School Days.....

Abby with her teacher Mrs. Kelley

On her way, her first day of Preschool

Isn't she the cutest little school girl EVER?

Waiting for the bus.

Our three school kids....Preschool, Kindergarten and 1st Grade....

It's great having 3 kids in 3 years!

Super Nanny Miss Aubrey says goodbye to the Jellyman his first day of school!

Waiting for the bus to come....

Isaac with the best dad ever!

It's been a busy couple of weeks getting everyone back in the school routine.....It didn't help that everyone started three weeks apart. The transition to 1st grade has proven a bit difficult for our little tender heart but he's doing better now! I must admit it's really fun watching these cute kids grow and learn. This morning I dropped Abby off at her first day of preschool and she looked at me and said, "okay mom you can go now". HMMMMM, wonder how she became so independent.

Do You Ever Wonder?

Why I spend so much time SMILING??????

Flashback

Just a little re-post to make everyone laugh........
This is me (14) with the woman who would become my sister in law taken in 1992 or so.
Amy, those 17 years have been good to us girl!

I've been........

Way too busy doing all of this, this week! My week has been filled with senior citizens doing track and field, racquetball, swimming, shooting, horseshoes, table tennis and so much more.
STRANGE YOU SAY?
I SAY IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!

My boys got to "volunteer" at the track meet at BYU last Saturday. What a great experience for them to get the grand tour from this amazing athlete and for their mom to live out her old glory days with them. I loved sharing the track with them. Just seeing the wonder in their eyes as they watched the old guys run the 50 M Yard Dash and the long jump and shot put was enough to excite me. Maybe one of them will want to grow up and be just like me? Then I thought, Isaac (likely) Ethan (very unlikely). That boy hates walking down the street.

It sometimes seems like a lifetime ago that I was out on the track doing my thing. I sometimes feel so old and like I can't stick with it anymore. All I can say is if you're 80 and still "sticking with it", then so can I.
I feel inspired! I'm off to go run some laps.

Love on a John Deere........

Here is Miss Abby in Heaven with her best friend "Dacey" AKA Jace riding the John Deere during a recent irrigation at cute grandma Liston's farm.
I even found Abby up high on the ladder picking and eating cherries from the trees. Thanks to Becky, this has become a summer favorite for our kids. Here's to hoping we get one more good "water turn" before summer's end.

Just For Fun

Our New Favorite Place!

We recently discovered Spanish Fork Reservoir. It is, in our opinion, Utah County's best kept secret!
Jus and I have taken the kids a couple of times over the past week so they can swim and fish! If you haven't gone, you should before it gets too cold. The water is very clear as it comes form a fresh mountain spring and it's stocked with tons of trout!

Thursday's Thought....

In recognition of certain anniversary events in my life as of late:

Thanks...

Has anyone noticed that I have been AVOIDING my blog?
I really could not figure out how to fix things up.....
Thanks to my sweet and smarty hubby for his time in applying the code my sweet and smarty friend Amy O gave us! It's good to have things back up and running.
Oh, and we have a new camera, so watch me go!

Here's To......

That unbelievable night 10 years ago when you asked that important question that would change our lives forever.

Here's to the Meteor Shower under the Golden Gate Bridge that night.

Here's to the beautiful ring you gave me with promises attached.

Here's to keeping those promises to me for the past 10 years, and me promising to keep doing the same for the next 70+ years.....and eternity.

Here's to The Clift Hotel, The Grand Cafe, picking out things for our future home together at CRATE & BARREL and eating clam chowder on the Pier as we watch the old men playing bocce ball.

Here's to the gorgeous children we have created together and spending our lives watching them grow.

Hey Girls......

REMEMBER WHEN......

Thursday's Thought

"I want to be BUBBLES in soda...."

~Taken from yours truely's journal August 1993 after attending Girls State

Today we celebrate the life of an incredible boy. You can read more about him here. When I think of Cooper, I know that he was like bubbles in soda. He added so much life and laughter to all those who came in contact with him. Just like bubbles in soda, it was his time to rise to the top and join our Heavenly Father and I have no doubt that he is rejoicing in his celestial state.

365 Days Ago....

....I was washed, and made clean again. I was PERFECT, but only for a time....

I will never forget this day and the many ways that letting God's grace into my life has changed me for the better.

Moroni 8:10 "Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children. "

This beautiful picture of Christ is the first thing people see when they enter our home now. It was a very special gift given to me on that special day by our nanny and her family. It's a constant reminder that our house, is a home of believers. Believers in God's Eternal Plan. I love that each time I am coming or going, it reminds me to try to be more like Jesus. Although I am far from perfect, I am trying every day to be more like him. Maybe someday I won't have to 'try' anymore and it will just become who I am. I'm not sure if that destination is obtainable, but I'm sure going to try. But until then, I'll keep plugging away.....

A Confession.....

I was listening to some old tunes the other day and came across a Dave Matthews Band song from long ago. He played at my college homecoming at SMSU my freshman year. That was before his music was as famous. It was an awesome experience to see them in such a small venue! His music totally reminds me of that chapter in my life. Well, I always adored his "fire dancer" logo. In fact, I remember thinking on several occasoins: "If I ever get a tattoo, that would be what it would be of." Thank goodness I never gave in to that silliness. Not that I am calling any of you reading that have a tattoo silly....I just think I would have really regretted that decision now that I am thirty something. I still love the band and the logo but not so much that I would have wanted it permanently attached to my body! Oh, how we grow up.....

