An Intervention

Well I guess someone read my last post because we have definitely seen some changes around here. The week of Thanksgiving Josh's company was awarded a new contract. Being awarded this contract meant that the company was going to have to open a new branch in Rapid City. There was talk of us moving there so that Josh could be the operations manager. Not where we had in mind to live, but it would pay well enough for me to stay home so we were ok with it. Not to mention it would be great experience for Josh. Well his boss's (he has a few) decided he was more valuable to the company in his current position and would rather hire a new local guy to be the manager in Rapid City than have to hire someone for Josh's position, (to me I think that means they should pay Josh more if he is so valuable, but that is just me.) So we did avert a move to Rapid City but they did decide to send Josh over there for the six to eight weeks to open the branch, find the shop, hire drivers, contact and obtain vendors, and all that fun stuff. GREAT EXPERIENCE! Josh was excited to have the opportunity and he drives a company car and everything is paid for and he comes home on the weekend. It isn't fun to have him gone all week but that just means that we have to enjoy our weekends as much as possible. Since him being gone all week means that I can't work his company is paying him an additional per diem so that we don't have to worry about me working for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Hallelujah!

He started working over there the week after thanksgiving. Since he is gone and not taking care of the kids at night he actually gets more of his homework done so it works out in many ways. It couldn't have come at a better time. Kendra has been struggling. She needs me home. She is growing up and maturing into a young woman much faster than should be allowed. She had been asking me every night for about a week if I had to work. That is the number one sign that I am working too much. It has been nice to be home and to enjoy the weekend with my family. I know that prayers are answered in strange ways sometimes and that this is an answer to a prayer right now. This also gives me six to eight weeks to find a job :) I didn't get the one that I had first applied for but there are a few others out there that drew my attention so we are playing the waiting game. In the meantime I get to finish out my semester without worrying about work. I also got to go to Kendra's holiday program at school last night and I won't have to miss any other holiday parties. It is WONDERFUL!

Something's Gotta Give

Each day I get up at 7:20 am and hope that Kendra and Ethan are already dressed for school. I make sure that they get breakfast, gather up their school things, and get them to school. I come home and bathe Preston and Aubrey, do the dishes or laundry, get homework done, shower and get ready for the day, I occasionally sew, and try to spend some time just being with Preston and Aubrey. By the afternoon I have class. I take the kids to Staci's house (a friend in our ward that has been so wonderful) and I head to class. I pick up the little ones, head out to pick up the big kids, and then finally come home. I have anywhere from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours before I have to be to work. Sometimes I have to meet Josh at the Roadhouse and trade off the kids (and yes people in the parking lot always look at us funny). Wednesdays I squeeze in Piano for Kendra and a quick run to Sam's Club while she is having her lesson before work. I come home somewhere between 9 pm and 11 pm (later on the weekends) and sometimes squeeze in more studying or homework. Then I get to do it all over again the next day.

Not a whole lot of fun!

I am supposed to be applying for the nursing program for next semester. If I get in then my school load goes from part of my day to my entire day. This would mean that my younger two would have to be in full time daycare and I would have to work even more in order to pay for it, while going to school. Let's just say that I don't have much of a desire to continue school right now. With that being said I have no intention on turning in my application for the program. I am excited to not have to worry about the added stress that brings into my life. When I finally made the decision not to continue it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe again.
Since I won't be going to school in the spring that frees up my day. I had been contemplating what to do when I came across a job listing for my dream job. It was a job that I had decided I wanted to do a long time ago. I prayed about it and pondered it and it just felt right. I hadn't planned on getting a day job but it was just too perfect. So I applied. I have had my first phone interview but so far that is it. As I started thinking about it more I realized how wonderful it would be to have a real job again, to build a career and to see my school age children and husband again. I am excited. I don't know what the future holds for my family but I do know that no matter what I have to work. Sadly that is the consequence for the poor financial choices that Josh and I made in the first 7 years of our marriage. And if I have to work then I want to be working towards something and doing something that I love and am passionate about. I want to be able to see my children and not just get them to school in the mornings and then pick them up in the afternoon just to leave them shortly after.
I hadn't planned on taking this turn in life but it seems to be where I am headed and I am okay with that. I am now seriously looking for a day job again and there are many more positions now than when I was initially laid off so that definitely helps. Sorry if you came by the blog to read updates on my kiddos or see pictures. This blog has become more of an outlet for me recently. It helps me to clear my head and so if my posts are long and boring then I am sorry. Maybe when my life doesn't feel so overwhelming I will go back to the light hearted stuff. In the meantime you can learn intimate details of my life, who doesn't love that? :)

