PASSING THE BAR!!!

Let it be known that his day in history we found out that Larry PASSED the california bar!!! He took the test in July and now tonight we found out that he passed and can now be sworn in as a licensed attorney. It took a lot of years and work to get here. It was such a stressful and long day waiting till 6pm when the results were up. I couldn't look with Larry, I put the kids to bed and then heard him running up the stairs and I knew that meant he passed because he wouldn't run to tell me he didn't haha. I just cried and cried. It was a lot of sacrifice and faith having me not work and start a family while he went to law school and it still is us trying to have faith that he will be able to provide well for us so I can stay home with the kids, so this is kinda a big deal to say the least!!! Honestly we are on cloud 9 and now just wait for all the other things to come through intense background checks and what not then he can be sworn in by a judge and then onto a big awesome job hopefully. This is a huge blessing and we are really feeling happiness tonight!

Pizza and the park

The last 2 wednesdays we have picked up costco pizza and taken it to the park we like to call the bunny park. Max gets out early on this day so it worked out perfectly. Today Larry joined us for lunch. The weather has been so hot and summer is just hanging on so we spent a few hours at the park trying to get energy out. Scout is all over the place and has been fussy as she is breaking some one year old molars in so a park and pizza is the perfect distraction. Max has gotten so big he eats 3 slices sometimes! I decided until the weather turns cold we will continue our wednesdays pizza and park days soaking up the sun.  This really is such a typical day for us park and food! Also we are so lucky at the moment that Larry works close to home because we can meet him for a quick lunch at least once a week! 

 

 

This picture is horrible but it describes this stage of life perfectly with Scout crawling up onto the table every chance she gets, I pull her off and not more then 2 minutes later she has climbed back up trying to get into everything and pouring all the drinks out! Bless my heart the next 2 years of toddlerhood with her are going to be hard!! 

8 Years!

 8 years ago Larry and I drove to the Oakland temple to get married. Looking back I hated almost everything about my wedding there was a lot of tension between my parents and I, and it sadly will always be associated with that time. But here we are 8 years later still married and still working towards goals we set so many years ago. We have earned 3 college degrees between the 2 of us and have had 3 kids. We have had a lot of great times and a lot of not so great times. Single life was so easy compared to married life, and married life without kids was SO much easier then life with kids but it is my life and I love the good of it all and I hate the challenges and trials that have come are way because we've had a doozy of them, BUT also certain things have made me a stronger person and I am sure Larry could say the same. If I could give my 20 year old self some advice it would be to remember that everyone changes it is inevitable the key is to not change so much that you don't recognize who you are or who your spouse is. Also your love with change. I am not that super excited 20 year old dying to get married anyone...in fact I am a very tired 28 year old who would much rather take a nap then go on a date at times but I am also 100% comfortable with who I am when I am with my husband. He loves me no matter what I do or say or look like. He has seen me have 3 children which can not be so pretty sometimes, he has seen me hit rock bottom as a mom and wife, he has seen me cry a lot or be scared or stressed and he takes it all in stride and in a loving way. It is sometimes hard to explain that level of commitment to people as well as the easy that comes with sitting in a room together and not feeling the need to talk..does that make sense? Before we got married he probably hadn't seen me in many other circumstances except for being happy and wearing makeup but that is the great thing about being married it all evolves and you accept each other for who you are because you made a commitment and you know that new love isn't the same as mature love. We still have a lot of things ahead of us but getting out of the college phase was a big check off our list. In some ways I hope our life looks a lot different in 8 years and in some ways I hope it stays the same! 

Happy 8th anniversary Larry! 

THE BAR!!

Larry finished taking the California State BAR today! WHOOT WHOOT!!!

 4 years of law school

12 weeks non stop studying 

1 massive test

3 days

27 hours of testing

HE IS DONE!! 

Now we have to wait...4 long months 

 I met up with him just as he finished and summited his work for the day and we celebrated at our favorite place. He felt good, he worked and studied hard and he hopes he never has to take the test again. We prayed hard and we hope that those prayers were heard. I sent about 50 emails out to all our family and friends asking them to keep Larry in their thoughts and prayers as he took the test. 

