The Orchard Team Huddle

Hello Friends and Family, It was a whirlwind of a year for the Orchard family. Please allow me to recap. January: Russell and Douglas brave the frigid temperatures of Idaho for their annual fishing derby. I don't quite understand it but they have a ton of fun. It has become a winter tradition for them. We buy a used but new-for-us SUV in anticipation of many baseball road trips in our future. Both of the boys are playing Jr. Jazz and Douglas is practicing baseball. February: More Jr. Jazz, more baseball. We drive to St. George for Douglas' first tournament of the year. Mason learns to crawl and gets his first tooth! March: Russell and I take a much needed vacation to Puerto Vallarta. No kids, no carpools, no stress. I have a small amount of anxiety over leaving my baby behind but manage to enjoy myself. I turn a year older and we end the month with another tournament in St. George. April: Arguably our busiest month of the year. Both of the boys are in FULL baseball swing and...

Christmas is... making gingerbread houses. assembling Christmas jigsaw puzzles. Christmas Eve bowling complete with mini corn dogs and fries. It's a bit of a bummer when you come within 2 pins of a 100 score game. Stockton clearly was not happy! watching Luke II and reading from the bible followed by the singing of Silent Night. It is also a toddler that wants to sing "Child of God" and "Song of Bird" since you are already in the spirit of singing. X presents under the tree. New pajamas and MLB build-your-own board Monopoly to pass the long hours leading up to bedtime. a new elf to help Santa. Stockton thought directional signs would be helpful this year. He likes the fact that he is in the know. hoping and wishing and asking what your odds are of getting what you asked for. waiting on the stairs for your turn to go into the family room. the look on your face when you see your stack of presents for the first time. candy for breakfast, getting just what you...

As I was in the store with my boys a few weeks ago Stockton was fascinated by a shirt he saw. "Mom, look at this shirt. It says, 'Here comes trouble!' We should get that for Mason." We all started laughing when Mason piped up and said, "Tums Chubble !" We encouraged him to say it all through the store and laughed every time he did. I didn't like the shirt enough to buy it there but have since found one I liked. It puts a smile on my face to think about. I know I need to remember that smile for the months to come! Mason is now 18 months old. He is more toddler than baby. He is doing so many cute things and so many naughty little things. Here's a little more about our sunshine. Y Mason is into EVERYTHING! I feel like all I do is go from room to room cleaning new messes. He gets things out of the cupboards while I cook dinner, he gets things out of the drawers while I do the treadmill, he has started dumping containers of toys instead of nicely playing...

Today we celebrate Douglas turning 14. This is my favorite picture from the past year. After a year of hard work and dreaming, Douglas watched his team play in the World Series from the dugout with a broken collar bone. It was a life changing experience for him. He is a much stronger person now than he was a year ago and one of the lessons he learned was that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. It may not be what we plan but he knows us and loves us and things happen for a reason. Here are a few fun facts about the birthday boy! Y He would have a shake EVERY day if I let him. This boy likes ice cream. Y Douglas is very likable . When I sit down with his teachers at SEP conferences and tell them his name, they always say, "Oh, yes, Douglas." Most of them appreciate his sense of humor and participation. There is always one that finds him to be most obnoxious. Y Grandpa Murry is his best friend. Y His shoe size is 9 1/2, currently the same as his dad's. ...

Many noteworthy things have happened in our family in the last few weeks but I just don't seem to find the time to jot them down. Here is a recap: Pinewood Derby - Not Russell's favorite father/son bonding activity. I rejected his idea to pull out a previously used car of Douglas' and he and Stockton got to work on Stockton's first car. He chose the body style, designed the paint job and had a great time the night of the race. He had a good middle of the pack car and got an award for the fastest looking (clearly, LOOKING is the key word here!). Report Card Dinner - Both of the boys did a super great job last term so we took them to Chilies to celebrate. We ordered two of the 2 for $20 meals so each of them got to choose an appetizer and a dessert. Although it was a fun family night activity, Russell and I remembered why we really look forward to our Friday night dinners out. Mason is just not the most enjoyable little guy at a restaurant. Practice makes perfect, right? ...

