January: Sampson finally came home :)

After 5 months Sampson is finally home for good.  He had one last interview in North Carolina and he took me and Steele.  It was nice to finally be together again.  We had all missed him so much! I just love my crazy, fun kids.  There is never a dull moment.  I never know what they are going to wear, say, or play with next.  I love it!

100 Days of Kindergarten

Phoenix could not decide on what 100 things to take to school.  I was trying to push her to take some cereal, candy or some food that would be easy to get, but she said she can't bring food because she will eat it on the way to school.  She finally decided on these glass gems and she was so excited because they were exactly like the gems at Pitty's house.  Phoenix started crying because I wasn't going to go to the 100 day party and so I showed up with all the kids and I was the only parent there.  Luckily Mrs. Kristi is awesome and didn't mind us being there.  Eva falls into place right next to Phoenix.  She is so ready for Kindergarten, but she still has to wait another year :( I did Phoenix's hair in a 100 and it was so awesome.  I made the hair style up that morning and it actually turned out really good.  I think my favorite part about the 100 Day party is the 100 dollar bill with an old picture of Phoenix on it.  100 year old Phoenix is quite hilarious :)  

My favorite part about living on this farm is seeing all the animals.  There are over 60 Texas longhorns on the front part of the land and we always see deer and turkeys in the backyard.  I opened the blinds one morning and there were 31 turkeys in the backyard.  It was so cool!  Oh and I turned 29 this year...one more year left of my 20's.

 

We love to go get eggs from the chicken coop.  I get nervous walking through all the cows, but Sampson says there is nothing to worry about :)  I love hanging out with Eva while Phoenix is at school.  Eva goes to preschool Monday through Wednesday and we try to go to library time  on Thursday.  Eva is my puzzler! She can do any puzzle.  She also love to play Clash of Clans with me.  When "Chunky" (her COC name) finally made it into the clan she ran around the house screaming "I can't believe I am in the clan!"  She is so funny.  She is constantly checking all the bases and calling people to let them know they have been attacked, or their builder is sleeping, or tell Luke that is attack in the clan war is going to be really hard and that he needs to be prepared.  My favorite picture is of her attacking and patting Steele on the head.  Nothing can get in the way of her attacking :)

Ou

Catching Up: 5 Months Without Sampson

AUGUST

Butch and Pitty brought their boat up for Butch's birthday, Phoenix started Kindergarten, Steele started eating, we swam A LOT, Sampson and I celebrated 7 years with a run to a waterfall, and I prepared all the guns for when Sampson left for 5 months! I have to say that my favorite part was having a boat out on the river.  There is nothing better than relaxing on the boat out on the river.  This reminds me of my childhood.  So many great memories in the bow of this boat!  I love that my kids are enjoying that too.  One day we will have a boat and we can have a boat party!!

SEPTEMBER

Eva had her first day a preschool, we had fun at the fair, lots of time playing at the farm, visiting daddy in Ohio, Phoenix and Eva cooking dinner, and me showing off my baking skills (I still need a lot of practice :)  We got to see daddy in Columbus for a day before he started his next rotation in PA.  We went to the Columbus zoo and went swimming!  The girls only agree to come on long drives with me if they know we will be swimming when we get there ;)

Steele - 7 Months

Steele loves to smile at everybody.  He is such a happy baby.  He can't sleep unless he is swaddled and has socks on his hands.  His new nickname = Sockhands!  He has started to sit up on his own, but doesn't really like sitting in corn ;)  He loves watching Mickey and seeing all the animals at the fair and the zoo!  He sat in the cart for the first time and had the time of his life!  I love watching him slowly discover the world.

OCTOBER

We loved Frozen on Ice with BB, Haley, and Emma, Eva organized all the general authorities for Conference, Steele watching late night football games with me, Phoenix's field trip at the pumpkin patch, Eva riding in the firetruck, Phoenix's Fall Festival, and Halloween!! I crocheted hats for all the kids so we could be FROZEN for Halloween! Phoenix wanted to get her ears pierced, so we settled for clip on earrings.  They love wearing them!  We loved road tripping with my parents up to Pennsylvania, New York, an Ohio to spend some time with daddy.  We have really missed him!

