Getting Back and Coming Home

It's been almost a year since my last post.  

I am not sure how that year could have passed so swiftly but I do know that so much has transpired in that time.  

And you know what?  Time and life just seem to keep accelerating.

There are so, so many things I want to document and preserve before that acceleration pushes them even further into the recesses of my already poor memory.  

So with that in mind, and a new determination to keep this blog up for that very purpose; I am getting back to blogging.  

I am coming home to the only space I currently use, other than my personal journals and Instagram, to chronicle my life and my family. 

It's hard to know where to begin, so I am just going to start with a little snapshot of our lives today.

This was taken back in August but it's the most recent "formal" family picture.

As a family, we are well into the summer years of raising kids.  

We now have kind of two sets: the olders, and Liza.

Morgan is officially a teenager!  She just turned 13 two weeks ago, and is loving all things teen.  She spends her time Instagramming modest fashion, baking, diy-ing, texting friends, and has recently taken up running.  

Jake is 10, and will turn 11 in a couple months.  He is still all boy with a talent for soccer, and teasing his sisters.  The one however, that gets whatever she wants out of him is Liza.  She has that boy so wrapped around her tiny fingers.

Abby and Claire are still the cutest twins there ever was.  They continue to be attached at the hip and giggle constantly.  Occasionally there are squabbles, but for the most part they are total BFF's.  They are both still doing gymnastics, got baptized, and are wanting to give soccer a shot this spring.

Now on to Liza.  She doesn't turn 2 for another month, but her behavior tells a different story.  She is always up for anything.  She loves to "GO!"  She has the typical 2 year old tantrums down, but for the most part is really sweet and fun.  We all still dote over and adore her. Perks of being the baby of the family.

Trev is super busy with running Lighten Home Health, and adding Hospice; while serving in the Bishopric and being a wonderful husband and father.  He is seriously awesome!

I am a focused and dedicated wife and mother.  I just turned 35 (today!) and am trying to get us all settled into our new home and routine.  I still run, take pictures, and serve in the Young Women's.  

And now I can actually say I blog again too! 

Ha!

Not to end on a sad note, but for those who don't know...after 14 years in our family, we had to put our sweet puppy, Daisy, down right before Christmas.

She was old and her back was rapidly degenerating, causing a lot of pain among other things.  

I don't believe there has ever been a sweeter dog.  She was loyal, friendly (unless you were another dog), and always there to give love.  

We miss our sweet puppy a lot, and frequently walk up the hill behind our home to visit her final resting place.  

On the other hand, we firmly believe she is having a blast chasing Grandpa Lighten's pigeons all around heaven.  It will be a sweet reunion to see her again one day.

We love our sweet Daisy.

Well that gives a little snippet into our lives right now.  I desire to document so much more of it here!

Oh, it sure feels good to be back. :)

Sneaky Leprechauns and a LONG Family Hike

We have a sneaky leprechaun.  His name is Lenny.  Every year he manages to trip all our traps, sneak away with little treasures, and play lots of tricks on us.

We haven't found out if there is more than one but if it's just him, he is VERY good at his job.

This year, he peed in our toilet, colored our smoothies green, tried to trap us by blockading our door with crepe-paper, drew rainbows and shamrocks all over our bathroom mirrors, painted the rocks gold, and somehow managed to do this to Jake's face...

And that was just the beginning of the day. :)  The tricks only continued at school.

Sneaky Leprechauns!

After all the tricks, we decided to take a little family hike in Corner Canyon.

It was a gorgeous day and great little hike.

However, on the way back to the car, we decided to continue on a different trail we thought would lead us back.

It did.  But it was a LONG detour.  By the time we actually got back to the car, I think we had hiked at least 6 miles roundtrip.  Maybe more.

We hadn't planned that, but it was a good lesson for us all on staying positive no matter what (especially for me).  

It really was a beautiful trail, one that we will definitely explore more another time; just was a big extension to an already challenging hike for our kids.

We have a goal to become a "hiking" family.  So even though we hadn't planned to hike that long that night, it was good.  Hard is good.  Just need to keep that in mind sometimes. :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Keeping a Promise to Myself on St. Patty's Day

Today I promised myself I would document.  I would write on my blog.  I have missed this so much!  

Over the past few days, I have been looking back through the pictures and stories on here and vowed to make more of an effort to keep it up because it documents my family so beautifully.  

So here I am making an effort. :)  

A weak one, I know.

But I have heard it said, "start where you are and do something."  

I will apply this here.  I am starting.  Again.  

