The way it is.

So, a few months ago I was openly flaying my disappointment for the loss of fan base in the blogging world due to the convenience of Facebook. I got so frustrated that those I cared about most simply gave-up on updating. When it comes to about 90% of my fb 'friends' I could almost careless about their status, but I totally missed the more personal blog updates. I swore to myself that I would never become one of them.

Then, Jay bought me a smartphone. I told him I didn't need one, but the moment that cute white moto cliq slipped into my hand... I was a goner. Not only did it sync my business calendar, and Jay and I's google calendars, but I could check Facebook while at a red light, read scriptures while waiting in line at a drive thru. Play sudoku while waiting at the car wash. It was life changing. The days of sitting down at my laptop to update my life happenings were replaced by a five-second status update. But, Facebook gets lame, sudoku gets old, and I really like having a notepad with me when I read scriptures anyway. I had thoughts of returning to the fold of bloggers, but then began to have feelings of guilt. I had already missed the opportunity to blog my baby's 1st birthday (what kind of mother does that). I didn't blog our big vacation, or either of our smaller ones. I missed Hunter's birthday altogether, the death of Jay's grandma, etc. It felt (feels) daunting to catch-up, but I do my best in life to never be a hypocrite, so here I go: I am not going to try to play catch-up but just start up like I never left. (That's the way life has to be done right?) Good thing I've rocked the digi-scrapping the past few months.

So, here it goes...

A LiFe aLTeRiNG eVent:

I swore it would never happen. I limited my number of children to 3 to prevent it's happening. But when you attempt road trips with 3 children all sitting within an arms reach of each other, class goes out the window. It's all about functionality these days, so I am the proud new momma of this baby:

Do I regret it? Put it this way, pretend you'd lived your entire life without the sense of smell, (or hearing, or sight- any of the senses you adore- pretend that one) and then one day, you had it... you never knew what you were missing. You never knew such beauty in life existed. You never knew 3 children could behave so well for over hours of driving in such a confined space. Just like my beautiful cliq, my Odyssey has been life-changing. The sunroof, the DVD player, the wireless headphone (esp. love that one)... the whole package, it's amazing. And I NEVER imagined I would say that. Not only am I eating crow over the whole mini-van thing but I also vowed never to let my children watch movies in the car, I know I try hard not to be a hypocrite, but I'm gonna let this one slide. (We'll check my sticktoitiveness regarding no TVs in bedrooms in the upcoming years.)

In oTHeR NeWS:

We just came home yesterday from an AMAZING, FUN family reunion at the Weight family ranch. I think it was the reunion that pushed me to blog again, just being with some of the people I love most. There is so much to know about people, so many stories to tell, so much to write. Anyway, it was awesome. Here are some highlights:

The pond swim was pretty much everyone's favorite.

Grandpa Bill and Amanda

My Splash! (Slow reaction camera= lots of splashes)

My best girl.

The second night Jay and I and the kids retreated to the cabin due to a leaky air-mattress.

I was the chip leader most the game and I was the poker tourney WINNER!

Hunter, Kennedy, Avery, David, Brielle, Connor, Savanah... some of the cute cousins!

So dirty, so cute!

Everyone hopped in the back of Jay's "new" (old) truck to ride to the pond. It was a riot on the dirt road.

Our good girl, Tess, still loves swimming.

Jay's favorite part of the reunion: Driving his new old truck

Kira's favorite part of the reunion: Being in nature, swimming at the pond

Kennedy's favorite part of the reunion: Didn't get an exact quote here, but I'm safely guessing it was swimming at the pond.

Hunter's favorite part of the reunion: "The food. And swimming."

Crew's favorite part of the reunion: Coming home and being able to CRAWL!