Brothers

When they are getting along....it is wonderful. (:

Ryan and John

Gingerbread Time @ Our House!

Gingerbread Time!

Fun

New House

SueZan wanted to see some pictures of the new house.Here they are. There is nothing hung,no paint, and boxes and junk in corners, but at least you get a feel for it.

Daddy Time

Sleeping Problems?

This is my bed at 5:25am. Know wonder I can never get a full nights sleep!!!!!!

Dance Party

For Family Home Evening we had a dance party. These are the boys doing the Napolean Dynamite Dance. It was so cute.

Look What We Found!

I was cleaning up the front flower bed and kept getting the rake hooked on some root lookin' things. This is what we found under the ground.

John and Adam

I love these two.

Unpacking

I have been so busy unpacking that I literally have NO time to write. I have been drowning in boxes and am ready to just donate the unopened ones to Goodwill.
Life is good.It is weird living close to neighbors again. Our house sits on .25 acre and it feels weird to see other peoples houses out my back windows. I miss the mountain views and the Great Salt Lake with the sun setting over it. But, the Texas sunsets are HUGE with no mountains blocking any of it. I love being very close to the grocery store and I LOVE not having to drive up and down a steep hill every time I leave the house.......sure saves on gasoline and brakes. The kids are doing a little better in school.......but the hours are horrible. If Kathryn rides the bus to and from school she is gone from 6:50 am until 4:50 pm. I literally started crying on the phone when the lady told me how long my kids would be away from home everyday. She thought I was worried if the bus driver was nice and offered for me to come down and meet "Miss Peggy". Alex leaves for Seminary with Chris at 5:45am and would come home on the 4:50 bus with Kathryn. Crazy long days!!! I really do feel sad being away from the kids this long. I try to pick them up as often as possible to avoid the extra 80 min. on the bus after school. It is nutty that they drop off every kid on the bus at their front door. They literally pull up in front of our door for the kids. Funny. Kathryn thinks it is great in the morning because in Utah they had to walk uphill (steep) to the bus stop. Now she can just wait, warm in the house until she hears Miss Peggy pull up. So for example she went to bed late tonight, but I will let her sleep in another hour and drive her to school in the AM. BUT, if she causes me to be late because she is being slow and lazy than it is bus riding time for her the next day! I love that Steven and Ryan walk to school. I love hearing their recess bell ring and I can hear the morning announcements if I am outside. I feel a lot closer to them being nearby.
Today we decorated the Christmas tree and then made some more shrinky dink ornaments to remember events of this year. Some of them were : Aspen Grove Family Camp with Chris' parents, my mom, the Lyon Family and their grandparents.Chris and I's 15th anniversary,Alex starting seminary,a Texas flag (by Chris), Twilight books and movie, Indiana Jones,Thanksgiving in Arkansas,Star Wars Lego game,The Flying Fish and the Billy Bass Adoption Center, and last but not least.....our favorite sign we have ever seen....White Trash and Pink Lemonade! It curled up and died, literally.....it never would flatten back out after shrinking. I can't recall right now all of the others we made. Oh yeah, and we made one with a list of things we will miss about Pleasant View.....to include Johnny's Dairy,Acres, North Pointe Theatre, Champi's Grill, Lomond View, Orion Jr High, and the Fought's pool. ):
Sleep is calling.Goodnight.

Early Mornings Ahead

Tomorrow Alex starts early morning Seminary( a daily scripture study class for high school kids).....at 6 am. He will be studying the New Testament. I am so excited that Chris is going to be driving him so he might actually get to work earlier! YEAH! I am a morning person.......Chris is NOT! This will be fun to watch.

We are here!

