Minnesota

Joe got a new job. We are moving to Minnesota on October 16th. He has been there for one week and has one more to go. He comes home for a week then the two of us will drive the moving truck out. My parents are keeping the boys until the following Friday and then they will drive the boys out to us in our van. They will fly home after that. (Can you believe they were crazy enough to volunteer to drive that distance with my VERY LOUD boys?)

We will be living in a brand new town house that was a model home. It is furnished so everything you see in the pictures is what it looks like. We will move the desk down from the loft to the sun room and use the loft for the playroom.

We will live there for about nine months and then we will move to another state. We don't get to choose where we will go. Joe will be a branch manager and they will send us to whatever state needs a new manager at the time. I am nervous but very excited. Wish us luck on our new adventure!

Gratitude

And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

Doctrine and Covenants 59:2

Quoting from my favorite movie, Meet Me in St. Louis,

Esther: "I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate money."

Mr. Smith "You also spend it."

Joe and I are trying really hard to live within our means. Last month we went to using only cash. We had X dollars for the entire month. By March 9th we were already out of money. Keep in mind. There was no eating out, no shopping other than groceries, no clothing, etc. I was not sure what I was going to do for the rest of the month. How was I supposed to put gas in the car? What was I supposed to feed my family?

One day I got a refund check from Rustoleum. Another day I got a reimbursement check from my school. Then we got an escrow refund. Joe had refereed a basketball game and I worked for my dad so we had that little bit of extra income. After all this extra income came in I was feeling very blessed. On the last day of the month we still had a tiny bit of money. This really is nothing short of a miracle.

The story gets even better. The last week of March I mentioned to Joe I really wanted some Cadbury Mini Eggs. He told me to go buy some and I said that I couldn't because we didn't have the money for it. The very next day we were in bed asleep. The doorbell rang at 11:00 p.m..

I jumped out of bed, I was very startled. Then I was nervous to open the door. I made sure Joe was nearby in case there was a problem . I opened the door and saw a small gift bag on the porch. The first thing that popped into my head was, "Who in their right mind doorbell ditches at 11:00 p.m.?" I looked in the packages and saw the Cadbury Mini Eggs. Some may say it was a coincidence but I know it was Heavenly Father letting me know the He knows me and loves me. I looked in the bag to see if there was a note telling me who it was from. There was not a note but a $100 gift card to Smith's. I was shocked!

I have absolutely no idea who was so generous. I wish I could thank them personally. But, since I cannot I continue thanking my Heavenly Father for directing my life and placing wonderful people around me.

Spooky Dinner

Chris' annual Spooky Dinner is a lot of fun. We all love to have themed parties. It is fun to be able to see everyone in their fun Halloween costumes.

Bradley is the cutest little Peter Pan I have ever seen.

Chris always makes this great spider web and the littles love to crawl through it.

It can be rather difficult to get a good picture with all the littles.

I loved family themed costumes. Maybe next year I can come up with something. This year wasn't the year because I really wanted Hayden to be the gingerbread man that I wore when I was little.

Here is our spooky food. The little ate hot dogs with worms.

Mini caramel apples.

Bones

Graveyard dip

Eyeballs

Soccer

Hayden is finally big enough to play on a sport's team. We put him in soccer. Joe ended up being the coach. This was Joe's first time coaching and he did a great job. We have never played soccer with Hayden before (or during) the season. He liked it but didn't love it. So many times he and a bunch of other little boys would sit down in the middle of the field and play in the dirt.

The season was really short and some of the games were really cold. All the kids did better by the end of the season but there were two boys who definitely dominated the games.

Wyoming

I sent the boys to Wyoming with my dad, Allen and his girls. They had a great time exploring fishing, and eating (apparently the kids could get enough eggs for breakfast so the dads had to go without. I enjoyed a quiet weekend at home (although I didn't just stay at home). I went to Sydney's 3rd birthday party. I went to Heidi's wedding reception. I ran errands all alone. I had a girls craft night at Ashlie's It was a great weekend for everyone!

This is Hayden's fish. He one $2 playing Dollar, Dollar, Dollar. He caught the first and the biggest fish.

Farnsworth Farms Pumpkin Festival

We went to Farnsworth Farms Pumpkin Festival again this year. The weather was perfect. Grandma and Grandpa Young joined us again this year. The boys were excited to play the games, jump in the bounce house, and go on the hay ride.

My favorite part is always the hot apple cider.

Parker wandering through the hay maze.

Hayden liked playing on the playground.

The wagon ride.

Bouncin'

Parker is so stinkin' cute!

Run Joe, Run

Last spring Joe and I, along with our little boys, participated in the Running With Angles 5K. There was an essay contest that Joe entered that you were to write about why you were running this 5K. Joe wrote about Scott and of course won. What did he win? The privilege or running the St. George Marathon (no the contest didn't pay for it just gave you a guaranteed entry). So the training began, but only on days it was convenient or appealing.

The first weekend of October we headed down to St. George with my parents. We stayed at a neighbors house down there. We ate yummy food and had a great weekend.

I am so proud of Joe for attempting and completing a marathon! I think he has more in his future.

Joe is ready to head out bright and early. I mean dark and early.

On our way to drop him off at the shuttle.

Good-bye! I hope the next time I see you that you will still be alive. Good luck!

Waiting along the course to see Joe .

He crosses the finish line!

Exhausted!

Much needed liquid.

Yay! You are a WINNER!

Growing Up is Hard

Sometimes I wish I was a little child and my mom and dad would tell me what to do. It wasn't hard to know what I should do. If I listened to my parents and did what I was told I was happy and had made the right choice.

Now I don't know what the right choice is. I am tired of making wrong choices and dealing with the consequences. I just need someone to tell me what to do. I don't want people's "advice." I want to know what is the right decision. I want the stress taken from me and put on someone else.

Can't I just be little again?

Simple Pleasures

I think my favorite thing lately is sitting in bed with Joe eating ice cream and doing a crossword.

Life

Life is crazy right now. I feel like I can't keep my head on straight. We moved into our new house a few weeks ago. Things are still a mess. There are lots of boxes to still unpack and even more things to clean. The list of projects keeps getting longer and longer.

The dishwasher leaked all over the kitchen and through the ceiling in the basement (it hadn't been hooked up). The dryer is not working well. The water softener leaked and we had to pull up carpet and need to replace some carpet pad. The tile finally got finished. The yard needs tons of work. We cannot find the shut off for the water to the fridge (even the plumber can't find it). We don't have internet at home so whenever I need to use the computer I have to do it while I'm at school or call my parents to look things up for me. It is getting a little old.

I have been very frustrated with Hayden's teacher at daycare. Monday it was the last straw and I decided to pull the boys out. Thankfully I found a lady right by school that does at home daycare. She had spots for both boys. I met her after school and the boys will be starting there on Monday. I hope it is a better situation.


There are only eight more weeks of school. It is nice to see the end in sight. I can't wait to be home with the boys again. I miss them so much. I do not feel like I have taught by class nearly enough. I hope they do okay on the CRT's in a few weeks.


Hopefully when school is done I can get my house in order and get back into the swing of things. Maybe by then we will have the internet and I will update my severely neglected blog. I am five months behind. But it probably won't happen. I'll end up finding more things that need to be taken care of first.