Too Quick

It is weird how you wait for something for so long, then it is finally here, and then over just like that. My sister (a.k.a. wonder woman) came out with her family in June. I can't even type her schedule while she was here, my fingers would fall off. Let's just say that she tackles life with gusto with five kids in tow (at one point she was going to take her 20 month old to hike the Y - and I have no doubt she would have done it had not saner heads prevailed!)

Here is just a very small sampling of her trip out west. Picture above - fire pit up AF canyon.

Salon day with the girls - cut, style and new hair accessories.

Trip to Eagle park - Ben in the fairy hole...I have a feeling he won't fit when they come out next year.

And getting ready to drive to Rexburg for the 2nd (or was it 3rd) time in a 20 day period. Wow, sure am lucky she is willing to do all the hard stuff (driving, hauling kids around, being flexible, living out of suitcases, etc, etc) so that the cousins can spend some quality time together. Sure do love ya Jen!

Thanks to my Parents

"The strength of any community lies in the strength of its families. The strength of any nation lies in the strength of its families. Strong family life comes of strong and clear religious understanding of who we are, and why we are here, and of what we may eternally become. Strong family life comes of the perception that each of us is a child of God, born with a divine birthright, and with a great and significant potential. Strong family life comes of parents who love and respect one another, and who love and respect and nurture their children in the ways of the Lord. These are under-girding principles of our teachings as a church. To the degree that we observe these teachings we build strong families whose generations will strengthen the nation."
--Gordon B. Hinckley,

Thanks mom and dad. You are wonderful parents and I am glad I have a great model for my own little family. I love you.

Fun to have Brothers

I have spent the past two weeks sorting through boxes and boxes of my mother's pictures. If you know my mother, you know what a task this was. I thought I would be efficient and get the task done fairly quickly, but what I didn't count on was the walk down memory lane.

One thing I know for sure -I sure love my family and I'm so grateful for the childhood and life I have had because of them.

Now, these pictures were actually sent from my big brother. We are only 16 months apart. We have been through some pretty good times together. I have made his life rough, but he seems to always stick by me and support me - even when I had big hair! I am lucky.

As I watch my children play, I can't help but be grateful that they love to be together and have fun playing together. I hope they stay close and are able to be friends when they have families of their own -that is the best gift.

I'm sure being only 16 months apart - my brother didn't get to be the baby for very long. I might have stolen some of his thunder. I think he did pay me back (dent on my forehead).

And talk about an amazing mom. Now...we are children #4 and #5 of seven - so it's not like it was just the two of us for her to look after. She is amazing and I'm grateful for all the stuff she was willing to do for us - especially stuff like pudding art!

You really can't blame him - I was a pain - and probably still am! Love you Dave and thanks for the fun pics!

St. George Temple

While in St. George, we went to see the temple. It was beautiful. We couldn't get over how white it was. What a great day.

The kids touching the temple. Jack looks like he is under arrest.

Be the beehive at the bottom of the stairs.

Our forever family - sure love these guys!

Family Photos

We finally got some great family photos this year. Thanks to our miracle worker, Emily Garrard, who did this shoot on a holiday because we really only had one day to drive to Burley and back when Mikayla was in town. Wahoo! I love them! Thanks Emily - you are spectacular!

Jacee had her own poses already picked out. She loves the camera!

I can't believe how many cute shots there are of Maddie - she was not being very cooperative but Emily was patient and it paid off.

Jack, what else is there to say...

Ours even turned out. Isn't my hubby handsome!

And grown up Mikayla. I can't believe she is 14. She was 3 1/2 when John and I got married. So glad she is able to come visit us.

I'll post more - because I love them.

Sad News

We didn't want to call everyone and have to talk about our sad news 80 million times, so yes, we are posting it on the blog.

We are no longer pregnant. We had a miscarriage last Friday.

We are very sad but doing fine.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Love, John and Julie

We're All Together Again - We're Here, We're Here

My parent's had their report so our family all descended upon Burley last weekend. We went Friday night so of course we had to hit Charlie's for breakfast Saturday morning. When we lived in Burley, Jackson would usually request a pancake from Charlie's for breakfast. If you are ever in town - head to Charlie's and tell 'em the Petersons sent you!

Here we all are. We are missing Jerry, Seth, Sarah, Benjamin, Joshy, Michelle and baby Lizzie Beth, Aimee and Mikayla. There is just something about seeing the house on Burton Ave chuck full of kids - just like old times.

Here is our little family with Grama and Grampa. So good to have them back. We have been able to see them every week since they have been home - it's been GREAT! We are one lucky family. Thanks mom and dad - for never giving up and keeping our family close. Love you!

More With Dad

Here are the boys at "Inside Outside" Burger as Jack calls it. He informed Steve he didn't like hamburgers - luckily he loves fries!

Dr. Petersen and Dr. Petersen

More of the doctors...

