Family Update

It's been a busy time for us in the Fetzer household so far in 2017 but, God is good and we have been so blessed. It's been amazing to look back and understand His timing better as we've gone through challenges and learned from them. He truly loves us and knows what's best. My testimony of that has been significantly strengthened this year already and I'm grateful for those opportunities for growth and learning.

We moved into our new home in the first weekend of March. I was so (over dramatically) worried that we wouldn't find a place in time. Thanks to the help of so many kind friends and family members, we were able to find a wonderful new home that we love. It's the perfect place for us, has all of the things we wanted and needed for our little family, and it is miraculously located only a few streets away from where we had been living for the last 5 years. 

Even though the distance we moved was pretty insignificant, the change has been enormous in the best way. We have been doing a lot of de-cluttering and organizing and we are blessed to have more space to work with than before. The last house we were in was great for Sam and I as a young, newlywed couple but, even then it was a little snug. (I mean, the kitchen had ONE DRAWER for crying out loud!) Emma may be small but, she comes with a lot of "equipment" and all of that stuff takes up a lot of space. We were starting to get pretty cramped in our cute little home. Our new house has plenty of space for Emma to play. The back yard is the perfect, kid-friendly space for her to go "running and chasing" as she calls it. I love the open concept living room and kitchen that lead into the back yard so that I can have my eyes on Emma wherever she's causing her mischief. (and YES. The kitchen has more than one drawer!!) We feel spoiled to have a garage to park our car in and for extra storage. The whole place has a really abundant amount of storage which is a welcome change for us. We've been pretty creative with our storage for the past 5 years. We are feeling much less cramped in our new home. We planted some strawberries in the back yard and potted some cute flowers in the front. I've enjoyed setting up our new space and making our house into a home.

Besides setting up a new house, we have all been keeping very busy. Sam is still working as an exercise therapist at IHC in St. George which means he does a lot of driving back and forth from Cedar City to St. George. His department recently extended their hours which meant that Sam's hours increased significantly. That has been such a blessing (moving is expensive!)  but, it also means that Sam is away more often and doing more driving back and forth. We miss him! Sometimes we opt to travel with him and stay a night or two to be together and save a little gas money. I'm so grateful for his hard work and that he understands and supports my desire to stay home more often with Emma. 

I have been working on building my bath bomb business and have enjoyed adding some new products and scents and trying new ways to get myself out there like the Tuacahn Saturday Market and my Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/bathbombsbynatalie). Some weeks are slow but others are really busy. I've enjoyed doing it and am excited to continue adding and growing. I'm grateful that it's something I can do to help support our family without being away from home more often.

Sam and I continue to enjoy serving as cub scout leaders in our ward. Emma knows our scouts by name and gets excited every time we tell her that we're going to see them. They are such fun, sweet boys that are excited to learn and try new things every week. They are rowdy and goofy and just plain fun.

I am still working part time (mostly from home) at Discovery Ranch for Girls as the admissions coordinator. I have worked there now for nearly 3 1/2 years and I have enjoyed working in a few different positions during my time. I have been lucky enough to get to learn a few different positions and I continue to learn constantly in this one. It's nice to have a few hours out of the house each week and I am grateful to get to work from home most of the time. I have enjoyed seeing a new side of the business and love the people I work with. They are talented, driven, and passionate about what we do. It adds to an already busy schedule but, I am blessed to have the experience and income. 

I am, of course, constantly busy taking care of my little miss sassy pants. Emma is getting close to her second birthday and I am struggling to keep up with her growth and energy. She is all go, all the time. Emma's hobbies and interests include "running and chasing" (especially when we're in a long line at the post office), coloring on the walls of our new rental, telling mommy and daddy "NO!" or "SHOO!", and hanging with her grandparents. She also loves Disney princesses and knows them all by name. She is a really big Sofia the First fan as well as Winnie the Pooh and Curious George. She loves going to church but NOT going to nursery. She loves being outside and exploring. She likes to whip up treats for mom, dad, and dolls in her play kitchen. She adores her dog Daisy and really any animals that we come across. She has no fear for animals and will pet (and boss around) any dog, no matter the size. She loves her cousins, aunts, and uncles.  She likes to get the mail with grandpa-She really prefers to be with her grandparents more than anything most of the time. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family support system. I get the whole "it takes a village" thing now that I have a child of my own and I'm so grateful for the love Emma receives from many family members and friends who care about her and for the lessons she learns from them. It's so important to me that she gets to spend time with family. I know it will be of great value to her throughout her life.

