The Beauty of Ordinary Days

One of my favorite things in life is ice cream. It is a delicious, beautiful, and soothing creation. One of my favorite things about David, is that he loves ice cream as much as I do. We try to always have some in the freezer, because we need it. ;) 

The other night we went on a date, we got ice cream downtown, and we walked around the park. I have to say, it really is so nice to have someone to experience life with, but it is also not easy! This newly married thing -- with nine children to balance our time between -- is not always a walk in the park. But, we often take walks, and we try to sort things out, as reasonably as we can. Sometimes we take walks together, and sometimes we take walks alone, so we can sort through our own thoughts with some space. 

David and I are both used to functioning as individuals, so combining our individuality -- as more experienced adults -- is quite the task, and not for the faint of heart. We have both worked so hard in our healing processes and on an individual level, we had both arrived at a place of peace and joy. 

Now, by combining our lives, we have brand new elements thrown into our emotional-growth space, to provide such glorious learning and stretching experiences. Sometimes the growing experiences are so "glorious" (crazy-hard), that we can barely stand it! 

We have laughed hard, and cried hard. We have had moments of pure joy, and moments of pure sadness together. We have both uncovered sensitive places, that have been buried deep in our souls. We have walked into heart-caverns that would never be found, without the desire to be intimately connected as companions who communicate deeply together. 

We are still very much getting to know each other, and we are trying to figure out how we can best operate with our families. If you are a part of our intimate lives, please be patient with us. Even though we are older and so mature and knowledgeable now (ha, ha), we are still in the delicate space of the first year of marriage. It is a hard space in a first marriage, and in a second marriage, well... we require a lot of ice cream, and exercise, (and patience and prayer), to work things out in a positive way. 

Getting married again has been a challenge for both of us, but it has also provided some of the most beautiful experiences of love and learning; more beautiful than we could have ever imagined. 

And let's not forget cookie butter. 

Without David, I would not have cookie butter in my life, and that would be tragic.  

Marriage relationships take hard emotion-filled work; but marriage is worth all of the effort. I am grateful for all of the work David has put into learning and growing and developing over the years. He has spent a lot of time studying things that have prepared him for this time. I have also spent a lot of time studying and developing and preparing. Now we get to develop and grow in life together, and I am grateful. However, growing together is in some ways more challenging, as two heads have more opinions, ideas, and headaches, than one.

I cannot even imagine all of the life lessons we will learn together. It is so important to take life one day at a time though, so we do not get overwhelmed by the unknown future. That is one thing we have learned for sure. 

I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for guiding my life, and my path. I once had a blessing that said, "Heavenly Father has a plan for your life." I am sure glad to know that He does have a plan, because all of my plans seem insignificant and small compared to His course-charting. I am trying to learn how to let Him lead and guide me, so that I can relax a little more. 

So, as a side note... on my blog I do try and emphasize the sweeter things in life, but I try to be realistic too. I would love to be more vulnerable and share some real experiences as they come, with the hope that it will be a help to others, and even a help to myself. I love to write -- it is a beautiful way to clear my mind and balance my emotions. I hope to be thoughtful, and I will write with discernment and discretion, of course. But I really do want to share, even some of the really hard stuff. I will share as I feel prompted to share, and I will hold back when I feel prompted to hold back. 

I will also consult with David before sharing too much, and perhaps, one day... he might write a few thoughts of his own.  

There are many times I wish I had more resources to turn to, written by those who have been in a similar situation as myself. I love to read what others have experienced, so that I do not feel so alone. I will try to provide that space for others as best I can. I think we all have so much to learn from each other! 

This journey of life can be made easier, when we know we are not alone. 

On to the pictures! (Get comfortable, there are A LOT!) 

We have had SO much rain here in Idaho. It has been so beautiful as the clouds roll in bringing buckets of water and lightning. 

Glorious flowers.

Mother's day. We took a few pictures...

This one is the perfect example of our family.

