I love my Savannah

I was going to try and post a bunch of pictures of Finland, Lake Powell and the garden to try and catch up, but I just don't feel like spending that much time on the computer tonight. I'm so beat.

But, I did want to share how grateful I am for my sweet Savannah. Lately, we've had a struggle with her getting out of bed, several times, each night after saying good night. Fortunately, for us, she never had this problem when she transitioned from a crib to a bed. Anyway, I've told her to say a prayer if she's scared and she says that doesn't work. I told her that her prayers will only work if she has faith. We've also tried letting her read a book for a little while in bed before going to sleep but I can tell she's been staying up too late doing that because she's taken two naps this week. So, last night, I let her stay up an hour later (b/c she'd taken a nap) hoping that she would just go right to sleep. About 10 mintues after I closed her door, I heard her come down stairs and say, "Mom, there's something I need to tell you!" She started to tell me about the noises by her bed, but I ignored her, picked her up and carried her back to her bed and was about to loose it when I heard my mother in my head saying, "ACTIVE LISTEN". So, I took a long, deep breath and said, "You're scared of the noises by your bed." She nodded. I suggested we turn her sound machine on louder so she couldn't hear the noises. She said that was a good idea. I was so glad I used active listening to validate her fears instead of just yelling at her because it worked. I told her that I loved her, but I didn't want her to come out again. She promised she wouldn't...and she didn't.
Tonight as we were reading books, she told me she said a prayer "the other day" and it worked. I smiled. Then, as she said her bedtime prayers, she prayed that she would sleep good and not be scared and that she wouldn't come out of her room. I had a smile on my face through her entire prayer, and I think she opened her eyes and saw me smiling...I could tell in the tone of her voice. I love her. She pushes back a lot, but in the end, she wants to please us and do what's right. I'm so grateful that she has a desire to choose the right. I pray that that desire stays with her throughout her life. She teaches me a lot about myself and about being a parent. I know she is so much like me (and like I was as a child) and it's scary. There's nothing like a clone to show you your weaknesses and rub them in your face in order to make your realize what you need to work on. =} On that note, I'm going to bed early. Sweet dreams...

We're back!

Well, we're back from our 3 week adventure and it was so much fun! The girls did AMAZING and were such great travelers. They blew my expectations away with how good they were. Since all the trip pictures are on Doug's laptop, I will have to wait to blog about the trip. So, for now, I just wanted to share the enormous garden we came back to!

On May 28th we planted our garden (first two pictures are just of the first box we planted), with crossed fingers that the huge windstorms we had the following 2 weeks would not decimate all the plants. Well...

(this is the garden on the night we planted)
...we came home from a 3 week vacation to find this... (sorry it's not a closer picture)

WAHOO!!! Thanks to Connor and Jody, our garden is thriving and...

...we came back just in time to pick the very first of our harvest! (It will be going to Connor and Jody, of course, as a thank you for taking such good care of our garden for us!) I LOVE harvest time. It makes all the preparation worth it when you finally get to start shopping in your own backyard! =)

Well, Savannah and I are off to Lake Powell to meet up with my parents, sister and brother and their families! (Yes, we've just now adjusted back to Utah time and now we're off to play again! Good thing this time it's only a 1 hour time change. =})