The Howard Family: April 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

A Tribute to the '20's

Today is my birthday. I say this, NOT to have a big deal made about it, I say it more as a "I have come to terms with the fact that it is in fact my birthday" kind of attitude! Today, I turn the BIG 3-0. I don't quite know how this happened! I mean where in the world did the time go? I remember (and it doesn't seem like that long ago) that someone "in their 30's" was really getting up there!
I will admit, I've kind of been dreading today for a few months now. However, I was talking to my sister a few weeks ago and telling her how kind of sad I was that I was going to be 30 years old. And she said "April, you OWN your 30 years! You've accomplished so much. You have served a mission, gotten married, graduated from college, help your husband almost finish his Doctorate degree, and you have 2 beautiful kids. How on earth can you be sad about being 30?" At first, I thought--yeah, easy for you to say Kristin! You're only 22. You have 8 years left in your 20's! But then after a while, I thought, you know she's right! If I want to stay 25 or even 29 forever, I won't accomplish anything else in my life. And I am proud of what I have done in the last 10 years!

And so, I have decided to have a little "Tribute to my 20's" post..mostly for me, but I hope you all enjoy as well!

Here is goes:

20 years old: I left home for the first time after completing 2 years of college in California and went to Rexburg to attend BYU-Idaho. It was that first semester that I actually met Bryant! (Though there was nothing romantic there until after our missions, we became pretty good friends!)

21 years old: I left on a full time 18 month mission to Belgium, France and the Netherlands! It was a scary yet very exciting time in my life, and to this day, one of the best, most life changing choices I have ever made!

22 years old: Still on my mission for most of my 22 year, I learned French fluently (mostly because I lived with native french speaking sisters for quite a while who were very patient with me and help me perfect the language!), I met some of my best friends during this time (my missionary sister soul mates, I got to be companions with some of the best girls in the world, and I still love them all to pieces!, My testimony of my Savior grew more than anytime before and possibly since during this time as I learned to rely 100% on him for guidance and peace. I got to live in 2 of the most beautiful countries in the world (Belgium and France--and I realize I may be a little biased!) Yes, 22 was a good year!

*As a side note, I will also add that Bryant was also on his mission at the same time as I was and we wrote back and forth to each other (just as friends) the entire time. I would say through our letters and shared experiences, we became very very good, almost best friends during this time as well!

23 years old: I started school again at BYU-Idaho, but most importantly, Bryant and I got married! At this point, we truly were best friends! BEST DECISION I'VE EVER MADE! I hope he feels the same!

24 years old: I graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management/Finance!

25 years old: Nothing extraordinary happened this year except I worked full time to get Bryant through school so he didn't have to work. We knew graduate school was in our future and I wanted to do everything I could to help Bryant do as well as he could in his undergrad so he would have his choice of grad schools! And he did! This meant working at Melaleuca, which I HATED, but it paid decently enough and I learned A LOT about what I do and do not want to do! I also appreciated the job I got working for the City of Rexburg after that a lot more!

26 years old: I continued working full time and being Bryant's "sugar mama" as it's called! Bryant graduated from BYU-Idaho himself with a very high GPA (which I will let myself take some credit for since I tried very hard to make sure he didn't have to support us during this time!) We also went through a period of infertility, which was difficult, but in the end, made us stronger as a couple and made me more compassionate towards others. And, I did in fact find out when I was 26 that I was pregnant and motherhood was soon going to be upon me!

27 years old: I (finally) became a Mother! My little Gracie girl was born, and she is still such a joy in my life! Bryant also started his Physical Therapy program and we moved from little Rexburg to Spokane!

28 years old: I survived my first year of motherhood/single-parenthood (since poor Bryant was so so so busy with school all the time), that being said, I also survived our first year of grad school! Oh, and I was still 28 when I found out baby #2 was on her way!

29 years old: Honestly, this was a difficult year in many ways. I was so very sick with my pregnancy. My sister left on a mission to Virginia, my parents received a mission call to Mongolia, we had to move to Oregon and then to Boise all within a few months of each other, my sister got very ill and had to come home from her mission, and my Dad also got life threateningly ill and they also had to return home from their mission where he spent 9 weeks in the hospital. Not fun!
However, I learned how to look for the positive in everything. I made a journal or letters for my parents that I was going to give them when they got home from their mission (little did I know they'd be home so soon!) and I wanted to stay really positive in them. So, I was constantly finding the good in something every week so I would have a good uplifting entry to put in this book I made them! I learned A LOT from this!
Most importantly, my sweet beautiful Baby Kate was born, and she has proven to be such a blessing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE how much my two girls love each other! It's a privilege to be their Mother!