Which will likely happen again.  And again.

That's ok with me.  At least I am doing something to preserve the moments of my life and the journey of our little family.

With that, I am going to head off and trip more leprechaun traps and play more tricks on my kids.

It's a good day! :)

Keep a look out for more documenting to come. :)

Liza Lou

This baby absolutely melts my heart.

I think it safe to say that she does that for everyone else too.

Definitely everyone in this house anyway.

And every store we go into.

And even at the doctor's office.

People dote.  We CONSTANTLY dote.

This is one loved little Liza Lou.

In fact, right now I should be doing other things but decided instead to take her upstairs and snap a few pics.  That's how irresistible she can be. :)

Her favorite thing to do right now is explore.  She has learned to army crawl and is starting to figure out how to get up on her hands and knees a little bit.  Ever since she was born she seemed to have a very curious, observant, investigative mind.  She is ALWAYS watching everything we do.  More than my other kids I think.

Of course, it's been a while since they were all little so maybe they were just as curious and I don't remember, but either way, this one is a natural explorer!

Since she has become somewhat mobile, she explores.

Her current favorite destination is the Christmas tree and investigating all the lovely decorations. :)

Whenever she sees it, she makes a fast beeline straight there, grabs the first ornament she can reach, and sticks it right in her mouth!

This girl has waited a long time to get here, and she is wasting no time discovering this world.

Ohhhh this baby...too precious.

Halloween 2015

Halloween has come and gone for 2015 and I have to say I think it was a great success! :)

We started the celebrations with the Lighten Family Halloween party which I blogged about in the last post.

The kids and I had a caramel apple and move night while Trev was in San Diego hanging with his brother, Dan, who is recieving cancer treatments across the border in Mexico.  

Oh, and poor Eliza was sick all week...thus my picture of how she threw up all over me.

It was the perfect time for a night in. :)

Then the kids had all their school festivities which they thoroughly enjoyed, of course.

I will post the parade videos once I figure out how. :)

Finally the BIG day came!  It was on a Saturday so we had lots of time to prep and do my favorite holiday activity...take pictures! :)

The kids used to cringe at this part but I think it is starting to grow on them...

They are actually seeming to like it...or they like the happy mom that comes along with good pictures.  Either way, it works. :)

So here we have it...Halloween 2015 costumes in the Lighten House:

Claire - Greek Goddess (until she threw up all over her dress 5 minutes before leaving to go trick-or-treating.  Then she quickly become a cowgirl.)

"Abby Cat" (who by the way, gets the Sister of the Year award for desiring to stay home with her sick twinster when she could have gone trick-or-treating with the Olders and received A LOT more candy.  She's a gem that one.)

"A Sneaky Burglar" (after being a Greek goddess, and a mime.  Each year this girl can NEVER decide on her costume...just so many options!  I like the final pick the best.)

"A Football Player" (Thank goodness for a neighbor boy that has all the gear.  Oh, and he has not stopped begging to play tackle next year since he put those pads on.  He has been begging for YEARS and I might just cave next season...)

Last but not least...

"Eliza the Skeleton"

This was about the best pictures I could get of this little one.  Poor thing is STILL sick.  She was either in tears or in bed during the picture taking moments. :)

But not to worry, just got her on some antibiotics this morning when her ear infection came charging through.

She should be feeling much better soon.

Trev and I didn't dress up for the actual day but tried to be good sports at the Lighten party.  He was a Cougar Football player and I was a nerd.  We used to dress up.  But then we had 5 kids to dress up.  I still make a small effort for the kids though.  They think it is so fun to see us dress up too. :)  

Once the pictures were complete and it was decided Claire, Eliza, Abby, and I were staying home to trick-or-treat here - Trev headed off to my SIL, Heather's, to let Morgan and Jake go with cousins in a neighborhood that actually has houses.

Ours only has about 10 houses total.

Morgan and Jake both had a blast, got WAY too much candy, and even got to spend the night afterwards with their favorite cousins, Addie and Stone.

Here are the girls heading out for candy after we got Claire all cleaned up.

I started out manning the door, then my sweet neighbor came over to listen for Eliza while I took the girls further up the street.

Only 2 people were home, but luckily a few left bowls of candy on the doorstep.

We were the ONLY trick-or-treaters. :)

They still pulled in a pretty respectable haul given the circumstances.

And Eliza even woke up to help them sort.

Well, that's a wrap!  Until next year. :)

Now on to a month of "Thanks Giving."  Let the Attitudes of Gratitude commence!