Surprise!

  Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and it usually happens just when you think you've got things figured out. 
  After much discussion, thought and prayer, we decided that our family was complete and that it was time to move on to that next stage of life. The vasectomy was scheduled and the baby stuff had been sold. And then... God sent us a surprise, and surprised we were!
  As I stood there in my bathroom staring at those familiar little pink lines I was in shock, and a little bit panicked, everything was gone! The clothes, the swing, the bassinet, the car seat, the breast pump etc! I didn't know what to do, and on top of that, was I not inspired anymore? We really prayed about this, and furthermore felt good about the decision we had made. I prayed again and was very clear about one thing, I wanted my children... ALL of them, and I begged my Heavenly Father not to let me lose another one.
  I am happy to report that I'm 9 1/2 weeks now and so far so good, yesterday I had my first appointment and saw a wiggly little baby that resembled a gummy bear with a strong beautiful heartbeat!
  It's an interesting thing when things don't happen the way you expect them to. I'll never call this baby an accident because God doesn't make mistakes, there is a plan and we're going with the flow, I'm so excited for this new little addition to our family!

The floors

  I don't like cleaning. In fact I don't know too many people who actually enjoy it, but the sad reality is that it's just one of those things that has to be done.
  I don't think I'd mind so much if things actually stayed clean, but no matter how many times I clean something or how long I spend doing it, it without fail, will end up messy again. I'm not even sure most of the time how it gets that way, it's like there are creatures, little destroyer creatures that lurk in the shadows of my home, and the moment I walk away they come out and wreak havoc.
  Anyway, we all have our nemeses when it comes to cleaning, mine happens to be the floors. Whether it's sweeping, mopping or vacuuming (although sweeping is my least favorite) I despise cleaning floors and as luck would have it, the floors are one of those jobs that has to be done multiple times a day, especially when you have toddlers. Grrr.
  Believe it or not, there was a time when I was somewhat of a clean freak, no really, I was! Those days are gone now and sometimes I dream about the day when I can walk barefoot on my kitchen floor without my feet being coated with the disgustingness of my kids crumpled up, leftover, sticky afternoon snack.

Transfer

  Since Taevin started elementary school he has been attending a charter school called Quail Run. I was on the founding committee for this school, I put in many volunteer hours to make sure he would get a spot there because we felt that what they had to offer was worth it... and for the most part, it was. One of the few drawbacks of the school was the distance. The bus ride was a full hour each way and my little Taevin was getting burned out.
  We started considering other options, we looked into the local public school and another charter school in the area, they both seemed great and got rave reviews from everyone I spoke to. Taevin and I took a tour and weighed the pros and cons of every option, and after much prayer and consideration, we decided on Fox Hollow Elementary. The faculty was fantastic and Taevin loved the idea of not having to wear a uniform! He has been there for a week now and is thrilled with his new school, he particularly enjoys the much shorter bus ride and I enjoy having him home over an hour sooner. We'll miss the language program and a few of the extras that QRPS had to offer, but we're happy with our choice.
  So for anyone who is interested, we're giving Fox Hollow 2 thumbs up!

Birthday surprise

  I had a birthday on  Feb 28th and it was probably one of my best ever!
  Russ had planned for us to go to dinner and a movie friday night, but wouldn't tell me much more than that, he insisted that he plan the evening, which might I add is not like him given that I'm usually the planner in this relationship. 
  My gracious neighbor Anastasia had agreed to watch the kids during the movie, and we had arranged to have my little brother Dan come and stay with them while we went to dinner so Tasia wouldn't have them all night.
  We saw a fairly early movie so we could beat the Friday night restaurant rush and so we wouldn't be out too late (yes, we have become that boring old married couple who wears out at about 8pm). After the movie I suggested that we run and grab a pizza for Dan and the kids, Russ insisted we stop home first despite my persistence. When we showed up Dan was waiting in the car for us to arrive, so I headed up to Tasia's to grab the kids. As I walked in the first thing I saw was a bunch of my friends and a picture being taken. As they yelled "SURPRISE" I finally understood Russ' secrecy about our plans for the evening!
  It was amazing! He had invited my family and a bunch of my favorite friends and neighbors. Tasia made an amazing dinner (which was extra delicious since I agreed to take a day off of my diet as my birthday present to myself) and I got to spend the evening with the people I love the most.
  At around 10 or so, it was time for everyone to get back home. We thanked everyone for coming and headed home to get the kids to bed. To top things off it was Russ' night off so I got to have him home and in bed with me all night! He even took the next morning off of Delta so we could spend Saturday together.
  Words cannot express how much I adore that man, I can't imagine spending a day less than forever with him!
 