I Heart Etsy

Our laptop is officially ill and needs to see the doctor, so I am having a hard time getting anything done on our ancient computer. I apologize for the lack of posts and also the lack of pictures but it will most likely be awhile. Anyways, the semester is rapidly drawing to a close and I couldn't be more excited. I am ready for a break! It is much different this semester due to the fact that I am working four to five nights a week on top of my school load, (which was only seven credits this semester.) In the meantime I have also been keeping up with my Etsy shop. So many people that I run into have never heard of Etsy.com and it amazes me since I am pretty obsessed with it. Some of you may know that I have a shop at www.runiqueboutique.etsy.com I love to sew and be crafty so when I discovered etsy I knew it was for me. Etsy is a website that sells nothing but handcrafted or vintage items. The site it full of thousands of crafters that have awesome and fun things to share. I do plenty of shopping on etsy now and love being able to find things that are trendy, cute, and UNIQUE. For example, for our anniversary I got Josh a hand stamped keychain that had our initials and wedding date on it along with a cute saying. It was personal, thoughtful and inexpensive.... PERFECT! So along with the craziness of my semester I have been trying to fill my shop up for the holidays. I pretty much have every bag that I wanted to get finished all done and listed in the shop. I call that my own little miracle. I also recently made a whole bunch of fabric flower headbands but due to the malfunctioning of the laptop those might not make it on the site for a few weeks. So if you haven't already, go and check out Etsy.com you can get a jump start on your christmas shopping, (with two December birthdays and four children I started about four months ago)

10 Years the Full Story

Ten years ago today I got married. WOW! I remember thinking about this day, how it seemed so far away. I remember thinking that if we could make it to our ten year anniversary then we would be just fine. We were married in the LDS church and Bishop Homer married us. I didn't wear a fancy dress and it was super small, just close friends and family were there. We always talked about how we would have a real party when we went through the temple. About 22 months later we were sealed in the temple and had no celebration aside from a cake at my parents' house. Then we always talked about how at our 10 year anniversary we would have a reception. At the start of the year we contemplated it, but it just didn't work out. So here we are with big plans for tonight. Go to the temple, come home, eat some homemade Cafe Rio burritos and then do some homework :) Fun huh? I am just happy to have a night off, eat some yummy food and go to the temple with my best friend.

We didn't get married under ideal circumstances. I was pregnant. I got pregnant at my senior prom. Almost makes you laugh right? When it finally came out that I was pregnant I had already been accepted to BYU and was devastated. I went to California to live with my Aunt and the plan was to put the baby up for adoption. I quit talking to Josh and got a job and picked out a family to adopt the baby. On my 18th birthday Josh sent me an e-mail. That changed everything. We began to talk and my feelings towards Josh started to change from anger back to the love that I had felt for him. We talked for another five weeks and we decided that we wanted to get married. It was important for me to know that I wanted to be with him because I loved him and not just because I was going to have a baby. Those times were crazy and my emotions and thoughts were overwhelming. As I look back on our first couple of years I am still amazed. I know that we were led through some strenuous times by our Heavenly Father. I remember hearing things in those first few months about how friends and acquaintances were talking about us and giving us 6-12 months before we split. That made me so mad!

