The Last Bit of My Life...

Where have I been? What have we been up to? 

Well, lots of traveling with doTERRA to exotic places like Wisconsin and Wyoming and boring places like Alaska and San Fransisco. Oh wait, switch that. :) We've been doing some fun things around Ogden and Salt Lake too. Come along and see the fun...

Super fun Avett Brothers Concert at the Gallivan Center, SLC, UT.  Bucky is always this excited when I take his picture.

Alyssa is awesome. That is all. We both love the Avett Brothers. She's got her picture taken with them. I was at Girls Camp. I was mad. And glasses are cool.

Here we are after a 4 1/2 hr. long flight from UT to AK. I'm not sure why everyone's grumpy. Maybe because we had another 3 hours in the car...

Evie trying to take a dip in the lake my parents live right by. She didn't end up getting in. But then again, neither did I. But Alyssa did. She's brave. Below is a picture of my kankles. But, the lake that I love. No matter how many mansions they build on it. Still love it. 

This is one of our many attempts at camping this summer with Ellis. We failed. I had to take him home to his own bed and then it proceeded to rain all the next morning while I tried to cook the breakfast over the fire. We were all pretty cranky, but in these pictures the night before, life was good. It was a beautiful sunset and it shows that Buck and I still love each other. 


 

My Mom

Some people have special things they call their mother. Mama, Ma, but my mom has always been "mom".  Mother's Day is always a little sad for me. Not because of some traumatic event that happened when I was little, but because for the last 10 years I haven't spent Mother's Day with my mom. She still lives in Alaska and we have lived "outside" since we've been married. There was an ache in my heart when I tried to call tonight because, like my 9 other siblings, we were all vying for a chance to talk to her today. I didn't get her, so instead I'm writing for her. I hope you like it mom.

Some of the things that I remember about my mom was her ability to love. She had 10 kids, no twins, and I am number 5. A lot of the time I remember wanting more attention from her and boldly asking for it. And instead of being annoyed or mad, she would do something special with me. Not for very long, because she had dinner to make, babies to take care of, or to drive someone somewhere. But for that short period of time, I had her undivided attention and I knew that she loved only me.

As I have my own children now, I am so grateful for the tremendous amount of patience she had. I have three kids in the house most days and I hardly have enough patience for them! I can't even imagine the sheer volume of our house in her mind. She was incredibly patient when it came to math homework, which was my absolute WORST subject. Some nights she would stay up to help me and I can remember being in such a bad mood, but she would calmly help me figure it out. This is how she was with everything. She was and still is a very even tempered person. She had her limits though and exploded one night and announced to us kids she was running away. She left on foot down the road. I can't remember how old I was, but I remember just sobbing. She came back after a good long walk and had dinner on the table by the time dad got home.

 

My mom is a good sport. She's always game for a good joke, even if it's about her. My mom taught me about cooking. She trained us from a young age how to cook food and grow things in Alaska (which is difficult). Some of my best memories were picking raspberries and hacking away at our poor rhubarb plants to make desserts.

Mom loves to dance. She is a great dance instructor and I always took pride in the fact that she came to volunteer at the high school and taught a group of us. She instilled a desire in me to follow my passion and to volunteer. She supported me in the things I was interested in whether it was ballet, sports, or massage therapy.   My mom is tough, aside from having 10 children, 2 of which at home and 9 without epidurals, she is just tough. The above picture is from college where she was part of a survival program where they threw you out in the Utah desert with very few provisions and you had to survive. I know this training paid off when she and dad first came to Alaska. She walks nearly every day and was really put out that she couldn't participate in kick boxing after having knee surgery a few years ago.

She's strong emotionally, even when she doesn't think so. She's been through a lot and has come through a more humble beautiful example of what I want to be like when I grow up. She's become my best friend as I've gotten older. She's that fountain of knowledge and support that's there to say, "I've been there. It's hard, but I know you can do it." It's amazing the comfort of a mother's words. There's nothing like it.

I just want to end my post with a poem she had above our stove. I think it was the first thing that I ever read. It's stuck with me after all these years and is ingrained in me.