I kept reading him the responses we got back all from people who support and love our family. It made my heart swell thinking of what a great support system we have. I know he felt those prayers as he was able to stay calm and recall all he had studied. This test is nasty and the pass rate is low, even if he felt super confident he could not pass so we are being cautiously optimistic. I am practicing the principle of faith probably more then I ever have in my life. But for now we wait, and move on with our lives. He started back to work and is busy as ever putting countless hours in, almost no different then school :) We hope we get to recreate this picture come November! 

A Summer Evening.

For family home evening tonight we took the kids to get ice cream then went on a walk around town center. We try to do a real lesson every other week then an activity in between. We also have been working hard on reading scriptures every night, we are doing well and are falling into a good routine. Anyways we walked around the kids were happy and the weather was very beautiful, unnaturally cool especially for the hot streak we had last week. 

As I was putting the kids to bed later in the night I was getting so frustrated, I usually put the boys down separate as to give them each their own time and hopefully help them fall asleep better, it is time consuming but it works. Anyways tonight they ended up going to bed together and it took me an hour to get them to finally fall asleep in the same bed. I was frustrated and mad and I thought, geez how do I go from super happy and content in motherhood to super cranky and over it just in a few hours time? Earlier I had been thinking how great things were then the pendulum swings and I want to pull my hair out! 

I know that is why I document the good and the bad, but mostly the good so I can remember when I am at my breaking point wanting to scratch my eye balls because this motherhood gig is hard I can remember nice summer nights were things were great, and everyone was so happy. I do love this family of mine so much even when it seems to hard to continue on! 

 

Happy 4th of July!!

We had the best 4th of July, the kids were in a great mood and we had lots of fun celebrating! Larry only studied 2 hours (typically does 10-12) so it was nice to have him around! We started the morning off with our annual pancake breakfast and parade. 

 

 The kids ate up all the food, especially Noah who has been recovering from the awful mouth virus. He finally ate and ate after days of starving!  Love this blue eyed girl of mine! Can't believe a year ago I was pregnant waiting to have her at this same breakfast! 

 

Max loved doing down this water slide. He cracks me up making sure that I had brought his goggles! He is getting so brave, I can't believe sometimes this is the same boy! 

 

Max even got brave and did the dunk tank. As we were walking over he said "Mom I am a little bit excited and a little bit nervous!" haha so funny. He did it over and over and loved it, It was a proud mom moment for me! I kept screaming a say yay Max!! 

Later in the Afternoon we went to the Martins and had BBQ and swam all afternoon. Max did not get out of the pool for 4 hours straight. The kids made up water slides and Max walked the plank over and over. He is getting SO good at swimming he kept walking then jumping into the deep end and swimming all around without his floaties. He is even better then last year, I am so impressed at how strong of a swimmer he is becoming. I love watching him bob around, do cannon balls and flips into the pool. 

Here is sweet scout who was grumpy from no nap but still loving being in the pool. She loves water, and she loves eating popcorn! Poor girl has been fighting a virus but I know that she will get better soon. 

 

Here is me trying to be good a document as we were cleaning up. This is only a portion of our cousins and friends the Bright Family who played with us too. The kids were getting cranky but I snagged a few of them! We all went home exhausted and full! Such a fun day, we didn't do fireworks because it is illegal in our county and the kids crashed so we didn't have to deal with it! Max had gone with Larry the night before to see the big fire works show in town center and so it was good enough for all! Happy 4th everyone!! 

A Trip To The Children's Museum.

This morning I packed up the babies and took them down to the Sacramento Children's museum. It is a small place but lots to do and everything is really hands on so I don't feel bad it they play and make a mess because they really can't destroy anything. I am trying hard to keep busy and keep the boys doing things as it is now summer and I don't want them just watching TV all the time. Plus I am alone 100% of the day till late at night because Larry is studying his brains out so I have to prepare myself and getting out and doing things is the best for us all. 

 Where is Noah? This boy is good at hiding from me, especially when it is time to go and I can't find him, he actually thinks it is hilarious when it is not, and I kinda want to kill him.  He has gotten better  a few months ago I wouldn't have come here by myself with the 3 kids for fear that I would lose 

Noah because he runs off so much, so that is progress right. Never really lost him once today!

