colors

i am feeling very grateful today, and nostalgic. perhaps it is saying goodbye to my grandpa moe this weekend or the change in seasons or reality that i am growing up (mostly).

i drove home yesterday listening to some good old james taylor and my mind raced. suddenly i was in the suburban, the smell of my old dog torrey was perfuming the air, meg had her head out the window trying to ease her motion sickness. i was riding in my "special spot" aka: the top of the luggage in the VERY back of the burban.

we were on our way to the cabin or jackson lake or powell. without fail bob dylan, john denver and james taylor serenaded the majority of our trip. simon and garfunkel usually came too.

grace was playing her car games which meant my dad ALWAYS won. i had been told no less than a dozen times to NOT ask again how much longer. mom was calling out every so often "GLORY CHILDREN!" at whatever mountain or sunset or field we came across. boss was coaching jamie on driving. ten and two. checking the mirrors?

somehow these memories carry me in times of trouble. thinking of our little family, all compact in that car, occasionally fighting but usually laughing. all together. now we are spread out, further and further. we arent that little family anymore, now we all have our own families and memories to make. but part of me wants to go back and crawl into the back of the burb and savor those times again.

grandpa moe was a great man. his life was filled with adventure. he skied, piloted his own small plane, painted, fished, traveled to Australia, Africa, Europe, Mexico. he was always smiling and usually had an off color joke to share. he saw life as a glass all the way full. i have loved knowing him and loving him through my life.

in jackson he always, without fail, took us to see the buffalo. he took us painting, to get pizza at leeks, and was generous to take us out for ice cream and treats. he was a tease. he was funny.

i feel grateful for his vibrant and colorful life as i sit at my counter and watch the color slowly drain out of the earth, preparing for winter.

we are family

since it has been an eternity since i wrote any "jamie-isms" i thought it was about time.

yesterday we went to lunch and half way through i realized i had been wearing my shirt/tunic thing inside out...

j: that is how you know your clothes are too fancy, if you can't tell immediately which side is right.

the man is wise i tell ya.

also, just wanted to document it and tell the world that i LOVE my hubs! we have both been down with a nasty stomach flu AND we are both soda sober!!! as a result we have both been super sore. so yesterday he texted me and let me know he had gotten me a massage-what a guy!

darren is so much fun. i love our super-uno tournaments that last hours before bed (and usually end in 1/2 of us being angry), i love his humor, i LOVE his optimism and perseverance, i love his generosity and kindness. i also love watching better off ted and how i met your mother with him at night and hearing his giggle-it is charming.

boss man

i love my dad.

so, so, so many reasons.

i thought i would write down a few.

a few weeks ago i got to go to my cabin with just my dad...it was amazing. we took a tire off our back-hoe (bigger than i imagined it would be) but struggled getting the nuts and bolts off so i got a quick physics lesson in leverage as my dad used a fencing pole to get those suckers off.

we rode bikes all over the red earth that night, through the most magnificent summer sunset.

that night we slept on the balcony and my dad sang me hymns as i fell asleep. i love his voice. this took me back to climbing the grand with my dad and sister-we had been hiking for an eternity and still we were not to the upper saddle, feeling positive i could not go on, my dad whipped out his harmonica and played "if you could hie to kolob" as we hiked the last few miles.

just last night we went on a little date to look at horses...we sold the horse that got me through my early 20's. my dad saw i was struggling and had the idea to bring the horse up to lehi so i could ride him 4-5 times a week. it was one of my favorite summers, thanks to my daddy.

anyway, we went to see how this horse was doing last night. the little girl who got him adores him and dotes on him and brings him treats, he is in heaven. and truth be told, she runs him on the barrels 10 x better than i ever did.

before we left to the stable my dad looked at me and told me to take his new convertible, put the top down and enjoy the perfect evening and he would take my car and meet me there.

i love so many things about my dad but my favorite thing is spending time with him, and he is so generous with his time.

