The Orchard Team Huddle

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...

Summer 2009 A season of birthday firsts... and birthday ninths. A season of sun-kissed cheeks... cooling off... and just being cool. A season of great plays... and wanting more than anything to play. A season of popsicles... lollipops... and picnics. A season of rock throwing... high soaring... never-too-old-to-dig-in-a-sandbox fun. A season of family.. . closeness... and togetherness . Farewell, Summer. Thanks for all of the wonderful memories.

World Series week. Something our family has looked forward to for a long time now. We first heard about it in 2006 when we hosted some California boys for the regional 14-yr.-old Babe Ruth tournament held in Murray. How perfect it was that Douglas would just happen to be 13 the year Murray was to host the World Series. "We want to be playing in that," we all said. That is when the dream began. 10 teams qualified to play in the WS. Leominster, Massachusetts*Harris Township, Indiana*Williamsport, Pennsylvania*Kennewick, Washington*Taylorsville, Utah*Murray, Utah*Tri-Valley, California*Tallahassee, Florida*Sikeston, Missouri*McComb, Mississippi. These are the only 10 teams in the entire nation, age 13 Babe Ruth, that are still playing baseball. This was a big deal! As you are all very much aware of by now, Douglas did not get to have the experience he had dreamed of, nor did we. This baseball thing is a family affair and we are all in it together. We possibly were as dis...

It was a mundane task at our house. Something I never thought would turn into the episode it did. But, such is life sometimes. We had a chirping smoke alarm. Russell was certain he had changed the battery only a short time ago so he took it out of the alarm and stuck it to his tongue. Sure enough, no shock. The boys were curious about his testing methods. He pulled a new battery out of the drawer and tested that one. He told the boys to give it a try. Neither was brave enough. I took the battery and told them I would try it so they could see it didn't really hurt, it was just a little startling. They still were not convinced. We used the "I thought you were the brave son" on Stockton. After a few minutes he went to the drawer, grabbed the battery and put it to his tongue. He was surprised but proud of himself for living up to his reputation. We could not get Douglas to test the battery. Stockton even did it again to show him that it wasn't really that bad. We could ha...