eerieeee october.

october was such a FUN month! we started it off with a visit to las vegas to get one last wakeboarding trip in before the cooler weather set in. while we were there, the kids and I met up with my sister and her boyfriend, glen, at the pumpkin patch! it took all we had to get noah to sit still to take some pictures! he loved everything, but most of all, this train...

he tried this ride once, but then proceeded in the riding the train the rest of the night...

i had to literally carry him off the train to get
him to try other things...

here is a cute picture of my sis and little lyla

it's a miracle...he sat still for a picture!

she loved it!

he takes after his dad, mr. muscles

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last saturday, our church had it's annual
trunk or treat.
our little skeleton and witch
{aka johnny lawrence and sabrina}

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then this last week, the harris family came down with cecily and sam and we met up with josh & sarah's and tyson & kari's families and went to the happiest place on earth...
except this kid didn't think so. he threw up in the car on the way there. yep, he was sick and slept in the stroller 80% of the day...our little trooper.

all but a 30 minute nap in the stroller,
lyla loved every minute of it!

noah did get a kick out of the few of the rides,but when we passed by the cars display, he was asleep so loren took some pictures of lightning and mater for him...

it's okay, sam, the teacups will be there next year...

sam, thanking our disneyland guru that he{we} didn't have to wait in any lines...thanks, josh!

finally, at about 8:30, lyla thought it was time to go...

september...

gotta play catch up for a minute! where did september and october go!! it's already november and i haven't posted our end of the summer activities.so here goes...

september started off with a marshall camping adventure at lake mead. it was so much fun. the activities in las vegas' 100 degree weather were swimming, wakeboarding, eating, night wakeboarding, night swimming, eating, sleeping (a little), swimming, boating, lots of laughing, fishing for cecily, swimming, and swimming. It was pretty hot so most of time was spent coolin' off in the water! fun times...

loren showing off his skills

thanks, sam, for being my personal coach

she's making sure we didn't go hungry

a little night wakeboarding

all cleaned up

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so, it's official...
we have the messiest eaters in the world!

the weather has been so nice up here, that we like to go on walks with the kids...just a short distance from our house, this is the view... it's beautiful. what's not beautiful is pushing this stroller up the hills in our neighborhood! great workout!

one.

september 30,2009

our little princess

L Y L A r y a n M A R S H A L L

turned one

what a year it has been. this little thing has got such a huge personality! she loves talking...LOUD! and LOVES her big brother and tries to do everything he does. put on some tunes, and she starts dancing. do something that she doesn't like, and she'll let you know! she throws the best and cutest fits right down to the dropping on the ground and kicking her legs with as much energy as she can! we l.o.v.e. her so much and are so blessed with her fun, sweet spirit!
love you, baby girl!

i think noah wanted in on her birthday cake

{waffle bowl filled with her favorite:strawberries topped with whipped cream!}

good to the last bite.

The Lonesome Kicker

Now, if my iphone were to have a zoom function on it then you would be able to see that, sure enough, that is #99 Riley Stephenson. The truthfulness of the lonesome kicker was never before so obvious to see. I am glad that I was able to witness the solitude of the kicker first hand...Tyson you were there.

Endure...to the end

"Life is hard... 'There is an opposition in all things,' everywhere, for everyone. Life is hard for all of us." This phrase comes from a recent favorite General Conference address by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge called "The Way".


Some days life is seemingly unbearable, feeling like I am doing well and progressing toward my goals and then, as though out of nowhere I get blasted by something that causes me to be hurt, feel alone, worthless, not good enough, or a variety of emotions that come from Satan. But too often instead of recognizing the adversary meddling with my life, I allow it to bring me down.


Elder Bruce C. Hafen recently said, in another one of my favorites, "'Endure to the end,' we say, as if that means relaxing in some eternal rocking chair. God will just reel us in, like a fish hooked on a line. But it’s not quite that simple." Enduring is, at times, very hard work. Sometimes it feels that I can't endure any longer. Sometimes I feel like the pioneer that kept telling himself that he could only make it to the next hill and there he must die. Yet every time he arrived to the next hill, he kept going.

My mom loves pioneer stories. I would have to say her favorite and one that I have heard many times from her, is the story of Robert and Ann Parker and their red shawl. But recently I think I have found maybe what can be considered my new favorite pioneer story.


Let me tell you of James Kirkwood. James was from Glasgow, Scotland. On the trip west, James was accompanied by his widowed mother and three brothers, one of whom, Thomas, was 19 and crippled and had to ride in the handcart. James’s primary responsibility on the trek was to care for his little four-year-old brother, Joseph, while his mother and oldest brother, Robert, pulled the cart. As they climbed Rocky Ridge, it was snowing and there was a bitter cold wind blowing. It took the whole company 27 hours to travel 15 miles. When little Joseph became too weary to walk, James, the older brother, had no choice but to carry him. Left behind the main group, James and Joseph made their way slowly to camp. When the two finally arrived at the fireside, James, “having so faithfully carried out his task, collapsed and died from exposure and over-exertion."

Why is this sad story my new favorite? James did all that he was asked to do. He cared for his brother until his very end. He gave all he had to fulfill the task given him. James Kirkwood has become one of my heroes. I hope to be like him and give everything that is required of me to endure to the end.

august rush.

g e t r e a d y f o r a d o o z y.

it's been a crazy month full of lots of activity! let's see where do i begin. well, loren came back from mexico at the end of june and it has been so nice to have him back with the family. as a welcome home present (well, it makes it sound better but really we just couldn't pass this up) we bought a boat! we decided to go in with tad and tracy with a sweet deal and it has been AWESOME!

w e L O V E i t !

p o o r l i t t l e l y l a .
can't move in her life jacket!

the cutest little captain ever.

then, my mom and sister heather came out to visit from alabama. we filled the week with hollywood, santa monica, the lake, shopping, (whew - got to take a breath.) It as so much fun!
t h a n k s f o r t h e v i s i t . m i s s y o u g u y s :(

and then, drum roll please...

loren GRADUATED from Parker college of chiropractic on August 15th and is now
d r . l o r e n m a r s h a l l !
thanks to all the family who came out to celebrate with us!

AND (the dromroll again please...)

he's a big boy now!

it took a few days & some really cool potty prizes but noah is potty-trained.

h a l l e l u j a h .

loren went out and bought what we like to call "poopie prizes" aka A LOT of thomas the train stuff. last night, noah got his last "poopie prize" so dad and noah built this huge track! i don't know who enjoys building the train tracks more...

a n d l a s t b u t not le a s t ,

part of our preparation for our big camping trip over labor day.
noah and lyla were helping dad put together his new tent!
more to come next month!

to go no more out...

Thanks to Tyson and Kari's needing a babysitter this past Friday night and us being in San Diego, we were able to have their babysitter also watch Noah and Lyla. This allowed Sonya and I time to go to a movie. We went and saw "The Time Travelers Wife."

It was a decent movie. But the ending made me think. If you haven't seen it and plan to, then perhaps you shouldn't read this post. I will give you a few more words to allow you to decide. Okay... Well near the end of the movie the husband dies, but since he is a time traveler, his younger self was able to go into the future, to four years after his death and visit his widowed wife for a few moments. Now I was thinking about this.Often you hear people say, "What I would give to see (so and so) again." or "I would give anything to be held just one more time." Not me. I don't want just one more minute or one last embrace, just to say goodbye again. All the pain, all the tears and loneliness returning would not be worth just a few moments, to me. It would be as though I were losing that person all over again.

In Alma 34:36 we read; "he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out." That is what I want...not just a moment, and for that blessing I would give anything!