Olivia's 9th Birthday

Olivia decided to go and watch the sunset with Grandma Rudd and then eat at Sweet Tomatoe's as a family. It was a family birthday year. It was nice and simple. Brian bought a new truck right before her birthday so we drove two cars so he could pick up Grandma and we could watch the sunset in his truck. It is small moments like that that leave me in a place of gratitude to have good health and to be living and loving my family.

Dearest Olivia,

For your birthday, we were to have a family outing. You wanted to go watch the sunset with Grandma Rudd and then have dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. It was such a calm and fun night to be with you. We are amazed by your simple desires at times. You love to plan lessons for our family; to sing and perform songs for us, to share poems, to write plays…at least partial plays . You love to finish your homework in the car on the way home from school…almost. You love to give gifts to others and to wrap them up and make them look pretty. You love to do your own hair and really don’t like when I comment on what you wear or look like, unless it is to tell you that you are beautiful. You love to sing to yourself in the mirror. You love to be in charge when I run a quick errand.

You are my daughter-friend Olivia. I love to ask your opinion on what I am wearing, cooking, smelling, or thinking. You are honest, even to the point of telling me you are tired of smelling food to see if it has gone bad . You take such good care of Talon and help him when he his sad. He runs to you sometimes. It is so sweet. Thank you for all the help you give to our family!!!!

I love that you have shown such kindness to people at school. It is hard for me to have you gone all day. I miss you and the opportunity to see you grow and learn about being a kind and educated person. Thank you for sharing some of your day with me when you get home. I hope we have more time to share soon.

Thank you for all your help in general. Thank you for your strong testimony of what is right. I am so grateful for you example of righteousness for me and our family. Your sister and brothers look to you and count on you showing them how to choose the right.

I love you so much! Happy 9th Birthday. Will you stop growing now?

Love, Mom

December 2010-Truck, Santa, Christmas

Christmas season is so fun. I love the chances to see people's families, whether by card or event. I love the updates in whatever form they come.  This Christmas we had the Hall Progressive Dinner and the girls each played the piano at the Hall Christmas Eve Program, and we exchanged gifts with Mom Bentley for a family night.

On Christmas morning it was fun to see all of things Brian hadn't gotten the kids. He had down a bunch of shopping on line and the kids had so much fun seeing the surprised he had for them. It is the first year that I remember him take such a huge interest in getting things for them. It was way fun.

We went to the Grandma Rudds on Christmas morning late. We had breakfast, talked with Mom and watched her open presents, and then played at the park for a bit. It is so fun to see all the cousins interact and share their Christmas joys (presents)...Dad was missed as always.

We did get several Santa photo opportunities, which was fun because they fell into our lap and we didn't have to put a lot of energy into it :)  The kids love that and I enjoy it when I don't have to take a ton of time to make it happen. 

We went to visit Kathleen Haymore Graham. We stayed with her for a night and ate her yummy food and then went up to Flagstaff for our yearly snow exposure. The kids loved to play with her kids and she and I shared some sweet things about life.  I love her.  Brian had to work. We had as much fun as possible without him :)

Brian got a new truck and the kids have LOVED it.  We are so happy he got the one he really wanted. 

Thanksgiving 2010-Fall Leaves and Turkey

The kids had such a fun afternoon raking up leaves and playing in them.  I sat and enjoyed watching the event and loving to pieces the people I get to live with.

Mom Rudd was in charge of the big Rudd Thanksgiving. Taya mostly ran the show with mastermining the decorations and such. It looked AWESOME. She is so good at that. The turnout was good and it was a super neat day.

In the morning, I was able to go for a long run as Brian checked on the brines for his two turkeys. When I got back the kids and I went on a "Turkey Spin". We rode our bikes to see the peacocks and then around Freestone Park. It took longer than expected. Brian came to get us in his new truck when he could break away. We hurried home and got ready for the party. I rushed off with the yummy gravy Brian had made and he followed moments later after finally showering and packaging up the turkey to bring. Brian was amazing. He made my Thanksgiving Day the bomb. I just ran, rode with the kids, then readied the family to go eat at a party. He did all the cooking. I loved it.

We all took pictures with Grandma Great. I love to be near her. I love the way she has loved us and even as she looses a bit of her mind her heart and it's pure love and light shines throught the repeated phrases and messy hair :). I love her.

The talent show was fun. It turned into a bit of a DJ Rudd Family show. Others were bored for sure as our kids and nephews and nieces decided to do impromptu things. I, however, loved to watch all of it. Super fun to see kids share what they love to do.

We had a bunch of decorations to return to Aunt Jennifer's house that night. She was so generous in letting us use her things. When I got the kids back from cousins houses, I took the things back to her and the end to this mostly sweet day came all too fast.

October 2010

Halloween would NOT be the same without visiting our greats...Grandpa Ben and Grandma Great Rudd. We stop there first and love the way they love it and notice our kids. With Grandpa, the Mesa Bentley crew is there and it is a quick visit and sharing of costumes. I didn't have my camera and am sad not to have a digital print to show. He is awesome! Then we head to Grandma Great's assisted living facilities and everyone loves the kids and laughs as they dance around and show off their costumes. Mason was especially in rare form and we laughed as hard as the residents. :) Then we head back to Jennifer's street and go up and down it and call it a night. With Trunk or Treat earlier in the week, there is plenty of candy floating through the house and Brian and I get more than enough of our fill of costume fun.

Olivia was an Austrian Girl. People called her Heidi...from the books so she sometimes said she was Heidi. Ellie was Dorothy. Bryson was Buzz Lightyear... again. Mason was/is spiderman. Talon, thanks to my friend Krstine, was a duck.

