Quote of the day

"Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." Elder Neal L. Anderson

Thanks to my friend Vindie for sharing this on her latest post about motherhood. I needed this today. 

Random Summer Happenings

This summer has been so fun... and I have all sorts of random pictures of what we've done. So here they are, all meshed together.

This summer I quit my job in the ER at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. This was the picture one of nurses took of me saying goodbye. It's been bittersweet- I miss the people and adult work environment a lot. However I don't miss the night shifts or the drunks and psychotic patients. I think I'd had enough of those.

When Ben's brother Sammy came home from his mission we hiked with the Petersens up above Snowbasin. It was really beautiful.

However Nayeli got really hot and we ended up having to strip her down to her diaper.

This wasn't technically summer but I'll include it in here. We went to plant flowers in my Nana's yard for Mother's Day. She is 95 years old and still lives independent. She's one of my heroes.

A first for Nayeli- we took her swimming in her great-grandparents' pool.

She actually really seemed to like it. Maybe we have a little swimmer on our hands.

The fourth of July

When people see Nayeli there are two things they comment on: her big eyes and her big cheeks. This picture makes it obvious why those are the first two things they notice.

Nayeli's personality

Just a few weeks ago Nayeli turned four months. Time is flying. I remember when she was born thinking, "If I can survive the first three months of her life, I can do anything". I survived, and I'm so glad I did. It's so fun to see her grow and watch her personality develop.

She has the sweetest disposition, but also the strongest will. If I'm not doing something right, she'll let me know it :) My sister and I often discuss that Heavenly Father is sending spirits with a strong-will to the world in these latter days because they have to be strong to stand up for what they believe.

For example, here she is at  telling us she does not like the sunglasses we put on her. She was too funny- we had to snap a picture before we took them off.

This picture cracks me up. We got together with her Petersen cousins Andelin and Adelaide. She was not interested in being touched.

In fact, she didn't really want to be in the picture at all.

Her two month old photo shoot. She was so sad about something.

When she gets sad she sticks out her bottom lip. It's so so cute.

But of course a few minutes later she was just fine. What was once a crisis now is forgotten.  But we love her dynamic personality and being her parents. She is a joy, strong-willed and all :)

 

 

 

Blog Under Construction

Pardon our clashing colors as we update the blog. Soon to come: the Petersen Palooza in 3D! Just kidding. But something equally as cool.

Ben's Triathlon

On July 14th Ben and his mom Jane did the Echo sprint Triathlon in Coalville, Utah. Ben trained for nearly seven months, waking up at 5am to swim, bike, and run. On a side note, for those of you who know me well and just read that, it's a miracle we ever ended up together isn't it? :) Anyway, they both did great. Nayeli and I cheered loud as we watched them...

swim about 1/2 mile (Ben got kicked and punched a few times)...

run from the swim...

finish the 12 mile bike ride...

and transition to the 5k (3.2 mile) run.

 Jane (left) and Ben (right)) both finished super strong! We were cheering so loud!

Except Nayeli. She couldn't miss her morning nap.

Ben did great! He finished 66th out of 280! I was so proud!

With our friend Parker Woody who also did the triathlon

This is the second time Jane has raced one of her sons in a triathlon. It's almost like a tradition now. And to Liesl my sister-in-law, the tradition of breastfeeding in the dirt lives on.

Final Times:      Ben       01:27:27.8    

                       Jane      01:41:14.4

Our family at the finish line

I am so in love with Ben. Sorry for the mushy picture.

The name Nigh-yell-ee

Having given our daughter the name Nayeli, we get a lot of interesting looks and comments. I think most people believe we just wanted to be ultra unique and picked the most crazy name we could find in "5,000 Baby Names". Sometimes we jokingly tell them that soon before she was born we played scrabble and rearranged all the letters that were left over to make a name. In reality, it has a good story behind it, so I thought I'd record it here.

On my mission in Belize I was in an area called Belmopan for nine months. In the branch there was a little girl named Nayeli. I loved the name and always remembered it. After my mission, I met Ben and since he also served among Latinos, the language and culture has always been very dear to us.  

Later, when we got pregnant and were deciding on a name, I suggested the name Nayeli. Surprisingly, Ben had also encountered that name on his mission in Louisiana. And since we had wanted to give her a Latin name anyway, Nayeli seemed like a perfect fit.

Our research yielded these results:
Pronunciation: Nigh-yell-ee
Origin: Zapotec Indian (Mexico)
Meaning: "I love you" in the Zapotec Indian language

When I saw the meaning, I fell in love with the name. I've always believed in names that have a meaning. And it turns out it is a very common Mexican name. In fact one Mexican girl told us, "All the pretty girls in Mexico are named Nayeli". She probably just said it to make us feel good, but it brought a smile to my face just the same.

And as she grows the name fits her perfectly. We love our sweet daughter so much and now I can't imagine a name that would fit her better. It's true what they say- the person makes the name.

Lake Powell

At the end of June (right after Nayeli's blessing) we went with Ben's family to Lake Powell. It was only my second time but super fun. We enjoyed swimming, jet skiing,water skiing, good company and great food. And of course Nayeli had a great time.

Isn't she just the sweetest thing you ever saw? She has such a pleasant personality.

Can you guess what Nayeli thought of the life jacket? Not her favorite.

Family picture from the top of the houseboat. I forgot to mention that I chopped five inches off my hair sometime in June. It's been great for summer and with Nayeli, but doesn't fit in a ponytail yet. Thus the pigtails. Not my favorite (I feel like a child) but functional.