lake with cousins

Baylee's bluebell

Lydia the Lion..look at that roar

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Kami's Dragonfly

Kami was thrilled to discover a huge dragonfly in the yard. She loves to find creatures, and this one was definitely worthy of a photo.

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.