Bryant and I had a good time traveling and hitting up lots of baseball games during this time as well! We went to Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, (of course So. Cali where my parents lived several times), to hit new baseball stadiums! We enjoyed our time together before the kiddos came along. But we're enjoying our time together with 4 of us instead of just 2 even more!

And so, I can see, the 20's were good to me! I accomplished a lot, I learned a lot, I worked hard, I played even harder, and life is just darn good! I'm looking forward to what the 30's have in store for me!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tea Party

So, the latest thing for Gracie is to have Tea Parties. I don't even know where she got the idea really, but my Mom had this darling tea pot (she got in England when we lived there) that she got out so we could have some tea parties! We taught Gracie the "I'm a little tea pot" song, and she LOVED pouring the "tea" for everyone and then doing the cheers thing with the tea cups! I only got pictures of the first tea party we had, but Bryant and Kristin were such good sports, they joined us for the others we had! When we got home she wanted to keep having tea parties so bad, I went and found a little tea pot and we've had several since we've been home! She loves them!

A Much Needed Update and Our Trip to Vegas!

Wow, I can't believe what a SLACKER I've been about updating the blog! We've had a lot of things happen over the past few months. First of all, my Mom, Dad and Sister came to Boise and our sweet baby Kate was FINALLY blessed! She was so beautiful in her dress and it was wonderful to have family in town for the occasion. I have pictures that aren't yet on the computer, so I will have to make a separate post about this!

Another big thing, Bryant and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! It baffles me at how incredibly fast time has flown by. Never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd be married to such a wonderful Man, who despite my many many flaws, loves me, and I never imagined the beautiful children I have. What a fantastic life! Unfortunately, I got the awful stomach flu on our anniversary. Bryant and Gracie had already had it, and I thought I was lucky enough to escape getting it, but it hit full force. Luckily our anniversary was on a Saturday and since I do have such a fantastic hubby, he took the girls while I laid in bed all day. With my parents here earlier in the week, we did go out one night to kind of celebrate at least!

Bryant finished his second 10 week internship, and has now started his 3rd and final one! Graduation is just around the corner and we couldn't be more excited! His last internship was....okay....but we're both glad it's over. This last one is going very well so far. He is at St. Luke's hospital and has to work the weekends. So he goes in Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Besides missing church for the next 10 weeks, it's not that horrible of a schedule. Plus, his Clinical Instructor has been great at this one so far!

During the break between Bry's last two internships, we headed down to Las Vegas to visit with my family. It was a WONDERFUL trip! My Mom is THE BEST GRANDMA/BUBBY IN THE WORLD! My girls (even little Kate) just love her. Gracie was like her little shadow. followed her around everywhere, and of course my Mom loved every second of it! It was so fun to watch my Mom put on the CD of toddler songs while the two of them marched around the island in the kitchen! Gracie still loves to sing "Animal crackers in my soup" and "chicken soup with rice." We went to the park several times, went shopping, watched movies, went to the Temple, and the latest favorite thing for my Gracie Girl, had lots of Tea Parties! I love my parents for so many reasons, but I have really come to appreciate and respect them on a whole new level since becoming a parent myself. And I feel so blessed that my girls have such great grandparents! One thing I really appreciated about my Mom, was that we would have a mess in the kitchen from making dinner, or toys all over the living room floor, and I would stress out about getting it cleaned up, and so many times she would say "April, lets play with the girls. The mess will be here when they're asleep and we'll clean it up then." Such a good reminder that these days with my kids will go by so fast, and I don't want to miss a thing!

While we were there Bryant, Jeff (who tagged along with us on our trip), and my Dad went to Phoenix for a few Spring Training baseball games. They had a wonderful time, and enjoyed their few days of non-stop sports! I'm so glad they went!
We took Jeff down to the Strip one night, went to the movies, had a birthday party for Kristin, and went to see the Hoover Dam and the new bridge they just built while we were there as well.

Two other highlights from the trip, Bryant and I got to sneak away together for one night! I got a fantastic deal on a hotel room, and that's what Bry got for his bday this year! It was so nice just to spend some time together without constant interruptions from the girls. It was fabulous to sleep all night without being woken up by a 2 year old who wanted to climb in bed with us, or an infant who wanted to eat! With Bryant's busy internship schedule and school projects, and 2 kids in the picture now, we have discovered more than ever how important making time for the two of us is. Thanks Mom for watching our girls so we could have some quality couple time!
And finally, we totally splurged and went to see Phantom of the Opera! It's a permanent show at the Venetian, and it did NOT disappoint! I want to go see it again sometime! If any of you are ever in Vegas and want to go see a show, I HIGHLY recommend this one! It was fantastic!

That's the last few months in a nutshell! Here are a few pictures of our fun trip to Vegas!

At the Hoover Dam: (Jeff, Gracie, Bryant)