I love how aware Emma is of people and their emotions. She really is a "people person". She's so friendly and outgoing-she will introduce herself to everyone we pass in the grocery store. "Hi! This is Emma and this is mommy. Daddy's at work", she'll say to each person. The other day, as we were leaving JoAnns, a woman shouted "bye Emma!". I didn't know who she was so I was a little taken aback by it until I remembered that Emma had introduced us earlier. She makes friends wherever she goes. She has a gift for lifting those around her. 

This is Emma's "grandma" Bonnie. She is a sweet lady in our ward who loves Emma and
Emma loves her! They have become fast friends. Emma loves to visit her grandma Bonnie.

Emma loves to sing and dance. She likes to mother her dolls (and other babies!). She still LOVES her books. We recently started going to story time at the public library and she is really into it. It's so fun to watch her listening so intently to the songs and stories or see her shout out answers to questions they ask during the story hour. She's getting so grown up.

We are getting excited for spring and have already been out enjoying the warmer weather whenever we can find the time. We had a lot of fun visiting the chicks and baby bunnies at Cal Ranch this year as is our yearly tradition. Emma was fascinated. 

We are pretty big on holidays of all kinds over here so, of course, we had some fun with St. Patricks Day. We spent the night before at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the next morning, we found that the leprechauns had paid us a visit.  They left some fun little surprises along with the traditional Lucky Charms for breakfast. We dressed up in our green bling complete with green mani's and pedi's. 

It's hard to believe how quickly this year is already passing. We are nearing the end of March already and spring is fast approaching. This time of year is my favorite for a lot of reasons. It makes me think of my grandma to see all of the colors of spring. The flowers blooming, brightly colored easter eggs, and pastel, spring decor. I get excited for our family "birthday month" where we will celebrate all three of our birthdays. Easter is my favorite holiday so that's always something that I look forward to. I love the warmth after a long, cold winter and the opportunities that we have to get outside and be together as a family. Life is good and we are so blessed. It's easy to get caught up in the challenges but, I prefer to notice the good that is all around us every day. 

God Bless! 

Be STILL My Soul.

At the beginning of December last year, I was not doing well. I wasn't taking care of myself. I had taken on one too many projects and was way too caught up in them. I wasn't making time to eat (and certainly not eating very healthy), I wasn't sleeping well, I was ornery and stressed. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, I was feeling stretched thin. I really felt like I was spending my time doing things for others but, not in a way that was making anyone feel good. I had a poor attitude and just plain didn't feel well. As a result, I wasn't being as good of an employee, friend, wife, or mom as I could have been. Forgetting to take care of myself was turning out to be a major disservice to the people I loved.

It was around that time that I started getting the promptings. Promptings that I needed to slow down, take care of myself, focus more on my family. God was letting me know that I needed to take care of myself so that I could serve others better. I decided that one of my goals for 2017 was going to be to focus on self care, slowing down, saying no, and making the moments count with my family.

Well, we're almost two months in to the new year and I'll tell you, it hasn't been easy. This year has been quite a challenge for our little family. Some reasons for that are a little too personal to share but others have had me publicly asking for help. One of the biggest reasons was that our house was put up for sale in the second week of January by our landlord. About two weeks later, it sold. 

Rewind to just before our house sold: Sam's hours at work got cut a little bit. We were feeling a kind of stressed about money and I was wishing that I could contribute a little bit more without having to leave Emma any more often than I already do. I was thinking about our predicament one afternoon when I received some inspiration. I was literally inspired to make and sell bath bombs. It might sound like a kind of silly thing to receive inspiration about but, I had never even thought about making bath bombs before and I really did have a clear prompting. I had seen something about DIY bath bombs on Pinterest weeks earlier and thought maybe I'd try it someday but, really hadn't even given it an after thought. Well, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I had a few weeks until Valentine's Day which seemed like a good time to be selling bath products. I felt like it was something I would enjoy doing and a product that people would like. I studied several recipes and then ordered the ingredients I'd need. I had a lot of fun experimenting and choosing the scents I liked best and when they were ready, I put them out to the world.

