He passed!

Of course our big news in September was Jared's bar results. He passed!!!! We think he is one smart cookie!

First he heard from friends that "the list" had been mysteriously posted and then taken off of the Utah State Bar website. The next day, on September 16th, Jared checked and found the results. To say the least we all sighed a great sigh of relief.

I was geared up to wait a few more weeks, but it was good to hear the verdict and move on with career plans!
For now, Jared continues to look for job opportunities while setting up a website and some marketing plans for his legal services. He recently started a non-profit business that has been his pet project for many years. It's called the John Milton Institute. Jared will also get licensed again as a real estate agent. He is starting to work part-time with an investment adviser in Provo. And he will be able to practice as a licensed member of the Utah Bar Association by the end of October.

Life, Learning and Legos

What have we been doing lately?

I have been trying to keep up with Jared and these three kids.
Usually, I feel like my life is a bit more scattered and inefficient than I like. But I am grateful to be able to take the journey and learn along the way.
Someday I want to grasp the concept that life is not the achievement of a goal as a destination, but a gradual always-making-the-best-of-things kind of fulfillment.

There are lots of rewards and joys along the way (when I am looking). I should write more in a journal about the moments when the kids say and do fun and sweet things. I am so grateful for those moments when I see their unique spirits and their growth. It is a great privilege to be a mom. I believe parenthood is the greatest job. Although I'm far from perfect, I can "make a go" anyway and we grow as a family. I'm always so happy to see people choosing to have families, whatever their way of life.

Here are some photos of the happenings at our "house."

soap carving boats and reading time

We are really grateful to have the accommodations that we have right now for "our home." Our stay with family in Cottonwood Heights is turning out to be longer than we planned, but it is a great blessing that is open to us while we begin navigating the post law school road.

Throughout the summer, we felt very temporary and didn't put any roots down. I think I was waiting till we found the perfect place in our house hunt. I realized that we needed to establish our family life regardless of the permanence of our location.
So now in the meantime, we are settling in. Michael advanced to the next level of Red Cross Swim Lessons. Jordan loves his tumbling class. I love seeing them have outlets for their special interests and skills.
We have had some nice playdates, exchanges, and swim outings with the Balls and Beus cousins.


We are continuing on our journey of homeschooling. I'm trying to develop routines and goals that work for us. We LOVE the library and find lots of good books to read. I'm so glad to start connecting with other families in our area for group activities.
We have also been able to take a few field trips. This one in September was somewhat unplanned. After our morning devotional and discussion about 9/11 we ran errands. My mom called and told us to stop by the memorial put on by Sandy City.

It was amazing! I think it really helped the boys to understand better the magnitude of the tragedy. There were just under 3,000 flags placed in the lawn around the city office buildings. Each flag had a tag on it with a name and short bio representing someone lost in the wreckage. The rows were labeled with airline flight number or building floor number.... It was pretty powerful and beautiful to represent each person with a flag.

Lately, the boys seem to fill in the cracks each day with lots of lego building. I am amazed at how much variety they can come up with from their little box of pieces. They like to take photos of their favorites. Here are a few:

I am still struggling to get on the internet more often --to catch up with blogging. Jared is sick right now --and thus the free hour for me to swipe his laptop. sad but true... So there is my not so brief session for some journaling and photos.
Ciao! Au Revoir! Till next time!

August Blessings

The first week of August, Jared started work in Provo with Paul Maxfield at the law firm, Lex Arx. Their collaboration has been really nice. Jared has soaked up lots of good experience, while he waited for bar results and as he still waits to be sworn in.
In my opinion, the best part about working with Paul is that we enjoy the whole Maxfield family. The boys love to spend time with Fisher whenever they get the opportunity and I visit with Candy.
At the end of August we made a trip with both families "Up the Lazy Weber" for some hiking and good times. This area Northeast of Heber City is beautiful. We really enjoyed being in the beautiful mountains of Utah with friends.


