Best friends

I rediscovered this picture recently- it's a selfie of Nathan hiking in the Appalachian Mountains during one of his business trips to Virginia. He sent it to me to share the beauty of the Smoky Mountains. (He might be mortified I shared it, but I do so love this picture! If you're reading this and the picture is gone, you'll know I took it down just for him.)

I just have to say how much I love this man. I'm so blessed to have him as my eternal companion. He is constantly showing his love for me, and I am humbled to be the recipient of so much affection.

He takes delight in serving me in the most delicious ways. He loves to cook, but more importantly, he loves to cook me any dish that can dazzle the senses. I really dread cooking. I'd rather scrub toilets than cook on most days, so I really appreciate his knack in the kitchen.

He loves to make wonderful meals for the family when he's home on the weekends, and he delights our taste buds with amazing breakfasts every Saturday. This week Saturday breakfast was hot homemade biscuits topped with fresh lemon curd, peppery-and-sweet glazed bacon, hot herbal tea, and a fresh fruit salad made with apples, bananas, pineapple, dried apricots, almonds, and Greek yogurt. Scrumptious! It makes every weekend feel like a special holiday to be enjoyed.

Today I was in the mood for a hearty lentil soup to accompany the dark rye bread he made yesterday. He wasn't particularly in the mood for lentils, and wasn't even hungry- but he spent an hour making a delectable soup just because he knew I'd like it. He didn't even have time to eat any before leaving for his barbershop practice this evening. When I expressed my embarrassment that he made this meal without any intention of eating it, he swept me into a kiss and said he is happy just to give me joy. If lentil soup was what I wanted, that's what he'd make, personal preferences aside. How did I get so lucky?

He makes hearty homemade wheat bread for our family at least once a week- 6 loaves at a time. We all adore hot bread fresh out of the oven, topped with a bit of melting butter and a drizzle of honey.

I really appreciate the way he leads our family in spiritual matters. He has been so lovingly guiding family scripture study each night as we read the New Testament together. He is such a gifted teacher, and he does a great job of engaging the children in the verses and helping explain how Christ's teachings apply to our lives today. I love the way he leads with love and encourages our children to follow the Savior's example. I love holding hands with him every night in couple prayer and feeling our souls drawn together as we talk with the Lord. He is such a spiritual strength in our home, and I truly cherish this aspect of his character.

He makes life so fun in a variety of ways. He makes me giggle by doing an exaggerated pirouette when I'm feeling cantankerous. He livens our house with his playful guitar music. He is so enthusiastic about enjoying the magical moments with our kids each time they are proud about creating something new. He makes chore time fun, dancing and laughing with everyone while we clean the kitchen together.

He makes me laugh every day. He makes me feel beautiful and cherished every day. I adore him!

Bucket list- horses on the beach

This was definitely the highlight of our trip for me.

I've always wanted to ride horses on the beach, haven't you? 

We unexpectedly canceled our snorkeling plans.

 (After learning about the resident sharks, alligators, and sting rays in this area 

my enthusiasm for snorkeling quickly became subdued.)

So instead of snorkeling in the bay, we opted for horseback riding for the afternoon.

I think Nate was pretty nervous- he'd never ridden a horse before. 

(Don't worry though, he did a great job and drew compliments on his horsemanship skills from the guides.)

He was always amazingly supportive of anything I wanted to do on this trip though, 

and I found out later that he had been completely uninterested at the thought of snorkeling and 

never mentioned a thing about it to me until after we canceled. 

He was so relieved we didn't do it!

This trip was something I saved up face painting money for months to finance, 

so he was adamant that I could choose everything we did, 

especially since he knew many of our planned activities were 

fulfilling life-enriching dreams I had harbored for years.

I was touched that he was so encouraging in my plans even when he was uncomfortable with the activity. 

What a nice guy I have the privilege to share my life with!

Let's get back to the horseback riding.

It looks so romantic in movies: 

the breeze teasing the horse's manes into the air, 

the surf dancing along under our feet, 

the breathtaking view of the ocean spreading out before us, 

splashing our horses into the foamy surf, 

and the pure magic of being astride a beautiful horse.

(Here I give a blissful sigh with dreamy eyes.)

It was everything I'd hoped it would be. 

Sand Castles for Fun

Nathan and I left all our responsibilities behind for a few days while we ran away to South Padre Island (on the southernmost tip of Texas, right next to Mexico) to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. 

