February Pictures

Valentines Day & St. George

Nic always makes Valentines Day special for us.  We woke up to balloons and presents and a nice card.  We were headed to ST. George after school that day so we didn't do flowers.  We decided to take a little vacation since there was not school on Monday for President's day.  It was nice and warm down south!  We went Razor riding, hiking, played at the park, Nic and I got a date one night, Mom and I went to the parade of homes one afternoon and of course, we played at the park.  We're pretty lucky to be able to head down to st. George whenever we want to and have a wonderful place to stay.

Offspring

Crazy how quickly we went from 0 to 5.  It's a Zoo around here!  :)

Calvin's Blessing

Our baby boy was blessed on Feb. 2nd.  Lyle was still in town from the funeral, so we wanted to make sure he was here for it.  Nic gave such a powerful blessing.  Calvin is so lucky to have the father he's been sent to.  Nic gave him such a wonderful blessing.  I really was touched by what he said.  Among other things, he blessed him to be humble, to have humility.  He blessed him to be selfless, to serve others, and to be kind.  He blessed him to be courageous, that he would need to be courageous to fight the battle, not in a physical war, but in the war against sin and evil.  And just a side note- Calvin was blessed on Super Bowl Sunday (Tammy and Britten are lucky enough to be there!)  So we're thinking this little peanut will be in the NFL someday ;)

Midway Ice Castles

 The Midway Ice Castles were a HIT this year thanks to the release of Disney's FROZEN.  The line was insane and they made sure to put a Frozen spin on everything.  Lots of cousins were there so they enjoyed doing the mazes and meeting the princesses together.  These kids have quite the life!

Marion D. Clark 1927-2014

Grandpa Clark was such a fabulous man.  The last 5 or so years of his life have been difficult for him as his health has deteriorated.  He started getting really bad this last year and eventually, cancer was discovered a few months before he passed away.  Everyone was prepared for it and relieved that his suffering was over.  Grandpa loved to joke around, watch the news on mute, and just take in everything that was happening around him.  There were some amazing stories told at his funeral of his younger days and the wonderful man that he was.  He was an army man, and even received the purple heart, shot right in the bum :)  He worked at Monsanto his whole life and was given the nickname "Reverend" by his coworkers because of the morals and standards he held so tightly to.  Perhaps the most touching part of the funeral was at the gravesite. There were soldiers who stood at solute as the casket was brought over.  The shot their guns and had a special flag they gave to Grandma.  These were the powerful words they said. "On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Army, a grateful Nation, and me personally, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service."  You will be missed Grandpa.

MARION D. CLARK

November 24, 1927 – January 21, 2014
Marion Davis Clark passed away at a his home surrounded by his loved ones on January 21,
2014, due to complications from cancer. He was born in Petersboro, Utah, to Eli and Ella Belle Clark on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1927, the eighth of nine sons. He attended schools in Smithfield, Utah, and he graduated from North Cache High School and LDS seminary in 1945. He served an LDS mission to California and he then continued to serve his country in the Korean War. He married his sweetheart, Janice Godfrey, in the Logan, Utah Temple, in February 1953. They were blessed with three sons and one beautiful daughter.

Marion worked at Monsanto Chemical Company in Soda Springs for 33 years. He loved his family and taught them many great life lessons by his example. He could always be found serving others. He had a great personality and loved to laugh, joke and tease, as was evident by the twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes. He was fun to be around. He had a talent for woodworking, and all of his family cherishes the pieces he has made for them. He loved reading and studying the scriptures and had a great knowledge of the gospel. He loved to travel with his family and many great friends. He loved playing with his grandchildren, taking them for rides on the 4 wheeler, and teasing them with his ‘squirrel’ or his talking parrot.

He also served two LDS temple missions with his wife. They served in the Atlanta Georgia, Washington, DC, and Chicago Illinois temples. They were Officiators in the Logan Temple for 11 years. Marion served as a High Councilor on two separate occasions, and he served in two Bishoprics and as a Bishop in the Soda Springs 2nd ward.

He is survived by his children, Lyle Clark, Zanesville, Ohio; Wade and Pam Clark, Soda Springs; Sue and Robert Goodenough, Soda Springs; Patti and Kurt Norgard, Pocatello, and Melanie Clark, Highland, Utah. He is survived by 18 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, his brother Wallace and Colleen Clark, Kearns, Utah, and Cheryl Clark, Logan, Utah. He was

preceded in death by his son Robert, his parents, and seven brothers.

Services will be held on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at Noon at the Soda Springs LDS Stake Center. The family will visit with friends on Friday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Sims Funeral Home and on Saturday morning from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Church prior to services. Burial will be in the Fairview Cemetery in Soda Springs with Military Honors.