In that same week, our house sold. While it's been an extremely busy time, I've been so grateful for the timing of my little shop opening. I've been able to make some extra money to take some of the financial stress away from our family. This has been especially good because finding a new place to live has been a whole new stress. You wouldn't believe the difficulty we've had in trying to find a home with everything we need. I'm talking pretty bare necessities here. (Enough rooms, a monthly payment we could afford, a place that would allow Daisy to live with us, etc.). Nothing was working out for us and nothing felt quite right. 

I was so discouraged by our house hunt that I reached out to friends on social media for help. The response was so overwhelming! So many kind friends began tagging me in posts with homes for rent, messaging me ideas, texting me names and numbers of realtors they knew, offering words of encouragement. I was so emotional as I had friends I hadn't spoken to in years reaching out to me to help in any way they could. We felt so blessed and so loved. I was immediately hopeful and just knew that something would work out. Even though we now have less than two weeks to find a home, I am sure that we will. Heavenly Father is watching over us. 

Now, back to my 2017 goal. Taking care of myself, saying no to extra projects, SLOWING DOWN. Sounds like I'm failing pretty badly doesn't it? I've had some time to think about it and I've decided that I'm actually succeeding. I am being more deliberate in taking time for myself-making a conscious effort to be mindful, fuel my body, make time for self care, and do the things I enjoy. I'm also doing a better job of keeping my life balanced. I've said no to a few cake orders (not easy for me to do but, I've realized that now is not the time for me to be doing extra things that take away from my family.) I've been better about holding a boundary for times that I can work and times that I can't. I think the reason Heavenly Father was pushing this goal on me so hard was that He knew of the challenges that were coming for us. He knew that I would need to work on taking care of myself better so that I could be strong, optimistic, and healthy for my family during a time that would be difficult. 

I've learned that "slowing down" doesn't mean LIFE slows down. It means that you have to make an effort to enjoy the small moments, prioritize and balance, and do what makes you happy even though life is crazy and busy and full of challenges. 

Yesterday, even though we were in the thick of house hunting, packing, and cleaning, our family took some time out to go do what we love. We drove up the winding canyon through low clouds and high snow banks to enjoy some mountain air. Sam tried out his snow shoes and took a walk on his own in the quiet, snow-covered trees while Emma and I played in a giant mound of fresh powder. I watched as she ate handful after handful of snow and laughed with her at Daisy, leaping and frolicking through it.

Finally, Emma's hands were too cold and she and I headed back to the car. 15 minutes or so later, Sam made his way back and climbed into the seat next to me. "I needed that", he said to me. I nodded. It had been exactly what we needed to do. That time was more important than packing another box, looking at more listings, or cleaning more of our house. I've learned that these moments of stillness are just as much a need as the other daily tasks we have to complete. 

We ended the day with a campfire in the backyard and banana boats. These are the best kinds of days.  The most important.  

Emma Update

Emma has grown and changed so much in the past few months. She's like a sponge for knowledge and everyday I'm amazed at the new things she's learned. It's a privilege to have a front row seat and I'm so grateful to be her mom.

Emma is a million wonderful and unique things rolled into one, super cute, package. She's determined and oh so stubborn. She's my little "miss independent" and yet, a major mama's girl and  my constant sidekick. She loves people and thinks about others often. She asks nearly every morning, "Where'd daddy go? Where'd grandma go? Where'd grandpa go?" until she's learned where nearly every person she knows is. She likes to be around people and loves to be the center of attention. She is always making us laugh which is her favorite thing to do. She is very friendly and can be heard loudly greeting everyone we pass at grocery stores. Emma is also really good at picking up on others emotions. I am amazed that she seems to know when I am frustrated or upset with something even if I'm trying not to show it. She'll sweetly ask, "alright mommy?" and pat me on the back. If there's a character in a book with a sad face, she insists on giving it a kiss before we turn the page. She has a gift for making others happy and leaving light behind wherever she goes. 

After Christmas, winter always seems to kind of drag on to me. Our family has a love for the outdoors and we prefer to be out hiking or fishing instead of sitting at home. In the winter, that option isn't as frequent so we spend a lot of our time together at home.. This year, though I miss the mountain air, it has actually been a much needed break. I've spent my time deep cleaning our little house, redecorating, setting goals, reflecting, and connecting with my family. It's been very refreshing and I've loved spending more quality time at home with Emma. 