so long, farewell!

i said goodbye to one of my dearest friends last week. this friend has ALWAYS been there for me... good days and bad, to celebrate or just to hang out, before tests, after tests, and always around for my drive home.

i always have been able to find reasons or occasions to bring this friend around me, because just the presence- i found heavenly.

but, truthfully there came a point in my life where my happiness depended on this friend... i even smuggled this friend to girls camp because i knew i could not go 5 days alone (i was too scared to try to smuggle on trek, it was a LONG three days).

it was time to cut the cord from this dear friend that i became so dependent on. it has been a tough week. my body aches from the separation and my head has been pounding. i have wondered if i really needed to to take such serious measures...

but today has been one week exactly, and i feel amazing! so long diet coke!!!

six months

We have been married for 6 months today! It seems like the longest and fastest six months of my life!

LOTS of changes have happened, almost all great ones. And we have been busy making memories.

We have been to:
*Trek (we had the BEST family!!)
*Girls Camp
*Torrey Reunion
*St George
*Park City
*Phoenix

We have:
*MOVED to the most spectacular place on earth!!
*A new niece Miss Scarlet CAIT and a new nephew William Winslow and a ? on the way (not mine :)
*A new car (YAY!!)
*learned how to live with a member of the opposite sex
*been learning how to communicate
*learned how to not be a bachelor (darren)
*learned how to not be an only and adored child at home (me)
*learned how to budget/shop/cook/clean
*learned how to make friends in a new neighborhood and ward

TIME FLIES! it seems like yesterday darren was down on his knees in the snow...

dimples

yep. i LOVE darren's dimples. did you know a whole peanut m & m can fit inside this amazing facial feature? so can a candy corn. one of my favorite games...not one of his. shocking.

i am so overdue in documenting our lives. better late than never...

we got to go to the zoo and play with 8 month old bengal tigers. it was AMAZING! darren was in the cage for about 45 mins, i lasted maybe 5. i got picked out as the "weak one" and was escorted out. but they LOVED darren and played with him. it was (to quote my good friend barney stintson:) LEGEN wait for it...DARY!



side bar: i am apparently VERY allergic to said soft, yet fierce animals. my face blew up like a red balloon. my lips grew to three times their normal size (have you seen the pussy cat dolls lady-robin antin-on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE this year? my lips looked worse than hers even)

anyways, one of the coolest things i have ever been able to do, all thanks to my awesome hubs and his golfing tendencies.

darren tore his hamstring at softball this week...


just in time for trek! i am not going as a single ma across the plains in two weeks so we are doing ice baths and being the nurturing, sweet, wife that i am; i requested the ice baths to take place in our guest bath so i could still enjoy my nightly bubble bath. what can i say? i am a giver.

we have been VERY busy watching the NBS finals and of course, so you think you can dance. why can't i dance? we have tried to teach me, it is pointless. why!? my hubs can dance!! i love it when he dances me. but let's be real...his talent lies in his krumpin skills! (incidentally these skills scared cath and me in san fran and heidi and me at the cabin, but now i HEART the skills since i understand what is going on and i don't think he is seizuring). he is buck! (yeah, i just learned what that meant)

what can i say? i love those darn dimples.

it's a...

nephew! sweet grayce and james finally had baby winslow william!!

i have been waiting for this day since last september when she filled me in that a baby was on the way...not sure how it felt for grace, but for me it was a long wait to meet this little guy!

he is perfect. i love the faces and sounds he makes while absorbed in baby dreams. he will smile, furrow his brow, squeak, almost cry and then look at peace all in about 10 seconds. his eyes are truly blue, just like his daddy. his lips are full and beautiful. he has 10 tiny fingers and 10 smashed toes and 2 fabulous froggy legs. each time i hold him i cant help but think of what a miracle life is.

grace is the most amazing, sweet momma. she really is. i could not be more impressed with her. or more grateful.