Utah Trip

UTAH TRIP, forever ago, ugh!! Grace and I traveled to Utah a few months ago to see the family. We had fun!Grace got sick for like three days so it slowed our travels a bit but as soon as she recovered it was crunch time. This trip was the first trip where all of the Hymas grand kids were in town all at once. Grace got to spend her b-day in Utah and even celebrate with her birthday bud and cousin Mason!!! We tried to take a big group photo but the kids had another agenda! It was pretty comical.

The highlight of the trip was going to Grandma Betty and Aunt Jan's house!! Those two women are always happy to see visitors and take the time to just sit and catch up with you. I have the best conversations with her and just feel so at ease when I am around her. That is what Grandma's are about in my book. We planted flowers, and played in the back yard mostly. Aunt Jan gave Grace a ride in the wheelbarrow, which by the way Grace now wants one for Christmas. I tried to explain to her that wheelbarrows aren't just for riding in and then quickly asked myself "but why not?" I decided wheelbarrow's should be for riding not working. Grandma betty sent Grace home with a grocery sack full of goodies stemming from dolls, to a "twirly baton" and a watering can for flowers. I just love those two women, they are so incredibly sincere and loving!!

Grace and I also got to go see Kung Fu Panda with one of my oldest and closest friends Tricia and her little man. I have known Tricia since I was 15, it is always so much fun to be around people who really know who you are!! Tricia is really the only person I have kept up with from High School so I love our roots!!

When we got home the birthday fairy had visited Gracie here, she left her a bike. A good friend of mine told me about the birthday fairy and we decided she needed to visit our house as well. Grace had a hard time figuring out the peddle situation on the bike so Russ asked me to demonstrate ... silly me trusted him, what he really needed was a good laugh.

We had fun in Utah, thanks again to G-Ma Betty for taking the time to play with us! We Love you so much.

What no shopping, that is absurd!!

I see these ticker things all the time and I never have a reason to put one up ... until now. I am giving up random , I am bored, stupid shopping.

My reasons you ask? I wanted to challenge myself to something that is really hard, I figure I am not much of a marathon runner lover so that is out and Russ and I want to build up our little "love nest" together. What better way to start than to give up the most expensive past time a woman has!?!I know it sounds super shallow that giving up shopping would be challenging for me but it will be, so there's my shallow comment for the year. I decided that December 1st would be a great day to end this as I will undoubtly have to get Christmas gifts.



I know I have it in me to not, I have done this before but not for this long, lets see how I do.

Any other friends want to join in the challenge I welcome the support, maybe we can start a blog dedicated to our withdrawal gripes ha ha ha. Wish me luck!

Sisters

I love my sisters!! I was blessed with one blood sister who is truly my best friend!! I have also been blessed with three sisters in law that are just as wonderful as my own!

The First: Kenni J. Peterson Burdette:

Kenni: She is my rock my constant anything! She is my shoulder to lean on when I need honesty and love in my life. She makes me feel like I am the funniest person alive by laughing at all my jokes no matter how lame they are. She is my example of what a mother truly is about. Beyond all this she is without a doubt my bestest friend in the whole wide world!

The Second: Lisa Marie (Hymas) Willey:

Lisa: She is the most gentle of all my sisters, she does things with so much care and concern for others. So wonderfully low key and relaxed, she is always laughing and smiling. Lisa from day one has always made me feel like an original Hymas gal.

The Third: Jenny Ann (Hymas) Purdie:

Jenny: She is so amazingly accepting of all of those around her, soooo very non-judgmental especially of me and my many moods. She always allows me to be who I am ... human. Jenny is the little sis I always wanted and never had. I am sure she gets sick of my advice on how to live her life but she always listens. Always likes to make you consider the other side of the coin, I like that quality in people. Jenny, truly has more faith in God than I can ever dream of having, she is a great example for me of unconditional love! Ooot Oooo Jenny !

The Fourth: Liz (Horrocks) Hymas:


Liz: Okay so Liz may very well be the funniest chick I know! She is always making me laugh with her obsession with the words "butt" and "poo". Liz is the most real person I have ever encountered. Sooo very low maintence in all aspects of her life. She rarely gets offended, this quality in a woman is amazing to me. I can talk openly with her about my gripes and she never changes her outlook on things she just listens.

God has blessed me abundantly with sisters!! I love them they are such strong women ... such beautiful women!

Deep thoughts from ... Jack Handy well not really

Deep thoughts from Tommi actually~ My dear, sweet other half sent this to me this morning, it is so appropriate for the current "life experience" he and I are having:

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." Gordon B. Hinckley

to be continued ...