I seem to be at a loss for words lately. Just a quick update on what we've been up to. Russell was able to go and get our car from St. George. I was glad to get rid of that stale-cigarette-smoke scented Elantra . I was grateful for the temporary wheels but really do like my big SUV better. It's running like a charm and I am looking forward to 3 years of worry-free transmission! It seems everything is breaking at the same time. I was paying bills the other day and my adding machine died. My Kitchenaid is currently dead and the boys tell me the Playstation is acting up. I guess we will tackle these items one at a time as our money tree has lost all of it's leaves. And did I mention that at some point I need to get braces for Douglas and I just paid for 2 boys to play Jr. Jazz at $57 a pop. Sheesh ! I know it is just going to get worse! Life has slowed drastically from a hectic and exhausting whirlwind to a more relaxed TV watching, cocoa sipping, dark too early pace. I am g...

Treat: Helping with Stockton's school party. I can't imagine not being there. My assignment-nachos and a pumpkin toss game. Mason ran around the gym and was MORE than helpful! Trick: I was so busy entertaining Mason and 34 fourth graders that I didn't take a single picture of Stockton's costume. He dressed as a Dallas Cowboy fan with a jersey and some shorts. His face was painted half blue and half white with stars. I figured I would get a picture on Halloween night but he changed costumes on me. Treat: Friday off of school. We jumped in the car late Thursday afternoon and headed to St. George for the last baseball games of the year. Our friend Jake accompanied us. Trick: We left after Mason's nap but not to fear...we had our Teletubbie DVD. As soon as the moment was right we turned it on. Mason said "no" and didn't watch any of it. He chose to scream the last half hour of the trip instead. Thursday night was not filled with peaceful slumber. Maso...

It seems to me I have spent the past year and a half running faster than I have had the strength. Life is busy, babies are hard, baseball is fun but VERY time consuming, and it has taken a toll on me, our home and ultimately, our family. I have been saying to myself, "It will get easier when Mason is a little older." Well, now he climbs up bar stools , turns on water faucets, makes MONSTER messes. Some things are easier but many are much harder. "It will slow down when baseball season is over." It seems baseball season is never over and basketball follows baseball and Young Men's are on Thursday nights and Cub Scouts are on Friday afternoons. Piano is on Thursday and homework is every day of the week. I have had my epiphany and realize that this is just normal life at this time and I had better conquer it rather than letting it get the best of me. As I have pondered what I need to do to be a better Mom , Wife , Homemaker , Friend and Daughter of God I ...

We are HUGE Disneyland fans. We like to get there twice a year but usually get there at least once. It had been 18 months since the last time we went and I was pregnant at that so even longer since I could really enjoy all of the rides. We were MORE than excited to go. I knew it would be tough with Mason. He is not a good sleeper outside his crib. He doesn't sit still for long and he is all over the place. Nevertheless, I was prepared to have the time of our lives and for the most part we did! The week started off with a short little plane ride from SLC to John Wayne Airport. We usually do LAX since it is cheaper but we opted for SNA this time. I loved it. The rental car was right at the airport. No shuttle, no hassle. It was wonderful. Mason was wiggly and didn't nap as he should have but still okay. The older boys are pros by now and the whole thing was really not too stressful. Just a few minutes after leaving the airport we were to our hotel but it was too soon to check in....

Although I am sitting in a hotel room at the "happiest place on earth" I couldn't let the birthday of my sweet little Lincoln (click here to read the whole story) pass without acknowleding the blessing I feel I received 7 years ago. It was such a hard and wonderful experience Russell and I had with this little boy but I will forever be grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me so much that he sent a perfect little spirit to our family. He filled my heart with peace when it was aching and he gave me a small little glimpse of heaven. My life is forever changed and I am so grateful for the gospel knowledge I have. Happy birthday my little Lincoln.

School kind of snuck up on us this year. It seems like we lost a month of summer with that cold June we started with. We just got rolling and it was time to go back. We broke a collar bone, had surgery, took in 4 new boys, played the World Series and started school all at the same time so we were a little unprepared. How fitting that I would just be getting around to writing about it 4 weeks after the fact! I have a confession. These pictures are not from the first day of school. They were taken 2 weeks later. The morning the kids started back was a nightmare! We had a late game the night before and got to bed at 1 am. We were all in a daze when we woke up at 7:00 am, 30 minutes later than Douglas needed to. He tore through the house in a panic, took a poptart out the door with him and that was it. No time for pictures, no proud tears from mom, just sheer chaos. I felt really bad for the start Douglas got. 8 th grade Douglas' Schedule: 1. UNITED STATES HIST I - HONOR...