So, for those of you that aren't lucky enough to get to spend every waking minute with this cute little firecracker, here is a an "Emma Update":

• Emma is now nearly 21 months old and quickly approaching 2 years! She's about 28 pounds and is already wearing 2T and some 3T clothing. 
• She's incredibly mischievous and continues to enjoy getting in to EVERYTHING. She thinks my "mad face" is hilarious and interprets "No!" to mean "It would be funny if you did it again!" Let's just say, everyday is an adventure.  

Yes, those are teeth marks in the cheese. 

• Emma started nursery at 18 months but, we didn't go very consistently because we were doing a lot of travelling over the holidays-not to mention that Emma missed a couple of weeks because of her TWO bouts with hand foot and mouth disease (aka sickness of the devil). She's really just started consistently attending this month and she's getting the hang of it! She waves goodbye to her nursery leaders as we leave and gets excited about playing with the dolls and kitchen that they have in the nursery room. It's been nice for me to get to attend relief society. 

First piece of nursery artwork

• Emma can name almost all of her colors.
• She has started singing her ABC's (she can do A-E and then jumps right to WX-haha)
• She counts 1,2.
• Emma likes to color (on paper AND on the wall), she just started playing with play dough, she loves dolls, she loves playing with her kitchen that she got for Christmas and will spend a lot of time "cooking" foods for mommy, daddy, and dolls. She also loves to sing, dance, and talk, talk, TALK. 
• She loves to blow kisses, give high fives, and "knuckles". 

 

 

• Emma is a HUGE princess fan. She knows all of the Disney princesses by name and loves to watch the movies. She loves to wear princess clothes and hair clips and play with all of her princess toys. 
• She loves books and brings them to me all day long to read. Sometimes she'll sit and look at them on her own too. 
• Current favorite movies/TV shows are Sofia the First, Brave, Winnie the Pooh, Beauty and the Beast, The Grinch, and Frosty the Snowman.
• Favorite music includes anything from a Disney movie and anything by the Piano Guys. She requests "ano Guys" every night at bedtime. 

• Emma loves animals of all kinds but especially her dog, Daisy and grandma's dogs, Buddy and Lily. She's very gentle with them (almost always) and is also definitely not afraid to boss them around, which she does frequently. Had I mentioned yet that Emma is extremely bossy?? well, she is. 

• Emma has a great imagination and has wonderful conversations with her toys. It's incredibly entertaining to watch. 
• Emma also loves the bath. Bath time is a sure way to cheer her up on a day she's feeling particularly crabby. 

•  She's loves milk, waffles, peas, corn, cheese, any kind of fruit (especially apples), eggs, soup, chicken, bread, and CANDY. Anything sweet really. She begs for sweets ALL. DAY. LONG. 
• She's full of energy and runs circles around me every day (sometimes literally). 



Rocking horse at grandma's house

• She is completely spoiled by ALL of her grandparents and she loves them dearly. They are all basically her favorite people in the world. 
• Some of her favorite things to say right now are "Amazing!", "I love it!", "Delicious", and "NO!"
• Emma usually calls Sam either "daddy-Sam" or "babe". Seriously, she'll be like "Where's babe?"or "Hi babe!". She cracks us up. 
• Emma has started "saying prayers". Her prayers are basically impossible to understand except that she usually blesses her uncle Beau and always ends with a very loud "AMEN!"
• Sometimes, she sleeps. 

She bosses us around and keeps us on our toes but we love her spunk and zest for life. I love that she tells us "I missed you!" when we haven't seen her in a while (by that I mean, after I've just come out of the bathroom where she's been waiting right outside the door). I love that she does her patented "Skippity-hop" all through the house when she's happy. I love how she wants to be right with me, wherever I am. She's such a fun, busy little toddler and we love her so very much. I always want her to slow down and yet, I have enjoyed every stage with her as she's grown. Being a mom is the best. 

2016: A Year With The Fetzer's

2016 is coming to a close. This time of the year always brings a lot of things for me; the excitement of new adventures and plans coming, nervousness for what challenges lie ahead, hope for an even better and brighter new year, and motivation to work towards and reach new goals. Today, it's brought, to me, a lot of reflection on the past 12 months.

