A little bit of Heaven on Earth

A friend once shared this version of How Great Though Art with me and I have loved it ever since. Thought I would share.

Majestic Eagles, and Smelly Fish

This last Saturday the Dudley Family took off to Fountain Green, a small city near Nephi, to visit the fish hatchery and spot some eagles.

We got to the fish hatchery around 3 which happened to be feeding time for the rainbow trout. Looking into the pools we could see thousands and thousands of fish but the top of the water was as still as glass. So what happens when you throw in fish pellets? Well at first glance not much. It takes a minute for the fish to realize the food is there. But very suddenly fins and flippers and whole fish start coming out of the water splashing the water a good ten feet out of the pools. It was pretty neat and Ashton, Sage, Mom, Dad, and Grandma, and Grandpa had a blast feeding and watching the fish freak out.

The pools were still at first... and then

Time to feed the fish! And then...

There was movement... and then

A Lot of movement!

Close up of the crazy fish... i guess i get this crazy for food sometimes as well... I'm not one to judge;)

After that fun event we headed off to find the "Eagle Tree". This tree is a very large very old tree that Eagles have been roosting in for decades upon decades. Between 2-4pm the eagles start to come back to the tree for the night. As each Eagle flies in, the others greet the newly come eagle vocally. When we arrived there were already 14 eagles in the tree. By the end there were 18. So through scopes we had the pleasure of seeing 4 beautiful bald eagles fly in and perch in this beautiful old tree. I can see why this beautiful creature is Curtis's favorite animal and our nations national bird.

Taking a picture through a scope

Random Thoughts of Becky

I have a few thoughts running through my head and I thought I would share them.

Valentines Day
Valentines is coming up soon. As this little holiday approaches I hear men proclaim how much they dislike Valentines Day. I hear, "Why do we need a day to tell our sweetheart we love her". Why indeed? Well men... mainly because many of you don't do little romantic things through out the year to begin with. Valentines is the only chance during the year a lot of women get to be romanced. Now if you are the type to do little things for your loved one throughout the year then the above argument is understood. But if you are not... and many of you really are not the romantic type, than be thankful for Valentines day. Men are always saying how much they wish women would just speak their mind and tell them what they want.. well this holiday speaks for all women! We want romance. And in return we will give plenty back. Oh and for those older men who have not done something for their sweetheart on Valentines Day for years... surprise your woman and make the effort... you will be rewarded. As for me, I am the type to do little things for someone through out the year... but I love this holiday because it gives me the chance to go overboard!

Note: My husband does a pretty good job at loving me throughout the year:) But Valentines gives me a chance to get my expensive chocolate that I love so much! Its in the cupboard right now... wrapped up with an "I love you" sticker on it... and I can not touch it till Valentines day... SOOO HARD!


And finally, some good advice on love.



Something to look Forward to
I am the type of person that gets bored easily. I know its not a good trait but it happens. As a stay at home mom with a newborn and young children, I do not get out much. My days are pretty routine. I wake up, kiss husband goodbye, get Sage ready for school, take her to school, come home and feed Ashton and Jace, check my emails and facebook, clean, cook, clean, get Sage, help with homework, clean, cook, clean, kiss husband hello, clean, watch TV or talk with husband, and go to bed. That is a typical weekday for me. My weekends are usually more interesting thank goodness. So for someone like me, how in heavens do I not go insane with this routine life? I set goals for myself and plan outings. And then I focus on those. Great thing about trips and goals is that they change all the time. So for now that will have to do to keep things interesting. And when my children are older and don't need as much care, I will then get into something that really shakes things up. Oh the life of a stay at home mom with young children. To all of you I give you my deepest respect.




Those are my thoughts for now. Figured I would share. I better get to the cleaning part of my day. To finalize my thoughts, right now I'm thinking, "Why does Ashton always insist on walking around in his underwear? Why wont Jace sleep just a little longer? and I miss my husband and wish he were here."

And So the Story Goes

I have the Cutest Kids

The I'm Thinking Look

I cannot believe it’s mid January already! Baby Jace is now one month old. We have found that Jace is generally a good kid but loves to voice his opinions and concerns… loudly. He is also constantly in thought and although he appears to look worried all the time he is actually pondering and observing what is going on around him. If you take a moment to stare at Curtis, you will find that his face makes the same expression when in deep thought. Jace is slowly loosing his yellow color and is still attempting to poop comfortably without acting like it’s the hardest task to ever plague man.

Sage is currently working through a cold. She is doing very well in school and her teacher says she is one of the easiest kids to teach because of her thirst for knowledge. And of course it helps that she has a memory of 10 women combined! That’s right guys… women NEVER forget;). Sage has been a lot of help with Jace. She loves to hold him and rock him so I can get a few things done. I am grateful to have such a beautiful, bright and willing to please daughter.

Ashton is at the beginning of a cold. I do not know of another child who is as happy as Ashton even when his throat hurts. He is still as loving as ever. He is also my little helper and is always willing to stop whatever he is doing to lend me a hand. Even if that means touching a poopy (Strange this word was not in the computer dictionary) diaper (Dirty things disgust Ashton) and throwing it into the trash for me when I can not get to it right away.

Curtis… well Curtis is the best! He is the most devoted Father and Husband that there is. I’m sorry ladies… but I have the best Husband out there! Curtis is always willing to lend a hand with the kids. He tries his hardest to support me in anyway. And no other person ever made me feel so loved and appreciated. He bought me the perfect chair to rock my baby in, he got me a new dishwasher even though the old one technically “worked”, and get this… he turns the heat down for me when prego and up when I’m not. This makes for an either “too cold Curtis” or a “too hot Curtis.” But more than anything, he loves me and values me above all else and I can see that. Curtis continues to volunteer on the Search and Rescue Team where he has just recently become the new Dive Sergeant. What does that mean? I’m not 100% sure but from what I understand that means he is responsible for organizing dive training meetings and classes. If you know Curtis you know how much he loves to scuba dive… so its not surprising that he is excited to carry out this new roll in SAR. Besides that, Curtis has been keeping himself busy with organizing the basement, and working on our cars and other people’s cars.