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow,
For babies grow up,
We've learned to our sorrow,
So quiet down cobwebs,
Dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my babies and babies don't keep.

I love you mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Hmmmm, What's New?

Rather than blurb on and on about how sorry I am for not posting in a long time, I'm just going to say that, I've been busy reinventing my life.

Never in a million years would I have wanted to try and change something in a big way. Maybe my hair, or the way that the kids said "Thank you." to strangers, but never anything big. Especially something that I'd never done before. Ignorance truly is bliss. Before September of last year, I was doing my thing, having a family, being a mom, dabbling in my essential oil business. Everything I did was small. Not without meaning, but I was playing small.

That all changed one day as I was watching Jamie Oliver's food revolution on Netflix. It sounds cliche, I know, but something clicked inside me and said, "Anna, you have to do something about this. Now." So, after much contemplating and research I scheduled a meeting with the school principal. I was scared out of my wits. What was I thinking? What could I do??? This under-educated mother? Well, what I lacked in formal education I made up for in passion. Or so I thought.

In my naivety I thought I would just go in, politely request healthier food and leave, having done my job as a concerned parent. We walked down to the lunchroom to talk about what they were doing and had done. What I wasn't prepared for was the holy wrath of a lunch lady that literally breaths fire when she talks to you. I have NEVER been around a woman that is so genuinely mean in my life. And, I've known some characters!

After we came back to the principal's office we decided that it would be important to work three angles of the situation. First, we would implement a program similar to Harvest of the Month, next we would have a couple Parent's Night's a year where we would talk about easy changes to make that would improve their health, lastly we would try and incorporate whole grains and more fresh fruits and vegetables into the lunch menu. If you would like a peek at the lunch menu, you can do it here. With that, I rounded up some parents and we formed the Wellness Committee!

We have had great success with Harvest of the Month. For the most part the kids like to see, feel, and taste these (sometimes) new or unusual fruits/vegetables. It's really rewarding to have kids come up and tell me all the things they are eating at home and interesting ways they are incorporating the produce from Harvest of the Month. That is my absolute favorite thing to do every month.

Our Parent's Night was a total flop. Of the 3 adults there, 3 were friends of mine. This only solidified the perception that parents don't care, don't have the time, or didn't know about it. It was poop. :)

The school lunches have remained the same. There is absolutely no budge in that way. I'm wondering if I need to get a petition going for parents to sign. Would you sign a petition about having some changes in the lunchroom? Would you stand behind a crazy mother like me? Or worse yet, am I the only one that is interested in this change?

I've had a lot of people, including people who work in the school lunch program who say that it's all up to the parents to teach healthy habits to their kids. I agree whole-heartedly. BUT, and here's the big but in the room, if you're feeding 2 out of the 3 meals that a child might eat for the day, shouldn't their be responsibility on your end as well? I'm not attacking, in fact, I would love to work WITH everyone than against them. Frankly, it's pretty emotionally draining when you put a lot of effort into something and have someone shut you down time and time again.

I am also playing big with my new business. I am absolutely passionate about offering health solutions to people that they didn't know were out there. To learn more visit mydoterra.com/annacash. This summer I will be traveling around teaching classes about it. I'm excited and mortified at the same time! What if I can't meet the requirements? What if I can't do it? What if...what if...what if...

Playing big is hard!!! I often have nightmares that I'm jumping out of an airplane with no parachute (really) or I'm stuck in a building with lots of doors and no keys. My subconscious is really bucking me on this. But I'm also growing and learning new things, I'm becoming a better leader and honing in on my passion and purpose in life. I'm finding things that I was put on this earth to do, and even though it's very hard I'm not giving up! The personal growth that has come from it has amazing. I would love any ideas or comments, as long as they're productive!

