Savoring the Season

We were really anticipating the fall season this year. For the most part we missed the changes in seasons for the last two years in Florida.
So here are some moments over the last weeks "embracing autumn":
--the beautiful red tree that casts a glow into our window


Jared really wanted to take the kids to a corn maze, and it worked out to join a homeschool field trip to Thanksgiving Point. Cornbelly's turned out to be a huge fall festival of fun. We spent a few hours at the attractions and only the last 20 minutes in the maze.

Michael really loved this spot, mining for gems.


Jared's mom makes wonderful holiday traditions.
Here is the family decorating gingerbread "owl" cookies. So tasty!!


Chris is such a hoot! (no pun intended) Pumpkin carving with him is a major operation. really. He hooked up a power tool/drill/blender thing to top and de-gut the eight or nine huge pumpkins.


Then the kids (and Susie) painted the little ones from the garden.


We got to meet up with Safra, our old Virginia/Israeli friend. We wandered around the witch scavenger hunt at Gardner Village. Safra has been friends in our family since she and my sisters and I were in high school. We met her darling son Orion. It was sweet to see her as a cute mom. Amy should be in this picture too!


The first week of October we had a preliminary snow storm. It lasted a few hours and then warmed up again. The garden finally had to come out a week or two later.


Tessa was a little puzzled by the whole affair, but learned the word "snow" very quickly.

boys

Jordan turned five in October, and Michael, seven. They seem to have grown into the new shoes, literally and figuratively.

Michael has been reading lots of good books and building lots of Lego creations. He learned how to whistle a few months ago and now hardly ever stops. Grandma Clark says whistling must mean he is happy. Michael set a goal to read the Book of Mormon with mom and dad in the next year to prepare for his baptism. He continues to be a great big brother, helper for mom as well an all around fun boy.


Jordan keeps up with his older brother pretty well by making friends with everyone. He always has lots of fun ideas and big smiles. Jordan loves to draw and play outside. When he grows up he wants to be an animal rescuer.

Take me out to the ballgame!

Michael, second on the left, got really excited last month (after watching Sandlot and some other baseball movies) to join the local coach-pitch baseball league. He had such a cute team and a wonderful coach.
It was good to get us out of our norm and try out some new skills and experiences with Michael.

Another day I'm going to post his team video on here, but this photo will have to do for now.

Tessa's Two

Tessa turned two a few weeks ago! She was celebrated over and over again! It was fun to sing the song and blow the candles out with her each time.



Tessa seems to have gotten bigger all of a sudden since her birthday. She is staying in nursery by herself. (That is an accomplishment after being in so many wards lately.) She also has given up naps.... (not an accomplishment, but a milestone) She is expressing herself with more words every day. She is into the "do it myself/my turn" kind of stuff. As one of those independent kids, I am counting on her being a great helper very soon.

It's fun to see her personality emerging. I sense more picture-taking coming on in the future to keep record of her escapades.
At home she is becoming a little dancer. We have a pink fairy tutu from Halloween last year. She brings it to me whenever there is "dancing music" on. It is the only costume she has really latched onto. :)
Here are some photos of her at the children's exhibit at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City.


The year ahead promises to be lots of fun with this little girl!

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.