Words will never describe what a profound gift he is. Our family cherishes and loves this little boy with all our hearts. Thank you, Baby, for coming to our home. I am honored to be your mother.

I love being a mother.

And even as a young girl, I always knew I would love being a mother.

And I always knew I would love being a mother…

Because my Mother loved it first!

Thank you, Mom!!  I love you!

In the midst of supervising our young ones loving the playground, Emily suddenly turned to me and said, “Hey, I saw your post about pests last night!”

“Oh really?” I looked over and smiled.

“Yeah–but I couldn’t get past the picture of the baby mice. Once I saw that, I was like, “Whoah! I’m done!” and I couldn’t read anymore… I’m really squeamish,” she explained.

My smile froze.

“Are you serious?” I asked, staring at her in disbelief.

Baby mice make people squeamish?

The thought swirled around in my head, trying desperately to attach to something and be understood.

“Oh yeah,” she answered, “But it was no big deal, I just thought you’d think it was funny.”

I laughed.

But my brain was still swirling.

Seriously?? Baby mice make people squeamish?

Overhearing part of our conversation, another friend asked, “What happened?”

“Oh,” I replied, “I posted a picture of some baby mice we found in our garage.”

She looked at me blankly.

“You know,” I explained, “Baby mice…  They’re little and red…  And hairless.  And their eyes are sealed shut.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect circle.

“I’ve never seen that before, but it sounds awful,” she said with a shudder and then chased after her son.

I stared after her.

She’s never seen that?  She’s never seen a baby rodent before?…  And it sounds awful?!

Then I scratched my head.

“Huh, no way…”

You see, I grew up surrounded by animals on our beautiful 3-acre parcel of land in the shadow of the wondrous Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In this picture, you see Cimarron.  A wonderful stud llama we owned as part of a small herd of llamas we had in my later childhood.

Cimarron was great.  He loved grain and he loved to be scratched at the base of his neck.  And if I dug in just right, his neck stretched and his lips curled out in sheer reflexive joy.  Like a dog kicking if you scratch its sweet spot.

In addition to raising llamas, we owned goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, parakeets, hamsters, gerbils, peacocks, a cockatiel and a pony.  And part of raising these animals was being involved in everything with them.  Their births, their injuries, their disappearances and their deaths.  We lived it all as naturally as it came.

But now, looking back.  I’m beginning to realize how different that may be from the experiences of others.  And how things that happened on our little farm, while part of daily life for us, would make other people stare in disbelief.

–

Like the morning one of my brothers went out to milk the goats.  And one of them was missing.  So he hiked out into the pasture and found the poor girl dead.  She ate more clover than was good for her and it bloated and killed her.  Well, he told my Mom as she was loading the rest of us kids into the van to take us to school.

“Okay,” she said, “Let’s load her into the back of the van and we’ll take her to the dump after we drop off the younger kids.”

So I got a ride to school that morning.  With a dead, bloated goat’s legs sticking up behind the back seat.  Poor girl.

–

Then there was the afternoon when one of our llamas was giving birth.  But all that came out was one little hoof and the rest got stuck.  The poor mother paced around and around as the little hoof became more and more limp.  We couldn’t afford a vet and my dad was still at work.  So my Mom turned to the only man in the house.

“Son,” she said to the brother just above me, “You need to go help her.”

My brother stared at my Mom like she’d sprouted wings and started roosting.

“Are you serious?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

My mother nodded gravely and my brother sighed.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and walked out to the pasture.  He was inexperienced at birthing llamas, but he was strong.  And he yanked that little leg poking out with all his might until POP!  Out came a sweet, soaking wet little baby llama.

–

And that’s what we did.

When a goat got cut on a fence, my dad laid her out on the grass and stitched her up. When a mama hamster went missing, my sisters and I nursed the newborn, red-hairless-eyes-sealed-shut babies through the night with goat’s milk and eye droppers.  When the whole neighborhood gathered around to watch the visiting stud breed our llamas, I took pictures and sent them to my brothers on their missions.  (Okay, so that may have been a bit much…  But I was only 10 years old–you gotta cut me some slack!)

As a kid, I didn’t think much of it.  But once I became an adult and moved away from Nevada, I started to think that maybe, just maybe, not everyone’s been bucked off a chubby pony… or milked a gentle, smelly goat… or rescued a litter of newborn kittens from their house’s crawl space.

So, if my picture of our baby field mice grossed you out, I am so sorry!  It honestly never occurred to me that it could.

And you know what?…  I am so glad I didn’t post a picture of their poor, deceased mother.  In our trap.