Max the butterfly, there is all types of dress ups at this place. Cute face. 

Love this baby girl of mine! She is so special and sweet in every way. She played and crawled everywhere. Sometimes I don't know if she knows she is actually a baby. Oh I love her so much. Could kiss her and take a million pictures of her beautiful face all day long. There is a little baby area she hung out in and played but her favorite thing was to be right by me with some toy in her hand watching the kids play.  

 

 

This is Noah's favorite thing here. You can stuff balls, and scarfs in and it will go through all the tubes then shoot out different ends and ways. The yarn balls were scouts favorite and she would crawl as fast as she could to catch them when they popped out. There she is in action probably going after one! 

Luck was on our side, Larry was on his way up from Sacramento after his bar prep class had ended so we met up for lunch before he went back to his studying. We were able to have a great lunch the kids sat and ate their food and did great. We are at a good spot with them and it is feeling more possible to do things because they are getting a little older. I know it will be short lived because Scout will be crazy when she starts walking. For now I will enjoy it! 

Larry's Law School Graduation

Did you guys just read that?? After 4 long years he is finally done with law school! It has been a long journey with  finishing his first year of school down in San Diego to finishing up here in Sacramento. For those of you who didn't know Larry had been working full time at a law firm for the last 4 years then driving downtown to go to school 3-4 nights a week and some Saturdays...for the last 4 years! In those years we have moved and had 2 babies. It has been crazy and almost at times comical. I have fallen into a routine with him being gone so often people will ask me how I will feel when he is finally home and I think I have no clue, it will be weird to introduce him back into our routine but I am so excited for all the extra help in those long evenings. It is particularly hard to juggle bathing 3 kids and putting them to bed alone not to mention FHE and the one night a week I am at mutual which my mom so graciously has watched them for the last 3 years almost.

The actual graduation was hectic and crazy. It was right in the middle of naps and we were having lots of conflicts with different parties going on in the late afternoon. We got there just in time to snap a family photo then get our seats. The ceremony was long and both boys fell asleep on the ground. We actually had to leave a tiny bit early to get Max to a birthday party he had been dying to go to so I snuck out early with all three kids to get Max there so we didn't see Larry go across the stage but its fine the boys were totally clueless to what was happening. My parents and grandpa came as well to support which was nice.

Later that night we had a big open house celebration for Larry. The house was totally decorated with big posters and signs grandpa made and we had lots of people come and go and congratulate the grad! We could not have done this without all the friends and family that supported us during these years. It was a fun night to remember and to also acknowledge what a big deal this actually was! Sometimes I would get grumpy over the years and feel like it was so long with was anti climactic but my mom made it clear it was something that needed to be celebrated and so we partied hard!

I really am so proud of Larry and all the balancing he has had to do over the years. We've come a long way and we are almost done! Larry plans to take the California Bar in July and continue back at his firm in August. He is taking 10 weeks off to study and take this massive life changing test. I try my best to not ponder on the test and just encourage and be supportive...it's all on him to pass and I know he can do it! He is taking a big study class for 8 weeks and not working just to prepare for it! So everyone wish us luck we are almost there!!

Celebrating Larry's JD!

We got all dressed up and celebrated Larry's graduation with a dinner downtown with 100 of his closes graduates ;) Actually we did sit at a table with his entire study group and their families and spouses. In the 4 years of school I had only met one of the person he faithfully studied with. I was a little checked out of law school things because lets face it I've been busy having kids. Larry also worked so much he never attended many of the social events also because a good number happened at bars and clubs and it isn't really our scene. Who wants to see a pregnant lady at a club? Or us pulling up in the mini van?! Right?! It was nice to get out and relax and actually relish in the fact that this is almost over!! A lot of sacrifice, blood sweat and tears went into this JD and we look forward to seeing it pay off in the future. The food was good and the endless diet cokes were awesome. It was in a beautiful courtyard, I wish I had snapped a few pictures but I'm glad I remembered to grab one of us! The original team, Now we have 3 more members are depending on us to make their lives awesome. Through out this entire endeavor I had to constantly remind myself about the end game and the goal we started off so many years ago in what seems like a different life. We've come along way from out tiny college apartments in Utah, and while I look back and miss those days of just the 2 of us going to school and how simple it was, It's nice to see we've made progress and we've grown in lots of different ways. To the next big step...The Bar! 