We kept moving forward, I was in school and Josh got a decent job. Things were going pretty well. We were sealed in the temple in August of 2002 and that gave me some confidence in our relationship and a little peace of mind. We had set the goal of going through the temple within 2 years and we made it. A few months later we were excited to find out that baby number 2 was on it's way (we had been trying for a couple of months). Ethan joined our family the following summer. He was such a mellow baby and child. It was a much needed difference in our home. When Ethan was a year we bought our first house. It was a wonderful house that we had built and it gave us room to grow. A few years later I planned on going back to school and about a week after initially contacting the school we had a surprise when we found out that Preston was on his way. Although he wasn't planned I knew that he was supposed to be coming to our family at that time.

As our family changed and we went through career changes and sold our home and went back to school we were growing up. We were just kids when we started out but we were determined to make it work. We had similar goals in life and were willing to sacrifice for one another. As I get to know other teenagers and young adults in my life the more I realize how lucky we were to make it through those hard times stronger and more dedicated to one another. Last night as we lied in bed I told Josh that I would love to know what our moms were thinking about us on our wedding day and now what they think 10 years later. I hope that my children never make the choices that we made but I pray that if they do that they have the maturity to deal with them and grow from them.

These 10 years haven't been flawless and we haven't made the best choices every step of the way but we know that we aren't perfect. Over the last couple of years we have had a number of friends struggle in their marriages and have seen some of those marriages end in divorce. It has given me a wake-up call. I know that every day I have to work on my marriage. It isn't something that can be taken for granted. I have also learned that you have to be willing to share your thoughts and feelings. Even if your spouse doesn't agree with them or it makes them upset. I have found that if Josh knows where I am coming from and knows my thought process then it helps him have a better understanding. Everyone is different but I know that what we have works for us and I love my husband and I still look forward to the moments that we get to spend together.

Frumpy Dump

Alright, this post has been nagging at me for quite some time. A couple of weeks ago I had a bad day. Nothing looked right and I was just frustrated with myself, I was standing in the bathroom looking in the mirror and almost had tears in my eyes. Josh walked in and we talked a little bit. I told him I felt like a frumpy dump. He laughed at my word choice and of course assured me that I am not a frumpy dump. It wasn't too many days later that I was getting ready to walk out the door for work. My hair was done, my make-up on, and I put my super cool new aviator sunglasses on (Old Navy $2.99.) Josh just looked at me and told me I looked like I was trying to be 21. I told him that I was just trying to be the age I AM and that my new sunglasses were super cool and I walked out the door. When I got to work I walked in and took off my sunglasses. One of my male co-workers said, "look at you miss Heather Locklear with your new hair (I recently got my hair done and it is pretty blond) and shades taking them off all cool like that." This particular co-worker of mine is strange and loud by I will take the compliment anyways. Thank you Jarvis.

So I have been thinking about these events quite a bit lately. I hate feeling frumpy! I take pride in the way I look. I am not skinny, nor am I overweight. I am not comfortable wearing super trendy clothes or clothes that are too tight or revealing. I leave the super trendy to my skinny younger sisters :) I have a personal style that works for me, I understand that I am not 21 but I am still only 28. Yes, I am the mother to four children. But that doesn't mean that I have to dress like I am 40 or 50 years old or that I just got done working out when we both know that I didn't.

One morning when Kendra was in 1st grade I was getting ready to take her to school. I was wearing workout pants and a sweatshirt just like every morning. She kindly looked at me and asked me if I was going to get dressed today. I knew exactly what she was trying to say by the look on her face and her tone. So I asked her if she would like it if mommy got ready before I took her to school and picked her up. She politely said yes. That moment changed me forever.

Looking like I take care of myself and dressing stylish doesn't cost me a ton of money or take me forever either. I enjoy hunting for the best deals and I am an avid "couponer." I like to splurge on my jeans and only do that every few years. And I am talking like 70-100 dollars, it could be much worse. Good jeans are the basis for everything so I willing to pay more and sometimes I find good ones for 20-40 bucks. But seriously, good jeans make me feel like a million dollars.f I shop online a lot and use coupon codes and almost ALWAYS get free shipping. I can sew. I make things and I am able to alter things that don't fit quite right. I buy all my makeup at target. I use the Internet as a huge resource. For instance, I was having issues with my make-up. It just never looked really good. I wanted Amy to teach me her tricks when we met up in Park City last spring but we never had time. So when I got home I googled make-up tips. I found an awesome website with video tutorials and everything. I learned SO much! Anyways, I guess the point I am trying to make with this paragraph is that it has taken me a little bit of effort but not a ton of time or very much money. After my incident with Kendra years ago I knew that there was no excuse good enough for letting myself go. I owe it to my children and my husband to look good for them and myself.

