The Lower Lights

Have you heard of The Lower Lights?

They are a group of artists (including Mindy Gledhill) who made a CD called, "A Hymn Revival".  It features some of my favorite religious hymns re-done in a way that makes them new again.  If you go here you can listen to the CD and purchase it if you like it.

My personal favorites are "Ye Elders of Israel" and "Count Your Blessings".  Trevor loves Babylon ("Ye Elders of Israel"), Blessin's ("Count Your Blessings"), Israel ("Israel, Israel God is Calling), and Carry me Home ("Swing Low, Sweet Chariot").

If you love it as much as I do (I have been listening to this CD non-stop since I purchased it Friday morning) and you live in the Provo-area, you'll be delighted to know that The Lower Lights are throwing a free concert this Friday.  The concert is sponsored by cjane, one of my favorite people that I have never met and sister to the amazing NieNie. For info on the concert, click here.

If I could I would drive to UT for the concert and conference this weekend.

So go here already and listen to this CD.  You'll love it!!

A Bear Hunt

Today in nursery, Trevor went on a bear hunt and he told Darren and I all about it.  Supposedly, there was grass and a river and mud and a cave and you couldn't go around it and you couldn't go under it.  He said, "Hadda go frew it!!"

When I asked what was in the cave he rolled his eyes and said, "a bear".

Of course, silly mommy.  Here's the rest of the story on video.

Austin's 5 Month Birthday

It all started with a little photo shoot right after breakfast which explains the warm, red cheeks.

 

And it ended with a birthday dinner of roasted sweet potatoes in mommy milk.  For dessert??  Three teething tablets.

Somewhere in the middle there were long naps, lots of kisses (both slobbery and civilized), giggling, gurgling, and some pushes in the swing high enough to make a 5 month old wet his pants (compliments of Trevor, of course).

Austin, it amazes me how much personality you have developed in such a short time on earth.  It is a testimony to me that we lived somewhere before coming here.  You are a lot like your dad.  Your fun-loving and easy-going personality is just what we need.  Thanks for being such a sweet boy.

Brother Love

I love it when Trevor engages Austin in conversation and when he wants to climb in Austin's crib and read stories with him.  I also love it when I hear Austin wake up on the monitor and before I can get there I hear Trevor over the monitor say something like, "Good morning, Austin, did you sleep good?"

And it makes me happy (and occasionally annoyed) when Austin stops nursing and turns to find Trevor because he heard his voice.  Or when he rolls over and/or cranes his neck to catch Trevor's eye, even if just for a second.

I'm so glad that they will have each other as they go through life, but I can only imagine the mischief they will get into!!

**Austin Update**

Austin is now eating solids.  He doesn't like rice cereal (or as Trevor calls it Mommy Milk Cereal), but he loves to chew on frozen peaches in one of those mesh bag thingys.  He is also a professional roller and totally untrustworthy on any raised surface.  He thinks he's big like Trevor; if he's laying down, he wants to sit and if he's sitting he wants to stand.

Dear Mrs. Reichert

Dear Mrs. Reichert,

I just saw you and your husband, Congressman Dave Reichert at McDonald's.  I hope that someday I can be like you, gracious and patient with my husband as he pursues what makes him happy.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Hales

Step By Step

Back when Trevor was just a twinkle in my eye, Darren and I purchased some Living Scriptures, which are Bible and Book of Mormon stories for kids on DVD.  Trevor is now at an age where he can watch them and understand the stories.  His favorite is called "Journey to the Promised Land" which tells the story of Lehi's family in the wilderness, Nephi building a ship and their journey on that ship to the Promised Land.  While Nephi and his brothers are building the ship they sing a chessy little song called, "Step by Step".  I get it stuck in my head all the time.

A couple days ago I had a lot of dishes to do, so I turned my iPod up pretty loud and shuffled the songs.  Trevor was eating lunch and I heard him say, "This is the Nephi song."  Confused I said, "What??"  And again he said, "This is the Nephi song, mom."  And that's when I realized my iPod was playing "Step by Step" by New Kids on the Block (don't judge me, NKTOB forever!)

After I stopped laughing I just said, "You're right Trevor, that does sound like the Nephi song."  To which he replied, "Yeah, I like that song."

Before & After: New Windows, Part 1

In order to take advantage of the energy tax credits, Darren and I bought all new, energy efficient windows for our house.  They were delivered last Friday and so far we have installed two of them.

Here is a before of the garage window.  (Don't mind the spider webs)

And after...

I forgot to take a before picture of this side kitchen window, but here it what it looks like now!!

Installing each window is a lot of work, so I am glad that we have Darin to help us.  My favorite part is caulking; I love to caulk.

Two windows down, 16 more plus a sliding door to go.

Tieton River Fun

Over Labor day weekend we went camping again, but this time we also went rafting.  Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Dawna I was able to go rafting both Friday and Saturday.  On Friday the weather was perfect and I was able to R3 (which just means we used a smaller 11' boat with only 3 people in it).  Here are some awesome pictures from the trip.

But as fun as the rafting was, and it was fun, the best part of the weekend was during the second run on Saturday when I was able to lay down in the tent and take a nap with Austin in my arms and Trevor right next to us.  The wind was gusting probably 40 MPH and our tent was close to blowing over.  Both boys would occasionally wake up from the noise and then fall back asleep because they knew I was there and they trusted me to keep them safe.  Instead of napping I spent 2+ hours just watching my sweet, sleeping boys (and praying that the tent wouldn't blow over).

Rasar State Park

The last weekend in August we went camping at Rasar State Park with 4 other couples in our ward.  Nine and sometimes ten adults and eleven kids made for a very fun weekend.  We ate good food from the dutch oven, including brownies one night after the kids went to bed, we stayed up late chatting around the fire, and there was even an epic volleyball game, shirts vs. skins.

Before leaving Sunday morning we took the picture of all the kiddos.











Thanks for the memories.  It was a fun weekend.