NOVEMBER

Sampson was able to come home for 1 day on his birthday and we went to the BYU game at MTSU.  That night we celebrated Sampson's and Eva's birthday.  The girls dressed up for Veterans day at school and Eva got to go up and sing with Phoenix.  Phoenix has the most awesome teacher at school.  Phoenix loves Mrs. Kristi! We scored some cheap costumes at Walmart after Halloween and the girls dress up everyday with at least 5-8 costumes changes :)  I drove the kids down to Texas before Thanksgiving to help Houston at her Craft Fair and help my mom with her surgery.  Although, I didn't really help that much because Eva and Phoenix beat me to it.  If my mom even made a noise, Eva was in there asking her what she needed.  She has such a good heart.  The fair was fun and Steele was so awesome the whole day.  He is such a happy baby all the time!!  We celebrated Brooke and Eva's birthday at Chuck E Cheese and Sampson was able to drive down for 2 days for Thanksgiving dinner at Luke and Liz's house.  I can't tell you how nice it is to see your husband after 3 weeks!! I don't know how the military wives do it because these last 5 months were terrible and I got to see Sampson at least once a month (even if we had to drive to where ever he was).

Eva's 4th Birthday
EVA3 is no more :-( Eva wants to only be called Eva or Elsa now.  It is sad to see her get older...she is not my little girl any more and she is determined to prove that to me every day.  Not to be out done by Phoenix, she is already reading the first set of easy reader books we have.  I never even taught her, she learned by watching Phoenix.  Eva is so smart and I have to be careful because she always out smarts me.  She loves to dress up, dance, sing, and watch Thor!! She thinks he is so handsome (wonder where she go that idea). She tells me when she grows up she wants to marry Steele, Thor, or Hawkeye...hahaha.  She had quite a few Frozen birthday parties because she wanted to celebrate with everyone she knows! I think she went through almost an entire pack of paper making invitations for everyone.  Her birthday is VERY important :)

 

 Steele is 9 Months!!
Steele loves to sit up all the time, but when it's time to move he is army crawling everywhere.  He loves to take baths and go swimming at all the hotels with his sisters.  He loves to talk to everyone on the phone, even though he usually ends up hanging up on them.  He has been the best baby through all of the traveling we have done.  He rides in his car seat like a pro!  I love how his hair sticks up all the time and my favorite is that his eyes have stayed a bluish gray color!  I don't think I will ever get tired of this cute little face!

DECEMBER

After Thanksgiving, Sampson found out that he had 5 days off at the beginning of December so I decided to drive up to Oklahoma to see him before we drove back to Tennessee.  We got to drive all around Lawton (which was awesome because that is where we are moving now!) Once we finally made it back home, we had banked some major hours in the car: 7 States, 2,202 miles, 33.5 hours of driving! I think I am pretty much crazy!  hahaha I was totally blessed because the kids were actually awesome beside asking me "how many minutes till we get there?" every 5 seconds :)  I was lucky to get my car worked on and still get out all of my xmas orders! 
 After we got back I had two weeks to set up for Christmas, catch up on orders, work on website for the farm, plan a primary party, teach sharing time, catch up Phoenix for school and pack up again to drive back to Texas for Christmas.  Phoenix had her first little "date" with a boy from school and won a reading award and a drawing contest at school.  She is growing up so fast!
Oh and I forgot Sampson was able to come home for a couple of days on his way to Ohio from Oklahoma.  We went up to Nashville and surprised the girls with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (their favorite restaurant ever!) and then we saw the ICE and went down the ice slides.  Such a "cool" experience!  Then we had so say goodbye to daddy again and we wouldn't seem till after my birthday :( Saying goodbye never gets easier no matter how many times I have to do it. 
Once we were back in Texas we had a lot of fun at the ward Christmas Party, decorating cookies, eating amazing dinners, watching Luke stuff himself at 5 guys (I think it was like 6 hamburger patties...ridiculous!) We loved seeing Santa, watching Kenny lurk around in his Jedi robe, playing, playing, and more playing with Brooke and Derek.  We loved presents, Fritatta, xmas pajamas, pictures, old time movies, setting up xmas lights, more eating and family Starcraft! It was awesome until Steele, my dad, and I got the flu.  It was pretty miserable and I didn't leave the house for a week, but once we got better we had a great New Years and then headed back home. It was a crazy month, but staying busy helped me not miss Sampson as much.  I told the girls that I needed a hug from them every time I missed daddy.  I got a lot of hugs from them this holiday :)

We were definitely in survival mode for the last 5 months, but we are all alive and that is enough!

