Meet My Brother

This is Brian. (Yeah, what are the chances that I'd marry someone with the same name as my ONLY brother?!?)

I could hardly believe that it had been 2.5 years since I'd seen my brother last. It was too easy to fall back into conversation with him - - - ever since we were little, we've had a strong connection with each other. We have similar senses of humor, and could therefore laugh with each other like we couldn't laugh with anyone else. A favorite joke came from a sitcom that was playing in the background one day of our childhood, "He was snoring so loudly, it was actually vibrating my bed across the floor." Oh, how we laughed! I'm still smiling about it. :)

Want to know what we did while he was here? He read to the kids,


he bought us ice cream,


we went to see a talented man play the bells in the top of Duke Tower - really cool!

we went to TK's Jungle


and trained him in the art of 'ball bouncing'.
I loved going back to the beginning of college with his stories. And, I've found it's quite a lot more fun to counsel about the woes of dating than to actually go through them yourself. :)

I love you, Brian!

Meet My Brother-in-Law

This is Dave. Brian's little brother.

As lucky as I am to have been born into an awesome family, I feel even more lucky to have married into another awesome family. Those 'in-law' jokes just never seem to apply in my case! Dave came out on the same weekend my sisters were here.

He came to the beach,
built a fort to watch movies in with the kids,
came to the water park,

and somehow got every single kid to fall absolutely in love with him. Even baby Miles was all smiles when he was around!
Dave is SUCH a fun guest to have! Always up for anything, happy and helpful. Thanks for coming, Dave!

Meet My Sisters

Just a couple weeks after my parents headed back home, my sisters flew out. I had SO MUCH FUN with them! I seriously have the best sisters in the world. :)

We played Cooties with the kids,


















Went to a Cold Play concert,









Played in the mud,

Went to the beach,

Played at a water park,

And snapped a few great photos.

Seriously, can't you guys come back and live with me?!?

Meet My Parents

You can imagine my excitement on July 21st when I saw my parents riding down the escalator in our local airport. It had been three years and two months since their last visit, and so much had changed in my life since then: 2 more kids, a new house, a doctor for a husband, a minivan, a few more wrinkles, and a real bed for them to sleep on instead of an air mattress. After spending three years in Thailand as mission president/mother, I like to think that they were excited to see me too. :)

I remember as a teenager hearing my mother say, "Every mother loves her children. But I believe, in order to really know them and connect with them, you have to like them, too." Growing up, I knew my parents liked me.

It was fun to have them in my home...sitting on my couches...eating at my dinner table...and I realized one night just how much I like them, too. I had fun with them here.
My dad even painted our entire laundry/storage room! You have no idea how awesome this is...remember the crickets down there? Somehow, the thought of going down to a nice, bright, white storage room with crickets isn't quite as awful as going down to a dark, dirty, messy storage room with crickets. And, while Dad was doing that, my mom made cookies and kept me company with her conversation as I held my fussy baby and bounced with him on the yoga ball. Have I mentioned how much I like my parents?


And, my dad even got used to the 'ball'. Bouncing Miles is a favorite past-time of ours...so it was fun to see my dad participating.












I love you, guys!

Caterpillars, Cocoons and Butterflies

I've been thinking about butterflies lately. They have such a strange journey through life...starting as a caterpillar, spending time wrapped in a cocoon, and finally emerging better and more beautiful in the end.

I feel like I spent my 9 months of pregnancy as an ugly caterpillar: slow, hairy, putzing around on the ground trying not to get eaten alive (by my kids), eating slowly all day long (to try to keep the nausea at bay), and getting bigger and bigger and bigger... I wonder what a caterpillar feels like once he's wrapped up in his cocoon. Does his reality of life change because his entire store of energy is being used to create something that hasn't existed before? In these terms, is developing wings all that different than developing a child?

Oh, and what a beautiful day it must be for him when he breaks out of his cocoon and lets his wings dry in the warm sunlight, staring the world in the eye. Eventually he takes off into the air - experimenting with his wings and experiencing something he never has before.

I can relate to this.

What a journey my sweet little Miles has led me through! After he was born, while my wings were still wet, my kids and I spent a lot of time hanging on to our own little cocoon - reading books, playing trains, making crafts, bouncing on the yoga ball, watching Disney movies, dancing to various CD's... But now, my wings have finally dried and I feel ready to soar through the world again! I feel ready to ease back into my normal routines of library story times, parks, projects, church callings, e-mail, blogging, chores and making dinner. Experiencing life with three beautiful children under my care...something I've never done before.

And, I feel beautiful inside.

It's time...

I woke up last Sunday morning, looked into the mirror and cursed the skin around my eyes - for the millionth time - for being so sensitive to tears. As I started working on the puffy redness, I felt a strange sort of calmness... it was done. The final goodbye's had been said, and Meg's plane had landed safely in their new home clear across the country.

It's been The Summer of Tearful Goodbye's for me. My Grandmother passed away; my entire family, spread through three visits, ended their visits in tears, and three of my dearest, dearest girl friends moved their entire families across the country to Washington, Utah, and San Diego.

There was no way I was going to get my eyes looking normal for church, so I decided to carry the red puffiness with a thankful heart that day...thankful that I had such dear people in my life whose absence could create such sorrow.

You have heard about my grandma, and you will hear about my family visits, but as for my friends... I believe there's a certain kind of bond that is formed among people when they go through life experiences together. A bond of understanding; a bond of love; a bond that somehow surpasses 'friend'ship and almost reaches 'soul'ship. When I first moved to North Carolina, our little family had just started to grow. We were young and vulnerable and still experimenting with who we were as parents and as a family unit. Over the past few years, we have become more grounded; we have made solid foundations and decisions that have started moving our family in a sure direction...and we have done it alongside some of the greatest people in the world. We have shared our ideas, our goals, our advice... Best friends, moving forward together, growing together as small tree trunks, becoming one with time.

It's no wonder that my heart hurts right now. When such a dear friend moves away, the raw edges of the separation are painful. I've learned so many things about friendship and service from these friends - and it's hard to know that I don't have their examples close to me anymore.

But, who is it that said, "It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all." And how blessed I feel that I live in a day when a few thousand miles can't stop communication.

Cami, Brooke and Meg - you all deserve your own posts...yet my blogging efficiency has somehow become quite low... please know how much I love you, and how much I miss you. It's just not quite the same around here anymore...