It's back!

  It feels like an eternity that I've been without my computer. My beloved desktop died many months ago, at which point my dad came to the rescue with a tiny (I mean really tiny) laptop that he was no longer using. Although not ideal, it got us through for several months until it finally kicked the bucket too. What's a girl to do? I mean how am I supposed to keep up with facebook and pinterest without a computer? Well luckily I have a smart phone, which I will admit does come in handy sometimes, but seriously, who can blog on a 2 inch screen? I'll never understand why smaller is considered better when it comes to electronics. 
  We now have our desktop back and I'll be sticking to my handy 26 inch screen, keyboard, and mouse that are all hooked up to my big fat printer!
  Since my last post, Taevin had a birthday! On January 16th he turned 7, and what a little man he is becoming. We had a party with his friends and another get together with family. He loved his gifts and even more than that, the opportunity to play with his friends. With only one year until baptism, Russ and I decided to get him his very own copy of the Book of Mormon so he could read it for himself.
  He is growing up so fast, it's hard to believe that I have a seven year old. He has lots of friends and enjoys school. He is so helpful to me and has become so responsible, I am so lucky to have such a sweet little boy.
  Now that it's noon I suppose I should go get ready for the day while Russ and the kids are out playing in the snow, yeah, it finally snowed... and enough that Russ could actually get out there and teach Taevin to use the snowboard he got for Christmas. On second thought, maybe I won't get ready, maybe I'll just sit by the window and watch them bond. Yeah, that's what I'll do cuz as my neighbor just told me "getting ready is overrated."

The Dream Car

  Russ is a car guy. He doesn't really watch sports or go golfing or play video games, but he LOVES cars! In fact, we were driving home from Moab a few years ago and he was asleep in the back seat when suddenly he sat straight up and said "STI!" (As in Subaru STI, his fav), he had heard the motor and knew what it was without even seeing it, and all this while sleeping! I don't get the obsession with cars, I probably never will, but I do try. In fact sometimes when he's talking about cars I think in my head "shoes", and that helps me to understand his passion.
  Anyway, last Friday, Russ brother Josh (who shares his undying love for fancy schmancy vehicles) had somehow gotten ahold of "The Dream Car", a Nissan GTR, supposedly these things will run you about $90,000 and can go about a bazillion MPH. Anyway, they were going to take it for a spin. I couldn't figure out why Russ would take time out of his day off to simply drive a car, but again in my head I kept telling myself "new shoes" and off he went.

  Well, to say that he had fun would be an understatement, I haven't seen him that happy in quite awhile. It was great to see him so excited, in fact, if I ever have an extra 90 grand lying around I might just pick one up!

Another year

  Happy New Year! It is officially 2012, in fact it's just after midnight and I'm sitting in bed listening to the fireworks outside grateful that I'm not out there freezing!
  I can't believe another year has gone by, I'm excited for the next.
  Christmas was great, my mom has been in town so it made it a little easier to deal with Russ working Christmas eve and Christmas day. We took about 30 min to do the Santa thing while he was home and waited until the 29th to really celebrate. It was actually kind of nice, it allowed the holiday to linger for a few more days.

  Anyway, Taevin got a pogo stick and a snowboard (daddy's excited to show him the ropes), Ryler got a penguin race game and a little trampoline so he can bounce to his hearts content, and Zoey got a little four wheeler and a shopping cart. Russ got tools, and I got shoes (Santa knows me well!) and thanks to Grandpa and Uncle Dan, we all got a Wii, and since I'm a master at the original Mario brothers I was particularly excited (this is a side of me my children have never seen before).

  For the last few years, my not so little brother Dan, has been in the army and deployed over Christmas. He has several times expressed this strange desire to make a turducken for Christmas dinner, so now that he's home, we decided to tackle it. Now for those of you who've never heard of a turducken, it's a duck inside a turkey, and a chicken inside the duck, sounds simple right? Not so much. And why? Well, you have to debone all three birds in order to stuff them inside of one another, and that my friends, is DISGUSTING! My kitchen looked like a fowl massacre (haha, get it?) but alas, we conquered, and it was even kinda good.  It's unlikely that this will become a tradition, but at least we can say we did it.
  It's been a wonderful year and I look forward 2012 being great. And just for the record, no I don't think the world will end this year.