Larry's 32!!

Happy birthday to Larry!! 32 seems old. Ha! We didn't do too much for the big day because I had just had my d&c done that week. Friday night my mom watched the kids while I took him shopping and to dinner! It is so nice to get away and have a quite meal. It was some kids proms so it was fun to watch all the girls in their way to short dresses try to maneuver through the restaurant. We did meet all our friends at the park on his actual birthday (Sunday) and have root beer floats. The next day for FHE we had cake and ice cream with the Martin and Harris cousins and then that weekend we saw Avengers and went to Cheesecake factory with the adults. It was a fun night to get away and to celebrate Larry. I was glad we celebrated 3 times to keep our minds from being sad. We are gearing up for graduation in 2 weeks and I think Larry is pretty excited to say the least! Happy Birthday to the best husband and dad around here! 32 is a big year for you!!

Valentines Day Hike

I love valentines day! The colors, the hearts, the candy, the love!! I grew up in a very non affectionate family, so when we started ours I made it a goal to be very affectionate! We hug, we kiss a lot, and say I love you a million times a day. I want my children to KNOW they are loved, and to feel it and see it. I could get all mushy on you, but I'll refrain.

Max wanted to take a hike so we obliged! He usually goes every Sunday after church with my mom on an adventure aka hike. She loves taking him and Noah out to explore. She is so great with them and they love going out with her. They go all around our neighborhood (which is all under new house construction) to the place the call the trenches, to the sand pits, to the tree they call the Bucking Bronco!

This tree known as the Bucking Bronco is a huge tree that is big and old and has tons of different branches you can climb all over is near our house and a favorite of Max's. Larry and I had never seen it so, my mom and the boys with Scout on my back ventured out to see it!

Max was so excited the whole time telling us all about it and leading the way. He lights up when we do anything with him and he kept saying how much he loved our family valentines day hike. He says family in the cutest way, I better record if before he starts saying if correctly he adds and R to it so it sounds like framily.

We hiked around and the boys climbed all over the tree telling us stories about pirates and bad guys. We picked up some cool sticks along the way. We went to the top of the hill where we saw a huge herd of cows grazing. Larry wanted to get closer but I being a scaredy cat of bigger animals then me wanted to turn right around. Max and my mom got close to the cows and Noah kept yelling hey cows, hey cows through his pacifier filled mouth!

It was a beautiful warm day and we even snapped a few pictures! The boys got some tiny little gifts that morning which they were of course surprised and so excited about! I love doing simple gestures that make them feel loved and special. My sweet grandpa even got me some chocolate and drew a big heart in Dean Draper fashion. I love my imperfect family so much and love that there is a day we can recognize what a blessing it is!

Family pictures 2014

My main goal in life...well one of my many goals is to get really great family pictures at least once a year. I think its really important to document your family and fill your walls with pictures of those you love! I also have this thing where I really didn't have great wedding pictures for various reasons and I get envious of those who do...so I make up for it with pictures of my sweet albeit crazy family.

It is pretty hard to get everyone to smile, look at the camera and get that perfect shot. I always just want one for christmas cards but I am trying to loosen up and be happy with the candid and real life because let's face it my our life is no where near perfect. Also I am trying to soak up all these memories of these little guys because I know how quickly they grow!

The ones of the 3 of them together just melt my heart. It is so sweet to see them treat each other with love, it doesn't happen all the time but I would say for the most part Max and Noah play really well together, they are so close in age they really have never known life without each other. I love that Max is holding Scout, and Noah that smile...if that doesn't make you happy then nothing will! Their personalities come right out...our Shy reserved Max and our crazy playful Noah. Then sweet baby Scout only 3 months old it feels like she has always been with us.

        

There are a few more I can add but I love the one of Larry and the 2 boys. It is so amazing to see what a great dad he has developed into. The boys love him and love being around him...the second he gets in the door at night they all scream "DAD" and run for him. I was so happy with how the pictures turned out I was a perfect evening and it only cost me a lego and a car to bribe the boys with! I'm exhausted just thinking about next time but at least I have another year to plan it all out!