South Africa Day 7

Ok so Andrea told me I needed to finish publishing the photos from my trip to Africa. so here they are.

helmeted guinea fowl in cape town

So these guys the walk in the middle of moving trafic to sell things, papers, nick knacks, and who knows what.

view from V&A waterfront hotel room

breakfast in the hotel. looks out over the bay.

Cheetah center

first we went birding at the cheetah place

me petting the owls

a "marshal Eagle"

yep that me holding an owl.

this is called a secretary bird.

me petting a cheetah

lunch at moyo- you eat in tree houses. kinda cool

face painting at Moyo

Table Mountain in cape town. we couldn't get up there because it was too windy for the cable car

view from the top of signal hill looking into Cape Town

Helmeted guinea fowl

signal hill looking at lionshead and table mountian

May Randomness

Sam promises that he will post the rest of his pictures of South Africa but I got tired of waiting so I will post the rest of the month's happenings since he got home.

Well, Grandma and Papa Upton came to visit for Uncle Matt's graduation. 

 I didn't get many pictures of our visit but we had a great time.

 Seth playing hide and seek. He loves to hide behind the curtain in our room and his toes always stick out.

 Christian will sleep anywhere as long as he has his blankies.

 Our Iris's are blooming

 So are the tulips.

 Lucy is loving the warm weather.

 The liliacs are blooming

 So are the strawberries

 So are the new grapevines

 The lettuce is almost ready for it's first cutting

 Playing on the swings

 The kid loves his watermelon!

 Driving to Brinley's Baptism. Chris got car sick and puked all over. And yes that is a scratch on his nose he was running and fell a few days before.

 Still Driving...

 Riding bikes after the baptism

 Chasing Uncle John's Chickens

 We always have so much fun when we got to visit Uncle John's and Aunt Natalie's. And Brinley's Baptism was great.

Loving being outside.

So that's the catch up of the month so far. If I had more ambition I would have put all the happenings in different posts, but I'm not so there they are all in one.

What it means to be...

Ok so this post is a bit of a ramble and probably won't make sense to anyone. But that's ok it doesn't have to. 

Sometimes being a wife and a mom means no croutons on your salad because the kids sneak them all, date nights for 5, and little toys under your covers from when the kids sneak into bed for morning cuddles. Cleaning up extra messes because they wanted to "help." It means grocery shopping with a cart that is already full of kids and has no room for groceries. It means picking up the dry cleaning, picking up the toys, having dinner ready, FHE planned. It means you think you keep it all together. But my favorite part is little hands cupping my face and sweet voices telling me I am the best mommy in the world. The big hands are nice too.

And sometimes being a husband is letter your wife steal your croutons because the kids stole hers. Cleaning toys out from under the covers and scooting over till you almost fall out of bed because The kids want to cuddle mommy.  Sometimes being a dad is letting the kids fight over who gets to sit on "mom's side" and be okay with who gets stuck sitting with dad. Some times being a Dad means being stuck at work while the wife and kids are at the zoo, the farm, the park have a wonderful time and remembering that is why you are at work even though you are dying to be out playing with them. Sometimes being a husband is taking the kids while your wife has a girls night because she's been home all day, even though you've been at work. It means you mow the lawn, fix the faucet, plant the garden all with 2 little boys in tow because they want to be just like Daddy. 

Being a husband means reassuring your wife that she looks beautiful. Being a husband means you burn a lot of CD's because your wife needs them done. It means going to grad school and fitting in homework after everyone is in bed all because it will make things better for your family in the long run. 

Being a Dad/Husband means keeping it together so everyone else feels safe to fall apart because you will be there to pick up the pieces. 



I love being a mom, I love being a wife. But I know that being a wife and mom would be so much harder if it wasn't for Sam. 

I adore him. And I think I came to appreciate him more while he was gone because I realized just how much he does. He is amazing.
I love you Baby! I am the luckiest!

Another Anniversary

3 years ago we moved into our house.

It's not the same place it was before. 

It's now been the longest place Sam and I have lived. Today it beat out SSL. 

Happy Anniversary of moving to Happy Valley, and we are pretty happy about where we've ended up.

8 years ago Today

8 Years ago today Sam and I got married. The last 8 years have been a wild ride, 3 layoffs, 5 moves, multiple miscarriages, health issues,  times of crazy, but so many blessings there's no way to count them all, but our 3 biggest are our kids.
Sam has helped build a life that is nothing like I expected. I always told him I NEVER wanted to be a Stay at home mom, that I would suck at it. That I would never live in Happy Valley, Never planned on having a 15 year old so early.  There were lots of nevers, but in the end "All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of, everything I hoped and all the things I prayed for, couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given, I've been given what I need" (Lyrics by Michael McLean) And what I have always needed is Sam.

I was joking with him after a particularly bad sacrament meeting, he sat in the stand the whole meeting and watched as I struggled with 3 unruly kids one of which bit me hard. I told him that if I wanted to sit in Sacrament meeting all by myself I would have married one of the other guys I dated before him that wasn't LDS and wouldn't have gone with me to church. He relayed this story to his boss, who just laughed and said "she must have known you weren't going to be sitting with her for long when you got married, somebody has good as you doesn't stay in the congregation for long. " Sam just laughed because he was nothing like he is now when we got married. But that's ok because neither am I. He's pushed me to be better, to continually grow, and reach, he's pulled me up when I've been down. Supported me when I can't take any more. He's amazing and I loved him then but I love him so much more now than I ever thought possible.

I think Bruce B Wilmer said it better than I ever could:

Thanks For Always Being There

The world is moving faster now,
we're on a changing course
But you have helped me deal with life
You've been a stable force.

When I have had to follow
New directions you were there,
When the world was hard on me
You always seemed to care.

When nothing held together
Made the slightest bit of sense,
You have always helped restore
My inner confidence.

Everyone needs someone
Who's reliable and true
Through the times that I've endured
I'm grateful there was you.

I truly can't imagine my life without you. I'm grateful there was you. In so so many ways, I'm grateful there was you!!
Sam Baugh I love you more and more every single day. Thank you for being there, than you for 8 amazing years. And I am the LUCKIEST!!!