Updated: Blended Families Part 3

Here we are again...another year gone by and more lessons learned in the world of blending families.

We have been married for 3 years now.  This year has had it's up and downs too.  I feel like this year has been smoother in most aspects.  Everyone knows the rules and has their own space.  They are integrated into their schools and social lives.  They are thriving and are such great kids.  Rex and I always comment on how our kids have been through so many hard things and yet, they are great kids.  They don't have major issues, just the normal growing pains.  They might be intensified by their losses, but they are amazing and always find a way to cope.  We feel so lucky to be their parents.

This year our oldest daughter, Lucy, graduated from high school and left for college.  This totally changed the dynamic of our home.  She was the most responsible one.  The one who helped and nurtured our youngest the most.  She was the one we knew we could rely on.  BUT...it was time for her to start her own journey, which we are thrilled for.  She has been looking forward to this for a long time and we know she will do great!

The other kids are adapting to life without Lucy.  They are building their relationships with each other much more.  They are coming closer and learning more about one another, which doesn't always result in happy endings.  There is still teasing and fighting and learning that they aren't always right, but I would say that overall they are doing great!  Cole is now the oldest child at home and he has taken that role on willingly and does what he can to help his siblings and us, the parents as they like to call us!  Kaylie is becoming the fun sibling that Cecelia needs and entertains her and does fun things with her.  Cecelia is growing up quickly.  She is curious about the things around her, which sometimes gets her into trouble because she is always wanting to try new things!  There are small changes in the household like chore charts and other household responsibilities, bedtimes, who gets to stay home and watch Cecelia instead of going out with their friends, and who gets to pray or read scriptures AGAIN since you just did it at the first of the week, but it's your turn again.

Rex is amazing as always.  His patience with all of this is almost superhuman.  He is constantly building me up and helping me through the challenges of life.  We still make all of our decisions together...kids, house, work, everything really.  It makes it easy to support each other and our family because we both have ownership of the life we are building together.  I know that doesn't work in everyone's situation, but for us that has been essential.

We are excited to see what great things are to come this year!  We feel lucky to have so much love and support from our families and friends!!  This blended family business is challenging at times, but it is so worth it every day!!  Here's to another year!!!

💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!

I can't believe I've been married to my dream man for 3 yrs.  3yrs on the 3rd....Isn't there a special name for that...when your anniversary falls on the date you were married?  Well in my world its a celebration!!

This year it was on a Sunday!  So...we did the things we would normally do, like church and hung out with the kids....all except when our youngest threw up at the dinner table!  Not awesome!!  We made sure she was alright and then it was off to Anniversary Inn...(check it out if you haven't been, it was awesome).  We had treats and watched movies & just enjoyed our time together.  Since our anniversary falls over Labor Day, we had Monday to hang out together.  We checked out a reclaimed wood store we have wanted to visit, but it was CLOSED!  So being our fun selves...we headed home!!

I love that we can have fun just hanging out together, doing the normal every day things that a family does.  That is what a real relationship is to me.  Its not just the going out every night, spending money and impressing each other...its the real things of life...the good and the hard things, but we face them all together.  Thanks for sticking with me Goodman!  We make a great team!!

Happy Anniversary!


💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather

Family Pictures 2018

Each year we do this...each year there is finding a photographer, (we used Whitney Charles Photography...and she was FABULOUS!!!)....planning color schemes...coordinating outfits....searching till the last minute to find things to wear....less than excited husbands....kids crying....kids making faces or scowling....laughing...You all know what I'm talking about.  Family pictures are not what they look like in the final project...but we do them.

We do them for the memories....

We do them for the good times we remember when we aren't posing for the camera....

We do them to remember what otherwise we would forget...

We do it to remember the different stages of life our kids, nieces and nephews go through...my nephew is cuter than your nephew!!  😉.....

We do it to remember the photobombing teenagers....

Mostly we do it to remember the loves of our lives...the precious moments and memories we share with these beautiful people we share our lives with ❤

And somehow at the end of all of the chaos and the tantrums and the smiles, we are left with something beautiful...something we can cherish for a lifetime.

💗💗💗💗💗💗

Heather

Brighton 2016

This year we got the opportunity to stay up at Brighton Ski Resort in a cabin with my sister and her family.  It was just an overnight trip, but it was just what the doctor ordered!  Lots of R & R, games, laughter and some snowshoeing....and food....LOTS of food!!  Kaylie and I were the only ones in our family that had been snowshoeing before!  And we LOVE it!  It was fun to sharing something we like with the rest of our family who hadn't done it before.  I think for the most part everyone enjoyed it!  We snowshoed around Brighton on the flat part of the lake.  Cecelia had a bit of a hard time because she doesn't like to walk that far, but even she soldiered through with us having her strike a pose for a photo when she was getting a little tired!

It was a beautiful day for snowshoeing!!  The sun was out and it wasn't too cold!  What I loved most was spending time with my sister and her family, my mom, my brother-in-law's sister and her family, his mom and my cute little family.  I love the memories we make together and I hope they last a lifetime.  It's important to have memories as a family and I love making them with my crew!

No trip with my sister is complete without a group selfie!!

Sleeping baby!  Man did he ever work hard up there on Dad's back!  Cute Owen!

