Forty and Fresh Starts

So apparently my now tween daughter has been stocking me on the web. Specifically on my own blog, that I started basically when she was entering kindergarten.  How on earth she remembered about a blog I started that long ago, and frankly I had forgotten about, amazes me.

However as I read these very few posts that I shared so many years ago, it warmed my heart. And I find it a very poignant time for me to revisit and take up the challenge to begin again on this blog.  

I turn, (GASP) Forty in four short days, and the women I was when I started this is very much changed.  Some changes for the better, some for the worse (getting older) but all the more reason to begin again and share some of my thoughts. Remember memories that have happened over these last few years.  And express my love and gratitude to all of the wonderful people I still have in my life from the beginning of this whole endeavor to write a blog.  Last but certainly not least to record all the wonderful happenings with my family over the years.   I have been truly blessed.  My family is still the love of my life. And my sweet husband has become my best friend as well the love of my life.

So watch out my blog peeps! Danielle's back! And I'm holding nothing back!

Talk to you soon 😍

Nauvoo

So for Spring Break we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wagon in Nauvoo. We managed to surprise Janice. Grandpa helped us plan it out, as it was really his idea. Everyone was so excited to see one another that we stayed up far to late talking and catching up. I Love Dell and Janice!!! We were able to have a steady serenade of "The Rendezvous Show" music as grandmother practiced diligently every spare moment. It was wonderful and honestly I don't know why she needed to practice, she sounds amazing. Grandpa assured us he failed the audition to participate in the show, but something tells me he's wrong. We will have to go back just to see the two of them perform.

I have never been and was very excited to visit. My expectations were definitely exceeded. I only wish that we had been able to see it in the full spring beauty. I suppose that will just give our family an excuse to go back there soon.

We really tried to gear our tour more around the fun things for kids in Nauvoo IE. the brickyard, blacksmith, family living center, visitor center, ox cart ride, and carriage ride to inspiration point. However Our children were the most touched by the Trail of Hope. As we walked down the street towards the Mississippi and read the plaques with thoughts of the saints as they left their homes, we were all very touched by the spirit. The sacrifice that the Saints endured, providing for the Lords work to continue and grow to what it is now is truly humbling. Our family will forever be changed in the way we view our gratitude for the gospel in each of our lives.
Perhaps there are a few things that were special to me in Nauvoo, really there are so many its hard to type just a few. It was very moving to have Grandpa give us a tour of liberty Jail, and Last but certainly not least, Attending the Nauvoo Temple was breath-taking. There is such a yearning to return.

We are so greatful to have had the opportunity to visit our beloved grandparents and see such an amazing part of our spiritual hertiage.

Yes ... the Newby is Back !!!!

So for any friends that are still out there, I am finally making a new post. However, I do feel the need to defend myself in my lack of consistency in keeping current posts.

As some of you may not be aware my computer has died since my last post. Actually, it was on the fritz when I started my first couple entries, but I was hoping that it was an easily remedied fix. But for any of you that know me, nothing is ever really simple in my life, that's just not "how I roll". Basically the power supply went out and the hard drive was full to the maximum. (Thank you high quality digital prints!) So after learning what the problem actually was, there was the issue of getting the dang thing fixed. We bought the computer in Utah from a place that has incredible service warranties, but there's one problem. ITS IN UTAH!! So basically, I need to ship it there to get fixed. Not that big of a deal you say. Well I have been worried that when I send it out there they will tell me that my computer is a dinosaur and I need to just buy a new one. Since I don't have money for a new one I have been holding onto this broken computer like its an old pair of expensive size 6 jeans that I wore in High School in hopes that someday they will fit again. Only I am pretty sure that someday the computer is NOT going to lose the old power supply and get a new one along with extra space on my hard drive.
SO I will after 2+ months just have to break down, face my fears, and ship the darn thing to Utah.
By the way it never occurred to me until tonight that I could still blog with Tait's laptop and just not include pics. DUH!!!

Malachi 1st Day of School

On the first day of school I really wanted to get a cute happy picture of my little Snuggle Bunny. This is what I ended up with .

Not to be deterred I explained that I wanted a really good picture to capture how excited he was to finally be in the first grade. So he agreed to try again. Only this time when I said smile he got really ticked off. .........

So after he explained that the first picture was his COOL Face. "It's just not cool to smile in pictures mom." I attempted in vain to get one last picture with a smile just for me. Obviously this put him over the edge.

In the end when he came home from a very exciting first day, he asked if I would take one last picture the way he wanted it to look. So here it is folks. Drum Roll Please!

This is the cool, laid back, and shirtless look of my sweet Snuggle Bunny. I suppose everyone will just have to take my word for it that he really was VERY happy and excited about his first day of school in Mrs. Hamilton's class.

Enoch's Favorites

Combining the two great loves Cars and Fruit Loops!!! Enoch always surprises me how much he enjoys entertaining himself. One afternoon while I was working on homework with Israel, I put Enoch in his high chair with some snacks (vienna sausage) and a tractor to entertain himself. Ta da his favorite pastime was born. Stuffing food into his toys! Now the vienna sausage was not particularly fun getting OUT of the tractor. However I have since found that if I need to steal a few minutes to help with homework, sweep the floor, etc., I can simply put Enoch in his high chair with some dry cereal and any type of vehicle, he then begins the fun. I just hope the only things he likes to stuff food in is the toys at his high chair.

Savannah's First Day of Kindergarten

Alright so here is the much anticipated first day of school pictures of Savannah. I will have you all be aware of the fact that Savannah 100% chose her outfit and the posing of her picture.
While trying to get a good school pictureOf her first day, Savannah decides that she needs to figure out what POSE she should have when she walks into class for her first time. The choices were as follows:
Pose #1 ?????

Pose#2 ??????

Ultimately when she met her Teacher Mrs. Robertson she used neither.

Trying this Out

Alright so instead of putting away laundry, that has been ready to go on hangers in my room for about a week, or cleaning my house. I have been on the computer customizing my blog. The saddest part of the whole thing is the fact that I tried to put on some pictures but I couldn't find the files on my computer that Tait downloaded them to. Which is really frustrating since that's one of the main reasons I wanted a blog in the first place. On a brighter note I really love my background and music player. I suppose I'll just have to settle with the satisfaction of knowing that although there is no content on my blog at least it looks cute. That almost sounds like a mantra Savannah would come up with. Maybe she didn't fall THAT far from the tree.



Okay, Okay, I know what you are all thinking she's just like me only a teensy bit more dramatic. Actually, I was thinking about Savannah's questions regarding what pose she should walk into class with on her first day, (soon I will post a picture of the options) when I remembered things I did as a little girl. One of my favorite things to do outside in the summertime was running and dancing in my front yard while singing songs and acting out songs. One song I remember quite vividly singing my heart out to, complete with choreography, was the theme song to Fame. I also loved roller skating in my backyard on the patio while listening to Casey Casem's top 40's. Not only did I prented I was at my own roller rink, but I would pretend I was on of the dancers from Solid Gold perfoming to the songs. ON ROLLER SKATES!!! So the next time I wonder where on earth Savannah gets her sassy attitude just remind me of these sweet activities I once lived for.