I love Dr. Laura's book, "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands." Her views are similar to mine and I read chapters from her book pretty regularly. It helps me to stay focused on being a good wife. Anyways one of the reasons I try to take care of myself, besides doing it for myself, is for my husband. Ten years ago, (almost to the day) Josh married a pretty cute 18 year old. Even though we have both gotten older and put on a little weight I still want to be my cutest self for him. Impressing my husband is important to me. No he isn't always going to think I am the hottest girl around and he has seen me at my absolute WORST. But he needs to know that young cute girl is still in there and that she still likes to get dolled up for him.

Do I look good all of the time? NO WAY! Do I still take the kids to school in pajamas? YUP! But I come home and get ready for the day and I make sure that I don't look out of date and that I am dressing appropriately. I may only get my hair done twice a year but I know how to style it and am not afraid to try new things. Despite all of my efforts I sometimes still have days where I feel like a frump. But I guess the important thing is that I try my best not to give in to my inner Frumpy Dump.

My Baby

Aubrey is full of spunk! She is busy and sweet and trying and wonderful all at once. She is really starting to grow up. I think communicating does that to little ones. Once they start communicating they are no longer babies. She is using new words every day. At night when we kneel down to say prayers with her she has finally started trying to repeat what we say. It seems like this has taken her a long time since she has been folding her arms and "praying" every night for months now. You can't understand a single word that she is saying but she still tries her hardest to repeat what Josh or I say to her.She has curly hair! I can't even believe it but Aubrey has curly hair! I was glad when Preston's hair came in curly and I still just adore his sweet little blond curls but now I have a little girl with curls too! Aubrey has been pretty good about letting my put ponytails in her hair and just smiles and giggles at herself when I stand her on the counter to look in the mirror when I am done. She still has her big blue eyes and we still get comments on them everywhere we go. All four of our kids have blue eyes but something about Aubrey's eyes gets people to stop us where ever we are to tell us what beautiful eyes she has. It is strange.

Yup, this is her playing peek-a-boo with us. She is extremely playful. She loves to laugh and play. The older kids are pretty good about letting her tag along and Aubrey almost always has a baby doll AND doll blanket in her hands.
I took Aubrey to Old Navy to do some shopping for her as it started to get colder around here. She found some boots. Well, I found the boots first and showed them to her and asked her if she liked them. That was a huge mistake! Those pink patent leather boots were on her feet before we left the store and she carried them around and wore them for weeks. She even slept with them! She loves her boots! She gets really excited to put them on and they can take her mood from frustrated and upset to perfectly happy. I am almost in love with the boots as much as she is!

Red Lodge 2010

I think that our trip to Red Lodge is turning into a yearly event, which I don't mind at all! It is a great way to welcome fall and have a good time. We had to stop at the candy store and fill up our bags. We have learned that in order to avoid kicking and screaming we have to cave and let each of the kids fill their own bag. We just have to monitor what is going in and take them as soon as we can get away with it.Aubrey's bag was also known as Daddy's bag. And I helped Kendra fill hers with some of my very favorites. I LOVE salt water taffy and they have just about every flavor imaginable. I am such a sucker for candy that this is the highlight of my day in Red Lodge.