We are finally residents of Weatherford, TX! We signed the papers Wednesday and moved in Thursday. We are so excited to be done with commuting to school from the corporate apartment in Ft Worth!!!!!!! Those were some long days.
In our new house ALL of the kids rooms are upstairs and we are ALONE downstairs! This is a first for us, but we are willing to do the painful suffering. (: Also, we have an upstairs living room where we can read scriptures and have family prayers before bedtime. That is so nice that we don't have to heard all of the kids up the stairs after we are done saying goodnight. They are already feet away from their doors and we can tuck them all in and then retreat the ENTIRE bottom floor .......ALONE! What kind of genius built this house???????? A parent of lots of noisy boys and a nosy girl, I bet! (:
Our house and yard are alot smaller than Utah, but we think we are going to be thankful for that. We were sick of being slave to the BIG yard and big house. The kids are lovin' sidewalks, also. They can ride their bikes on semi flat ground and walk to school in 2 minutes. I love being able to see them playing at recess when I am driving by while running errands. I feel close to them.
Alex and Kathryn are having a rougher time adjusting to school in the NORMAL world.This is not Pleasant View, UT anymore. They are appalled by the way the teenagers behave and have had a lot of eye opening experiences. We have had many tears this last week. But, I think it has helped them become stronger and realize what is really important in their lives. I think it has strengthened their testimonies of the Savior, Jesus Christ. I have heard their prayers become more deep and meaningful. I have felt them relying on the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort them during their days away. I also feel such a greater responsibility to make home a haven .....where they can rest and retreat from the filth and garbage they are sometimes surrounded by during the day. Family Home Evening is taking on new meaning and family prayers and scripture study are ssssooooo essential. I always knew this , but felt so much support from the community in Pleasant View. I knew the kids were surrounded by people with strong morals and values.Now I feel like we are swimming in the ocean and not splashin' around in a kiddie pool. It is my job as a parent to teach them all how to keep afloat in deep water. I think it will be a blessing to all of us and help us become in tune with what is really important to us in this life.

Our Colorado Friends

We were so excited when our good friends from Colorado came to visit us here in Texas. We all snuggled into the apartment and had a great time catching up.The kids had fun playing together. They are coming back for spring break, but luckily now we are in our house with more space. Yeah! We miss the Taylor's...... ): Chris giving Gabe a hug.

Scary

I won't reveal where I saw this...... what is this world coming to?

Today is the Day

We are going to close on our new house tomorrow morning. (wed) I am so excited and so ready to get settled in before Christmas. Kind people are coming out of the woodwork to help with watching kids and cleaning.We will have the keys less than 24 hrs before the movers show up with the "load". The carpets need to be cleaned and so does the rest of the house. It is such a blessing to have extra hands to help when the time frame is so rushed. I feel so thankful.

Thanksgiving in Arkansas

We had a wonderful trip to Arkansas last week. It was so nice to see Grannie Norman and Grandma Anna. We also got to see all of Chris' Aunts and Uncles. It was fun, fun, fun!

Arkansas

What a busy week! I literally have had zero time to blog. It is 11 pm and we are leaving for Arkansas in the early morning. We will be back Saturday in time to spend a few hours with our friends, the Taylor's, from Colorado. They will be here in Texas for Thanksgiving with his family and are staying with us in our cozy apartment..... We are so excited to see them! It has been 2 yrs since we have seen them all.We were totally surprised and thrilled when they called last night to see if we were going to be in town during their visit.. (Brandie, if you read this....John and Adam were hoping "Cousin Jude" was coming along with them.) (:
We got both cars registered with TEXAS plates this morning and now we both have Texas drivers licenses. I am known to move state to state keeping the same license and never switching. bad girl. I surrendered an Arizona one from 5 yrs ago this morning. Boo Hoo.
Katie gave a talk at church last week and Alex, Chris and I are speaking next week even though we have not officially moved in the ward. I also was called to the Young Women's Presidency and we haven't even signed the papers on our house. Busy ...busy....busy.
Life is good. We have so many blessings.We have met many wonderful people here who have been so warm and welcoming.
It is so great to be able to visit Chris' family.We are going to his Mom's house ( Arkansas) tomorrow and then on to his Grandma's for Thanksgiving. What fun. And last weekend we were in Kansas visiting Grandpa John, Grandma Dana,Aunt Libby and Uncle Jean and cousins. We have loved being so close. It is only 6-7 hrs away. What a blessing.
Goodnight.

The Party is Over, Kiddos!

Party time is over for the big kids....they are back in school. Alex is going to a 9th Grade only school, Kathryn is in middle school, and Steven and Ryan go to the elementary around the corner from our new house. It is named Mary Martin...after the actress in Peter Pan. She is from the town we are moving to.... Weatherford, TX. Small world. I love that the kids can walk to school and the neighborhood pool from our new house. The kids are excited to have sidewalks and a neighborhood playground.

We are supposed to close on December 3rd. Movers arriving with load on the 4th. Let's pray it all goes as planned.

I will only have to drive them to and from for 7 days or so. It is an hour and a half to two hours round trip to drop off and pick up because of the 45 min range of start and release times of all 3 different schools.

