The recipe. . .a ross secret.

No bath for two days + recently removed pony tails + a day at the pool=perfectly awesome hair!

On Motherhood. .and moms.

Let me just say first and foremost that I absolutely love being a mom. I've always wanted to be a mom. I love my girls. I love being a wife. I wouldn't trade any of that for anything.
However, it is possible to be a mom AND to do things for yourself. I think moms (and dads) are so self-sacrificing, they forget to take care of themselves as well.
So, don't give up the things you love just because you had kids. It's so, so, so, so, so important to keep your identity.
Don't feel guilty for doing things for you. That's so dumb. It's very cliche, but you honestly can't draw from an empty well.
If there's something you've always wanted to do, DO IT. So your house might be a tiny bit messier, you may not vacuum every day, you may not be able to teach your 2 year old the alphabet and how to read before they even start preschool (that's why we send our kids to school, people), and you may not have a gourmet meal on the table at 6pm when your husband walks through the door. BUT, you'll be happier. And a happy mom makes a happy home. :)
I haven't been doing my photography business for a super long time, but even in the short time I have, I've already noticed a big difference. I'm a happier person all around. I appreciate the time I spend with my girls more, I get the breaks I need, Mike gets one-on-one time with the girls (which they love), and our home is a happier home.
So reclaim your identities, moms, and get rid of the "mom guilt". There's nothing wrong with holding on to the things you love. Quit putting stuff off. You have time for what you MAKE time for.
I'm stepping off my soap box now.
Out.

The return

Waiting for my mom and dad. Their plane came in around 11pm July 3rd. We forgot our huge banner and balloons. :)


More waiting.
Finally!!!!

Luggage retrieval. We needed all those bodies. I think there were 11 suitcases, a few carry-ons and a purse. Only one bag was completely ripped open (broken zipper). They'll never know what fell out. :)

Everyone pick a bag. Or two. Or three.
I was on camera duty so I didn't carry a bag. Pays to be the photographer even if it is with the ridiculous quality of a point and shoot.
The back of the truck FULL with bags. We didn't lose any on the freeway. I did NOT offer for my mom and dad to drive. They learned some inappropriate language, hand gestures, and "moves" while driving on the "roads" in Ghana.

And for those of you who like a little video action. . . .

I'm not sure what my sister Kelli is doing in the background. I'll save any sacreligious comments I may have.

Lehi Round-up

Now that we're official Lehi-ites, we figured we'd better go to the Lehi Rodeo Round-up. I love, love, love rodeo's! This one was pretty good. Long, but good. No mutton-bustin (where the little kids ride the sheep. . .hilarious) and no blood shed, but still good. One of the wild horses jumped the fence. It missed the crowd by about 5 inches. That would have been interesting. The girls sat fairly still for the 3 hours and Mya kept saying "Hi neigh-neigh." The rodeo clowns were a little disappointing. I like 'em to get down and dirty with the bulls. Where were you John? Guess we'll have to go to Draper Days. :)

Hard mom days

If you ever have a hard mom day, check out these two blogs:
www.sheyerosemeyer.blogspot.com
www.adailyscoop.blogspot.com

Warning. You'll cry. I'm not a crier, but I often get streaming tears from these two. I can't even imagine. If you don't want to wade through the posts to find out what happened to their daughters, I'll fill you in. Sheye's blog: Her 3 year old daughter got in the car to get something and never got back out. By the time they found her, she'd been in the hot car for a while and never regained consciousness. On the daily scoop blog, their little girl fell in the hot tub and when they found her whe wasn't breathing. She was in a coma for several days before they had to make the decision to remove the ventilator.

Mya woke up at 5:45am today. She's been whining all morning. I was completely spent and frustrated by the time mike came home for lunch. She's now down for a nap and I'm half tempted to go wake her up and give her a big juicy kiss and never let her go.

They're baaaaack!

I'll blog more on this. But for those who've been wondering. . . .they made it back!!! Although my mom REALLY wanted to extend, my dad talked her in to coming home. ha ha. Words can't describe how good it was to see them. I gave my mom a big bear hug and said "That was too damn long." They're trying to get back into the swing of things despite coming home to racoons, mice, AND a broken fridge. Bugger.
I think they will be speaking in their ward for their non-homecoming the second week of August for anyone interested. I'll post the for sure date when I know it. More later.

Look at mom!

More of these cute girls on my photo blog.