Awesome Coupon Monday

What a great way to end the summer! Hurry this expires August 9th!

ENJOY!

Friendship

You're...My Friend, my companion, through good times and bad, my friend, my buddy, through happy and sad, beside me you stand, beside me you walk, you're there to listen, you're there to talk, with happiness, with smiles, with pain and tears, I know you'll be there, throughout the years! ~Anonymous

I give thanks each and every day for a best friend like you!

Sadness

Today is a very sad day for us all....
We said goodbye to a sweet and special boy who had an infectious smile and dimples that we'll never forget. It is so difficult in moments like these to understand such tragedy. I know that he is in heaven smiling that bright shiny smile down on us.
I feel overwhelmed with gratefulness to have gotten to be his Sunday School teacher these past few years. He has touched my life with his powerful spirit. I am appreciative my boys got to have such an amazing friend in their lives.
I stand astonished at his unbelievable family and their outstanding example.
But it's not really goodbye, it's we'll see you later......
We Love you, We miss you dearly.

Little Sweetie's Birthday Cake

Just thought I would post a photo of Abby's Giant Cupcake Cake I made for her 3rd Birthday Party. I was tickled it turned out so cute.

Have a Super Sweet Weekend!

Thursday's Thought

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than you dreams." ~Dr. Seuss

BLOGEMERGENCY!

Did anyone notice that the very day I post and brag about the easy way I know to make pictures big on a blog, that I delete all of my code and settings and my side bar goes totally South? I have screwed this whole thing up and can't figure out how to get it back to the way it was. I even enlisted very technical savvy Mr. Hill for his wide range of Internet services and together we were unsuccessful. I know it's possible to have it all, you know...big pictures, side bar, 3 column background....but I've messed it up some how.
Can anyone help me????
Where did I go wrong and how can I fix it?

Do We Just Have The Worst Luck Or What????

We took the kids floating down the Provo River this past weekend. I failed to get any photos because I wanted to be mindful of their safety the entire time and focus just on that. It was something we were excited to do but weren't sure if we should get a sitter for Abby or not. We agreed to take the raft out at some of the more treacherous parts of the river, mainly the famous bridge that everyone seems to have issues with. Floating the river have been something on Jus and I's Utah bucket list for the past 10 years......

Everyone loved it....well, except Ethan. He would, at times scream, "I HATE this and want to go home." Isaac said it was even more fun than having a birthday party and Abby was totally tickled the entire 2 hour float! She even got out of the raft and floated in the river with me for a bit. It was at a really smooth part and you have to know I made Justin tie her to me for the entire duration.

We had a little moment at the end. We pulled out at Vivian Park and guided our boat perfectly up to the side but our friends behind us came in quickly behind and as we pulled their rope it began pulling us further down the river. Ethan was already on the shore and looked in horror as his entire family began to float away. We got past that little moment and began putting the boats in the truck. As I was standing in the parking lot just 10 feet away from Abby, I watched in horror as she stepped right off a 3 ft. ledge and ended up hitting the back of her head on the concrete. We are doing a new treatment on her eye called Atropine which basically blacks out the vision in her "good eye" in the hopes to help restore the brain function and vision to the "bad eye". This obviously was a contributing factor to her fall. It bled a lot, but head wounds always do......since she was not unconscious, seemed to cry right away and stop quickly, we thought we would just keep her awake and watch her for awhile to make sure everything was okay. Then she threw up. We both kind of freaked out knowing that is a sign of head trauma. So we raced her down the canyon to the ER and had a CT scan done. Long story short, she's FINE. The throwing up was probably remnants of the virus she had a few days before. And the wound was only a small abrasion not even needing stiches, who would have thought after all that blood. The important this is that she's okay, and going to the hospital was kind of an adventure for her.

Easist Way to Make Photos Larger on Your Blog!

Many of you have been asking about how I am able to get my photos so big on my blog. Here's another great share from my friend Rebecca. This is a faster and easier way then having to upload your content into a third party like FlickR or photobucket. This way lets you do it right in Blogger, GOOD LUCK!

EDIT: BEFORE DOING THE FOLLOWING YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE SETTINGS ON YOUR ACTUAL BLOG TEMPLATE TO BE WIDER....If I can figure out how to do this I know you can too! P.S. Any background you choose will now have to be a three column to support the larger photos.

Step one...upload your pictures like normal to your blog and then go to the "Edit html" tab:


Step two...Delete the part shown in blue
Step three...Replace the 400 (part in blue) with either 640 or 800 (leave the s)

***Don't worry, the first couple of times I had to really work at this and then I screwed up the entire post's code....a couple of times later, i can do it with my eyes closed! YOU CAN DO IT!

Is It Weird?

That I'm thinking of SNOW right now......
It's SO HOT! This Utah Weather can never give me what I want!

Drop Out

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When recently asked by my best friend if he was excited about starting Kindergarten, our middle child promptly replied:
"No, actually I'm going to quit school."
All I can say is that Mrs. Headman really is going to have her hands full with this toothless wonder. No really, he loved school last year and did really well. Let's hope he's not a drop out just yet!

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My Boys

A typical rainy Saturday morning in the Hill house.

I love them so much, even when they are ignoring me!

Special Thanks to Rebecca for capturing this moment for me :)