At Naomi's house the other day, I encountered my proudest moment as a Mother to date! My little Evianna appeared to me in this killer ensemble, compliments of Tia and Kalei. I got choked up within seconds of seeing her in this, and then she starts doing the hula! My camera was beyond dead, so I'm lucky I was able to get these four quick and blurry shots, but that's all I needed.

I realize not everyone knows this, but I've been a hula dancer since the age of 14. I convinced a BYU group to take me on while I was in Jr High and fell in love. The following year I was asked to join a "Professional" team (competitions & hired to perform at Luaus) We even performed for the 2002 Winter Olympics for fourteen straight days, all day long!

My last performance was an event in Orem when I was almost 3 months pregnant. For obvious reasons, I had to take a break and haven't been back since. I miss it so much!

Look at her hip action here! She's got it way out there. It's time I teach her first aparima, or by the looks of things, her first 'ote'a. (two styles of dances)

Ha, I never made that connection until this moment. 'Ote'a is the fast Tahitian dance where the girl's hips are swinging about at insane speeds. It's pronounced "Oh-teya" just like my own little oh-TEYA! Ironique, n'est-ce pas??

Our beautiful Teya Evianna finally turned two this month! I say finally, because she has been acting like a two year old for such a looooong time now, and we kept forgetting that she wasn't actually there yet. Teya honey, we love you so much that it's hard to begin putting it down in words. Where do I start? You're heart is so full of love and tenderness that you continually teach me how to be a better person. God was speaking of you when he admonished us to "become as a little child..." He was speaking of your kindness, thoughtfulness, innocence, willingness to forgive, unbiased love, meekness, and your pure soul. He was also speaking of the joy you are able to find in the everyday moments of life; you are able to see any object as one of beauty and inspiration.

(A picture of you on your birthday, wearing some big clip-on earrings and the necklace mommy wore on her wedding day.)

Your imagination is taking off right now. Your beaded necklaces have become snakes. An empty wrapping paper tube became your riding horse. There are friendly (and some scary) monsters living in our area... one in particular just outside your window likes to keep you up at night. Today your dry spaghetti stick started out as a sword, it broke and became a baton for leading me in song, broke again and became a pencil, even smaller now and it becomes a needle to fix mommy's arm, once again it breaks into a tiny little piece and it turns into a tool your Little Pony used to fix her car with.


Your smile has the ability to smother the worries that might be flying around in my head. Your smile reminds me of what's important and takes priority in life.



I still haven't had to seriously chasten you for being naughty, partly because you've figured out how to make me laugh while trying to be angry with you (without fail) and partly because you are so quick to see the error and willingly apologize for it. Your "softy-ness" may play a part too ;)

You're incredibly talented at copying anything I say or do. Your vocabulary matches that of most 3 and 4 year old vocabularies. You speak full complete sentences, always including new words from the day or one you have invented using a compilation of words. You must have the interest and passion for language just like your Mommy.

You love to sing! Your favorite song is "Trying To Be Like Jesus" which gets sung to you on average 30 times before you'll go to sleep every night. As a result though, you have a very cute and funny version you randomly sing throughout the day. Other favorites right now are: I Am a Child of God, Building a Birdie House, Twinkle, ABC's, Frère Jaques, Zipidee-Do-Da, and Punctuation. (Yes, you LOVE the Punctuation song ;)

It's hard to decide on my favorite thing about your little human self. I love your silky hair that falls into natural ringlets after the bath, no combing or styling necessary! I love your chunky legs and the one side of your toosh that is ALWAYS peeking out from your training pants...you still tear off all your clothes the minute we get back to the house. But mostly I love your big brown beautiful eyes. If I could create an impossible & perfect painting, I would do your eyes. They are telling and deep and intense; I can see the amazing woman you will grow to be by looking into your eyes.

Teya Nugget, I'm so glad you chose me to be your mom in this life. You're a blessing and a treasure. Thank you for bringing the strength of your soul into our home and for multiplying our joy immeasurably. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring and how you'll grow. Let the adventure continue....

This post is a tribute to all the maimed and injured fingers in the world. Over the course of one weekend, three friends, including me, destroyed one of our helpless little fingers.

Brandon, poor poor Brandon, with his hammer-smashed finger. Luckily they were able to glue the top back on at the hospital. Hopefully they don't mind the finger brace while he's filming in Portugal.

Sean, sweet innocent little Sean, with his razor-filleted finger. He was only trying to take out the trash, and that nasty tin-can lid had to tear his finger in half. But before you knew it, he was back from the ER at the Ward Party with a wrapped/braced finger ready to man the HD Photobooth.

Then Me, just me, foolishly rinsing off my new kitchen shears with my bear hands. Blegh! Just thinking of how to write the story gave me the gross chills as I relive that moment of slicing. In a flash my thumb had a cut down, well, pretty deep. In this case though, I didn't get the luxury of a hospital room and nurses catering to my side. Maybe it's just cause I am more manly or tough than the others, but a torn napkin and some scotch tape did the patching job just fine. This kind of bandaging doesn't last as long though, so it has to be replaced every few hours. In reality, it's because my injury was the least severe of all, and running to the ER sounded like more of a pain than it was worth. And those kitchen shears? I won them as the grand prize at Bunko last month ;)

So what have we learned from this treacherous weekend of finger maiming? Our fingers may seem tough, but they are really tiny and fragile. Treat them with care. It hurts when they get hurt. Use caution when hammering, trowing out trash, or cleaning knives. And play with your Bunko prizes gently & wearily. Here's to the wrapped bulky unusable fingers out there-- healing the wounds of life.
The ghetto bandage job. At least the tape was Scotch and not Duct... and I purposefully used my awesome pillow pattern as a background for the picture, to try and make it prettier.