(I know- our ten year anniversary was technically last year. We couldn't run away at that time though- Diego was still too little to be left behind. So technically this would be our 10.8 year anniversary. Don't bog me down in little details like that.)

One of my focuses on this trip was to see how many items I could cross off my bucket list. 

(Just in case you're wondering, we did a dozen items on my list. Yay!) 

Hidden among my bucket list was to build my first sand castle on the beach.

(Did you know I had never built a sand castle before?).

Check out our first try effort:

We worked on this baby for a looooong time. 

Are you impressed?

Do you notice anything wrong with the picture below?

Look closely.

Did you catch the impossible problem?

There's no way he could be stepping on those two towers. 

One tower is from the back wall and one tower is located on the front wall.

Not happening.

You're right. It's a trick. 

 Here is the true perspective on our sand castle:

Beensy.

That's what we get when our only building tools are a plastic dixie cup, a spoon, and our smuggled ice container from the hotel room. (No worries, the ice box was safely returned home and was not harmed in the making of our castle.)

The trick photography was really fun to arrange though.

I really loved living near the beach for a week. The ocean has its own captivating magic that entranced my heart and made it so hard to leave. 

We missed our children dearly (we were constantly saying, "Oh, the kids would love to see this!"), but I was secure and at peace knowing they were being watched over by my angelic mom-in-law. She's a much better mother than me, so I knew the kids would scarcely notice my absence for a few days. 

(Did I mention that she is in the middle of moving across the country, but she dropped everything and came to serve my family? Words are useless to describe her. She's unbelievable. Everyone who knows her adores her. If I can just become like her I would consider my life a success.)

I have so much to share about our trip and the thoughts I had. 

 My spirit was full of joy to spend all my waking moments with my best friend.

It was wonderfully rejuvenating.

Halloween birthday with lots of blood

Nathan's birthday is in October. When he was a kid, he thought Halloween was his own special holiday. 

This year we wanted to celebrate with a spooky date night, similar to our perfectly spooky date a few years ago. For that date we went to a historical cemetery to watch an outdoor performance of Hamlet under a full moon. That's hard to beat.

After dining at a great Italian restaurant with some dear friends, we all headed to a live play performed by The Baron's Men in Austin, a local theater group that performs Elizabethan plays true to their historical origins. 

The setting was naturally spooky. The theater is built on  private property, so the journey there was unusual. We followed a narrow road carved through craggy hillsides and winding through the sprawling estate. 

As we drove through the grounds, we passed signs stating, "Turn right for the carriage house" or "Turn left for the castle" and "Turn here for the village" or "Go straight for the theater".

 Seriously? What kind of place was this?

The theater was nestled under some majestic trees, near the lake shore bordering the estate. Torches lit the parking areas and costumed ushers collected our tickets. We could hear the bats flying overhead as the night darkened and shadows deepened around us. 

The theater was a replica of Shakespeare's original Globe Theater, with balconies surrounding an intimate stage. The setting was magical in its own way, making me wish I was dressed in historical clothing.

 Here is the view of the theater seating. 

The play itself was perfect for Halloween. It was a collection of over a dozen of spooky scenes collected from the writings of the Elizabethan era or earlier. 

Shakespeare's dark scenes were there: Hamlet's paternal ghost haunted the stage, MacBeth's cackling witches danced around their smoking cauldron, and Othello's murderous deeds filled the stage with screams. We were enthralled with Beowolf's classic battle with Grendel the dragon and witch curses cast in their original Norse language.

I love the contagious energy that  radiates from a live stage performance! It's so magical and captivating. We really enjoyed the acting (even though I admit it was too violent for me...I prefer non-murderous entertainment. One Greek play was performed where everyone on stage was stabbed to death in a frenzied bloodbath. Yuck!).

 The costumes were breathtaking and the special effects were disturbing, especially with the rampant murder scenes where everyone onstage dies of stab wounds. 

Nathan's friend is Austin's reigning expert on creating fake blood. He supplies all the haunted houses and stages in Austin with blood that he makes at home. It's crazy realistic...disturbingly so. 

Anyway, he had free tickets to the play and gave them to us. 

(Thanks again, Edwin!)

Ever wonder how to make fake blood? Are you itching to make your own? See Edwin's tutorial video for making professional stage blood here:

Barbershop picnic

Nathan has the voice of an angel. I love to hear him sing! 