All of my children (except Henry) are adult-sized. Daniel is getting worried that William might just be bigger than him one day. Ahhh... brothers. 

I love these van Ormer babies. 

I ran up the mesa with Sammi. We had some good life conversations, and I loved listening to her thoughts and feelings as she opened her heart, and shared things with me that were very powerful. 

Daniel has been working SO hard on getting "ripped," as he calls it. He has lost 50 pounds! How has he done it, you ask? He works out like crazy. He eats mostly eggs, chicken, veggies/fruit, and ice cream. Yep, that is right... ice cream! Sugar free ice cream, but still! Go Daniel! You are so awesome! What has been his motivation? Well, he is 16, and it is dating time! He also really wants to be in theater and musicals productions, so he wants to be fit for any roles he would get to play. This boy is OBSESSED with music/musicals. He is often (always) talking about what he hopes next years school musicals will be. Oh man, I sure hope they pick a good one that he can be a part of!

He made these collages for his bedroom wall. Like I said... he is obsessed! I kind of love it though. Music is my favorite, too!


We took the kids out to the Village to go bowling and enjoy the water shows.

Henry played at the park.

They loved the "Magic Show" as Henry called it.

 Sitting in the place of our first kiss. :) 

Bowling was fun, until they started playing really yucky music videos, so we got our money back for the second round, and got out of there.

It was really fun for awhile, but the choice to leave was pretty easy. I can't stand loud and gross suggestive music videos. I was not about to keep my kiddos in that space. 

Too bad we all finally started getting better right as it was time to go.

Daniel is being Daniel.

There was a huge gust of wind that came and blew down the beautiful tree in our front yard. It was so sad!



I posted on Facebook that our tree fell, and within moments, I had members of our Church over at our home deciding how to best take care of it. It was a Sunday night that it fell. The next day was Memorial day, and about 30 members of our ward showed up ready to help, on their holiday. I was blown away!

They came with their chainsaws and trailers, and they all worked together to get the job done fast!

Look at all these powerful guys!

Our neighbors wondered where all the people came from to help. They were amazed that they were all from our Church. They asked how they got the word out, and I said all they had to do was send out an email and people came to help -- they seemed astonished. I was too! But I guess when I look at "these people from Church" I see them as family, that I love so much!

My heart was bursting with gratitude, as I witnessed the gospel in action in my front yard.

They even dug in until they removed the stumps. These guys were just AMAZING with how hard they worked. I am so grateful for such good people!



Since it is summer, it is time to paint again!

We have been creating more art to hang in our toy room.

Painting is so fun and therapeutic!

We need to reorganize the paintings... 

They are coming together. 

I love the art of God in nature.

This was an object lesson in a youth church class. They were talking about the need for good friends to support us in life, because we cannot carry our burdens alone.

Sammi pondering the meaning of life while pausing during a run.

The sunsets have been so dynamic lately with the storm clouds.

I feel very blessed to live where we do.

A little friend I came across while out in nature.

Sammi graduated high school! The ceremony was short and sweet. I wanted to capture pictures of Sammi there, but they would not let us back in downstairs, and it was POURING outside, and we never found each other. It felt like the air was just water it was dumping SO hard. I will have to get another picture of her in her cap and gown.

Our culdesac became a lake.

Crazy times.

I rode around with Sammi in her car one day, I pulled the mirror down and found this note...

Flower trees!

Henry was The Big Bad Wolf in his class play. He did a great job. He seemed super happy to be performing.

Sammi and Daniel had their final Pops concert for the year. It is mostly just a cry-fest of saying goodbye to the Seniors. Choir becomes a family. It has been such a huge and positive influence in the lives of my children, I am so grateful they got to be a part of the choir family all of these years.

Lots of tears.

And hugs...

A whole lot of love.

Watching Sammi play the piano for the choir always makes my heart burst. This girl is self-taught and she plays so beautifully, it is a true spiritual gift of hers. Sammi received a special award from her teacher.  She received "The Spirit of Choir." It is a big deal, and she certainly has a very special spirit that glows with her wherever she is. Sammi shines with the love of God.