Christmas and one of the best Christmas presents ever

Does everyone know about Pinterest? It's so much fun! I got lost on there one day and found an idea about giving a collection of letters to someone turning 60. So, 60 letters from 60 different people. I thought it would be such a perfect gift for my father-in-law Nick. He is the kind of guy that remembers everyone he's ever met and can talk to ANYBODY. It's a true talent and gift.
My sister-in-law Molly and I printed off the letters and stuffed them in these great Air Mail envelopes and tied them up for Christmas. His birthday was on the 8th of December, but we couldn't get it to him in time, so we did it for Christmas. He loved it. I would recommend this to anyone with a loved one having a milestone birthday. It was so great to read the sweet things people wrote about him. We joked around and said that we didn't have to plan his funeral because everyone had already written it.







Christmas was nice and low key, just the way I like it. We spent Christmas Eve with my brother Ryan and then with Buck's parents and brother Brady's family. We were the only ones with the in-laws for Christmas day. We went to an hour of church and that was nice. I think that we should always have an hour of church on Christmas, I liked that it changed my thinking toward Christ instead of just presents. :)

Harvest of the Month and Barking Seal Babies

Harvest of the Month went SO well! I was so excited by all of the kids who wanted to try butternut squash! I think there was only 2 kids out of the 400 that out right refused. As you can tell in the picture, there are some thumbs down, but most are up. Of course, I added stickers and pumpkin pie spice as a bonus, but still. It couldn't have gone better. :)


















This is the poor babe that woke up this morning with a barking cough. I will say that it's nice not to hear so much screaming/talking from him, but I digress. Poor sick baby. Love that kid, can't get enough pictures of him either. :)

Giving thanks in St. George

On the years that we have Alyssa(Bucky's daughter) for Thanksgiving, we always go back and forth about what to do. Should we fly her up or should we go down to St. George? Well, this year we decided to pack the lot up and head down. Boy, am I glad we did! It was gorgeous!

While we were there we "popped" in on my Uncle Markel and Aunt Kathy. These guys are some of my favorite relatives. And my cousins are fun too. We meant to only stay an hour or two, but somehow managed to stay pretty much all day. It was fun. Lots of kids around for our kids to play with. We didn't see or hear from Ethan and Evie the whole time we were there. Buck and Alyssa played Dominion with the cousins and Kathy and I just relaxed. It was great.

It was such a treat for us to hang out with Bucky's grandparents, they love life and doing things and are just fun to be around. Mary Ellen showed the kids how to make hats with a loom while we were there and they were blown away. They were pretty obsessed with it the whole time we were there.

You can tell by the pictures that it was beautiful this time of year. The temperatures hovered around 60 and 70 degrees the whole time. We even ate our Thanksgiving feast outside! For a girl from Alaska, it was an anomaly. Bucky's Uncle Joel and Aunt Lynette hosted the dinner and it was soooo good. Lynette is one of those cooks that never cooks anything bad. The only other person I can say that about is my friends, Kelly. Don't take offense everyone else, but there are just some people out there that have a talent for cooking and I am working on my talent. Recognize.

Black Friday night we went with Bucky's cousin Haley and her husband Shawn. We pulled up to Target and saw how long the line was and turned around and headed to Walmart for the Electronics unveiling and the fights during. It was fun to stay up way past our bedtimes and have some fun. There's a crazy feeling in the air on Black Friday, like a herd of spooked horses. I don't really have a better explanation than that.

And last but not least, we visited Snow Canyon. There are pictures of us on the red rocks. This was one of the highlights for the kids on the trip. Hat making and the red rocks.

The best part of the trip for Bucky and I was spending time with family on a one on one basis. It's hard to get very well acquainted at a family reunion or a dinner, it's just better to hang out doing every day things. Don't you think?

I swore...

I swore I would never be the person who had so much going on that I couldn't make time to help my friends and family.

I swore I wouldn't just shuffle my kids from one thing to the next.

I swore I would be able to breath.

I'm finding myself in a pickle lately, literally running back and forth trying not to get tagged out by the ball. I'm not having a pity party here, just an enlightening thought that some of the things that I thought I wouldn't do are actually making me a better person.