Preston didn't quite know what to do with himself in the candy store. We made it out of the store alive and the candy only lasted a couple of days thanks mostly to me!
We headed up to Wild Bill Lake with the fishing rods that Gma and Gpa Black got for the kiddos after our last trip fishing. Josh hadn't caught a fish all day until he was holding Aubrey so that I could gather up our things to leave and what would you know, he finally caught one. I am giving the credit to Aubrey on this one.
A close up of Ethan's fish!
He was so proud of himself! I reeled in a couple for Grandpa and caught one all on his own too. The fact that he stayed dry is a miracle. Grandpa Beau helped Ethan, but he got the casting down pretty quickly.
Uncle Justin was Preston's helper for the day and they caught quite a few fishies. Preston was brave and held them so that I could take his picture, but he never took his eye off of them.
This was their first catch of the day and I think that Justin was more excited than Preston was!
Kendra was a pro and did a great job casting. What a difference it made this year with Kendra and Ethan being able to cast their own lines. Kendra was the first on to catch a fish in the family and she did great, although holding it her hand was not something that she was willing to do quite yet. Kendra had worn her big ol rainboots so that she could wade out into the water, and it was raining when we left Billings. Well.... she waded out a little too far and her boots filled with icy cold water. It wasn't too long after that we headed out for dinner. He feet were FREEZING!

While the kiddos were busy catching fish Aubrey and I had fun with the camera. She was a trooper and it was pretty cold out but she stayed pretty happy and I got some GREAT PICTURES! The one above just totally captures her personality. She is really playful lately and has a great temperment. She can get a little worked up when she doesn't get what she wants but is communicating really well lately. She will nod her head yes or no, but you can usually tell by her reaction. And when you ask her to say "I love you" she just makes a kissie face and pretends to kiss you.


The kids found this crazy catepillar and so the guys of course put it on a hook. I don't think it stayed more than a few casts before it was lost in the water but it was a nice try.
We had so much fun and then Grandma Black cooked us some amazing french dip sandwiches back in their camper. It was a great way to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

No More Junk

We just moved. AGAIN! I am so sick of moving and I hope that we don't move again for a very VERY long time. Josh and I are coming up on our ten year anniversary and in those 10 years we have moved 8 times now. That includes a five month stay at my mother's house last spring and staying at my grandmother's place while looking for a house to buy and then waiting for our house to be built. I never felt like I moved all of the time until now. But hopefully we will be here for awhile. We moved into my Mom and Dad's house. They are empty nesters with a large house. My dad has Parkinson's and has a hard time moving around and stairs aren't easy. He also can no longer take care of the necessary things around the house. So we came up with a solution.... We are living in their house and will hopefully be buying it when Josh is done with school. And they moved into a smaller and more manageable house that doesn't have stairs.

Our kids are going to Blue Creek School now which is a small county school and they love it. I didn't want to move them from Big Sky until I knew that we would be permanent but I figure this is close enough. As of yesterday we are officially DONE with our other place and every corner and shelf was cleaned and the inspection is done. That is the worst part for me. I don't mind going through all of the stuff and boxing it up and hauling it all over. And I really enjoy unpacking and putting everything in the right place and getting it all organized. But having to devote days to scrubbing out an empty place that you are just leaving behind, well let's say that I would rather be cleaning just about anything else. My aunt and cousin helped me out with the kiddos and my sister pitched in to help me finish in time for the inspection. THANK YOU!

Now I have a large house in desperate need of attention. My mom still has stuff in most closets and on the walls and I have stuff.... everywhere. This is definitely a crazy move and someday when I get it all organized and pretty I will post a picture or two. Maybe. It is strange living here with all of my stuff in a house that I am so familiar with. My parents have never lived in a house for as long as they have lived in this one. We all still call it grandma's house. And we probably will for a really long time.

Four Eyes

Well, it was really only a matter of time before one of my children got one of my not so wonderful traits. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that Ethan was playing his MarioKart on the Wii while he was about an arms-length away from the TV. Hmmm... it was a strange sight and not just the usual "I am a kid so I want to sit close" kind of situation. He looked really weird because he was standing up too. So I remembered that and figured that I better make an eye appointment for him. Of course I didn't. Then something happened a couple of days ago while we were out as a family so when we got home I grabbed a notebook and a big black sharpie. I had Josh hold Ethan on his lap and I wrote out letters in block format like at the eye doctor and we gave Ethan our own homemade eye test. He failed. Josh and Kendra could read it all just fine but Ethan was struggling. So we got him an eye appointment on Monday and sure enough he needs glasses.