Soooo as many of you know by now, Russ was called to the Bishopric as first counselor. We took this very large pill and swallowed it humbly. I have to say at first we were scared, nervous, apprehensive did I mention humbled, a large part of me is still all of thee above. Russ, of course as with anything he does has been faithful and accepting of the tasks set before him. I have to be honest and say as a mother and wife I immediately worried about the existing time my husband spends away from our home, with work and other various responsibilities he has taken on, to add such an element as this makes the gears in my head and my heart pump even faster than I can keep up with. Over the course of the days I have come to realize that this life truly is not about me but what I can give up to the lord's will, something that I have a hard time with being the control freak that I am. I have been humbled and I needed that. With all this said, it is important for all of you to know that my trust in the lord has increased even more than it was before. I truly believe he sees that Russ and I have so, so, so much to learn so with that he has so gently and kindly put us in this current "life experience" (if you will) so that we can understand and love him even more! I know that with a little attitude adjustment on my part and a little tlc from the Honey, that Russ and I will come out of this even more blessed than before.

Bowling, horses, tinkerbell dance off and the princess

Sounds like the title of one exciting children's book, no? The Hymii's have had some fun adventures these past few weeks, here are some of them:

• Grace experienced bowling for the first time with her Friend Miss Star and what would bowling be without the occasional lipstick refresh (see bottom left pic for demonstration). I guess you have to have mad hops in the sport of bowling as well.
  
  
• Daddy and Grace made muffins one morning, daddy even let her dress him up with a pretty headband, what a sport!
  


• We have discovered princess's in our home which ups the already existing diva factor! The jewelery of choice happened to be earrings, when they are on we have to fling our head and hair just so. We are still working on our natural Princess smiles ~almost there.





• Oh and did we mention horses? Yes, Grace loves horses, apparently she told us so (direct quote) "I always loved horses mommy, I told you this for three days". Some friends of ours have two horses and a mule, we couldn't get Grace off them. Russ and I experienced a fun tantrum trying to pull her off which required us to exercise our newly found "love and logic" parenting skills, I think we passed.



• One pic that is our favorite and happens more regularly than not in our home is the shopping cart pile up of dolls. Maybe one day Grace will make a run for the Tijuana border with a small pickup truck packed with furniture, I suppose these are her practice years. In case some of you don't understand this comment, there are Hispanics that come to the states , pick up a ton of furniture and haul it down to the border to sell I presume. These trucks are packed to the hilt and are really impressive to see. Google it I am sure you won't be disappointed.
  


• Last but not least Grace loves classical music these days and what would classical music be without dressing up like Tinkerbell and having a dance off with mommy. Fortunately no demo pic of mommy but one from Miss Grace taking the appropriate final pose at the end of her beautiful dance.
  

Life Lessons

Well, we learned two important lessons this week:

Lesson #1: When you go on a short business trip and only take one change of clothes, be sure to check with your boss before packing to avoid this...

I can't tell you how many people asked if this was the "Ross, Dixon & Bell uniform" during the dinner we attended. On a more positive note, it does make your boss think that you really admire him and want to be like him in every way.

Lesson #2: Don't underestimate your kid's deductive reasoning powers. As we try to teach our little one about Heaven, we made a comment last night about living with Heavenly Father. Gracie raised both hands in the air and responded, "I want to live with Heavenly Father. I'm going to get hit by a car and live with Him!!" Freaky, right? Well, turns out that earlier that day, Tommi and Grace were out and about and Grace started to venture toward the road. Tommi had said something like, "Gracie, you need to hold Mommy's hand when we get near the road. I don't want you to get hit by a car. If you do, you can't live with Mommy & Daddy anymore--you have to go live with Heavenly Father."

Guess we need to be a bit more careful about how we phrase things, huh?

Hawaii

I finally was able to scratch Hawaii off of my life list of places to see!! Russ and I went minus the little one and we had so much fun! I came back freakishly tan and Russ with his Irish skin sought out the shade. Here is a list of a few things we experienced and or appreciated~

• Sleep~ (first thing on the list)! We were able to sleep in, no late night water or bathroom calls from the little miss. Ahhhhhh



• Road to Hana~If any of you have done this you will know what I mean when I say "AMAZING"! Please go experience this drive for yourself I promise you won't be disappointed. On this drive you can stop at numerous waterfalls and not one was disappointing. We were offered some "Maui Wowie" TWICE! We decided that this was either very common or we looked really uptight.



• Snorkeling with the Turtles~ Although they were sparse it was still really amazing to see them so closely.



• Learning to Surf~ We learned with the MTV "Living Lahina" cast. I loved this show when it was on because these guys are truly funny and super dumb! They were so awesome and easy to learn from. My back, shoulders and arms were on fire by day's end. I can see how this becomes an addiction for most, I will for sure be back in the ocean to learn more once it warms up!
  