We are looking forward to settling in our new home in December. The apartment has been fun and simple, but I am ready for real life to start again.

Grandpa John, this one's for you

These pictures are reversed, but after you gave Adam his "Leaf $$" he bought a present for himself at Cracker Barrel in Oklahoma on the way home . The funniest part was that he had it gift wrapped for free and brought it in the car and unwrapped it and acted surprised when he opened it. I wish you could have been there to witness it. By the way, this is a "talking parrot"that repeats everything you say. The kids have been wishing that we would buy it for them since 2001 when they went to their first Cracker Barrel in Colorado. The big kids were so excited to "use" it all of the way home!!!!!!There were a lot of laughs last night.

Kansas

Ryan with cousin Keziah and Aunt Libby with Adam

On Thursday we decided to jump in the car and head to Kansas and see Chris' parents and sister (and family).We had an awesome weekend. It is so great to live within driving distance of family.Next week we are going to Arkansas for 4 days.

Thankful

Thanksgiving is around the corner. I was thinking about all that I am grateful for....
The Savior Jesus Christ, my family,husband, children,music, laughter,sunrises,sunsets,flowers,rocking chairs,running water, healthy bodies,cars,toilets,a home to live in,quiet times,smiles,kisses and hugs and much much more.

Couponing

One of the best things about Texas is their double and triple couponing policies. Ten years ago when we lived here it was even better( you could triple a 75 cent coupon to 2.25), but it is still great. It is almost 2 am and I was up organizing my shopping list for tomorrow a.m.. I am all about FREE things...if they are useful. So in a few hours I am off to get my free toilet paper, toothpaste, soup, evaporated milk,razors,nylons and much more that is on my list.

Our New 10 yr old

Time has flown by since Ryan was born . He turned 10 yesterday and I wish I could freeze him. He was actually born here in Ft Worth just down the road from where we are staying right now. He was our biggest baby at 10 lbs and 24 inches long!!! Yikes! (He was 2 weeks overdue. )
He wanted to go to Subway for lunch on his birthday so Adam and I went with him. While we were eating, Ryan was bragging that he was even bigger than Adam(9lb 12 oz) at birth. Adam asked him if he was as huge as a foot long sub sandwich. Ryan was able to say he was two footlongs put together! It was so cute watching them have this conversation. I love my boys. They bring so many smiles to my face.I feel very blessed.
We also realized that 10 yrs from now Ryan won't be with us on his birthday because he will be on his mission. He was pondering how awesome it would be if he and his best little buddy , Joseph Baker, were serving in the same mission. He is so sweet. I love that little boy.

A Moment of Silence

I need a moment of silence. I am ready for kids to get back in school. The "honeymoon" is over. I am going a little nuts. I am hearing voices in my head. As Tom Hanks says in the movie The Money Pit..."The Care Bear's were here." I am feeling a little nutty. I am ready to move forward. We have 25 days left in this apartment and no offer on a house here. Two houses we liked kind of fell through or went under contract already and now we have very few options and I am getting worried. Pray for me. I need it.

Halloween

We love Halloween. It is so fun to dress up and get together with friends.We had a ward party on Thursday with pizza, a cupcake walk and trunk -or-treating.We made a lot of new friends and one very kind family invited us to their home for dinner and trick-or-treating the next night. It was a blast and the kids had a great time. There were a ton of trick-or-treaters (300+) kids came to their door. They just sit on the front porch because there is a constant stream of families. Their neighborhood was beautiful......but a couple 100k out of our price range. W got great news from our realtor as we were arriving at their house. We have an offer on our home for sale in UT. YEAH! We were so excited, grateful, and relieved. It will be Monday before we know if all is well and excepted by Lockheed. Cross your fingers for us!

Zoo

The kids and I have been going on a lot of field trips. We had a great time at the zoo this week. The weather was perfect and it was so bushy and green. I am still trying hard to not be offended when people ask if I am running a daycare. (: Big ol' Texas isn't too BIG on big families. People are constantly counting our kids and asking me if they are all of mine and from the same marriage............ of course with a big LOUD exclamation of , "Oh my G**!" The kids and I all cringe every time we hear the Lord's name taken in vain.): I should hand out a pamphlet on different variations....oh my goodness, golly, gosh,gracious....holy cow...etc Ryan is very proud he is finally taller than the Emperor Penguin!