He was actually really excited to be getting glasses and his prescription is strong enough that he will need (and most likely want) to wear them all of the time. I was glad that we were able to catch it early and before school started. But seriously the kid just turned 7! He is really going to be in for it. His mother can't even read the big "E" at the top of the eye chart. I am sure that his eyes will only get worse as he grows up like mine did. But in the meantime he is just happy to see the leaves on the trees and many other things that the world now offers him.

We got him two sets of glasses. One a little more contemporary and bolder then a nice pair of blue wire-rimmed ones. Josh and I both like the bolder, thicker frames and I was worried that he wouldn't like them as much, but they are his favorites! He is looking super stylish now and can't wait to go to school to show them off. We headed to the park right after picking up his glasses and I just had to laugh as he told random kids that he wears glasses. His excitement was too cute.

We have a winner!

For the second summer now we participated in the public library's summer reading program. The kids log the hours that they read and for every hour they get a ticket to put into canisters that represent different prizes. Also, when they go to the library they can do weekly activities and different library activities and for each one they complete they also get a ticket. Well my kids LOVE to read and Kendra was bound and determined to win something this year. Last year Preston won a mystery bag full of different books and things. Ethan was gung ho at the start but didn't last long and actually didn't get much reading done. Kendra would spend hours in her room reading all kinds of books. The library puts a five hour per day cap on it and there were a couple of days that she hit that cap. From the start of the program Kendra really wanted the Ipod shuffle. She put tickets in other canister too, but she really just wanted the ipod. She told me many times how much she hoped to win it. Well the last day came and they drew the winners and we went online to see if anyone had won anything what would you know....Kendra WON the IPOD! She was jumping up and down and screaming in excitement.

When we went to claim her prize she was shaking with excitement and the librarian could she just how excited she was. She got to have her picture taken in front of one of the prize cabinets.Kendra definitely worked hard to win that Ipod and logged over 40 hours of reading. GOOD JOB KENDRA!!

The Trip

I know that I already talked about our trip, but I have more to say. It was long...... and I mean really long!!! Kendra and Ethan were superstars though and when we were on the home stretch, right before Bozeman I think, they started playing like this.Preston had finally gotten permission to join them in the back seat, (what a horrible mom I know) and they built themselves a fort. It was too cute. Just outside of Ennis we stopped at a rest stop that is on the river. We played simon says and a few other games and it worked wonderfully at getting some of that pent-up energy out.
These little puppets were a huge hit! I got them at the dollar store before we left and each of them had their own animal. Aubrey and Preston would crack up when I would put them on my hands and use silly voices. Sadly the trip ended with all of the stuffing being pulled out of the pig. I guess Aubrey was done with him.
On the way home we stopped in Reno to get some In-N-Out for lunch while we still could. All of the kiddos LOVED it and no joke, Aubrey finished this bad boy off all by herself along with some fries too. She doesn't normally eat burgers but she really liked In-N-Out, OF COURSE!
Aubrey took good care of her baby doll on the trip and that is how I often got Aubrey to calm down. I would just tell her that her baby was hungry and she needed to give it a bottle. She loves it when I swaddle her babies up in a blanket!
Preston did a lot of this in the car! He was pretty good about falling asleep and staying asleep. Aubrey, on the other hand, would fall asleep and then jerk herself awake after about 30 minutes.
Josh did a lot of this while in the car! He didn't let me drive at all! He never lets me drive, and I don't complain. I definitely don't mind it, I just feel bad that he has to be behind the wheel the whole time.
The kids loved playing at Uncle Darren and Aunt Lizzie's house! Ethan told me that Gavin, "has some sweet toys." They all loved the pool too!
These two cousins are just a few months apart. Sometimes I think that Aubrey looks just like Hadley, it is spooky!
TOO CUTE! They get along really well.
Aubrey got a really nasty eye infection on the trip. It was rather gross. Once I quit messing with it and resigned myself to the fact that she was going to have goobers all over her face it started clearing up. In fact by the time we left it was almost gone and now I think her tear duct may have opened up. I can't tell for sure, but that infection may have fixed the problem. YEA NO SURGERY!
This is my set of twins! They are so sweet and play so well together. Of course they fight and yell at each other and make each other very VERY mad. But for the most part they are best friends and do everything together, I love it. So there is a little more about our trip. I do not suggest taking a 19 hour car ride with an 17 month old baby. It is rough. But you will survive, and so did we. And we miss our family already!

