Happy Birthday! Sarah is One!

Today is Sarah's first birthday. We all had fun spoiling the birthday girl. She was a a little timid with the cake but eventually got more brave. :) We had a fun time celebrating a triple birthday with my little brother Lance and nephew, Conner.


I can't believe a year ago I was laying in a hospital bed, writhing in pain, waiting for our little Sarah to make her debut. :) The pain was worth it. . . and still worth it.




Sarah is the most popular person in our family. Everyone loves her. Strangers adore her for her long eyelashes...the Stalker legacy. :) We adore her because she brings a spirit of happiness into our home everyday.

She has gone through all those important milestones so quickly...I could hardly catch my breath before she was off learning or doing something new. Smiling, holding her head up, rolling around the room, sitting up, crawling, and soon to be added....walking. She loves to explore her world. I took her to the park the other day. She crawled through the wood chips and dirt without even giving a wimper. She loved every minute of it...and came home very dirty. : )


She is a character and loves laugh. She gets into giggle-a-thons with her brother and sisters. Of course, they are good at getting her to laugh as they are willing to do anything to make it happen. :)






I wish I could say she looks like this peaceful little picture all night long. She still wakes up once a night most nights. However, she is super easy to put to sleep. Naps and bedtime usually just mean laying her down in her bed and saying night night. She sticks her thumb in her mouth and drifts off to dream land. I love that.
She loves all her siblings. They all give a lot of love and attention to her. They still battle over who gets to help her out of bed after her nap. They have made having a baby in the house again a lot less work. They are all great babysitters. Even Emily, who often keeps the baby company while I am working. I am lucky to have such great kids.
Sarah is destined to be a bright spot in the lives of many. As I went down memory lane in celebration of her birthday I found her baby blessing. She was blessed to befriend those who had no friends. I can see why. She is a fun and sweet baby.
She puts up with everything her older siblings throw at her... and does so happily. She loves music and will dance to anything that she hears. She will bop her head to the beat to even to just the beat of the Mario Kart. :)
Sarah is our super star. It is impossible to imagine life without her here. We have always had a happy family. Before Sarah was here I couldn't have imagined how we could be happier...but she brought so much more to us then I could have ever imagined. Happy Birthday Sarah. You are the best!!!!!

Missionary Blessings

After years of dry spell with no missionaries coming or going from our family, this year we are being blessed abundantly with missionaries. First, my nephew, Austin left for Scotland Ireland. It has been so fun to read his letters so far. I am touched by his testimony and the love that has grown in his heart so easily....of course, that isn't a surprise. If you know Austin then you know he is full of love and has been since he came to earth. It's a gift God gave him. His letters are so positive and uplifting. He is doing fantastic so far and loving his mission.

We are also about to enjoy the blessings of two other fine missionaries from our family added to God's army of missionaries. Tom and Mary, Nate's parents, have recently been called to serve in Minnesota. We are so proud of them for giving up the many comforts of home....and missing out on a few things to serve. I know it is difficult to leave a life that you have built up for 30 years. As things unfold for them it is exciting to learn of some of the things they will be doing. They leave middle of April and we are looking forward to hearing about their many adventures.



Nate and I are lucky to have both been able to serve missions. Missions are game changing moments in life. From the moment you decide to take the leap until the moment you get home your life will be on the fast track....a fast track filled with experiences and people that will forever change the very fiber of who you are. My mission was 13 years ago but I still draw on the experiences I had there. I know Nate feels the same way.


Thank You to the new and courageous missionaries who are truly handing their lives over to the Lord. We love you. We support you and we thank you for the blessings we know we will enjoy from your service. Three cheers for our Missionaries!

Spring in Utah County

I was struck by the blessings that come along with moving back home as we enjoyed last Sunday's Spring splendor. Unlike today, last Sunday was beautiful and warm. Nate and I were dying for some outdoor sunshine so we gathered up the kiddos to prepare for a nice walk up Provo canyon trail. Just as we were about to walk out our door we had a surprise visit from my parents. It was so nice to just have them stop by for a visit.

Anyway, we eventually packed up in the van to head to Provo Canyon. On our way there I saw my sister outside enjoying a little fresh air along 8th north. :) I pulled over and chatted with her. Then we decided it would be fun to go back and get Nikki and Conner to come with us. You can see how much Sarah enjoyed our walk. She was like a little wet noodle sitting there...just as relaxed as possible.
Finally, as we were walking up the trail we got a call from Nate's mom. She came and met us and walked with us a little as well. So, with no planning at all, we saw all those people within two hours. :) I love that. Having lost that luxury for several years, it is so nice to have it back.
We had an absolutely lovely time walking and playing along the trail. It couldn't have been a nicer afternoon. :) I love Spring and I love being home and close to family. :) It's the best.

How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways

Very soon my precious little baby will be one year old. Can you believe that? It seems like she was only born yesterday. Things are very busy around our house...as I know they are for most of us. Time passes at light speed. Anyway, I will surely be putting together something for Sarah's birthday, but right now, at 4am, I just wanted to say I adore my little baby. She is a bright spot in my day, everyday. Right now she is up talking from her bedroom...that is not a good thing at this hour. Maybe she is talking in her sleep. :) I love Sarah for so many reasons. She loves me. I am her #1 and in a household where I always lose out on that spot to my husband (the kids believe that they think he is #1) I love that she thinks I am the best. I love her little face, smile and laugh. I love that she loves to sit and listen to a book. We have a reading corner in her room where the rocking chair is and when I sit there with her she immediately begins climbing me like a ladder to try to get to the book shelf. I love getting her from naps or waking up in the morning. She always has a smile and a laugh when I come in to her room. I love watching her speed crawl through the Kohl's store like she has finally been set free. I love it when her legs start kicking excitedly to tell me that she approves of a meal. She is a wonder to me and I could go on and on. So, the truth is, there is no way to count the ways. They are infinite.

