This Is Kristin

…we’ve started digging in our family garden…

… my front porch flower is growing beautifully!…..
… and we are having crazy spring storms, with tornado warnings, floodings etc.. It is Spring!

What is up with me these days is….

- Got to go to the Dove Awards, which was a wonderful priveledge, and an awesome night.  There is a lot of work that goes into that night.

- I am “late” getting my garden in this year.  I had huge plans for it, but am thinking I am going to need to dial it back a bit, but am hoping that it will be more of a family project this year.

- We have lots of mini trips planned this summer, which is exciting, and I am looking forward to them.

- Been taking care of my dog, Luther, this weekend.  He got left outside one night, and chewed himself raw in the back.  I have had to bathe him daily and put medication on him.  Hopefully it starts helping him soon.

- The boys have one more month left of school, and I can not believe it!  This school year has gone by so fast!

- There is my catch up post! Whats up with you?

We had so much fun on our trip to CA. We had not been back to our CA home, in 2 years.  The boys hadn’t seen their cousins in that long either, and it was awesome to see that from the moment they saw each other until the moment we left they were playing, laughing and having fun.  Leaving, was very hard, and continues to be.

Aiden and Zion have always been closest in age, and the bestest of friends, this time was no different!

We have so many great pictures, I can not put them all on here!  I took Blue to my favorite river ever.  It’s a place that I used to go all the time, before I had kids.  Brody and I would jump off rocks and swim, we’d hike with our dog, and just sit and look up at the tall beautiful mountains around.

I also took the boys up to the town I grew up in, up in the mountains.  It’s funny because when I was growing up I never thought that I was growing up in a small town in the mountains, but returning there after living away from it for a long time, I really noticed the steep hills, curvy roads, and the forest that I lived in.  We lived a few minutes from a beautiful lake, that I grew up swimming in all summer long, canoeing in, water tubing, and having my birthday parties at.  It is still so beautiful.

The majority of our trip was spent with family and friends that we haven’t seen in too long, and the time went by too fast.  It is a trip I want to remember, because it was so awesome!  I miss everyone there so much now, and look forward to when we can see each other again!

I love getting ready to go on a trip, and this one is an especially exciting trip for me for many reasons.  I get to go home, to CA, where I haven’t been in about 2 years!  I will get to see family and friends that I haven’t seen in a very long time. They will get to see Cooper, whom they haven’t seen since he was a baby, and see how much the other boys have grown.  We will get to be with Brody on Easter, and for about 5 days. I will get to go places that I’ve missed, and just over all, hopefully be revived!

While I am so excited, I’m also getting nervous- about the flight.  Because I was sick for a week, and am just starting to feel better, I haven’t done much planning or preperation for my trip.  Also,  I am flying with all three of my boys, so I am a little nervous about doing that, because I don’t fly very often, I’m slightly afraid of flying, I get air sick, and I’ll be taking care of the boys, hoping they don’t have to go to the bathroom a million times!  (*For moms or experienced travelers, is there anything I should absolutely not forget to bring them?)

So, the next couple days are about shopping, and packing, then it’s off to CA!

~ So Brody is off on the Rock and Worship Roadshow, and will not be back in Nashville for about a month! It’s a long one, but this tour has proven to be awesome in the past. The coolest thing about it is that we can watch the broadcast live, most every night that they play, the boys love to watch the bands, and dance and sing along…

Best concert, show, I’ve been to. It was amazing. Every single song had so many details with the lighting and the screens above them- almost to hard to explain all that was going on. Seriously crazy good experience…. And it was awesome to be with Brody on a date, right before he leaves Nashville for a month! I was so grateful to my friend Karen for watching my boys, baking them cookies, and keeping them safe and happy!

Basketball season is officially over for Blue. Out of all the sports he’s played I love watching basketball the most. This year he was not the oldest on the team, but the youngest. This year the games were much more fast paced, and higher scoring than last year. He was funny to watch play because, while he is very good, he mostly enjoys talking to whoever he is gaurding and high fiving everyone when a basket is scored! I look forward to next years basketball season!

This weekend we packed up our car and headed to Missouri, for a couple days of being away from the normal routine. A friend of ours invited us to stay in their cabin and play on their 400 acres of land.

We arrived at dusk, the boys jumped out of the car and ran and ran.

Brody made a huge bonfire, and we roasted marshmellows, a first for our boys to experience.

The next day we rode 4 wheelers, hiked through the woods, Blue drove an actual tractor, and got really really muddy. Initially I had thought I’d stay back with Cooper, and hang out, but Brody convinced me that I should go on a ride with him. While practicing driving the 4 wheeler, I avoided every bump, and mud track, stayed on the driest, flatest places I could find. Then Brody said “follow me,” and off we went into the woods. We drove up mountain sides, through a river, through fields of wheat, and straight into giant mud puddles. It was a totally thrilling experience, I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire time.

While we were out in the middle of this land, with no phones at all, Brody and I were trying to cross this very muddy area. After looking at it for awhile we determined a place that we thought was most shallow. Brody went at it fast, expecting to plunge right through, the 4 wheeler went up, then straight down, stuck down in the mud. I backed up. Thankfully the 4 wheeler I was riding had a metal rope hooked to the front of it, that is apparently made for this sort of thing, so Brody hooked it up to the back of his, and after a few tries, we pulled his out, and found another way around.

Scattered throughout the land are very old barns and buildings, one which l immediately called, “Jacobs house.” (If you are a LOST fan, you may agree that it looks like that!)

The goal of the weekend was to get away together as a family, disconnect from everything else, and just have fun together. We loved watching the boys run, play and explore. We have been talking about going out and doing something like this kind of thing, but have always felt the boys were too young. We don’t have any more babies, we have boys that like to get dirty and run and play and explore. It feels like we have started a new stage- the family adventure stage, and that we can now introduce the boys to hiking and camping, to bonfires and new experiences, I love it.

The thing I love about the winters in TN, and the view from my kitchen sink, is that the sunsets are bright and beautiful and amazing. I don’t know if it’s the cold air or what it is that makes them so bright, but it is a beautiful time to do the dishes!

Brody and I don’t get the chance to go on too many dates that aren’t work related! So tonight, we are going on a belated Valentines date to grab some dinner, (hopefully try the frozen yogurt place, “sweet ce ce’s”) and a movie. I don’t know much about the movies that are out, but because of twitter I’ve seen a ton of people talk about “Avatar” and “The Book of Eli.” So, in your opinion, which movie should we go and see??