San Carlos in September with only Brian

Joanna and Scott let Brian and stay in their condo in San Carlos. They moved to San Antonio, Texas and left us with a box of stuff to take to the Condo. Bri and I still had our visas from June, so it took us 6 1/2, rather than the nearly 8 with kids and customs, to get there. Within 10 minutes we had unloaded everything. It was awesome. We went straight to the beach under the full moon and took a dip...no details. :) The next few days we spent reading, playing, skim boarding, snorkling, and walking on the beach. The trip didn't quite end up how I thought it would...it always kind of stinks to leave San Carlos anyway it goes. :) It was a great time to be there and totally chill. I love my mand and I love that place!

August 2010 School and Roller Coasters

We decided to send the kids back to public school. It was a really hard decision for me and I don't even want to write much about it. They were adorable and so flexible with whatever was decided. Great Kiddos. I feel so blessed to be their Mom. Bryson started kindergarten and was excited to follow his older sisters off to school. He is so stinking fun to be with and such an adorable guy. It was hard. Brian walked Ellie to her class and she loved it. Olivia took off on her own...the way she wanted to. It was a day of mixed emotions for me.

At thed end of August, Brian and I took a one day trip to Magic Mountain. It had been several years since we rode rollar coasters, so we thought we'd make the most of not being pregnant or nursing and have some good laughs. It was SO fun. We actually left late one morning and made our way there. He surprised me and stopped at this outlet mall and he spent HOURS shopping and looking for clothes for me that I could wear for work. It was beyond sweet. I was so touched by his patience in shopping, his generousity in time and in gifting. :) We arrived at the hotel and had a little dinner and then just chilled. The next morning we left straight way for Magic Mountain and rode the day away. On the first ride, Brian jacked his neck. He took some ibuprofen and managed to tough the rest of the day out somehow, but it was interesting to note how our bodies had aged. I missed playing with him like that and drank in every moment with him. I can still hear our voices laughing as I think of being on those rides :)

Utah July 2010

Directly from the Bentley Reunion, I drove to Utah with the kids and Brian drove home with Mom. The beginning of many sweet experiences began when after leaving more than 2 hours after the Rollins, I pulled into the Maverick Gas Station in Flagstaff just as they were about to leave. They had gone a different route and encountered a storm. They advised me to go a different route (Brian's directions already took me the different route...inspired man :)). I avoided the delay due to the storms and after fueling up was able to follow them all the way back to their house in Utah. Darren even had Annie call me the last hour and a half and that saved me. I was tired from all the reunion fun.

I stayed for about two weeks in Annie's basement in Utah. She and Darren looked out for me and the kiddos as we ran around visiting kids. One day, Annie kept the kids from the moment they woke up and put them to bed that night. I went out with Ali all day. We hiked "Y" mountain, something I had never done. We sat at the base of the Y and talked and talked about everything you could imagine. She is someone who as seen my naked soul on more than one occasion and still manages to love me and I feel so liked in her presence. She is the truest of friends and a gift in my life. We went back and showered at her Mom's and had lunch at Cafe Rio. Then we went to a memorable session in the Mount Tipanogas Temple and bought me some garments (that ended up being way too small), and had Brick Oven. Sometime between ordering our food and receiving it, we (I) began a somewhat emotional conversation with Ali. The waiter was SO over anxious to know how our food was that he shamelessly interrupted that tearful conversation countless times to ask how our uneaten food was. It became somewhat humorous and I appreciated as much as ever this friend who directly and nicely let him know we were just fine and then noticed my pizza was not made the way I ordered it and asked him to make me a new one. She held my heart and fed my body all in the course of this meal:). I didn't return home to Annie's until nearly midnight. It was the greatest gift Anne or Al could have given to me.

We also got to go to have some beautiful canyon picnics and hike to and through Timpanogas Cave. The kids and I began one morning with just the last of our snacks. Kristen called when we were just about a half mile up to say her car had broken down on the freeway just before the Timpanogas exit. We went back down and picked her and 4 of her kids up and headed back to the trail. We didn't know for sure what time she would be coming to the Provo area and until I called Rupp that morning I wasn't sure she was coming at all. Anyhow, it turned out to be quite the adventure hiking up with kiddos during what was now lunch hour. The hike was harder than I thought it would be. I, luckily, had a baby backpack for Talon to be in. It made it lots easier when 3 year old Mason needed a lift too. Kristen, however, managed to hold her 3 and 1 year old using both her arms or her shoulder and arms. I was exhuasted without having to actually "hold" on to one. She is amazing. We made it to the top a bit past our estimated arrival time for our tour. We just laughed when the tour guide noted that and went on this super cool (just a bit long for little ones) tour through the cave. Our 8 to 1 year old kids were awesome. Talon didn't even break anything or go missing or hurt himself inside that cave. Wohoo!

We went straight back and met up with Rupp, who had now come from Rigby with a Trailer to tow the broken down Suburban. Then we went for me to shower real quick and off to meet Ali and her family in a beautiful place in the canyon...HOURS past the time we had hoped to meet up with her (we had called her and she just laughed).

It was a great evening with them. A lady made paper rockets with the kids and had a way to launch them. They loved it. We drank in our last moments together as I would be leaving that next day or so and Ali would have family coming into town and Kristen would be headed back home. These two gals are people that I aspire to be like. I love them.

I had a tender goodbye with Ali and some special moments with She and Chris. I felt so loved by them.

We left the morning that Annie left for girls'camp. Yes, she let us be there up until she left and even took a day in that last week of getting ready to care for all the kids and serve me. It was a great trip.