  
• Car accident~ Yes we were rear-ended while we were there. Russ and I were at a dead stop and got hit by this poor lady who was going about 30. All I could say was "Holy hell" when it happened. This poor lady had the sadest story, she was there to spread her son's ashes who had commited suicide three months earlier. To make the story worse it was her only child. By the end of the ordeal I was in full blown water works and ready to pay for the damages to the cars myself. The blessing ... I have a new friend named Diana and I hope she comes to SD to visit me soon. Oh and did I mention we opted out on the rental insurance, gulp! Here is where you can call us idiots, luckily her insurance covered everything so we don't even have to worry, even if it didn't our our own car insurance would have but no thank you.



• Shave Ice or is it Shaved Ice ?~ My mind-boggling question on the trip was whether it is pronounced Shaved Ice or Shave Ice. Here in the "Main land" it is commonly called shaved ice not in Maui though every where we went we saw signs for shave ice. Things like that irritate me not sure why? Please clear this up for me someone ... anyone.
  

A shout out to Grammy for making this all possible by coming down to SD and watching the Misses despite the fact that she just had surgery a week prior to coming down. We truly appreciate you and love you!! Thanks for making it so comfortable leaving our little one for the first time!!!

Russ and I decided that Hawaii is a must every year, it was such a relaxing place to be!!

released ...

I was released from my calling yesterday. I have to be honest and say that a part of me was relieved ... at first, but as it sunk in I realized how much I am going to miss this calling in particular. I know that it was busy and required me to be there every Sunday and Wednesday. I know that it was super challenging and emotionally draining at times BUT it certainly was the funnest time I have had in a calling. The YW's president is one of the funnest, most giving people I have ever met I have found such a wonderful friendship in her!! The girls were nothing short of amazing, they are up against so much more than I ever was and in spite of that they are still very positive and a joy to be around!!

I will miss this calling for sure! I don't think we realize how blessed we are to be called to serve and help others! Magnify what you are called to do , sink yourself into it I promise you will learn so much about yourself and others!

Growing Up

It seems every time I turn around Grace has gotten bigger, she speaks in complete sentences for the most part, my assistance is no longer need at the potty and has been replaced with her announcement that she will be going and or has finished going. Grace can find the nursery on her own at church and doesn't need me to walk her in, I fear I embarrass her by walking there. Our newly found trick is her ability to get in and out of the jeep on her own oh and taking off her seat belt (gulp). I think really the only thing she needs me for physically is to get her "Milky". Don't get me wrong there are still moments of needing mom such as reading time, breakfast, lunch and dinner and the occasional quarter needed at the gum ball machine. I always laughed and shrugged off the comment from parents about how fast they grow up and to savor every moment and so here I find myself repeating the words to all of you. I have a kid not a baby, where does the time go?

Mary Poppins has nothing on Daddy ... as far as kite flying goes

Lets go fly a kite was the song that sung in Gracies heart (I am sure) the day daddy took her to the toy store, picked out the best little mermaid / belle kite and bolted to the park to give it a whirl. Grace is a huge Mary Poppins fan, no other compares, that is until Daddy stole the show and showed Grace how it is truly done. It took a little bit of trial and error before we realized we must go against the wind not with it to get the kite up, we are so smart!! Grace wouldn't let any of us hold onto the kite not even when she wanted to meet new friends at the park and not even to take a picture. Side note: yes that is a leotard she has on, all this took place after dance class. Here are some pics that some friends of ours took of Daddy and Gracie!

Grace Phrases ...

Those of you with children probably have compiled a list in your head and or on paper of the many funny things or daily phrases your children say. I was thinking of a few of my Gracie favorites today and would love to share them:

• "I'm to big." this is said when she can't reach things.




• "I am very, very busy." everything is "very, very" to being tired, to being hungry the list goes on.



• "CVDVD"s", this is meant to be DVD's

• "Uh, coldie." she says this when she is cold.



• "Muwkie" = Milk



• "I'm angry, stop talking to you mom." need I explain this one?




• "Oh yeah, wahoo, shake your booty, oh yeah!" Celebratory song ... dance inlcuded.



• "Good morning Mommy, what you dreamin?" every morning we ask eachother about our dreams, she always says shamu. I say daddy and a maide, this is an ethier or, certainly not the two together ha, ha, ha.



• "I'm not a cutie, I'm Gracie Hymas!" When ever I say she is cute, or my baby, or grumpy yada, yada, yada (sinfeld tribute) she say's this.




• And I can't really make out any of the words but on a typical day Grace loves to sing and it is usually about numbers, shamu, or going to the potty or any combination of the three. She belts them out, kind of funny when it is at the grocery store and people are watching.
  