Like, for instance, I'm tackling the obesity epidemic at my kids school. And it's hard. Very hard. The head lunch lady, Sherlene, fights me at every turn. I also set up a Parent's Nutrition Night to help families learn how to eat better and exercise. Three parents showed up. All of them good friends. I'm starting a program where I talk to all the kids about fruits and vegetables every month and let them try new foods.

I'm not saying this to brag, but it's something that I'm passionate about and feel compelled to do. I feel like it's what I'm supposed to do. So, in that sense, it's easy because I have conviction.
But it's hard when parents say they want to help and see change, then when it's time to help they have to shampoo their hair. I'm not asking a lot, like handing out stickers to kids who eat their fruit/vegetables at lunchtime. But, as hard as it is, I've never felt more excited about the possibility of this change.

I'm also teaching doTERRA essential oil classes. There was a time when Ethan got sick, really sick with a bacterial infection called H. Pylori. It's a fecal borne contaminant that lives in your stomach and causes huge amounts of pain. And it doesn't matter what you eat or don't eat, it's painful. All the time. So, like a good mom I took him to the doctor and he prescribed antibiotics, Prevacid, and Miralax. They call it a triple combination. We did it for 2 weeks and no difference. Imagine seeing your child losing weight and in so much pain. In desperation I called my cousin Robin because I had been to a class she had. I hadn't gotten anything because I thought it was hokey. Well, long story longer, after 2 days of rubbing a digestive blend on his stomach he didn't have any pain. We continued with it for a week just to make sure the bacterial infection was gone and haven't had any issues since.

After this happened, I couldn't keep it to myself. Time and again we've used these oils and they've been amazing. They are pure and there aren't any fillers, pesticides, weeds, herbicides, additives, or synthetics. So, the medicine that God made in plants is now helping us as a family.

I want to make this clear, we still go to the doctor when we need to. But, for the most part we don't need to. Modern medicine has made many advancements and has helped many people, but it's also moved away from the home remedies that people used to use that were effective.

As for shuffling kids around, it's only on Tuesdays. Ethan has Cub Scouts at 4 and soccer practice at 5:30. But, still I don't like it, it throws off my dinner plans and I HATE that. Dinnertime is sacred to me. :)

Okay, I'm breathing, now that I've had a little venting session. Thanks for listening. And please, it makes it worth while when you leave messages! That way I know that you're reading and it's worth the effort. It seems like everyone has moved over to Facebook and Twitter and don't like to slow down and read things anymore. Is it just me???

The Little Dude is One!

Ellis' birthday was last Saturday. We didn't have a huge birthday party for him, we went out for breakfast. I can honestly say I liked that better. It was calm and there wasn't much planning to it and I didn't have to cook anything!

In his short life, Ellis has been the hardest of all the kids. He was a pretty cranky baby who didn't sleep. He didn't nurse very well and it made for some tough times. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. He started sleeping through the night at 9 months round that time I gave up on nursing and started formula. We both liked that better.

Since then, he's been really fun. And when I say fun, what I mean is....ACTIVE. He crawled and got into everything, then he started pulling up on things and got into everything. By 11 months we was walking and BANGING into everything. :) He's loud and wild and that's one of the best and worst things about him! He is brutal with other little babies, but in a Lenny (of Mice and Men) way. Not thinking he's hurting and then BOOM bloody lip (Sorry about that Sam). He's quick to laugh but is shy around new people. That's Ellis. He's a handful but also a joy.

Oh yeah, and he's cute.

I'm sure every mother says this...

It's the night before Ethan's birthday and I can't help thinking about the night before he came into this world. I was nervous, the impending doom a first baby brings. You spend 9 months getting excited for this baby to come into your life (and out of the space he's currently renting). But then the moment of truth comes and then it starts coming like a freight train and then you're looking right down the barrel and it can be a little frightening. At least that's how it was for me anyway. Add to that, moving 4 days before you give birth, that was a lot to say the least.

The delivery was less than ideal, but the end result was amazing. Ethan has always held a special place in my heart, not just because he was the first baby I ever had, but because he's always had such an amazing spirit about him. He's just good to the core, he never wants to hurt anyone and he defends people even to the point of me worrying that one day he'll get beat up for it. He loves to have a good time and is always so cheerful. He's just a delightful kid to have around.

