A break from posting

It has been a while since I have last posted anything on our blog. I would like to say it is because we were traveling around the world, or remodeling our house, or having more babies, or being super-mom- but in all honesty it was a chosen break. Yes- I was busy being a Mom to 2 toddlers, being a wife to a husband who works long hours and gets to travel around the world for work, and fulfilling my church calling. However, in no way was I busier than most of you. It was a chosen break for my own personal sanity. Have you ever noticed that no one posts on their blogs all the awful things their kids do, all of their horrible pictures, how much weight they have gained over the past few months versus how much they have lost, what their house looks like on a daily basis, or the mistakes they make on a daily basis. Back in the fall I would spend a hour or so a day looking at blogs everyday and what I noticed is that after I was done seeing all the amazing things people were doing, I felt horrible about my life. I was crabbier with my kids, frustrated that we weren't taking amazing vacations like all of my other friends, frustrated that I hadn't lost all of my baby weight with Luke, or had any big announcments. A good friend of mine from NY wrote this on her blog "Sometimes it seems hard to know who we are to the world, who we are to others, what whey see when they look at us, and what they think when they think about us. And so we use the people in our lives as mirrow for ourselves." (Thanks Tracy- you are always inspiring!) This is what I realized- I was using other people's blogs as a mirror and standard for my own life.

I do have an amazing life, husband, and kids- please don't think I take these things for granted but maybe you would have to live in Utah to understand how I am feeling. Utah has a culture of always being better than your neighbor-looks, possession, you name it. Since I didn't grow up in Utah this lifestyle of overstating all your accomplishments is sometimes a bit to take. So.... I decided that I would try blogging again- thanks to much nudging by the Grandmas. But I have limits- twice a week for 20 minutes (and this includes facebook!). My children need a happy Mom who is not does not spend her life sitting in front of a computer or constantly hooked up to the internet.

So....Here are some current pictures of the kids and a list of what has been going on:

- Luke turned 2 at the end of January

-Julia turn 4 in May

-Julia finished her first year of preschool
-Julia had her gymnastics graduation

- Mike had his birthday in May too!

- Julia had no cavities at the dentist

-We went camping at Palisades State park and had lots of fun hiking, fishing, swimming, canoeing, riding bikes

-Took a family vacation with an old mission companion of Mike's and his family to Lav Vegas in April

- Mike visited Singapore at the end of January and brought back lots of fun stuff for the kids.

-Helped my sister Hayley moved out of the BYU dorms and are excited to travel back to NY this summer for her wedding!!