A Special Baptism

On Thursday last week we loaded our kids in the car and headed for Sacramento California. I was born in Sacramento and lived there for the first nine years of my life. I have lots of family that live there including two siblings, and lots of cousins. When we first moved away to Sheridan Wyoming when I was young we would visit Cali once or twice a year to see my aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. I have fond memories of making the trek out there. We would always take the back seat out of the van and lay down all of the luggage and blankets and Amy and I would claim the back to sleep and play in. I am sure that we sat on the seats sometimes, but I mostly remember playing and sleeping in the back. It was usually only my mom and the four or five youngest kids making that oh so long journey. Right after High School I flew down there for the first time and I couldn't believe how fast it was, I never wanted to drive there again. Well Last Thursday I made that trip once again. Only this time with my own four little ones and no comfy back bed like we used to have. It was long and hard, especially for little Aubrey. By the time we got there I felt like I had tortured the poor thing. But we had one amazing reason to go so it was all worth it.

My older brother who lives in Cali was baptizing his wife. I get all weepy just thinking about it. I have pretty much been an emotional wreck since Lizzy, (his wife) started taking the discussions. My older brother quit attending church when he was a teenager. He is a full 10 years older than me so by the time I was eight he was already out of the house. I saw what his falling away had done to my mother from the eyes of a child. I remember her crying as she wrote him letters (no e-mail back then) and sharing her testimony with him. I remember her talking about him in the talks that she gave in Sacrament meeting. I know that it was hard for her and something that I hope that I don't have to go through as a parent, it definitely made an impact on me. So when Darren began taking the necessary steps to be able to baptize his wife my heart was full. It has been over twenty years since he was active in the church and last Saturday he entered the waters of baptism and baptized his wife into the church. Repentance is the most amazing thing. Without it we are all lost, our savior loves us and died for us so that we can repent and return to live with him.Here are the six of us, all grown up! I love my siblings so much. They are all amazing people with big hearts. No one is perfect and occasional we hit that, "you've gone too far" moment but we love each other and that is what matters. And now you can see where I get my height, look at those brothers of mine! Sorry Nicole, you missed out on that trait :)
My older siblings, Darren and Nicole. I just love this picture, I think this is the best picture from the entire vacation. I love seeing them laughing together.

So there is more to the story, if you are ready for it. Growing up my mom and her sister were really close, they are best friends. When we lived in California we always lived close to her, as in walking distance close. She had five children and we had six in our family. These cousins are the cousins that we did everything with, vacations, Sunday dinners, everything. The oldest son, Dustin, and Darren are the same age. They have always been close, like brothers actually. They live within walking distance, their wives are close, and their children are close too. Dustin also quit coming to church when he was a teenager. Although he has taken his children to church pretty regularly in recent years he didn't participate. His wife has taken the discussions previously and attends church with him occasionally. Well she also decided to get baptized. Dustin also took the steps necessary to baptize his wife and son who recently turned eight. It was the most amazing baptism I have ever been to. My sister Amy spoke on baptism and my mom spoke on the Holy Ghost. I cried just about the entire time. I know that there is no way that I could be a parent in the world today without the gospel in my life. It helps me strive to be the best mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend that I can be! Some of you might be completely lost right now with everything that I have said, if you want to find out a little more then you can visit www.mormon.org or call or e-mail me. So yes we had a great reason to make that long journey out to Cali but we made it and it was worth it.
Preston and Presleigh got a little loud during the second half of the baptism so I took them out and entertained them with food and the camera.