(Whoah, whoah!  Okay, so I didn’t really take a picture of that…  I thought about it, but I didn’t.  See?  I must be learning!)  :):)

… Along with the handsome Wooga Man who thrilled at the chance to dig wildly in the dirt with me. :)

We had a great time!

I searched for wilted potato plants. And he used his man-size shovel to pour dirt on my boots. And then laughed.

I carefully dug. And he used his man-size shovel to pour dirt down my boots. And then laughed.

I walked around. And crunched on dirt under my sock. And I laughed.

My crockpot beef stew typically takes 30 minutes to make.

Today?  It took 3 hours.

Now I understand why women used to spend all day cooking…

My smallest potatoes were the size of a pea.  Isn’t it cute? :):)

I thought so, too.  Until I found the tiny worms that had burrowed inside.  After that, I had to painstakingly remove every single one from every single little potato that had them.

My largest potato was the size of an apricot.  Whoo-hoo!  Gettin’ big!

Except.  The skin was strangely rough, course and bumpy.  And when I cut through it, it was unusually hard, crunchy and bumpy.

Hm.  Wasn’t sure what that meant, but just to be safe, I didn’t use them.

*Sniff, sniff!*

My carrots were great!

Albeit, deformed by the silly bags I used to start them in (that do NOT disintegrate), but still great.

Check out this hefty fellow…

… Straight out of Monster’s Inc!!

But all in all, it was a good first potato harvest!

And next time…

I’ll ask Charming to dig them the day before I need them.

I’ll pre-rinse them with a hose outside.

I’ll figure out how to grow bigger ones. And how to get rid of the worms.

And I’ll ask my Dad what the weird hard/crunchy/bumpy texture means.

Thank you for teaching me to love gardening.  To love trees, animals and rain.  To work hard and be frugal.

You taught me by example how to be obedient and have faith that God would honor that obedience.  I’m so grateful that you were my father.

Thank you for making a successful family your dream.  And for doing everything you could to achieve that dream.

You are a great man and I love you, Dad!

Happy Father’s Day!

Love,

Heidi

Where we met: This exact table at the BYU Law Library

The night of our first date: An outdoor Peter Breinholt concert! (Hi, Heather!)

The night of our pomegranate-date-in-a-box from my sister: An important turning point in our relationship

The night of our first kiss: Roses, The Magic Flute and finally dancing to Andrea Bocelli in my kitchen… When he kissed me! :)

The night he asked me to marry him: While dancing to Andrea Bocelli in my kitchen… He suddenly got down on one knee! :)

Announcing our engagement!

The bride-to-be…

Right after the ceremony: We’re married!!!!

For time and all eternity—a treasured blessing from Heavenly Father

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The happiest nine years of our lives

And we can’t wait for nine more!

—

Thank you, My Love! Happy Anniversary!!!

Mommy and Bubbers.

Daddy and Bubbers.

Mommy and Scooters.

Daddy and Scooters.

—

Per Darcy’s request, here is my brother, Brett…

Uncle Brett and Bubbers.

Uncle Brett and Scooters.

—

Whew! This is getting complicated. :)

What do y’all think??

Hi Everyone!! Sorry about the delay in telling my story… Mommy’s been spending the week attacking our house with great gusto and is thrilled to have it completely organized and recovered from all our holiday excitement.

(Oh!  And she may have spent a bit of leisure time she usually reserves for blogging to read a delightful book instead.   Boy did it make her laugh!  Now she’s got the entire line-up of novels from this author on hold at the library.  So… please enjoy her posts until these babies start rolling in!) :)

So, let’s see…  Where was I?

Oh, yes!  It’s our third full day in California at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  And now that it’s just us here with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Elise, we got the royal tour of my Grandpa’s impressive projects…

Like his new composter!

Check it out! It’s completely enclosed, so there’s no odor or mess.

And even in the dead of winter, those little microbes are working up a storm!

And here’s another project: The new green house he built!

(Note: Check out that sweet fence he built around his garden. He needed to protect his food from all the deer and bears and other wildlife that prowl the mountain forests.  And now–it protects his new composter, too!)

The new green house is where he stores his finished compost in preparation for spring.  It’s also where he’ll start his seeds in the spring when it’s too cold to plant in the garden, yet.

Then Mommy spotted this and cried out, “So that’s how you make such nice furrows in your garden!! Holy smokes do I wish I’d had something like that 9 months ago when I was trying to plant our vegetable garden with an enormous pregnant belly and a garden of packed mud!”

“Hm, it sounds like you’ve got clay soil,” Grandpa replied, “Let me give you a few pointers on how to make it better…”

After that, Mommy tried to remember everything Grandpa said so she could go home and implement his suggestions.

And I ran around in the picturesque snow.

And explored Grandpa’s handmade playground.