Me and My Kiddos

When Nate was growing up Mary made a point each year to take each kid shopping for the new school year. This was one on one time with her and something that he remembers fondly. This year I did the first annual shopping and ice cream date with my kids. It was so fun and the kids really looked forward to the date.


Ben and I had a good time. We shopped at Kohl's and then went to get ice cream at Cold Stone. The thing I remember especially about Ben and my date was that Ben asked me if we could go on a walk and eat our ice cream. So we drove to the Temple and walked around the block while we ate our ice cream. It was super fun to listen to Ben and just hear his brain working. Ben is a deep thinker. His brain is always running and trying to figure things out. It was really important to him that we had a special and memorable time together...which made it memorable to me. :)


Rachel and I had a great time. Rachel is getting older...soon to be 8. She is starting to be interested in bigger girl things. In fact, just recently her and I went to a movie. "The Big Miracle". I was afraid the movie was going to be too boring for her with no cartoon characters or talking animals. Instead, we had a fabulous time together and talked about the movie afterward.
Anyway, when we went shopping I tried to be pretty open to anything she wanted. We shopped at three stores and she picked out a cute little wardrobe the the start of school. Afterward we went to cold stone. We sat outside and enjoyed the warm evening breeze.



My night out with Emily was super fun. Emily is a bubbly, relaxed girl with no worries. She goes with the punches and just doesn't let much get her down. When she has a private audience she talks a bunch and it is so fun to find out what interests her. She didn't care a whole lot about the shopping. We went to
Old Navy and picked out a bunch of shirts. Then she was ready for the ice cream part of our date. We tested out Maggie Moos. I loved every minute.

I am so glad Nate suggested this tradition to me. It was super awesome last year and my kids are already asking when we are going to get to do it again.

BYU with #1

One of the super fun things we have gotten to do since moving to Utah County is attend some BYU games. Nate had a season ticket with his Dad and Ryan so they swapped seats for a few games and Nate was able to take Ben and Rachel to a football game. He actually had a ticket for Emily to go to a football game too...but with the new ESPN schedule and the late night cold games...Emily opted to wait and go to a basketball game instead. Who could blame her? :)

Anyway, we also caught a basketball game as a family on New Year's Eve because tickets were cheap, cheap, cheap. :) We had fun. The kids love the one on one time with Nathan. Each kid got to bring home a little souvenir from the game they went to with Dad...I insisted that I should get one too, so I brought home a cute BYU beanie. Hopefully we will get to enjoy this tradition for years to come. Dad is #1...at least that is what everyone else seems to think.


Emily got that giant cup which she insists on using as her night time drinking cup. :)

I got to go to the best game of the basketball season...BYU vs. Bailor. We lost...just barely and it was a really exciting game.

Working 9 to 5...or something like that.

So, I guess I have just decided to input whatever I feel like inputting in this here blog. We'll start with the new job. Nate has now been with Parker Hannifin for almost 2 months. He is super busy and they have his running in different directions all the time. He says he needs to improve his organization and prioritizing skills. They currently have him working on machine designs for some new areas of the plant that are supposed to be "examples" of what they want the rest of the plant to eventually become. They give him an idea of a machine they want and then all trouble shoot it together to refine the idea. Nate says "It's awesome." I made him say that though. :) He actually does really like his new job...though it is a bit stressful some days. The job is giving Nate a chance to expand his mind. ;) Parker is a super great company to work for so far.

I am still with Utah Virtual Academy. I am working on my third year with them. I love my job but it has gotten much more complicated since Sarah started crawling. :) She is into everything. This year I teach math and writing to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who have Special Education services. My students are so great and such a fun age. They are also hilarious and love to share little tidbits about their lives. I generally wake up early and work an hour or two before I get the kids get up. The hard part is the days when I can't work from home. Lately it seems like I have to be gone 3 or 4 days every month. I know, that's nothing. However, it always feels stressful on those days. This last week I had a particularly trying morning. I had to drive to Layton to help administer the DWA(Direct Writing Assessment) to about 70 students who would be meeting us at the Weber Davis Campus to complete their testing. Anyway, it was really important for me to be there and be on time. Rachel woke up crying and feeling anxious about me leaving. I couldn't get her to relax and I couldn't stay home so I just left. My mother in law was on her way to the house and I figured Rachel would stop crying before she got there. However, about 20 minutes later I noticed I had a couple of missed calls. When I called back Rachel was still upset. I had to bribe her with a Mom / Rachel movie night to help her calm down. After I got off the phone I was kind of depressed at first and then I realized how blessed I am to only have to do these things occasionally. I am so thankful I don't have to get up and leave the kids every morning. I am so thankful I get to be around to make them breakfast and send them off to school. I am so thankful that Emily, Sarah, and I are together almost every day...even though some of those days are tortuously boring for little Emily. Juggling mother and teacher is tricky and totally unsuccessful some days...but I am glad to keep doing it to keep being able to be there at a moments notice for my kids. :)

So, working 9 to 5, day after day. We'll keep doing it for years to come. :) We'll be doing it for years to come...so I guess it is not really front page news. HAHA. :)