Did you think I died?

Let me start off with saying I have missed blogging. A mix between a lot going on, a few months of computer problems and just plain laziness got me out of the habit of posting. And it makes me sad. I love that my blog is my family's journal. And I'm hoping to get back into the habit of updating. :)

Since it has been basically a year and a half, I'll just give you a quick top ten of a few highlights in our little Cook world.

#10.  I swore I would never do this. But I did. I participated in Karaoke! But it came with a price. From Jason. :)  In June 2012 we went on a cruise with a couple of Jason's sisters and their husbands and my in-laws. One of his sisters really wanted to do karaoke. Jason told me he would pay me $300 if I did a song. We both laughed at that because we both know me. But then, I thought it would be nice to spend $300 on myself guilt-free. So I did it.

It was the most HUMILIATING five minutes of my life! But he paid up!

#9. This past summer my whole side of the family went to the farm where I grew up to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. We took family pictures. Wow. That's hard. Kids do not make that task a pleasant activity! Especially 16 of them!

#8. In 2012 we went on several vacations. (We got lucky and all of them for one reason or another did not require a lot coming out of our checking account.) Those are the best vacations!

I realized as I was making the yearly Riskedahl Family Scrapbook pages that we ended up at each end of the country, not including Hawaii and Alaska. :) We went east to New York City, where I got to see my bestie Serena and her hubby. Then south, where we sailed from Florida to go on a cruise with some of Jason's family. We stayed central in Utah for the Cook Family Reunion. Next we went north as we visited my parents in North Dakota. And finally west when we flew to San Diego for a couple of days to celebrate our 8th anniversary.

#7. Not many people get the chance to move while they are pregnant. Well, I did. Twice. In one pregnancy! We had been wanting to sell our home in Springville for a while, but with the market it was not happening. So we decided to do the renting thing. So we moved out in August and into a rental home in Eagle Mountain when I was three months pregnant. We planned on staying there for almost a year and hoped to buy another home in the spring. Well, I guess we got anxious... and started looking in November. And found what we were looking for. Fortunately I didn't unpack half of our boxes yet! So five months after moving in, we moved out! This time I was 38 weeks pregnant. (That's 2 weeks before the due date!) At least I didn't have to do much lifting!

We moved to another neighborhood in the Ranches of Eagle Mountain. From the very beginning I felt like this is where we are supposed to be. I LOVE my neighbors. They are exactly what I prayed for! I feel like we have been here much longer than 8 1/2 months already. I feel so blessed. 

#6. That leads us to Jason. Jason (for some crazy reason) enjoys yard work. So much that he wants to do a lot of it. Often. Well, now we have 1.8 acres of yard work for him to do. This home was empty for more than a year and a half. Two summers of the lawn not being watered = a very unattractive lawn. AKA weed central. Wow. I can't even tell you how many weeds we have removed. Jason has done SO MUCH work this past summer. Look!

Before and after pictures:

 The gloom of the before and the sunniness of the after reminds me of those commercials for products that "make your life so much easier" just by using that product. Frustration and pain is replaced by smiles and satisfaction....

His latest project, an outdoor pizza oven.  Now if it would quit raining for a few days maybe we could actually enjoy it!!

He's almost done with it.

#5. As for me, I've been keeping busy. (4 kids will do that to you whether you like it or not.) One thing that has attracted my attention is doTERRA essential oils. 

Last year I mentioned to a friend of mine that it takes me a couple of hours every night to fall asleep. She told me I had to try Lavender oil. I admit I scoffed at the thought. After all, I'm not a hippie. But since she was my friend I said I'd try it. Well, I was right. It did nothing. And I thought about how right I was for about two hours as I laid awake in bed that night. At least it smelled good though. So when she called to ask if it helped, and I said it didn't, she was surprised. I told her my mind just doesn't shut down at night and I have accepted that. She then said that I needed Serenity, not Lavender. My non-hippie mind just gave a courteous smile, and because I can't say no, I said I would try it. HOLY MOLY!! I hadn't slept that good in YEARS!! I'm not kidding! I had no desire to think about all that I had going on that weekend. I just... went to sleep. I used it for a few nights, and now I rarely use it to help me sleep because I rarely have that much trouble sleeping. It's like it reset my sleeping skills. And I love it. 