And laughed and giggled so cute.

Until Daddy caught me!!

Aaaaahhhh!!!

Then Daddy put me on a gigantic snowball he made.  And while I was a captive cutie…..

Grandpa joined me!

And then Daddy!

And then Bobby!

“What did you call me?”

*Hee, hee, hee!*  Bobby!  I cawed you Bobby!

“Now you’re gonna get it, Bubbers!”

After that, I asked Grandma to sing my favorite church songs.

And I played along.

And then helped her play.

While Mommy’s heart melted through the carpet.

I was particularly fond of Grandma’s neck exerciser, but it didn’t know the song very well.

So I took over again.

“I love to seeeeeeeeee the temple!  I’m going there some daaaaaaayyyyy!”

After that, I took a nap.  And when I woke up…..

Snuggles was so cute and happy to see me!

So I tried to explain that after my naps, I often need a few minutes to find my sunshine again.

Snuggles said that was okay.

He said he’d give enough sunshine for both of us until I was ready.

So I took his hand in silent thanks.

And he covered my back until I was ready.

Then sure enough…..

I found my sunshine again and shared it with my Aunt Elise!

And then I discovered…..

…  sports on TNT.

But not for long, because then it was bedtime.

And while Snuggles and I slept, all the parents went out to eat at a delicious restaurant in town.

After that, Grandpa broke out the cards.

And played his favorite game: “The No Name Game”.

I think it’s a game that Grandma’s parents used to play.

They had fun and Mommy thought about growing up in Nevada when she saw their old cards from the casinos.

(Note: They never actually gambled in the casinos. They just got playing cards from a friend who worked in a casino because they only use each deck once and then toss them).

And wouldn’t you know, Mommy won her third game in a row!!  She couldn’t believe it.

The next day we packed up and headed back home.

Enjoying a McDonald’s Playhouse at lunch.

And some beautiful winter weather!

Boy–what an awesome trip. Thank you so much, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Elise (and our other wonderful family we saw there)–we had a fantastic time!!!

We love you,
Bubbers, Snuggles, Mommy and Daddy

They were lovely, well-behaved subjects, so I asked if we could add our two boys to the mix.

So, we did.  And they were all lovely, well-behaved subjects.

Except the Snuggles-meister.  As you can see, my mother had to keep him standing to get him to look at me.  Because if she sat him on her lap…..

…..  He was drawn to his Grandpa like a moth to a flame!

“Hello, flame!  I love you!”

Then it was time for our turn with the boys.  And the Snuggles-meister lasted about ten seconds.

Before finding a new flame.

“Hello, new flame!”

**Baby launches self from mother’s lap**

So we bagged it and got back to business.

Hi Everyone! Guess what!?! On my second full day in California, I went outside in the snow…..

With Cousin Adam,

and Cousin Tristan,

and Cousin Braden,

and Silly Daddy, (hee, hee!).

And we built a snowman!!!

And he was just my size!

I had so much fun!

I loved being with my cousins!

And I loved digging.

And I loved Wucy.

What more can I say?

Cousin Adam was my special buddy.

He’s only two years older than me and we got to spend a lot of time together while his older brothers went snowboarding.

I even let him play with my trains.

And you know how much that means to me.

He and his brothers were super cute with Snuggles, too.

Later that day, they had to leave and I was sorry to see them go.

So I wound up…..

….. and gave Cousin Adam a “five” to remember!

Then it was time to say goodbye to Wucy.

“Goodbye, Wucy. You’ll always be Ruff Ruff to me, girl.”

Then we all took naps while Grandma played with Snuggles.

And then!!!!!

Mommy got a belated Christmas present in the mail from Daddy (and Grandma, Grandpa, Papa, gg and the next six months of her personal money) that made her positively giddy!!!!

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1.

The camera of my Mommy’s dreams. With new digital technology, it has a live LCD screen and no moving parts inside the body of the camera. Which means Mommy can take unlimited pictures without wearing out shutters.

It’s also the smallest dSLR out there and weighs practically nothing compared to her Konica Minolta beast. Which means she can carry it AND her video camera AND her two boys all around with ease!!!!!

*Sigh* What more could a Mommy want?

So then she had to try it out all night long.

To see if the man at the camera store was right. And he was.

It blew her Konica Minolta out of the water.

(Thank you everyone!!!)

After that, I went to bed.

And Mommy spent the night reading her new manual.

And taking pictures of Grandma who ignored her crazed daughter.

Oh, and she played a little Scrabble, too. She’d won the night before for the first time in her life and wouldn’t you know she did it again!

She’s pretty sure Daddy and Grandma were her good luck charms.

—–

p.s. In case you’re wondering…..

The Snag still lives.