J's Birthday

Well you have gotten to see how our day began and J getting into his birthday surprises seemed to be the theme for the day...is this paybacks for all the snooping I did as a kid? So I purchased a beautiful cake for J's birthday. It was a green field with horsed in it and another field next to it being plowed by a John Deere tractor. To my horror when I got out of the shower to get ready for his lunch at Pizza Hut he had decided to cut the cake and start the party without us. SOOOOO....since I don't have a photo op with the presents and the opening of them I now don't have a picture of this beautiful cake with out finger marks throughout and a huge chunk cut out of the middle of the back of it. I also had to track down the tractor and plastic horses that had been taken out of their spots...only to be informed that they are toys and he wanted to play with them..."ummmm Mom you are not suppose to put toys on food." Goodness silly mom for working so hard to get such a nice cake that every kid would have been amazed about only to be told that you are not suppose to put toys on cakes. I should have had him with me at the store when I ordered it so I didn't have to pay extra to put those toys on the cake! So J's 5th birthday is the birthday that J did his own thing and gave mom zero photo ops. Oh well maybe next year but I am not counting on it!

Mr. C was a happy partier!

He loved is birthday party hat!

Just goofing around!

The party boys!!

More Pizza!!! Yummmm....

Bad picture or just the cake...just the cake with the huge chunk taken out of it and many many finger marks. What can I say J loves frosting!

It once was a really cute cake...really!

I know you are all focusing on the big chunk taken out of the back but he is blowing out his candles!

Lunch at Pizza Hut! Even Mr. C had fun!

J's Grandparents spoiled him along with Gummy and Grammy sending him lots of money to spend...which he spent about 5 minutes, he also got two big packages from my mom and dad. Here are the pictures of him opening them.

Those are Gap Jeans Granny got him...so he still is the Gap Cowboy! He is pointing the gun Pop bought for him at me as I take the picture!

Even though my photo ops were taken we did have fun and it was fun to reflect on his little life and all he has brought to Hubby and I. We love you J!

Happy Birthday J!!

As we sat at dinner last night I was looking at my soon to be 5 year old and reminiscing of the events of J's birth. Yes I sound like an old lady but I guess I am entitled to that after 30+ hours of labor. Where have the years gone...just yesterday I was holding this new little bundle from heaven and wondering what do I do now and now he is so big and so tall and 5!! I agree whole heartily..."Blink and you miss it."

J is 48.5 inches tall about 60 lbs and has lost his baby curls and lighter blondish hair. He still has his teeth, that is at this point. He doesn't look much like a toddler any more! He has such an amazing imagination and loves to play with all his toys. He still thinks he is a cowboy, in Gap jeans ; ), and loves to talk about all his animals but when we get him around the real thing he gets scared! He makes us laugh and is a strong stubborn kid with a mixture of Aunt Kristie's and Great-Uncle Burt's attitude! Sometimes I feel like I am raising my dad until dad reminds me I am raising me...pretty much the same thing! Hubby and I just love this boy and have had 5 years of wonderful and growing memories with our J. J has a big heart and loves big. His hugs are the greatest purest love there is!

So here is how the Birthday started out:

Since you cannot tell what in the world he got I will tell you...Mr C gave him a Breyer Cowboy that is the size that can ride the horses and two horses, Dreamer and Goliath's Boy from the movie Dreamer. Hubby and I got him a fisher price camera, cowboy clothes, a star wars ship and one guy, and a remote control 4-wheeler. The 4-wheeler in the words of Hubby is a "piece of junk." We will have to take it back to the store and get our money back. What can I say, it was cheap because we were worried he would not be nice with it. Other than the 4-wheeler not working properly he has loved everything and is having so much fun with it all!

Hubby woke up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for work. J woke up shortly after that and had all his presents opened by the time Hubby was ready for work at 7:45 a.m. So we didn't get to watch him open the presents...everything was ripped to shreds by the time we got up. J had already been spoiled by Gummy and Grammy sending my birthday money and have a shopping spree at the local farm implement store's toy section. He purchased a cattle truck and barn. On Friday his two large Birthday packages came in the mail that were from Granny and Pop (my parents) and he had both open with in 10 seconds, it would have been 8 but the tape on the outside held him up.