With some Wy-honing Petersens and friends.

My Dad is Here!

My dad is here for the weekend - hooray for us! Just gives us a little treat of what it will be like when they are home for good in two weeks.

So far he has...gone to a play where "Martha Washington" was a star...

been to preschool where his son got to teach his grandson about eyes...

and watched some very talented grandchildren do the swing and chacha. So far so good! We do miss you mom - can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks!

Thank You God

Thank you God, for my little angels. Thank you for letting them come to our home and trusting us to do our best to raise them. Thank you for these blessings.

Blessing from Heaven

Here is Jack. Our most laid back child. He is holding his own in our female-strong family. Good thing he has some great cousins to spend some much needed boy time with...

Some of my best friends just had a baby after waiting for nine years (adoption). It has been so fun to watch them anticipate, get excited, argue over names, get the nursery ready, and just wonder at the miracle of new babies. Their little guy was born this morning and all ready two status updates on Face Book - so fun!

All this excitement has made me reflect on my three little miracles. Sometimes we forget the magic moments of the newborn just joining the family. We forget about the quite moments of just watching them breath and wondering at the perfect hands and feet. I am so thankful to have been blessed three times and to have a wonderful man to share these experiences with. I love my family.

Maddie was our easiest baby and is now proving to be our hardest toddler. She is so full of life and mischief. Her saving grace is that she sleeps through the night in her own bed. I count that as a miracle in our small family.

And our sweet Jacee. I could not have predicted her personality at all. I think she will be like her dad, shy - but enjoys the spotlight when doing something she can do well.

Wow - three beautiful babies that we can't really remember what our life was like before them. Thanks for the miracles!

I am so excited for the Ruffells and can't wait to see what their little bundle of joy will add to their family. What an exciting time!

My Girls

Maddie - age 2

Don't know what it is about my girls and buckets...but here are two cute pictures taken about 5 years apart. Sometime it amazes me how big they both are. I sure love these girls!

Jacee - age 18 months.

Not For Sale

Hmmm...Old Navy might have found themselves with a few extra mannequins the other day. I had to convince a few patrons that they were not for sale!

Utahns or Idahoans?

Yes, it is true, we are moving back to Utah. We just can't decide if we are Utahns or Idahoans. This will be our ninth move and we are in our ninth year of marriage. Pretty crazy.

We will be moving back to Saratoga Springs,
In our old neighborhood - so that is good.
Leaving our small town - that's bad.
Being near Cafe Rio - that's good.
Leaving Taco Bandito - that's bad.
More options for shopping - that's good.
More options for shopping - that's bad.
Going back to the Mecca of Ballroom Dance - that's good.
Leaving Jennifer and Melissa's studio - that's bad.
Having a neighborhood swimming pool - that's good.
Not being on the Burley Barracuda swim team - that's bad.
Jackson being in Itty Bitty sports - that's good.
Maddie not dancing with Jennifer and Melissa - that's bad.
Being in our old ward - that's good.
Leaving the 3rd ward - that's bad.
A neighborhood with lots of kids - that's good.
Leaving Lauren, Sammie and Sylvia - that's bad.


And the biggest pro and con of all:
Being near tons of cousins - that's good.
Leaving Gramas & Grampas - that's BAD.

As you can see there are lots of pros and cons, so we are just going to make the best of it.

We have absolutely loved living in Burley and are so grateful for what we have learned and the special relationship our kids now have with both sets of grandparents. Life will never be the same. We feel we know the reasons we have lived here and hope we can always remember those lessons and make them a part of our lives.

We will miss this old Burley town! (Jacee's words)

He Really Was There

I just realized I didn't put any pictures on my last post with John in them He really was there flying kites with the kids. They are so glad daddy was home!

He ended up flying Jack's kite most of the time while Jack ran around outside. It is so good for this little one to get outside. Winter is so long being cooped up when you are an outside boy.

Jack and his Buzz kite.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

A breeze blowing through your hair, the sun shining with a few puffy white clouds and a brand new kite - what more could a kid want? We finally had the perfect kite flying day. We had bought the kites three days before and Jackson asked about every hour if it was just right for kite flying. The biggest bonus of all was daddy was home to fly them with us. We did put the kids in hats and gloves, but soon found out they were not needed. Jacee's came off first. They each took a turn flying the kites but Jacee was the only one who stuck with it. Jackson just wanted to chase them and Maddie just wanted me to hold her. All in all it was a fun afternoon!

Jack taking his turn. His kite was Buzz Light Year. Whatever you say about WalMart - they do have $1 kites that actually fly...totally worth hazarding the perils of the store!

Maddie holding onto the string just long enough for me to take the picture.

Here is Jacee's Barbie kite - I know, just what you wanted to see - a picture of a kite in the sky.


And just in case you didn't get your fill from the last picture - here is Jack's.

Hope you all find some time to Go Fly a Kite!