Life as a Mom of 5

School recitals, doll parties, shows, games, silliness, I can't believe this is my stage in life.  As I write this, my baby Calvin is 6 weeks old and I have 5 young children in our home.  It's exhausting.  It's loud.  It's chaotic.  It's fun.  It's rewarding.  It's tiring.  It brings me joy.  It brings me frustration.  Bottle up every possible emotion and it's felt in our house numerous times a day.  I wouldn't change any of this for the world.  Even when I start to feel overwhelmed and stressed out, I just have to remind myself how blessed I am, in the ultimate sense, to have this family.  My kids are amazing.  Although they can get under my skin, I am so in love with them.

 Camryn and Brooklyn are my little mamas.  They help me so much.  If I ever need anything done or need help with the little kids, they don't hesitate.  It's done.  They always get their homework and practicing done and they do well at it.  Brooklyn is usually a little more business while Camryn is usually squirming and ready to play.  Their personalities are different, but they get along so well.  Brooklyn is my over achiever.  If she's given a challenge, she's got it done in no time!  She practices piano, backwalkovers, splits and dance every chance she gets.  She does NOT like to be wrong....she may be my future lawyer.  She is obedient and does not like to disappoint us.  Camryn still loves to be silly.  She loves to care for her siblings and they really look up to her.  Although she needs a few reminders to focus on her homework and practicing to get it done...she always does.  She writes the most loving notes to her parents, Sean, Grandparents, teachers and more.  She has a mature soul.  Kendyl is our free spirit.  Sometimes she'll disappear for an hour and we'll find her in the bathroom singing and playing with a doll.  She has a hard time going to sleep at night because she just wants to talk and talk.  She has a mind of her own, but she's a good girl at heart.  She loves to give me hugs and tell me, "I love you, mom" about 100 times a day.  She can be fiesty, but anyone that meets her can't help but love her.  She's become a flexible little thing who loves dance.  She too is very smart and her preschool teacher loves her.  Nixon is the most awesome 2 year old you'll ever meet.  He's so funny.  He loves to quote movies.  "Dori says..." "Belt says, da da daaaa!" "Turbo says, now that's a new one" and the list goes on and on.  He loves to make people laugh and he's so good at it.  He's obedient and loving and sometimes we forget he's only 2.  He's potty trained during the day.  He LOVES Calvin.  He loves to get in his face and say, "Hi, hi, hi" in the highest little voice.  He likes to say, "He's cute mom.  He's my wittle bwother". It melts my heart every time.  His smile is to die for.  He loves to show people his somersaults.  He loves us to read him stories.  He LOVES treats and doesn't love his meals.  He loves playing games on my phone.  He LOVES playing with Hudson and being silly with him....oh man those two are funny together.  He wants to wear what HE wants to wear and throws a fit if we make him wear something else.  Calvin loves to eat, cry, poop, and sleep (unless mom and dad are trying to sleep....then he'll be awake and whining).

I love these little people and I love spending my day taking care of them.  Cleaning, cooking, driving to school and lessons, helping with homework, cleaning again.  Sometimes I feel sorry for myself and wonder if I'll ever get time for myself.  I love spending time with Nic and wish we could get away, just the 2 of us, more often...but it's ok, I'm happy and I know that there are wonderful, beautiful things in store.  I just need to remind myself of that during the day when I start to lose my patience :)  We are very blessed in so many ways.  We definitely have our trials and sometimes I don't know how I'm going to last one more day... but we seem to get past those moments and find happiness in the next day.

Nic is my rock.  Sounds so cliche, but it's the truth.  I'm happy when he's happy, and down when he's down.  He is an amazing example to our children. He plays with them, helps them, reads to them, tucks them in. He is so good to me.  He is my perfect match.  We are best friends and we just seem to get each other. That doesn't mean that things are always perfect, because we're human, but we're close ;)

I don't want to write about the negative feelings that can sometimes consume me when things get tough.  I always manage to escape those moments quickly, but sometimes the stress of life can leave you feeling dark and miserable.  That's just what life does to us I guess.  It's hard.  Sometimes I get jealous of other people's seemingly perfect lives and can't figure out why we haven't been blessed with the same things they have.  But then I remind myself of the greatest blessings I could ever have, Nic, Brooklyn, Camryn, Kendyl, Nixon and Calvin, and I realize that my life is pretty dang good and may even look perfect to some people.  And although it's not perfect, I know I've been blessed beyond measure and I'm grateful for every day I have with these people.  This is the life I always dreamed of having....how did I get so lucky?