Here is J with his cattle truck!

We will have to let you know how the rest of day goes and I can get my pictures of my mom and dad's presents on the blog too (Hubby has my other camera at work which has those pictures on the card).

Happy Birthday my Big Boy J!

Love you always Mom and Dad and Mr. C!

Halloween Decorating!!

I know I have had many people frown upon my fascination with Halloween but I blame my mom. She worked so hard to make holidays fun for us and Halloween was one of them. It wasn't extravagant and we didn't spend a lot of money. Mom would make us our costumes and we would get to pick whatever character, person, or hero we wanted. We would get to pick out a pattern and she would work so hard to sew it all before Halloween. Mom also had those old colorful cardboard pictures and she would let us decorate the windows. She was creative and thrifty as well, when she taught us how to make gauze ghosts (gauze dipped in some sort of paste and dried over night over an old glass pop bottle).
Mom and Grandma also baked up so many goodies in the Fall I associate many pleasant treats, such as homemade doughnuts and frosted and candy corn decorated sugar cookies to name a few. So it is of no wonder why I love Fall and why I am trying to carry on the same memory making traditions with my boys. J just loves to make those same old sugar cookies and I think the Grandma's homemade doughnuts top the list too.
When I get out my little Halloween village he just loves to look into those windows and at all the glass figurines. There is nothing evil or scary about my fascination, it is just me bringing what I loved as a child to my family. So here is just a little bit of my decorations. I decided to decorate but not too much. Also I haven't gotten a chance to go to any pumpkin patches yet but we have several options to hit!

Since I can't hang anything on the walls I had to get really creative in placement! Here is the little bookcase Aunt Barb made me one year for Christmas.

Sorry this picture was taken right by the large sliding glass doors so the light made the picture dark.

Here is my Halloween House collection! This is one of my favorite decorations.

Here is the front of the spec home we are renting while ours gets built. Birds keep trying to eat the foam berries off my wreath. We have some real crazy birds here.

Larger view of the home. The start of the garage is on the left.

Halloween!!

OK so I have held off as long as I can! I woke up today and we finally have the crispness back in the air that tells me it is my favorite time of year...Fall is here. So today I am decorating everything for Halloween and later after I am finished, that is if it all turns out like I want, I will attach pictures of my Fall/Halloween decor!

My little Jedi Knights!!

Ok so during play time we were playing horses but Mr. C found J's light saber and was swinging it around like Yoda! It was hillarious! We were laughing so hard I ran and grabbed my camera so everyone can see what a hoot Mr. C is!

What a goof ball! He just loves to play and just loves to be silly!

J showing Mr. C how the Jedi's do it!

I love my hubby!!

I know this is late since last Sunday was our anniversary and hubby is going to be embarrassed but I cannot forget to remember my sweet husband, my best friend! Our wedding, 6 years ago, was such a wonderful memory for me. From being sealed in the Logan Temple to the reception in Hamer! What an amazing honeymoon too...he worked so hard to whisk me off to Hawaii! I have always felt like such a princess, and if you can believe it has just gotten better over the years. We have laughed, cried, and laughed some more and wondered if we would ever become good parents but we have always had each other. We have had some amazing blessings come our way and we have stood strong during trials because of having the gospel and temple blessings in our life we have come through it all.
Thanks hubby for being an amazing husband. For working so hard for us and for loving us unconditionally! I love you and I am excited for another 6+++++ years with you!

I love this picture of us! Young and ready to begin our life together! I heard at the time that if you were a couple announcing your temple marriage you should dress the part. Hubby looked so good...you should have seen him in his tux too!! Aah yeah...WHAT A MAN!

Little J was such an amazing blessing in our life. Hubby and I really grew together through the trials that we encountered just to get him into our arms alive. Many of you know the rough beginnings he had with J pregnancy and birth, it is such a miracle we have him! My dad's dad said of J as a baby that this boy is a "rock" and I agree, he is as strong as one too.

Getting Mr. C was such a reward and such a blessing after waiting 3 years of nothing!! Then to almost lose me while having Mr. C, another trial but again we made it through all of it and we are as strong as ever! Hubby is such a great dad along with a good hubby!!

