what a beautiful mess

Carl was such a good dog. The day he died was one of the saddest days my kids have ever faced. Maybe not the most tragic, but they'd never lost someone that they loved. We had tears for many days and Annabelle can't even listen to the song "See You Again" without crying or wanting to cry. Carl didn't have the greatest dog manners. He slept on everyone's bed, he ate human food as much as he could get away with, and he liked to chase chickens just for fun. He shed a lot of hair and would roll in chicken or cow poop a lot. But we loved him. He was such a good dog and is so very much missed! I look through our old photos and I see so many with Carl just off in the background or right in front of the camera without us even realizing it. He just became a part of our lives. I found this picture and I had even forgotten it had ever been taken. We have Maria now and we love her as well. But I think we will always, always miss Carl...

How have I gone so long without blogging about life with teenagers? It's fascinating and scary and confusing and fun. And sometimes there are bras just lying around the house and nail polish constantly on the kitchen table. They say funny things and insightful things. Stephen may not yet be a teenager but just the other night I was looking at a picture of our family and I mentioned how I thought I looked fat (not that I was fat, just that it was an unflattering picture- big difference) He said "maybe you're just standing by really skinny people." Touche. See? Funny and insightful. I've noticed that many times raising teenagers can be confusing. I can say something one day and it's okay, but the next day, it can cause many, many tears. You don't know this but I just took a break from writing this blog to go yell, I mean tell my kids to be quiet and to go to sleep. They argued with me and so they can no longer say another word the whole night. And yes, i...

I got on the computer today to get a teriyaki sauce recipe and realized my memory card from our camera was stuck in the right spot to pull pictures from so I thought "why not put some pictures out there in blog world?" I looked at the pictures on the card and realized that they are mostly pictures of Anna and Maria. So this blog post is dedicated to them. Those two love each other. I love Annabelle and am learning to love Maria. She's a good dog but is still a whole lot of work! But she takes the place of another child and is lot less expensive than one, so we welcome her into our home! Love,  Sarah

She makes me happy. She is stronger and better than she even knows. I can't believe she is already fourteen. Sometimes I still just want to cuddle her and snuggle her...but she's not a baby anymore so she won't let me. I'll take a hug though anytime I can get one from her. Happy Birthday Emily Delight. We love you!

No really, you should because it is really good and really inspiring. http://www.richardpaulevans.com/saved-marriage/ I love marriage. I love that it makes me want to be a better person for Trevor and that it does make me a better person.  The relationship I have with Trevor is the most important relationship I have on the earth. I hope that you feel that way about your spouse as well!

Joshua is getting baptized tomorrow morning and we are so happy for him! Our last, our baby is becoming responsible and accountable. Its kind of hard for me to let that go. We have family here visiting so that they can be there for him tomorrow. I appreciate so much their willingness to drive all this way to support him. We really do have the best family!

Tonight Joshua read us his favorite scriptures. 1 Nephi 8:10-12. When we asked him why he likes those scriptures (which are about the tree of life) he said because he likes fruit and trees and rods. He gets baptized on February 28th and I really, really hope he is ready. He's excited so theres that. But he's also silly and has a hard time answering a question seriously. Its going to be a very bittersweet day for us! BIG NEWS: I got a job today. I wasn't looking for one necessarily but a friend of mine works at the school as a secretary and they needed someone to help out from 11-1. So I applied and I didn't embarrass myself too much during the interview...so they offered me the job! I'm super excited. Like really excited! My first day is tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed that I do okay!