The scenery!  If you haven't experienced Utah in the winter...its a MUST DO!

The kids at the finish line!  They all made it!  YAY!!!

The adults have to pose too!

Love this fun family of mine!!!  If you've never been to Brighton or never snowshoed...you should!  It's a blast and something the entire family can do!!  Happy shoeing!!

💗💗💗💗💗💗

Heather

It's Our Wedding Day

It's finally here!!  We have been planning and waiting for this day for awhile!  We have had plenty of things to do to keep us busy, but I'm so excited to marry my best friend today!!  We are being sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.  It has been my dream since I was a little girl to be married to my husband in this temple.  I have never gone into the Salt Lake Temple before today.  I wanted it to be something I shared for the first time with my husband, my eternal companion.   And it was! 

I love that I was able to promise my husband forever.  I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that promises eternal life for all of those who choose to follow His son Jesus Christ.  Today we promised each other FOREVER!  We get to start that journey now!!

I am ALL about selfies...so this day isn't complete without one!  We took a break from the normal photo barrage that happens after you are married to snap a quick pic together.  By the way...we had the BEST photographer!  Her name is Jamie Findlay...you can find her info here....she is amazing!  Check her out!

And then there was our reception!  It turned out better than I could have imagined! If you are looking for someone to transform your backyard...check out KNL!  They were so fun and easy to work with!  It was our backyard full of the people we love, who we were lucky enough to spend the day with...and of course...my obsession....WAFFLE LOVE!  They catered our wedding, food truck and all!  It was so much fun! 

 



As I reflect on this day, it was so different from my first marriage.  It was perfect right from the start.  No stress, no worries, no arguing or people not getting along...just happiness.  It was easy and everything fell into place.  This is what a marriage should be....no drama, but complete happiness and peace.  I know that this is right, no matter what other problems or differences we may have in the future.  Heavenly Father brought us together for a purpose we probably don't even understand yet, but I know that we will love each other and help each other through what comes next!!  I'm so excited to start this chapter of my life with the guy who has completed me, who loves me even when I'm not at my best, and who keeps encouraging me and giving me the strength to keep living life in incredible ways!  I love you now (and always) Goodman!  I'm so happy to share my life with you!

Moab for the Win

We are officially only seeing each other and we decided to take a trip with our kids to Moab.  We know it's only February and we were probably insane, but it all worked out!! 

The weather was almost perfect & not very crowded this time of year!!  We walked right into every arch and didn't have to wait for any people.  The kids got along and there wasn't any fighting.  Rex's youngest is 5 & she got tired of walking during certain parts, but we tried to help her and carry her some so we could see the things we all wanted to see.  We ended up getting a condo instead of 2 hotel rooms.  It was cheaper and more comfortable to everyone.  I would definitely recommend doing that if you have a big family.  Everyone can have their own space and enjoy the trip.  Also, cooking is ALOT cheaper than eating out for every meal.  Since we went over President's Day, entry to Arches National Park was free. However, its only $25 for a private vehicle with up to 15 passengers, so still really affordable! 


Here are some pictures of Arches!  Did I mention, its absolutely beautiful!!

This is Double Arch

This place was really cool & the kids LOVED it!  Especially Ceceila!  You hike into it and then there are sand dunes to play in and an arch...hence its name, Sand Dune Arch.  Really a fun place if you have smaller kids!!

Landscape Arch is in the distance.  The kids think they are so cool in this pic, (and lets be honest...they are!!) they got the perfect photo bomb!  But we LOVE it!  I think this is one of my favorite memories of Arches!  I love that they did this!

We also went to Dead Horse Point State Park.  This is where the "almost perfect weather" comes in!

Yeah..it snowed!  We tried to get out and walk around and see the visitor's center and the outlook points, but it was just plain too cold and wet!  So, we didn't get to see as much of it as we had hoped.  We also had plans for Canyonlands, but it was in the same proximity and was getting snow as well so we bagged that!  I will say that the snow falling around all of the red rock made a beautiful sight.  We'll have to make that trip again!


Rex's sister and her family also came out for a few days too and it was fun to get to spend some time with them and get to know them a little bit better.  We were also able to see his parents for a little while.  They were on their way to serve their mission in New Mexico.  I'm really glad that we decided to take this trip together and get to know each other better.  It was a great way to spend President's Weekend!

💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather





So I met this guy......

Online dating has been rough.  You just never know what you are going to get...who is lying...who is telling the truth..is that even your real name??  Its a gamble, but where else do you meet people?  Dating in your 30's is not the same as dating in your early 20's.  Sometimes I feel like I am dating all of the leftovers...the ones that couldn't have a successful relationship...wait...I'm single too!!  What does that say about me??  I'm a good person...there must be at least 1 more good person out there right??


This time, I decided to actually take a chance with one of the normal, good guys!  He has a good job, kids and seems to be a really nice guy.  He's not the flashy, look at me type, but more the lets get to know each other and see if we really have a connection & I'll actually treat you nice, kinda guy.  We've been talking for a few months now and I think he might really be a good guy.  We met for the first time in person at my office....turns out he spends a little time in my office building for work too! Who knew??  Here's our first selfie!  We'll see where this goes!!  I'm optimistic  😊