I never got to see a baby!

We were watching some home videos the other night.  Hallee was a baby in the videos and Wyatt was two-years-old and he was playing with Hallee and in his cute, little voice he said, "she is so cute."  We also saw Jonah making Hallee laugh in the videos.  When we were finished Hallee got emotional and said, "I wish we could have another baby, I never got to see a baby."  Poor girl, she really doesn't like being the youngest sometimes.  Watching those videos sure made me miss my little kids.  I didn't think I missed that stage because I enjoy the kids being older for a lot of reasons. I don't miss the physical exhaustion of taking care of little kids, but I realized that I miss that stage a lot more than I thought.  I miss the adorable things they said and did and that they just wanted to be with me and it was so easy to make them happy.  I like having my kids in school all day, but I think I am in a bit of a funk trying to figure out what my purpose is now.  Seeing those videos reminded me that I felt a lot of purpose back then.  I was working so hard at home so that Keith could go to school and work crazy hours.  I felt accomplished, proud and driven.  I took pride in taking care of everything so that we could spend time as a family when Keith was home.  I loved taking pictures of my cute babies and toddlers and taking them to story time and other activities that they loved.  I guess I didn't realize how precious that time was and how much I miss it.  Now I am the taxi driver. Instead of all of us going to activities together I am just going back and forth to drop kids off at their activities.  My kids aren't interested in spending time with me or each other a lot of the time.  I miss that time when they all loved doing any activity as a family.  Now I have to force them to do family activities.  They would all much rather be with friends or on electronics.  There are definitely good things about the stage of life we are in, but I didn't realize until the other night how much I miss my kids being little. 

Speaking of forcing my kids to hang out with me.  They were all so excited that I was home from New York and they all wanted to say hi and give me a hug and then they wanted to go do their own thing. They didn't have school the day after I got back so, I told them that we were all going to lunch and thought they would be excited, only some were.  We did end up having fun though.  I may have to force them to do things sometimes, but they usually have fun once we get going.

Jonah has been busy with basketball.  The basketball season is long and drawn out.  Sometimes Jonah will go weeks between games.  He has enjoyed playing in the Salt Lake league as well as the Provo league so he could have more games. 

Here he is shooting a foul shot.  He has developed a lot this season.  He is a great defender and really limits the other teams offense when he is on the floor. 

It's been fun to have the family come watch him play.  Tiff, Mel and Elijah have made it to games too. 

A couple of weeks ago Jonah was ordained a teacher.  He loved having Kyle and grandma and grandpa there. 

He was only a deacon for a little over a year so it seems a little strange that he is already a teacher. 

Jonah loves church, a big part of that is the social, but he really enjoys young men's.  Once he got out of primary he has really started to enjoy church a lot more. He really is a great kid.  I can see him growing and maturing in really great ways.  

The kids are looking so grown up.  Caitlyn is taller than me and Jonah is getting close.   

Wyatt and Hallee have been playing well together lately.  I love hearing them laugh together. 

I ordered an Alexander Hamilton shirt on Amazon.  I love it.   

Kristin brought over some clothes and toys that Emily didn't want anymore.  Hallee has loved the Legos!  We have had fun building them together. 

We had fun playing catch phrase one day. Hallee is usually happy to play a game, but I have to force Wyatt.  I know once we get started that he will have fun. 

We had fun watching the Super Bowl.  The kids were just excited for the food.  I made a good spread this year! 

School was canceled one day because of snow.  I had to laugh when I looked outside and this was all we had.  I know they have to take other things into account to make those decisions, but it did feel weird to have no school because of snow, but not enough snow to play in.  A few days later we got a bigger storm and it was really bad roads when I drove the kids to school.  Luckily, we live really close to the school. 

JJ was in town for the weekend and wanted to stop by with Haley.  I was so flattered that they would want to see me.  They came over Monday morning (they braved the snow day, HA!).  I loved visiting with them for a while and then I dropped JJ off at the airport here in Provo.  It really made my day, it feels so good to feel remembered and important!