I loved this... The girl next to Sammi played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. I loved watching her comfort Sammi as she cried. She sat there rubbing her back and stroking her hair. It was such a sweet moment of friendship, and so symbolic.

Sammi likes to color in the Coloring for Tranquility book.

We went to the Idaho City Cemetery

This was one of the grave markers...

It is such a peaceful place.

Sammi likes to stick her head out the window when we go for drives.

I love David's hair in this picture. He has always had short hair, but he has been growing it out longer than he is used to. It has this amazing texture to it, and it is fun to make it nice and poofy. Also, just for the record, it was his children who wanted him to grow a beard, not me. However, I do love it, and I encourage him to keep it. :)

Another ridiculously raining day.

 The kids enjoyed playing in the water.

 We had some good hail too!

 Nothing better than swimming in the street. I almost pulled out the canoe, but I thought that might be pushing it.

Sammi and I were looking through the book section at the store, and I came across this truly beautiful book. It is one of the most true and joyful books I have ever read. It is not a children's book, it is so much more than that! I have seen the power of cookies in my life. I have seen cookies change hearts and lives. Cookies are POWERFUL when given with love! This book is now on display in my kitchen, so I can read it whenever I need a smile.

 It is full of beautiful truth like this...

I love this! So much! 

Yes! 

One of my favorite pages... 

Yep. 

This is so true. 

The kids love jumping on the trampoline together. 

 One of Sammi's creations.

 I have been enjoying this book that David brought home.

Henry likes to come and cuddle in bed with me and David. Sometimes when David leaves for work he will say, "Bye, Dad!"

 Stormy weather.

 The glory of the sun.

 David likes to workout using his TRX strap. I enjoy watching him.

 He does some crazy stuff with his trainer who makes online videos.

 Look at that hair! We were tying to make it go Bob Ross style, but I think I need a pick to do that.

 The clouds have been heavenly angel clouds.

Walking in the park.

 We walked through the cancer support area of the park.

I love spending time with my David. 

David can seem kind of serious sometimes -- I think because he is always deep in thought about many things -- but most of the time he is seriously silly with me. He loves to be light-hearted and have fun. When we were dating, I said to him, "David, I like your butt." Without hesitation he said, "My butt likes you." That was one of the moments when I knew we were meant to be. ;)

 Another walk in another park.

 I love summer nights.

My kids have been going to the temple with friends. They helped their friend, Kedric, reach his goal of doing 1000 baptisms, before he goes on his mission. They accomplished the goal! So AWESOME! What a wonderful group of youth! My children have been so blessed to have such good friends.

Here is Sammi with Nico. She was Cinderella and he was Prince Charming. For the choir banquet, they had to secretly pick someone and create awards. Sammi chose Nico, and Nico chose Sammi. Nico gave Sammi the "Best Anger Management Award" as her funny award, because she is always so calm. And for her real award he gave her the "Unforgettable" award, because no one will ever forget her. Sammi gave Nico the "Best Kisser" award, because, well, she had to kiss him a lot during Cinderella. And for the real award she gave him the "Heart of a Prince," because he is so sweet and kind-hearted.

Here is Daniel, and some of the Tenors from Encore. They have been getting together to bond over the summer. Daniel LOVES being with friends, especially friends that sing.

I love this picture of two of my favorite people! We took Sammi up to Table Rock road, to see a beautiful storm. Sammi loves Dave. (All the kids call him "Dave.") The three of us sit together often and talk. Life has had some really big changes, including my first child graduating, and David and I getting married during the same time. I certainly could not have dreamed up how my life would go up to this point. But life never goes as we think it will, does it? 

Look at that sky! 

Oh man, I love this man. 

We came across this quote while out for a walk. I really love it, and I need to apply it to my life more. 

 

 I sure love this extra-ordinary life we get to live!