I love the Imagination of a two year old little girl. I get drawn in too, and we spend hours playing in our imaginary worlds.

Teya watched Curious George get a cast, so she wanted one too. She was complaining about the "owe" on both her legs. I happened to have some dry wall tape on hand and some paper towels.

All you mammas know how certain days can go. There's so much to get done, the hours fly by, and the kids can get a little attention deprivation. The day starts out with an attempt to feed Teya some medicine for the first time in her life.

It didn't go well, nothing ended up in her stomach. Watching the Caillou episode on Taking Medicine and all that talk about it being yummy candy juice didn't work.
Then I get down to business: appt managing stuff, phone calls, cleaning, etc... I eventually check on Teya and this is what she has become.
My orphan child.

The poor thing is so dirty she can't even remember how to smile correctly. Those sad little eyes.... this is proof Teya probably gets TOO MUCH attention from me. Really only an hour has passed and she is acting like a deprived soul...
This is a close up just to show you the many details. Where did that piece of tape come from? Why are her fingernails black? Did I really forget to wipe the spaghetti sauce off her face & hands?

Welp, into the bath you go! I let the water run while I checked on something, and this is how I find her, bearly peaking out of the mountain of bubbles. There's only and inch of water in there... it's ALL bubbles. (That Deseret Shampoo lathers REALLY well ;)

Ahhh! The euphoria of bubbles, getting clean, and having mommy's undivided attention once again!

Teya learns about the band-aid the day before this picture is taken: I fixed an owe on her foot. The next day she gets hurt again... five minutes later I find her with a great big band-aid on her leg. She did it all by herself too, how did she know it would stick? Wonderful usage Teya!


Still working on that nose-picking habit.

Concentrate, must lather evenly...

ELMO & ABBY Story Time at the bookstore. After eating cookies, coloring, & listening to Elmo read a story, we finally got to meet them! But not before a long wait in the line... you see her face? It says it all...


But it was all worth it to see her interact with the characters. She was thrilled to be able to talk to & hug them. She even knelt beside them after the picture planning on hanging out and playing for a while. So the attendants let her sit there for a bit since she was SO cute about it! I think they were surprised since most kids we watched were either stiff or terrified to meet Elmo.


A night on the town with Gma Coco & Gpa Dimples. Do kids like these little rinky-dink horse rides, or are we just fools lured into giving a dollars worth of quarters to see our cutie smile for a 45 second ride? I take the latter.


An impromptu Tea Party at Ikea while we were picking out Teya's new big-girl-bed, an early birthday gift from her Grandma Coco and Grandpa Dimples. I'm thinking this craft table set is going to be her Christmas gift this year...

Ma mère. Elle est belle. Elle est angélique. Elle est le modèle femme,
compliments de son mari et lui toujours soutenir.
Elle est le parfait mère, ce qui donne tout son temps et d'attention à ses enfants. Elle enseigne par exemple, qui est la raison pour laquelle tous ses enfants ont grandi en forte individus. Elle nous a appris à aimer en aimant tout le monde le sait, elle.
Je ne me souviens pas de lui crier ou d'être grossier, jamais. Ce serait bizarre.
La bonté, la charité, et de compassion de rayonner d'elle. Elle est altruiste, mais ne l'a pas oublié qui elle est comme une femme.
Tous les jours je remercie le Seigneur bénédiction pour moi d'être sa fille. Chaque jour, je plaide avec le Seigneur à Donnez-moi la force élever ma fille de la même manière. Tous les jours mon amour pour elle grandit à mesure que je passer par mon propre procès maternage. Je comprends plus clairement ce qu'elle a fait pour moi et combien elle doit aimer moi.
Merci Maman vous, vous êtes mon héros! Je t'aime! Je suis béni d'être scellé pour vous pour l'éternité. Je suis honoré d'être votre fille, et je suis honoré de croître votre postérité. T'aimer.

My mom, Lynnette, and Niece Ava.

Mom & Dad on Fathers Day

My Big Little brother, Brennan, with Mom & Ava.


This picture is priceless, one of my all-time favorites! Look how Beautiful she is. Can't you just SEE her kindness and sweetness in this picture? She's holding my older sister (and best friend) Jessica. This picture must have been taken not long after their one year anniversary (mm-hmm, Jessie came quick ;)


Because she is so Beautiful, I felt it appropriate to honor her in a language also recognized for its beauty. Here is the Translation from above:
My mother. She is beautiful. She is angelic. She is the model wife,
complimenting her husband and always supporting him. She is the perfect
mother, giving all her time and attention to her children. She teaches
by example, which is why all her kids have grown into strong individuals. She has taught us how to love by loving everyone she knows. I can not remember her raising her voice or being rude, ever. That would be weird. Kindness, charity, and compassion radiate from her. She is selfless, but has not forgotten who she is as a woman. Everyday I thank the Lord for blessing me to be her daughter. Everyday I plead with the Lord to give me strength raise my daughter in the same way. Everyday my love for her grows as I go through my own mothering trials. I understand more clearly what she has done for me and how much she must love me. Thank you Mom, your are my hero! I love you! I am blessed to be sealed to you for eternity. I am honored to be your daughter, and I am honored to grow your posterity. Love you.

Teya + Ice Cream = True Love!

Need I say more?











It is a moment in which everything else in the world blurs into the muted background, then slips away. Each bite is savoured and devoured