And of course, Aubrey joined them too! She was done with sitting down reverently after that car ride.

A Wedding

In mid-June Josh's step sister got married. It was a beautiful wedding with perfect weather. Kendra was asked to be the flower girl and the dress was to be silver, perferably with a blue sash. I am all about the colored flower girl dress, especially when the little girl is over the age of five. And Kendra has always been a little more on the mature side. I think she passed the foofy white dress stage ages ago. Luckily Brittany agreed with me. So the hunt was on and it turned up NOTHING. I even started months in advance! There was nothing out there that fit what we wanted. I had a feeling going into the search that making her dress was an option. Maybe I had been inspired by my sister's fabulous creations for her daughter. It wasn't what I wanted to do but finally I conceded and headed to the fabric store. The dress turned out wonderful and the only complain that I have is that sewing with special occasion fabric is not easy! The kids had fun at the wedding and it was a wonderful way to spend the day. Congrats Brittany and Tyler!The wedding was an afternoon wedding with no dancing so this is the time that we headed home.
And this is what we got from the backseat. The kids had ran and played so hard that they were both out at 6:19. Josh and I almost didn't head over to his dad's for dinner but decided it was just a little too early to let them be out for the night. So we took them home, woke them up, changed their clothes, and then headed over to Kevin and Denise's for some yummy food. Preston and Aubrey eventually woke up and played some more and then slept soundly that night.
Aubrey is finally getting some hair! Something about that magic 18 month mark seems to make my kids sprout their hair.
The flower girl and ring bearer. The wedding was out at Oscar's Park and the ceremony took place right on the river's edge. That place was so cool with old buildings and an old train station building that was transplanted there as the main building. If our anniversary wasn't at the end of October then I would have our party there. But I think this place is definitely suited for spring and summer with a huge wrap around porch, it was tons of fun.
I love how Ethan tries to sneak into every picture!

Fourth of July

These are completely out of order but I can't seem to drag them any more. Oh well! I really have to think hard to remember our Fourth of July. A lot has happened since then. Hopefully I will get it all right. It was a Sunday so we went to church and then came home and let the kiddos nap. Fun right? After that we went out to my mom's for a bar-b-que. We actually didn't have any plans until the night before since we hadn't gotten an invite anywhere. We were going to have meatloaf and mashed potatoes but were thankful to be able to go to my mom's. We had some family over there and ate yummy food and I am sure that we played some games, although I can't exactly remember. Afterwards we headed out to Laurel to watch the fireworks display. They kids were so super excited about going to Laurel and had been talking about it for days! It got late and pretty soon they were all ready to go home. At one point I don't think any of our kids were even watching the show. SERIOUSLY! They had been so excited, even Kendra was laying on the blanket not looking. Aubrey was really nervous about all of the noise and the extremely bright lights, but she warmed up a bit and by the end she didn't need to be held or have her ears covered.
This is what Preston did after the fireworks started. He watched them for a little bit but eventually fell asleep in Josh's lap. He fell asleep last year too so we weren't too surprised with this one.
I tried and tried to get a good picture of the fireworks and this is the best one I got...pathetic!
Before the show started we got sprinkled on so we brought our umbrella with us. We thought we were going to get poured on but we were glad we didn't. The whole day wasn't really hot, it was really nice. So here is Julie and Aubrey playing with the Umbrella.
All the girls in the fam. We had more fun getting ready for the show to start than when it actually did.
All those boys!
Mom and Dad, you can see the sprinkles on Josh's sweatshirt.
My precious kiddos
Ethan is such a little model, he can really strike a pose. He put on this little outfit complete with his new aviator sunglasses and came upstairs. I just had to take his picture. He kept posing with super serious faces and I had to talk him into smiling for the camera. He is a hoot! So our forth of July wasn't anything too exciting, fireworks, food, and family. That is what it is all about! It is nice to just relax and appreciate the freedoms that we enjoy and the country that we live in.