2016 has been a challenging year for many. There is a lot of wickedness and unkindness in our world today and many are suffering. I am saddened by all of the hate and anger. I found myself with a heavy heart on many days this year just because of the chaos of the world around me. It is hard to avoid-it's on the news, it's in the paper, it's in an angry Facebook post, it's in the unkind sharing of gossip about a neighbor or ward member. It's on the streets, on our tv, on our computers, in our schools, and at work. It can be found everywhere you go. I am so grateful that my home is a haven away from the storm that is the world we live in. As I think month to month about the different blessings, trials, memories, and tender mercies our family received, I can see that God has been present in our lives all year long, as He always is. We have been so blessed and felt so much love this year. The world can be a dark place but, our homes are sacred places of refuge, protection, and love. I am so grateful for that. I'm also eternally grateful for the lights that are in our world despite the, sometimes overwhelming, dark. The light can be found as easily as the darkness can, if we choose to see it. It's in the kind smile of a stranger, it's in neighbors who are there for you when you need it, it's in friendship and family, it's in charity and service given by strangers to strangers. Light can be found in nearly every corner of the world. The best part is that we can be the ones to bring it. We can be that light in the world.

I hope that each of you have found light in your 2016 as we did and that that light will continue and grow in the next 12 months. I hope we can be that light for each other and can give it to others all year long.

As always, our family had opportunities to create many happy memories this year. These were some of the highlights for me:

A few things I want to remember:

• Emma learned to walk at 11 months old. It was so fun to see her enjoying her newfound independence. 
• Sam and I were called to be scout leaders and have absolutely loved it! Our boys are so funny and sweet and we enjoy hanging out with them. Emma has really enjoyed it too. 
• The three of us had a blast at IF4 (International Fly Fishing Film Festival) in March. Emma and I watched most of the films from the back since she was a little too squirmy to sit through the entire evening but, she did so good. It was a fun trip and we look forward to going again this year. 
• Sam's brother Jake got married to our beautiful, new sister in law, Skylie. They had a lovely wedding at the St. George LDS temple. 
• My cousin, Zack was also married to his sweet wife in the same month and I was blessed to get to make their wedding cupcakes. 
• We had a super fun "birthday month" this year. Sam turned 27, I turned 25, and little miss Emma turned 1. We had a big "tea party" celebration and so many of our friends and family came to show her love. 
• My sister, Olivia moved to Portland. This was a pretty sad day and we miss her all the time but we've had a few visits that have been fun. 
• Sam and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! We had an eventful trip to Zion National Park. There were a few obstacles but it was fun anyway. It was our first night away from Emma and we missed her! 
• We went on our annual cabin trip in July with Sam's family. It was especially wonderful to watch Emma play and enjoy herself there. There will be many more memories made at the family cabin. What a special place. 
• Emma went on her first plane ride and the two of us, along with my mom and aunt Brenda visited my sister in Portland. We saw all of the sights and more importantly, got to spend some time with Olivia. 
• Sam's grandmother passed away in December and we miss her. Because of her passing, we were all able to get together as a family right before Christmas and spend time together in Salt Lake. We visited Temple Square to see the lights and did some pre-Christmas shopping. 
• Christmas was so fun with Emma this year! Santa brought her a kitchen of her very own and she loves it! She is always cooking yummy food for mom, dad, and her baby dolls. 

I am looking forward to another great year in 2017. I'm grateful for the people that love and care about me and my little family and lift us up during the tough times. I'm grateful that I have the ability to do the same for others. It's a wonderful thing to think that we are all brothers and sisters and children of God. I plan to work on having a more Christlike love and spirit of giving for others this year. I was grateful for a sweet sister missionary who spoke in a ward Sam and I visited a few weeks ago. She talked about serving others and said that the best thing to do was simply "find a need and fill it". That has helped me find so many opportunities to help others. I see needs every day, right in front of me, that I can help with. It can be something as small as helping a neighbor move out a piece of furniture or holding a baby for a mother with her hands full. As the, always wise, Winnie the Pooh said, "A little consideration, a little thought for others makes all the difference."

I pray that each of you have wonderful, warm memories of 2016 to reflect on and that you find strength, happiness, peace, and love in the new year. Happy New Year everyone!