the goings on

It has been a few weeks since my last post so here is an update on the goings on of the Stark Family:

• Jared was in the primary Program and did a GREAT job. He said his part like a pro, sang all the songs and kept his hands out of his face for the most part. And we shaved his head for the occasion so he looked like a real boy instead of the the tall baby with the long hair.



• We had an ultra sound and saw Baby Stark. Nope we didn't see if Baby is boy or girl...although Dave is 70%...or is it 90% sure we are having a boy...the % keeps going up. Lets take bets that he is wrong.



• Nora wasn't in the primary program...but sang the songs anyway. It was obvious she was so proud of her big brother...it was written all over her face.



• Dave is going to go hunting tonight and tomorrow...pray he gets something since this is his only chance to go for the season.



• Baby is still being so nice to me. Baby moves morning and night and sometimes the middle of the night and sometimes randomly throughout the day. I love it all.



• However...after I eat anything the after taste is always nasty-o. So we have invested a lot in gum.



• Jared has grown up so much this last week. He tells me it is his big boy hair cut. He is wanting to play football, baseball, golf a lot more and "can we wrestle, Dad" is a phrase we hear more and more. He is also getting tougher with Nora and I am finding myself saying the very famous saying from my mom "know what to stop" (honestly...what does that mean? Who really knows but I say it all the time)



• Nora wants us to put the training wheels back on Jared's bike so she can ride it.



• Someone stole my yard Gnome. I know it was a gift given to our family...but I loved that little man riding on a ladybug and claimed it as mine. It really upsets me someone would do that. It has been weeks and I still get upset when I see his old resting spot.



• Jared taught himself to ride a bike a few months ago!!! Poor kid has to ride this itty bike around while he waits patiently for his bigger bike to get fixed...the joys of a dad in school is learning patience.



• Dave is half way through this semester. He is amazing. He works hard everyday and the goes to school at night and works hard on homework. He is getting great grades and when he is home he gets on the floor and rolls around with his kids-if they are still up. (I am not big on openly gushing about spouses on blogs and facebook but...) Dave continues to amaze me-what a lucky family we are to have him at the head of it.

Life is a lot of things but mostly it is wonderful. This week I have spent a lot of time reading quotes taken from my Grandpa Mason's talks. It has been a most wonderful experience to read the things he taught and more importantly lived. I can hear his voice in so many of the things I am reading and it has been a blessing. I miss him so much. He had the opportunity to speak a lot and I am not surprised that he often shared his testimony of living a happy life, filled with joy, gratitude and service. I hope that we can take a moment to look at all our Heavenly Father has blessed us with. Life can be hard and filled with challenges of so many different kinds, but at the end of the day we are blessed with love, family and friends, knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and the ability to breath in and out. I sure think those are some great reasons to be happy.

oh man...did you really get this far?