P.S. I hope you don't mind but I have all the "cheese ball" songs that remind me of hubby and even though he would say they are cheesy each of them mean something to me with him!

"Witichhhaataw Tansas"

We just got back from Wichita Kansas or "Witichhhaaataw Tansas" as my sweet little nephew B calls it. We had a lot of fun with Snake and Nanc and their cute little family!! They have such a beautiful home in Kansas, hopefully Nanc will share some pictures of it on her blog. We recommend them as hosts to anyone! We went to the Wichita Zoo and I have to say that it was one of the best zoo's we have ever taken J to. Not all my pictures turned out but I do have a lot of them because J got to see some new animals. It was so much fun to get to go on a date with hubby for our Anniversary! It has been a very happy...fast...six years! Thanks Snake and Nanc for watching the kids while we went out. I just love being with my hubby and can't get enough of him so it was fun to be all alone with him!

This was fun to see right as we walked in the Zoo. Snake works for one and hubby works for the other and both a really neat areas the companies had donated to the Zoo. So there was the Koch Monkey exhibit and the Cargill Learning Center.

FLAMINGOS! We loved these pretty birds! Little A and I love the pretty pink!

Mr. C was riding in comfort and enjoyed being pushed around the Zoo!

Two monkeys got out of their cage and were riding the lion statue!

I don't know if you can see the big lion on the rock behind J but the lion was huge! Really regal looking too.

B wanted to touch this bird so bad but we were all afraid he would get hurt so the adults ruined his fun in petting the pretty bird.

So we get to the hippo exhibit and Nanc told me to dribble some of my water bottle over the hippo's water and they would come up out the murky water for the kids to see. So I did just what she told me to do and up came this hippo mouth open wide. I was quite proud of myself until I notice the do not feed animals sign...Hmm... is that punishable by law???

B and J tired out, poor guys used beg to get out of the strollers a year or so ago and now they wished they could ride in the strollers with their younger brother and sisters!

This is the tunnel under the water tank so you could see fish and turtles swimming about. Sorry no sharks!

Hubby and Mr. C braving the bridge to the Gorilla exhibit. Just do not go on with Uncle Snake, he likes to make these kind of bridges bounce and it makes for a very bumpy walk across water you don't want to be dumped in!

A girl that knows how to shovel!

Last January through March prior to our move we got pounded by snow. Every morning it seemed like for weeks we would wake up to tons of snow. So one morning our Church meetings were cancelled due to new snow, I got in the trailblazer with J to look around at how much snow we had gotten. While driving through our neighborhood I noticed a little old lady out trying to shovel her snow. I knew that if this were my grandma I would want someone to help her and since I do know how to shovel (yes, I have shoveled before!) I grabbed our snow shovels and came right back to shovel her drive.
She was so pleased at our helping after the first time she asked if she could pay me, I said no that I would forfeit any blessings from doing good if I took any money. She then wanted me to take a $20 bill and contribute it to my church, I said no I was just doing a service and that is all my shoveling was- a small act of kindness. I did this a couple of times and felt impressed to check on her from time to time to ensure that her drive was clear and clean from snow and ice. Every time I took J hoping to teach him of service to others. I want my boys to always notice their fellow man/woman especially the elderly.
I am telling you this story because my friend came home yesterday to see an ambulance in her driveway. She investigated as to why and found that this sweet lady had passed away. Upon finding this out my sweet friend knew I had a special place in my heart for this lady and made cookies and bread for the family. I am so grateful that service never ends even after one passes away. To my friend, thank you for doing what I couldn't do, due to distance, for this family. Thank you for seeing a need no matter the choice of religion and knowing the true meaning of service. Thank you for remembering this woman!
I don't know her name, I just shoveled her driveway because I am a girl that knows how to shovel!

This is hubby shoveling our driveway, he did help us shovel at the lady's house too.

This is a picture to show you how much snow we got just in one night and it continued from there.

School Days for our J Bug!

