Look at me--I'm Mormon-y!

I am happy to announce that I am unemployed! I understand that most people would not be so enthused about this type of announcement, but I am thrilled to join the ranks of Mormon moms (Mor-moms) as a stay at home mom. To celebrate, I mopped the floor on my hands and knees and vacuumed wearing pearls and high heels.

Although it was pretty hard to give up the job as the pregnant P.E. teacher, I decided to let my legacy live on in the lives of the children I bossed around for 4 years. And, thanks to 2 of my former employers, I have some work opportunities that I can do at home to help bridge the gap.

Which leads me to my insight of this whole blog. When we were deciding if I would be teaching again this year, I would talk about it with fellow Mor-moms and neighbors. They always give those "It's a tough choice" comments, knowing that it is a personal decision each family has to make. However, as soon as we decided that I would stay home with our two darlings, I heard, "You made the right choice." We have really only been blessed because of it, and I am so happy to be here and now in this new adventure.

Bless this Little Guy!

We blessed Grant at the beginning of June, but I wanted to get some pictures of him in his white suit posted. I think he happens to look pretty darn cute. Even though we didn't wear the hat for the blessing, he definitely pulls it off in this Oliver-esque pose! A special shout-out to Mamu Robins for getting him decked out so super fly.

The Return to the Cabin

When Lucy was 6 weeks old we took her to the cabin. Although at that time we had several feet of snow and rode in on snowmobiles, we thought we better not deprive Grant of the same privilege. This time, however, it was warm enough to drive up to the front door. Here he is enjoying the indoors (gangsta' style--he's still working on his hand signals.)




Some other highlights were: riding the 4-Wheelers through snow (4-mobiling), taking Lucy to the stream to throw rocks in and the double-decker swing we had her and her cousin Katelyn in. Note: the picture does not depict the intense slope we were on, or the frantic expression on my face as they soared over my head.










Overall, it was wonderful weather and we all had a blast just hanging out, eating food, and playing games.

And then there were 2!!

Grant is here! Well, Richard Grant Robins to be exact. We have been so excited as he has entered our world. He came 11 days early on Friday, April 9th early in the morning. He was 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long. (Here he is sporting his first mohawk!)

He has been such a wonderful baby. He feeds well, he sleeps well, he barely cries, and even puts up with all of Lucy's "love". She herself is learning how to share mom and dad and the rest of her world. It will take a little time, but she's resilient and will soon become a great older sister. It is amazing how much we love each of them, and we are having a great time enjoying our new little family.

Our Pink and Blue Christmas!

I am going to consider this our informal holiday card to y'all. We have had such a wonderful year. I decided to take a smaller contract this year and have been teaching PE & Health. It has been great! I don't work Mondays, I don't have to grade papers, and I get to wear sweats to work. Royal is still loving his job working with the teens and their families, and we are glad that with the unstable economy that he still has a job!

Lucy, who will be turning 2 next month, has been the highlight of our life. She is such a busy little girl and loves to learn. She can pick out letters and numbers in the world, and has even learned how to use words like "share" (although to her own translation.)

The reason why it is our Pink and Blue Christmas is first for Lucy. For Christmas, among other great things she got from family, she got a Barbie trike, princess backpack, princess dishes, princess chair, and even pink clothes with "princess" on them. She exemplifies the girliness of it all. Here she is on the trike's maiden voyage.


The "Blue" part of our Christmas is finding out that our baby due in April will be a boy. We are excited about our new addition, and anticipate his arrival into our family.
We have had so much joy this year, and we hope that you get to experience some for your family in the upcoming year.

Who's missing?

We decided to utilize a beautiful fall day and take some family pictures with the whole family. Okay, so one family member is not "there" and no, I don't mean they are hiding in the trees. We are having baby #2 in the end of April, so I wanted some "just the 3 of us" pictures.

I also am posting this picture of Lucy and I because it really symbolizing my darling little girl. Regardless of my efforts, her hair is wild and out of control, and she is displaying the new wounds above her left eye. With 2 ER visits for concussions this summer and her multiple face and knee scrapes, it will be fun to remember her as she really was when we look at these pics.

A great way to spend my 10,950th day!

A couple weeks ago it was my 30th birthday (hooray!) The day started out nice; we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House and had breakfast. Then Royal left for work and I had lunch plans. . or so I thought. Royal came back a couple minutes later with 2 dozen roses and the surprise that he took the day off! We ended up going to the Living Planet Aquarium to see Utah's version of the ocean. Lucy had a blast looking at the "fishes" and petting the manta rays. Later that evening Royal and I took a motorcylce ride and went out to dinner. It was such a great day!