For the past year he has performed with a local barbershop group. It's the special brotherhood of the coolest guys in town. (Two of them are bishops- the 'awesome' points just skyrocketed, don't you think?) 

Each Sunday night they gather for practice. It's delightful to hear their voices swell together and fill the house with beautiful strains of masculine music. 

It's such a wonderful group of good men. Good friends like this are one of life's treasures for sure! 

They sing a mix of gospel, popular, sacred and classic barbershop songs.

They have performed for various functions in the community, but somehow the wives and families of these men never get to see the performances. To fix this terrible oversight, the men arranged a show just for their families.

We gathered for a potluck picnic with our special friends on a beautifully wooded property. 

It was such a special night! Our Littles enjoyed climbing trees, exploring the tree house and wading in the babbling brook bordering the yard. The highlight of the backyard was this wicker swing from India. This was definitely a popular hideout for the evening. The kids would twist the chain to wind it up as far as they could then let the swing spin out of control while the children shrieked in delight.

Unfortunately the camera died before the performance, so the pictures I have are all from the beginning of the evening. You'll have to trust me that it was wonderful.

Families packed the deck, feasting on delicious foods while children romped and played in the woods nearby.

We talked and laughed for an hour before the show began.

 

The men began their performance as the sun dipped behind the tree line. The music was so beautiful and mesmerizing....unfortunately the cicadas loved it as well.

The noisily buzzing insects joined in the music with gusto, sometimes overriding the men's voices altogether. There must have been hundreds of them residing in these trees.

Perhaps it was their way of speaking approval.

My heart felt so full. I'm so thankful for days like this that add to life's joy. 

It's these simple events that make life beautiful. 

Good Life

Nate and Matthew compare 'staches

I'm content to soak up all the good things the Lord has sent my way.

 The trees surrounding my home are majestically beautiful. The dappled sunlight dances across my window, sending spots of light racing across my bedroom walls. It makes my heart sigh in happiness.

I love walking down our gravel driveway to the mailbox and glancing into the eyes of the deer herd standing across the street. They freeze in place and gaze at me warily for several seconds before bounding away in the trees.

Diego is so kissably soft and playful. He shrieks in delight when I chase him across a room. His fat little legs are comical as he toddles and lurches at his fastest speeds.

We have a new van- YAY! I spent an entire day at various car dealerships haggling with salesmen. I found a nicer model than we expected and bargained the price lower than we expected. We are very happy with our purchase, and I feel like this was a gift from the Lord.

We are so happy now when we drive as a family. We each have our own seat belt (yup, we're law-abiding citizens again!)  and are no longer consigned to squishing into our sardine can car.

My darling Mr. Kingsley is so kind and romantic. He brought me home a bouquet of cheerful red flowers and gourmet chocolate for no special reason. The blossoms smile at me from the kitchen table everyday, reminding me of my handsome sweetheart. He rubs my feet at the end of the day and brushes my hair tenderly because he knows I love it.

I can't imagine life without him! How lucky we are to share our lives and grow old together.

What more could we ask for?

Life is good.

Starry Night

Mr. Kingsley and me enjoying Temple Square in Salt Lake City

Last night I had a hot date with my sweetheart.* 

We strolled arm-in-arm down rows of colorful paint and tools at Lowes. 

Ah.....the joys of running errands without children! (Actually, I love him so much it doesn't ever matter WHERE we go on dates. Any time together is magical. The setting and scenery are usually inconsequential as long as I get to intertwine my fingers with his.)

I should clarify that I adore our Littles and spend my life serving them, but it's honestly still  a treat to get away from the chatter and squeals and (usually chaotic) noise.

We enjoyed a dinner of Mexican street tacos after shopping for our ongoing home improvement projects.

I love the way he opens doors for me- whether we are on a date or not. I love being married to a gentleman!

He never fails to make me feel like royalty as he helps me into the car and presses my fingers tenderly to his lips before he closes the door.

On the ride home the stars were so breathtaking.

I love living far away from any towns. The night sky is unbelievable. I always squint my eyes, as if that can help me see even more of the stars that are just beyond my view in the darkness.

 I rolled down the window and stuck my head out, feeling the wind whip my hair away from my smiling face. It was exhilarating. The dark silhouettes of trees and fields zipped past me, making a blur of shapes.

I closed my eyes and felt the wind dance on my skin. It was so tempting to yell into the dark, "I love you, Texas!"


Life is good.