Me… well… Due to the lack of sleep I have been getting not much comes to mind lol. I recently got a new vehicle. It’s a Toyota Land Cruiser and it seems like it’s going to be a great ride. I can’t wait to take it off paved roads on our first family adventure. Besides that, I have been keeping very busy with my newborn. Lots of holding, rocking, feeding… you know the normal motherly things. When I’m not dealing with Jace I’m taking care of the older kids and cleaning. Oh the life of a mom. And I would not give it up for the world. Now if you will excuse me I must go… Jace calls for me and I must check on the progress of Sage and Ashton’s rooms’… xoxo.

You Never Know What a Year Will Bring

“It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things.”
- Donald Miller

Change. Change is the one word that I feel best describes this year for our family. Both of our lives have changed drastically in different ways. Curtis had been single off and on for over five years and was living a fairly care free lifestyle playing hard and collecting lots of toys. I was recovering and working through the pain associated with my last marriage while taking care of my kids and trying to figure out a one year plan. Within one year, Curtis and I met, fell in love, got married, got pregnant and had a baby. Essentially the kids and I gained a husband, a friend, and a Dad. And Curtis received a wife who adores him, and three kids. Both of us needed each other and both of us needed these changes simply because it was right. Neither of us even anticipated that this much change would occur in our lives in such a short period of time.

Even though all these changes were welcome, they had their challenges. You see in order for change to occur you have to give things and people up… essentially sometimes you have to leave a life behind to start a new one. Curtis had to give up some of his playtime so that he could be the man the kids and I need him to be. I had to move my family out to Eagle Mountain and adjust to having a husband who was as active as Curtis. We both had to change certain aspects of our lifestyle to make the other feel more comfortable in the relationship. Some of these changes were difficult for us to make but at the same time they came with some ease because of the respect and immense love we have for each other.

Change. I always did welcome change. Its what keeps life interesting for me, but as I get older and wiser I realize that some things are better left unchanged. I can tell you one thing that has not changed at all for over a year now… I love my family, I love my husband and kids, and that will never change.

Meet Jace Mervin Dudley AKA mini Curtis

On Thursday December 16th Curtis and I took off at 6am heading for the hospital in Orem to get induced. About 12 hours later after the inducement was started Jace Mervin Dudley was born at 8:17PM weighing in at 8 lbs 3 ozs, and measuring 20 inches long. Jace immediately showed the entire room that he had lungs and let out a good cry. If you are wondering what he looks like, he looks just like Curtis. Not sure he got too much genetic material from mom.

We all stayed in the hospital till Saturday morning and then returned home. Jace is doing well but is a bit yellow and is having to undergo biliruben light treatment right now. We are hoping that he will recover soon because the poor boy must be tired of getting his heal poked and blood drained every day!

Mom has had her fastest recovery yet! She is still a bit tired and worries too much as always but is doing fine.

Ashton and Sage are loving the fact they have a new baby brother but are sad they cant really touch him much since he is on lights. Ashton tries to be as helpful as possible even though he is disgusted with dirty diapers, and Sage is just happy she has a baby in the house.

Finally Dad is LOVING his little baby boy like nothing else and is very willing to help out in anyway. He is very protective and loves to just hold Jace and bond.

CDud and JDud

Just after Jace was born. Mom is really tired... can you tell???

Look at those eyes!!! Ive been looking at those same eyes for a year now!!!

Look how sweet he looks... and look at those lips! So kissable.

Finding Perfection

The day after Thanksgiving, our family took off with Grandma and Grandpa Dudley to find our Christmas tree near Vernon. We all dressed warmly, packed some lunch, a toboggan, and a saw and made the hour drive. Unlike Heber there are no white firs in this area but plenty of Pinyon Pine and Juniper. Curtis wanted a pine that was not too tall yet pointed at the top and thick and full. The problem with this combination of traits is that Pinyon Pine tend to grow more round than pointy unless you get a very very young tree. But we were determined to find a good tree for our family.

We took the truck and set out in the slippery snowy roads till our road literally ended with no where to turn around. So back down we went in reverse directly next to an edge. A little nerve wracking for most of us in the car… a bit exciting for me. We finally parked on the edge of the road, took out the toboggan, put the kids on it and headed out to find the perfect tree. Almost three hours later none of us had found a tree that would do except Mom Dudley who said if she had a permit, one in particular was calling to her. So we packed everything up and headed to another location. As the gals and kids ate lunch, the guys set up the hill to scope out a tree. They came down with a few in mind, ate lunch themselves and then took me up there to look at the line up. We quickly chose one that was a little short but healthy, fat, and full with a point. Reminded me a bit of how men used to like their women before thin was considered beautiful. Curtis cut the tree down and carried it carefully over his head to the truck, tied it down and hauled it out.

Our tree may not have been very large… definitely not the typical Christmas tree, but for our family it’s perfect and its filling our house with the smell of Christmas.

Kids were content with being pulled around while eating baked goods.

Grandma and Ashton Looking for a tree. Ashton was a trooper and did very well in the snow.

My man is sooo studly with sharp cutting objects.

Cutting down the Christmas tree. Took Four hours to find it!!

Curtis and Grandpa happy to have finally found the perfect tree.