A Gift

My cousin started a blog called particlesoffaith.blogspot.com. She invited various friends to contribute as authors to the blog. The purpose is just to write little testaments of our faith. I included this picture so I thought I'd share the story on my own blog as well.

The other day, I was hurrying my family into the Suburban when Colby stopped dead in his tracks to look at the beautiful site in this picture (taken from our driveway). He said, "Wow, mom. Look at that. It looks like when Heavenly Father came to visit the earth... Do you think that is Him watching over us?" I stopped and my four year old joined us. We just sat there for a few minutes and enjoyed this majestic scene. I am grateful to know that this remarkable earth was indeed created by our Father in Heaven. I am grateful for the simple reminder to take the time to give reverence to and enjoy this precious gift.

Marriage... Anyone?

My first tag...

How long have we been married? 8 years - wow that flew!

How old? He's 31. I'm 29.

Who eats more? We're pretty equal actually! When we were first married, I kind of gave him a look because he dished more dinner on his plate than mine & he said, "Melanie, it's not normal for you to eat as much as me." ha ha! I still do though... I just eat healthier things than Jared does. Good thing I like to eat the healthier stuff because I haven't learned portion control.

Who said "I love you" first? I did.

Who is taller? Jared - by 4 inches I think

Who sings better? Jared definitely but I'm more willing to sing in front of people

Who is smarter? With writing, math, and other school kind of things - I am. With life & practicality - Jared is.

Who controls the T.V.? Jared - but I never watch TV so it doesn't matter to me.

Who's temper is worse? Mine. For sure. I don't even think Jared has a temper.

Who does the laundry? Me.

Who does the dishes? We both do the dishes.

Who sleeps on the right? I always have for no particular reason.

Who cooks? Me, but Jared is way better at it than I am. I am a terrible cook for some reason. Jared cooks breakfast on Sunday mornings - the best meal we have all week!

Who is more stubborn? Jared... he can be a pouter and he doesn't like to admit that he was wrong.

Who admits they are wrong first? Oh... well I guess I just answered this - usually I do but not always.

Whose parents do you see more? Since we live 1/2 mile away from Jared's parents - they win:)

Who has more siblings? Jared (11 kids in his family)...

Who has more friends? Me.

Who wears the pants? I think we each do about different kinds of things.

I tag Kinsey, Amy Lyn, & Jodie (welcome to the world of blogging)!!

Disney World

Jared has decided to take the DAT one more time in September... his last attempt at getting accepted this year. So we are making his studying first priority for the next two months and I'm sure I won't get my scrapbook pages for Disney finished for a while. But, I did want to post just how wonderful of a trip it was. Our family went with all of my siblings and their families. Everything about it was just magical for us. My kids had cousins, aunts, and uncles to play with all week. There was no drama or contention. We stayed in a vacation home that had 7 bedrooms so we all took turns cooking meals and everything just went so smoothly. We went to downtown Orlando for fireworks on the 4th. We went to Kennedy Space Center, the beach, & then two days of Disney's Magic Kingdom as well. Our only regret was that we didn't plan a day just to hang out at the house... we needed more time together as we don't see each other near enough. Probably the highlight of the week for me was on Sunday night. We fed the kids macaroni and then put them to bed early. My sister loves to cook and entertain so she set up a couple of tables next to each other and all of the adults sat around the table as she presented us with a tasty 3 course gourmet meal. Because it was 3 courses, we sat for a much longer time than normal at the table. We told funny stories from our childhood and just laughed and enjoyed each other. It was just so so awesome. Thank you Sara for that! And thank you to all of my family... I love and respect each of you so much. I am very proud of my family and the individuality of each of us. We are all so different, have different perspectives and views on life, and yet we are so compatible. It is just a fun family to be a part of. I wish I could post all of our pictures here but there are way too many. But here are a couple until I put them into scrapbook pages...

The six kids - Back: Roice, Paul, Rob; Front: Ben, Sara, Me



7 Grandkids so far... Taylor (mine), Ella (Paul's), Ethan (Ben's), Grant & Dallin (Paul's), Colby & Halle (mine)

Whip It Good

Oh my! Jared teaches my kids some funny things...