Other blessings in August included harvest from our garden and from others' gardens. Gardening will always amaze me. Generally, this year was my first independent and somewhat successful experience. We have been eating lots of tomatoes, salsa, green beans, summer squash and chard. I enjoyed a great recipe for rhubarb jam. I juiced and preserved the grapes. And I dehydrated apricot leather and made a some apricot jam. We are looking forward to pears and apples still this fall.

Another blessing is another August birthday in our family! Baby Ruth is my newest niece. She is definitely a sweet blessing. I hope to share a picture of her soon.

We really enjoy being close to family again. At the end of August we got together with cousins and aunts and uncles at my parent's cabin for a Hatch reunion. There was lots of catching up, fun, and good food....

We love being close to the temple again! (or five or six of them!) We took a Sunday outing with the kids and Grandpa to downtown Salt Lake and saw the beautiful flowers and some memorials and graves of LDS Church leaders.

Post Bar --Summer Bliss!

When we finally breathed a sigh of relief for the end of bar exam studies, we celebrated! We had time to rejoice with family and Jared and I even took a weekend getaway to Cache Valley. It was exciting to feel like we were ready to begin our non-student life.

Here's Jared playing frisbee at Garland Park with Derek. The kids are eating snowcones in the background with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa. A nice evening of fun and relaxation!

We also took the kids to see Jared's brother in a fun play at the Old Barn Theatre.

Here is a cute photo of Cam and Haley, Jared's brother and his fiance. I think they are just all-around photogenic. They remind us of being engaged (and attached at the hip). We are excited for their beautiful wedding in a few weeks!

We watched the Garland City Days parade -together with the whole family. It's a favorite tradition!

One of the next weekends, Grandpa took an expedition to the Dugway Geode Beds. The boys played with rocks and took home lots of round ones to cut open. --Michael with his "volcanic bubble"

It was fun to open the rocks after they had been cut and discover the unique geode inside, seeing the formation for the first time. --Grandpa with the wet saw

Happy Birthdays

Cam turned 21! His cute fiance is usually smoothered by all the kids.... She is behind Michael in this photo. I can't believe I haven't blogged about them yet! Wedding bells are ringing in October on the 20th! (temple bells, that is)

Tessa is so savvy about birthdays by now. We have the routine of singing a catchy song when we brush her teeth and "Happy Birthday" sticks. One of Tessa's favorite things to play with is a toy birthday cake that comes apart into pieces with plastic frosting and candles. She carries it around in a bag and puts it together, singing the song. Her birthday is up next and it promises to be great fun!

Renee had a birthday too! We enjoyed a yummy birthday cake with her at the Hatch reunion in August. Renee has had a very special and busy month with a newborn and toddler. Hope to post some photos of our newest cousin Ruth soon.


Also MY birthday was squeezed in between these two! I had a yummy dutch oven chocolate caramel cake deluxe and lots of nice gifts and celebrating. I'll always believe that August is the best month to have a birthday! There are always fun things going on. I enjoyed the Garland city Wheat and Beet Celebration and the Martin Harris Pageant in Clarkston. This year my birthday was also well timed with the bar exam finale. So I got to rejoice with Jared!

Family- it's about...

My cousins, Courtney and Matt were sealed to their baby Ben in the Timpanogos Temple a few weeks ago. It was really a beautiful day and a treat to be there.
They came all the way from Michigan to let extended family members be apart of their celebration.
We felt a special connection since we got to live across the city in Ann Arbor from Matt and Courtney two years ago when they started their adoption process. What a success story! They are a beautiful family.

Last cousin hurrah

Before the Harston cousins left town we played one last time. Half way between the groups was a favorite spot at Hill Aerospace Museum.

The best part of the day for me was visiting with the moms, two of my sisters and my sister-in-law, Jeana. Why don't we take pictures of ourselves? Jeana will have a baby in January and I probably won't see her till next summer. We sure miss our far-away-family lots, but it will be great to visit with them all again soon!