(*The picture has nothing to do with our date....I just liked it and wanted to share.)

Birthday kidnapping

Be patient with this pathetic rhyme.

I didn't have abundant time

To sit and think, through my language sift.

My time was spent preparing this gift.

Your trusty car was long neglected.

I thought, "It's time this was corrected!"

I drove it to my favorite lube shop

Where attendants laughed and shouted, "Stop!

"This car is four thousand miles o'verdue!

Don't you know what could happen to you?

We'll change the oil and inspect the brakes."

The good news is those both look great.

However the tires are much too bare.

We don't have a choice, they must be repaired.

If we drive much longer they will explode.

Then what would happen? Your head may implode!

I've ordered new tires after worry and fuss,

Tomorrow they'll arrive and be waiting for us.

I know you don't have a lot of spare time,

That's why this gift is especially fine.

I included a vanilla-scented tree

So each time you drive you'll remember me.

Happy Birthday!

This was the poem I left in Nathan's car for his birthday as one of his gifts. Sarah and I kidnapped it from the train station parking lot. We cleaned it completely out, vacuumed the carpets, and had maintenance work done. He never has enough time after work to work on his personal projects (like building a winch to remotely open the gate across our driveway), so we took care of these tasks as a way to free up some extra time for him.

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home...

I love my Mister Kingsley so very much! He's really the highlight of my life. He's always doing little acts that make my day joyful.

I love the fact that he always comes home from work whistling cheerfully the moment he walks in the door. We can hear it from every corner of the house, and the children and I all come running in excitement to welcome him home. I love it so much. Now whenever I hear whistling, I involuntarily smile and look about myself for my sweetheart. He always whistles the same melody when he enters our home. The lyrics start out with I'm so glad when Daddy Comes Home. He really does bring so much joy into our family!

Today it snowed here in Texas. It's a bit funny. No one here knows how to drive on ice, and society literally shuts down after a light snow storm. We had only an inch of snow this morning, but school and work were both canceled. While a mere inch of snow doesn't impress a girl from Idaho and a boy from Alaska, I'm delighted that we were blessed with an extra day together as a family this weekend. I love having Nathan stay home from work. I felt like it was really a holiday! I'm so happy being surrounded by my little children and the love of my life.

I hope your weekend is delightful! I'm looking forward to more cozy family time tomorrow.

Batman in the kitchen

What a happy evening. I was exhausted and emotionally wilted, so my sweet Nathan rescued the family from a night of boredom. 

First he did a fantastic Family Home Evening lesson about feeling reverence and listening to the Holy Ghost. The object lesson was SO fun! He blind folded a child and had them try to navigate a maze by listening to the whisperings of 'the Spirit', a part played by another child. To illustrate the difficulty of hearing the Spirit in noisy and busy atmospheres, the rest of the family sang loudly, yelled, clapped hands, and put up a general ruckus while the blind folded child tried in vain to hear any guidance. After this attempt, they would begin the maze again and this time the family members hummed Primary songs quietly. The child could easily hear the directions called by the family member portraying the  Holy Ghost. Our children really loved this lesson! They really began to understand why it's to important for church to be a reverent setting.

After the lesson Nathan brought the family to the kitchen to make gourmet brownies, courtesy of the Lion House Restaurant Cook Book. Yum!

The boys adore cooking with Nathan. They are eager sous chefs, and Nathan lets them do the majority of the steps while Sarah reads the recipe out loud and does the math for doubling the measurements. I absolutely love watching Nathan cook with the family. He's such a fun chef to work with!

While the batter was baking in the oven, Nathan did a science lesson on leavening agents. He explained the properties of baking soda, yeast, and eggs while the children listened with surprising rapture. Each time he asked a question, their hands shot into the air eagerly with answers. I was honestly shocked. Nathan showed the reaction of adding an acid to baking soda and explained how the batter in a cake would trap the ensuing bubbles and make a fluffy cake.

He asked them to review the recipe we just used and decide if the brownies would be very fluffy, a little fluffy or flat. Sarah pinpointed the sole leavening agent as eggs and decided it would be just a little fluffy. I was so impressed with the lesson. Nathan really has a gift as a teacher. Ever since we were first married, I've admired his skill with teaching. I wish you could watch him. It always makes my heart swell to watch him instruct our children in his special patient way. It's one of my favorite things about him.


This was Matthew's very favorite picture of the day. Batman cooking brownies.