So, cheers Ethan, I love you.

The River

Earlier this summer, there was some serious flooding in my town and around all of northern UT. Every time we would drive past the Ogden River on our way downtown, we would look at how much it had risen and watch the efforts that were made to block it from flooding the street, sandbags and huge mounds of dirt. Well, Mother Nature cranked up the heat these last couple of weeks and the river has dried up a bit. We live near an awesome place called the Ogden Botanical Gardens and the River Parkway, and the Ogden River flows right alongside it.

We decided to explore the river the other day and found a great spot to go swimming! It's shallow and the current is slow. We took our Davenport cousins down there and had a great time. Incidentally, they did find a submerged push lawn mower in there, but that's fun for the kids to explore. :)

We went back again for a second time with Bucky's parents and his aunt and uncle's family. We stayed down there for 3 hours, just sitting on the bank while the kids played in the water. It was great.

Ellis had a great time putting rocks in his mouth and causing all sorts of mischief.

Girls Camp

This last week was the first time I've been to Girls Camp since I was 17. Let me tell you, it's a lot easier being the girl. :) I was the camp director, which meant, along with the Youth Camp Leaders (ages 17 and 18), I planned everything. I should intro also by saying that I have a hard time delegating things. I feel like if I do everything than I'll know it's getting done right? Wrong. The leaders did a great job executing the things that I asked them to do and so did the YCL's. We went to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho and it was great. The weather was good, not too much girl drama, and the food was decent. :) The only hiccup was our hike. I looked it up online and it looked great, but when we got there, no trail. As in the middle of someone's field with no trespassing signs everywhere. Yeah, so we visited the Sunken Gardens. They were awesome. We also visited the Olympic Pool and went tubing on the river.

Northern Idaho

We made for the hills and went to northern Idaho this weekend. It was a bit of a struggle for Ellis to be in the car for 10+ hours, but he managed alright. :) Bucky's parents were a huge help with the kids, trading back and forth between cars and helping us keep our cool when the kids were having melt downs. We went up to ID because Bucky's grandparents, Guy and Maryellen Cash, were being honored in the Grangeville parade. Guy's dad, Guy Sr. was a world champion bronc rider and even won the Calgary Stampede. We got to do some sight seeing up in Harpster where Maryellen's mother lived and heard many stories about life in the 20's and 30's in northern Idaho. It was great. We had a good time and the kids had a blast running around the RV park where we were camping. We also took a day trip up to Moscow to see some of our friends from college. It was great to be back in that small town and see how things have changed and what has stayed the same. It really is beautiful up there, with the rolling hills and farm land.

It's always fun when Lissy comes, when Lissy comes, Hooray! Truly we do like it. I've said it before, but she's one of the most pleasant teenagers to be around.
Buck and Ethan finished up their season with a second place finish and had a great time. Both of them learned a lot too.
The weather is starting to really warm up here and I have to say, I'm not that excited about it. We've been having some rain and overcast and it made me start missing the ole AK. But, I do like getting some sun on my skin and going to the pool, so it's not all bad, right? M'kay. Have a good week everyone!

Lil Ev and the Sleeping Giant

It seems that lately all we've been doing is baseball and softball. Not that I'm complaining, between the mad dash to get to games and find their gear, I've grown to appreciate the times that my mom shuttled us all around to our various sports. And I also wonder how she didn't go a little crazy managing it all. :) Here's a picture of Evie playing and Ellis the "turkey butt" sleeping. Sometimes I have to remind myself that he does sleep. He does. He does. He does.

Ogden Nature Center

I found a Groupon deal for a family membership for three months for $12 and swooped it up. It was definitely a good idea. We had never been there and were pleasantly surprised. The kids used phrases like, "This is the best day ever!" and "Can we come back tonight?" and other things they rarely say. :)

Most of the trails were flooded so we stuck around the visitor's center, checked out the birds they've rescued and ate a picnic lunch. It wasn't too hot and a little overcast. I think it was one of the best days this summer for me too. :)