Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we want them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come.

Joseph F. Smith

My lesson learned.

The Love Shack Welcomes You ~

A little virtual tour of our families temporary "digs"..

Come on along with me..won't you??

Ahhh..Home Sweet Home, right? A full on monay..from a distance its great but close-up its a full on mess. Please focus on the 3rd car garage and the quarters below. And only the 3rd car garage and the quarters below.

Ahhh..this is my office. The kitchen. Big enough at least that I can still cook and not step on any babies or Jax and his tech decks. I do however, have to share my office with Christo. Yeah, we share offices. Good thing I love him and he loves me..cause its close quarters.

And we're walking..actually we just had to step one little, tiny step into the Living/Play/TV/Family room.

Oh here we are..to your left, my right, you will see this weird space of a room. Its the room where quit frankly, we put crap that we have no other place to put it. So basically its a car seat, some of Christo's office, and storage for toilet paper, paper towels, blankets and toys that I keep hidden from Sass and then reintroduce to her on days when she's going bonkers, room. Deceptive..?? You betcha!!

And we're moving towards the hall and...

to where all the magic happens...

NOT!! Cause Reesey bunks with us...

It's also the laundry folding room/linen closet. (The linen closet is the big blue rubbermaid.) Hey, I'm doing the best I can with the space I've been given.

Well, this room is a no brainer.

Big Brother Bubba's territory.

And then the girls room. Which means actually, Gracie's quarters. But baby Reesey's toys are in here, and Reese sleeps here when Gracie isn't home.

(*bonus game..where's Reesey in this photo?*)

And there ya have it. The Love Shack...hope you didn't blink!

Here is where we will be.. where we, ever so patiently, will wait until our home is done.

Bouncin'...

Hmmm..it seems when Gracie leaves it pulls on the far right chamber of my heart. The pulling goes up into my cerebellum and makes me ornery/sad for the remainder of the morning. The ritual of getting her ready to say good bye is always the last thing I want to do.

The step of putting her back into the clothes her bioMother sent her in, is the beginning of the morning.. she should be in her jammies still like her little sister and playing with toys that were forgotten while dreaming during the night.

The step of taming her crazy curls. The step of cleaning off the drool from her mouth. The step of her saying buh-bye to Reese. The step that has me telling her buh-bye with my kisses. Then its the horrible step of walking up the steps to the door, where her bioMom waits. She always wants "mommy and Reese to go" with her. Yep, do you see the right chamber being pulled from where you're sitting??

However we are extremely lucky. We have 50/50 joint legal custody. That means we have more time than normal dads have..which in the state of Utah is rare. The agreement is 5 days with us, 2 days with her bioMom, back to us for 2 days, 5 days back with bioMom and then returning home for 5 days of her family here. Again all this time we have is rare. Its proof that Chris is a wonderful father and the state of Utah recognized this. But everyone knew and continues to know, that Chris is a wonderful dad. He has been the biggest and most consistent part of Gracie's life since day one.

I constantly worry if Gracie thinks of us or misses us while she is gone, especially during her 5 days away. I know she is fine. But as her momma.. I still.will.always.worry. There isn't a switch that you can flip to just turn off being a mother to one of your children. I worry that when she gets older will she get mad at us for doing family things without her? Will she know that we DO think of her and that we DO miss her in anything we do without her? Will she know that I refuse to take family pictures wherever we are and she's not because I don't want her to think we are complete without her?

This is why I blog. So she knows.

Candidly Caught

Where's Reesey..???

Peek - A - Boo!!

I asked if she had any chocolate - and she said "nuh-uh"... hmmm??

Shirtless Joe Jaxon..always.

Her memory will remain ~

R.I.P

5/31/2010 - 12/29/2010

Let me sus'plain..

When I had Reesey Piecey, that same awesome day, I also received this mug.. a beauty in itself. We brought it home and I devoured the water that would fill it, 10 maybe 12 times a day. Jax and Christo who so lovingly took care of me while the re-coop of having Reese was underway, would fill it with ice and water and bring it to wherever I was .. such a sweet gesture of love and an instant refreshing treat for me.

The healing from Reese was super quick cause I had so much help .. so in no time I was up and at 'em - and so was this mug!! She came with me outside to pull weeds and water the flower pots.. she stayed by my side in the kitchen when I was cookin' and scrubbin' as well in the bathroom while I bang'd my hair and put on some rouge. She was still there when I went out for errands and if I was just simply rockin' away in the recliner she was on the floor next to me just in case I needed to quench my thirst.

My 2 oldest little kittens caught on to the happiness the mug brought me.. soon it was the mug that Bubba would guzzle out of after a skate boarding session. It was the mug that was much more fun than Gracie Girls Spongebob sippy.. and of course Dad needed a quick swig after mowing the lawn or to down some Ibu after a killer bike ride. In fact Grandma Terri was spotted wetting her whistle from the cherished mug while skiing the Beav on Christmas Eve.. ya, the mug has been around.

My mug, our mug has done its work.. its been through the dishwasher, where Cascade and Jetdry have tried to keep up her appearance, and I personally have scrubbed her to make sure the sharing germs were dead where they stood.. but we had to put her down last week.. I just didn't feel like I could clean her good enough anymore.

The community mug is gone..but the memories will remain.

NYE ~ from Layton

My big sisters family and my family got our groove on at the hot spot "MT Nesters".. there was food..too much food. There was wrestling, dart guns, food, house decorating magazines, food, a Panda who knew Kung-fu, masks, hats, blower thingy's, and food... the really good kind.

Our dad and mom were the hostess' with the mostestess'.. it was a very chill night, the kids had a ball dancing and running wild. They tried to stay up for the 2011 but didn't make it to 11 o'clock. My mom was super tired too, so she and Reesey rang in the New Year on eastern time with a kiss and then went to bed.. bless their little hearts ~

They were trying to stay awake til the ball dropped..

Uncle John dropp'n like its hot..

The best dad and funnest Grandpa

King Jaxon

Chris and I were the last 2 men standing at midnight..so we smooched in 2011 happily