It almost feels like I never left this place. The mountains outside our window became such a familiar sight to me when I attended BYU two years ago. I'm delighted to be back in Happy Valley! Abigail has seen more children under 3 here in the last 2 days than she's seen in her entire life in Atlanta. And I no longer feel like I'm competing for Youngest Mother on the Block. I admit that I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life here, but it sure is a nice change to have so many young families we can interact with here. And it's fun to be living the college life again--albeit with a few changes since I last experienced it! But I certainly wouldn't trade marital status and motherhood for the more carefree days at BYU as a single student.
The change of scenery, though, brief as it will be, is already invigorating to me, and I am excited to start my classes. I am taking three classes during spring term and three during summer. My schedule this term includes a child development course that I've heard good things about, a parenting and child guidance class, and one called The Living Prophets that focuses on the life and teachings of our current prophets and apostles. Lloyd Newell teaches the last one, and I am really looking forward to it. I imagine he's had to make quite a few changes in his course curriculum the past few semesters, and I'm a little disappointed that I will miss out on the Gordon B. Hinckley and James E. Faust chapters. However, one of my New Year's resolutions was to start and finish President Hinckley's biography, Go Forward With Faith, and I have been enjoying it immensely, perhaps more than any other book. It has been a great source of motivation and courage to me, and I reflect almost daily on some experience from his life that helps me exercise greater faith in my own. I think the lesson to be learned from his life that transcends all others is that the Lord truly has a plan for each of us and will mould us, through our experiences, into much more than we can become on our own. What made Gordon Hinckley such a great man and capable servant is that he learned early that the way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the Lord's work.
Well, this is what happens when I just start typing without an end in mind. I am the worst when it comes to stream-of-consciousness. I guess that's why I have so many incomplete journal entries. (and why it's exhausting to post something on this blog...)
So to get back to BYU--the reason I am here, for those who don't already know, is to get enough on-campus credit hours to qualify for BYU's Bachelor of General Studies program. After spring and summer terms, I will be able to finish my bachelor's degree online. The thought of getting such a degree would have been appalling to my high school self, but after some internal struggle, my perspective has changed. I have three motives that are important and worthy, in my mind, for getting my degree: 1) I love learning and believe that my learning will make me a better wife and mother, and I believe continuing my education can help me learn how to learn better, 2) I would like to have a degree to fall back on in case I ever have to provide for our family and 3) I would like to feel the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from completing something important that I started. Having those "guiding principles" (as my dad would say) has helped me move forward and stop looking back. So with them in mind, I am eager to commence what I began two years ago at BYU! And when I finally get to walk across the stage in my black gown and collect my diploma, I imagine I'll feel an even deeper satisfaction having my sweet daughter (and her now-nameless younger siblings) watch me do it. And I hope someday they will understand why the sacrifice was worth it.
Now onto the pictures...
Abigail loves to plunk around on the piano. (I hope it lasts!) Sometimes I think she does it to get my attention while I'm making dinner in the kitchen. We have a large pass-through window in the kitchen that looks into the room where the piano is, and Abigail often goes over and bangs on it for a few seconds and looks over her shoulder to see if I'm watching. Of course, I always am.....
Abigail and I were privileged to accompany Joseph to one of his track meets a few months ago and were thrilled when he won his race! We were very proud to claim kin with him to all those sitting near us. I brought the camera to the race and of course didn't remember to take any pictures, so here's a snapshot with him later that day. (If he looks a little constipated, it's because he's flexing for the camera...) 
At a nearby park - Abigail loves to swing, but her parents have found they have lost their youthfulness somewhere along the way; that is, they get queasy pretty quickly on the swings.
Abby & Hyrum share a birthday cake. 13 candles for Hyrum & 1 for Abby!
"How does this thing work again?"Editor's comment: In case you were wondering what the brownish-green stuff is that's smeared all over Abigail's face in this picture, it happens to be my homemade babyfood, and I'm happy to share the recipe....It's pretty simple: chicken liver, peas & carrots, and rice. Yummy, huh? Those four ingredients might not sound bad as a tidy list separated neatly by commas, but I assure you that when you plop them all together in the blender and turn it on, it quickly becomes a sticky, stinky mess that doesn't look appropriate for human consumption. I got the recipe from my mom. Apparently it's the secret to rearing 10 healthy (and good-looking, I might add) children because she says she didn't feed us much else when we were babies. That may be true, but 20 years later my taste buds have obviously become more selective. I felt like I was going to vomit as I spooned that slop into ice-cube trays to put in the freezer. As I finished transferring the last of the batch, I actually gave an involuntary shudder. However, Abigail actually seems to like it, especially when I mix it with a little applesauce. She has also found that, when she's eaten her fill, it makes for very effective styling gel...
(Dad also shuddered the time he accidentally touched the spoon to his mouth when pretending to eat the yummy stuff.)