I could go on forever, there are so many funny things she says in the day. I may add to the list when my memory is serving me better.

Guess Whose Birthday It Is...

So it turns out that February 26th was a pretty cool day in history. On February 26th, the following people were born:

• a German king (Wenceslas, 1361--yes, as in "Good King Wenceslas looked down...");
• the developer of the greatest invention of all time, dry cereal (John Harvey Kellogg, 1852--shout out to Kellogg's Foot Loops and Frosted Flakes);
• a famed French writer (Victor Hugo, 1802--don't deny that you don't tear up when you hear "Bring Him Home" from Hugo's Les Miserables);
• a famed German clothing designer (Levi Strauss, 1829--I still can't believe that a kid from my high school class, Brandon Vest, named his son after Mr. Strauss); and
• several famous singers (Mr. Johnny Cash, 1932--one of Tommi's favorite people in the music business; Michael Bolton, 1953--Tommi sported a Bolton hairdo at 10 yrs old; and Corrine Bailey Rae, 1979--whose "Like a Star" is one of those that you can't get out of your head even though you don't know any other words than "Just like a start that hmmm the sky, just like a hmmm that hmmm hmmm hmmm...").

There were also some pretty significant historical events that took place on Feb. 26th:

• 1815: Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from the island of Elba to begin his second conquest of France;
• 1952: Winston Churchill announces that Britain has developed its own atomic bomb;
• 1991: Gulf War--Iraq leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait; and
• 1993: The first World Trade Center Bombing--a bomb explodes in the garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

But, of course, to me the most significant of all these events took place on a cold February morning in 1976 at Cottonwood Hospital when Tommi Jean Peterson came into the world (TJ's birth certificate confirms it indeed was Cottonwood, though her mother still insists Tommi was born at St. Marks). So last night was the 32nd anniversary of Tommi's birth, but this blog entry will be the final reference to her birthday, since Tommi has now decided that she will no longer allow a number/age to be associated with her birthday. From now on, February 26th will simply be known as a day to celebrate Tommi (you know, "Tommi Day," just like Mother's Day, Memorial Day or Arbor Day).

Yoga ... not just for sissy hippy freaks

I have taken up Yoga and I love it!! I didn't think I would like it since I am by nature a very busy and fidgity person. My idea of yoga was that I would go and relax and feel spirtually uplifed I suppose. I guess in some sense you are very relaxed ... by the end of class ... but during you are truly working out your body. My muscles are tight and sore the next day. I think this is the way you are suppose to work your body, it is so natural and it just puts everything back in line. I sleep better and I just deal with the day a lot better.

I haven't mastered any of the poses, well I take that back I am a natural at child pose. However all the other poses require the teacher to come over and make me a model of what not to do. My downward facing dog should be V shaped and I manage to make a U. I have come to realize how truly inflexible I am. I am not giving up until I can touch my toes.

If you need incentive to go here it is, go with the hopes that someone falls out of the difficult poses. I witnessed a friend fall out of crow pose and it was by far the best laugh I have had in a very long time. Side note: crow pose is super difficult so I take my hat off to her for doing it. I am sorry to my friend for laughing so hard and/or mentioning it here on my blog ... BUT thanks for the laugh. For instructions on Crow pose see pic above.

Hinckley ... only prophet I have known!!

This evening we received the sad news that President Hinckley passed away. He has been the only prophet I have only known as I have only been a part of this church for 12 years. I am saddened by the news, he always seemed to be talking directly to me when giving his conference talks--I can only imgine how the rest of you felt. I am sure the heavens rejoiced to receive him home. We too should rejoice as well, as we were able to be a part of one of the most influential, caring prophets and, I believe, the most loved. He will be missed, and has left some huge shoes to fill.

Russ got the assignment to tell Gracie what happened. Her response was, "I want to die too, and live with Jesus and Brother Hinckley in Heaven!"

A couple of cool Hinckley quotes:

“This is my prayer for all of us—'Lord, increase our faith.' Increase our faith to bridge the chasms of uncertainty and doubt. . . . Grant us faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the miracles of the future. . . . Give us faith to do what is right and let the consequence follow.”
"Prevention is better than cure."

As some of you know Grace loves to read her "bookies", a friend of mine let me borrow her daughters "my Reverance book". It is this cute little book with a variety of pictures of the temple, jesus, prophets, 13 articles of faith, family pics and of children with Christ etc. etc. etc.. Next to the pictures there are scpritures that correspond to the pic., it's use is mainly for reverant sacrament entertainment. These are the cutest books, I love them! Well long story short I caught Grace reading her's yesterday and thought a few of you would enjoy it. Listen closely ...

If you want a book or information on the book go to www.the handcartco.com.