I've decided to get into doTERRA and learn all I can about it because it helps people. It changes lives! I've heard so many amazing stories of people who have been cured and healed and all that fabulous stuff! And I love helping people! I want the whole world to know that there is a natural God-given way to help us be healthy in our bodies, our minds, our spirits, our entire being!

Sorry, I'm still amazed and excited about the awesomeness of these oils!!

#4. Sam. He prefers Ham these days. Please don't ask me why. I have no idea. As a child I tried more than once to change my name. It didn't fly with the adults in my life. So you want Ham? Ham it is. Even the principal at his school knows he is Ham. (His friend a few houses down, named Sam, mentioned that to him, Ham wasn't sent to the principal's office or anything.) Ham is an awesome student, a fabulous reader, a great friend and a wonderful brother. I'm so blessed to be the mother of Ham. :)

Because of moving so much, he has started school each year in a different school. Poor kid. Now he has all these t-shirts with schools he no longer attends...  Oddly enough, next year it will be the same thing since they are building a new school 1.5 miles away from our house. Which is much closer than the 5.5 miles we have to go to get to his current school. 

#3. This little freckle faced cutie just turned 5. Livia missed the school deadline by a few weeks, so she won't start kindergarten until next year. That's ok, she still seems so little. 

She's my little tomboy. But lately she's been into My Little Pony, which is pretty girly. But her favorite is Rainbow Dash, which is the tomboy of the group. ;)

But she can write her name like nobody's business. It's cute that the 'a' looks more like a 'Q' anyway.

I just wish she wouldn't feel the need to write it on everything.

#2. Annalee is our little sassy ray of sunshine. Beware when those clouds come in. But they leave as quickly as they come. It's actually quite amusing. She loves to make people laugh. She's really good at it too. She's my little performer. She'll walk up to anyone and smile at them til they smile at her. Just writing this makes me smile. :)

Annie also helped me discover my breaking point. She loves binkies and was sad to see hers go around last Christmas. Unfortunately for all of us, after we took it away, we moved. Then replaced her as the baby. Then kicked her out of the crib. The bad timing was mostly out of my control and she did not appreciate her world crashing down like that within the matter of a couple of months. She couldn't bear to see a binky in her baby brother's mouth. She just had to have it in hers. Being de-throned off the baby pedestal needs to be handled a little more delicately... and we fought the binky battle. We fought it long. We fought it hard.We fought it for 6 months. (SIX MONTHS PEOPLE!!) Lots of tears were shed, small child and adult alike. But we battled on. Until the moment we had traveled about 30 hours within two weeks. We were 4 hours from home still. The wailing and gnashing of teeth began again. And this my friend, is the moment I found my breaking point. 30 hours. That's all I had in me. My head dropped, my eyes closed in shame as I felt my defeat from one small child. I handed her one of Max's binkies. And the gray skies opened and the sun appeared and relief swept through the car. As did silence. And the binkie remains. In her mouth. And sometimes in Max's mouth. Her ideal situation involves her having three binkies. One in her mouth (sometimes two) and one in each hand. And Max can have one if there is a fourth one available. She swaps them around as if they are each a different flavor. (Maybe they are, who knows what she does with them.) And I have succumbed to the knowledge that her binkies will remain with her as long as one remains with Max. Oh, well. I don't want to confirm my breaking point time table.

#1.  Mr. Max, Max, Mr. Mighty Max. (as sung to Mr. Golden Sun) This little guy brings so much joy to my life. You want a smile? You get a smile. His squishy cheeks, his big blue eyes, his belly laugh. I just want to eat him up! 

My friend, Sabrina took his newborn pictures. I can't help but smile when I look at them.

 

He looks away smiling as if he's shy when people smile at him. He reminds me of Bashful.

Maybe that's who he should be for Halloween.

He warms my heart. Then makes it smile. :)

Summary: I am so blessed. I have four healthy beautiful children, a loving (and pretty dang hot) husband, a beautiful home, a big inviting yard, neighbors who help me feel like I belong, and a testimony that my Savior knows me and loves me. I see His love every day through the faces of my little family.