Well today was J's first day of preschool. All the formal preschools, OK the two, are Catholic or Lutheran, and since I didn't want to mess with a religious preschool I searched all summer for a teacher for Jayson. Who knew until the first of August that I had the perfect fit in his Primary President. J just loves her and they have become fast friends. I found out she was a retired school teacher so I asked her to be his teacher. It looks as though it will be a perfect fit. J really enjoyed himself and he was thrilled when we pulled up to a home with cows and horses around! Since he is such a handful we are starting out with 1 and half first hours and then working up to more time. She is working on him focusing and right now she is observing the areas he needs to work on.


I count my blessings for this woman, I really needed someone or some sort of school for him to ready him for next year since our state does all day Kindergarten.


I wasn't sad at all when I dropped him off. Yesterday I thought I would be but as I was locked out of the house by him this morning in my pajamas, and that was only the tip of the ice burg of mischief he has been into today, I was ready for a small break from the mischief. So I guess it was good he was such a rascal this morning so I didn't cry. Plus it was really good for C and I to have some mom and baby time! I miss that time that I had with J with C and he really loved his 1 hour or so of time with mom!

This was taken after he finished and he didn't want to leave the horses so we had to wrestle him for a picture!

Best Buds

Right now at this very point in their life my boys are such the little buddies. Even though there is quite the size and age difference, they still play with each other and think the world of each other. In some respects they are co-conspirators, getting into mischief is their duty! Both of them laugh and giggle at each other egging the mischief-making more and more. Even though Carsie Bug is only 9 months, he still finds mischief with brother FUN! Here are a couple pictures of my two little buddies!!

Peek-a-Boo!

Two little Rascals!

However at the end of the day two buddies...brothers!

Labor Day Branch Bar-B-Q at the Pilgrim's!

Even though the wind was blowing as hard as it does in Hamer we pressed on and had our Branch Bar-B-Q. Jay had to keep relighting the Bar-B-Q's light every 5 minutes but we beat the weather and pressed on with our Branch Family Home Evening. Tina, my mission comp's daughter, worked really hard and called every inactive on the Branch list and we got out 2 of 20 inactive members but we were all so glad to have the 2, 2 is a great start!
Jay has recently been humbled by receiving a call to the Branch Presidency. He is the 2nd Counselor and Branch Clerk. We both met with the Stake President and had an amazing interview and during his setting apart he received some amazing blessings through his church service. I am so thankful for Jay and his willingness to serve at this time in our lives and to be an active priesthood member in the Branch. He has been called upon to use his priesthood so much here and the Stake President said to Jay that he is serving his mission here and we have no doubt about that- we all are even Jayson. I was so proud of Jayson, he invited a non member friend to join us and the little boy did. I never prompted him, he just did it. So even Jayson has been active in missionary work..."Every member a missionary!"
We are having some amazing, life changing experiences and I can say that I am a better person each day than I was yesterday. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a true church, is it the church that provides me happiness, peace in an unstable world and comfort, comfort in that no matter what happens tomorrow I will be with my loved ones for eternity. For my dear family and friends that are not members, I hope that you will take a second or even a third or fourth look at the church . I want each of you to not just read of my happiness but I want you to have your own individual happiness and peace. It is an amazing thing and it is the best gift I could ever give! We love you all and hope you are each doing well!

Grill Master Jay! This is his Birthday gift from my Mom and Dad. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Mandy and Tina, the hotties in the kitchen!

More members, Bessy is the lady in pink pants and she is the oldest member of the Branch, she has been a member in O'Neill for 40 years and the lady across from her is Pat. Pat is a hoot and has some stories that had us all rolling with laughter!

This is Jeremy the Elders Quorum President, his son Weldon, and Janet. Janet has about every health problem in the world but she is one of the faithful and hardly misses.

This is Mandy playing games with the kids. Jayson just loves Ty, he is the older boy that is in a red cowboy shirt in the picture. As you can see in the picture Jayson is always watching him and talking about Ty and wants to be just like him!

This is the walk of faith that we did for the kids. Jayson is the lost one in the white shirt but Sandra, she is the wife of our new Branch President's, helped him find his way back to the yarn.

This is our family home evening circle, Loretta is the lady that Barb and I have been doing discussions with (she is the only lady between Jay and another member, Shannon).

This is Kathy, the Primary President and Jayson's teacher for preschool and Weldon. Weldon is such a sweet angel and each Branch member just loves him. When I am around Weldon, it makes me miss little Kaysha!!