Visiting Sampson

Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Palmyra, Niagara Falls, & Kirtland

6 States, 9 Days, & 2500 Miles

~ PALMYRA ~

Hill Cumorah & The Sacred Grove

My parents and I took a road trip with my 3 small kids.  This crazy idea actually turned out really well!   We first visited Sampson at his Rotation in Johnstown, PA. Then we all drove to Pittsburgh to stay at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  We had the most amazing dinner and enjoyed great company and lots of laughs.  It was so nice to see everyone.  The next day we drove to Palmyra, NY.  We first stopped at the Hill Cumorah.  I hadn't been there since I was a kid. It was amazing to be there.  The second time we went,when Sampson got there, Elder Holland and all of the Mission Presidents from the North East missions showed up and took a picture by the monument.  Elder Holland came right up to Sampson and Steele and started tickling Steele.  He was so sweet with him.  Then he shook all of our hands except Phoenix who hid under the bench.  He tried to pull her out, but she wouldn't budge.  So he just tickled her for a second and then jokingly tried to pull her out.  He was so sweet.  It's amazing to see an apostle be so loving. I felt so happy to be in his presence.  He truly is an Apostle of the Lord.

While we were there, we stayed at the Palmyra White House, which is a short walk from the Sacred Grove. Each morning I went for a walk/run through the Sacred Grove. What a spiritual place to be. It was truly amazing. I loved being there and visiting the sites, taking the tours, and then my mom and I reading all we could about everything at night.  It was awesome....but in the words of Phoenix and Eva: "Everything is Awesome!!!!"

Priesthood Restoration Site

The second day it rained all day so we decided to drive to Harmony to see the spot wear the priesthood was restored. The girls loved splashing in the puddles. Phoenix had so much water in her boots at one point that she sat down and tipped her boot upside down and a waterfall of water came out.  My mom and I searched forever in the cemetery next to the monument for the grave stone of Joseph and Emma's first baby boy.  Soaking wet, we almost gave up but found it right as we were leaving.  I love hanging out with my mom and my kids!

Peter Whitmer Farm & Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site

The day after, we went and saw where the Book of Mormon was first printed.  I had no idea how long and tedious the process of printing one book was!  I really enjoyed seeing the order of languages the Book of Mormon has been printed in.  The girls loved folding their own pages.  Then we drove over to the Whitmer Farm.  I loved seeing where the organization of the church first happened.  I can't believe how many people fit into that small room!  The video at the end of the tour was one of the coolest videos that the church has made!  The girls loved harvesting corn and gathering eggs on their computers as my mom and I listened to all the information on the screens behind the girls.  As we were leaving bees kept flying into our van and we had to drive with all the doors open for a bit to get them all out!

Niagara Falls

Next stop on the trip was Niagara Falls.  We had a minor set back when I forgot Sampson's passport.  Luckily Canada accepted him and Tim overnighted the passport and everything worked out so that we were still able to stay on the Canadian side.  Our hotel rooms had the best views of the falls! We walked the road by the falls that night and saw them all lit up.  Then we went swimming and enjoyed an amazing firework show.  Our room was actually higher than most of the fireworks! The boat ride to the falls the next day was amazing! There was so much water coming down that I felt a bit overwhelmed when we were really close to the falls. I had forgotten how big and powerful the falls were! Of course the girls weren't scared at all and loved every minute of it.  But their favorite part had to be the gift shop because they got to pick out a Canadian souvenir :) 

Steele at 8 Months

Steele is really starting to come into his own personality and I am loving every minute of it! Now that we have 3 kids, Steele and I end up alone a lot and so we end up taking a lot of pictures to keep us busy.  He loves looking right at the camera!  He is that happiest baby.  He smiles all the time and at everyone.  He loves watching his sisters.  They keep him very entertained and never pass up a chance to hug and kiss him.  I love to snuggle with him on the bed early in the morning and listen to him yell at the fan.  I love him so much.  He is truly a blessing in our family!

Kirtland

I finally made it to Kirtland and saw the Kirtland temple!! I have been wanting to do this trip since I graduated from high school....it has taken me 10 years, but I am finally here!  It was so amazing!  I can't believe all the places we were able to see and all the stories we were able to hear.  Even though the other family in our tour was extremely irreverent, we were able to feel the power of being wear Joseph Smith was when he received so many revelations and saw so many angels. 

We were also able to take our family pictures just outside the visitor center there.  The setting was beautiful and for once we had a photo shoot that wasn't stressful and didn't end up with Sampson and I in a fight! (I am trying harder not to control everything...it really helped ;)) And the pictures turned out great. It was really sad to say goodbye to Sampson again as he headed to Cleavland for his next rotation. But I know that we are doing what we are suppose to be doing.  I am so grateful for my family.  We were meant to be together and to be their for each other through the good and the bad.  My girls are such examples to me.  They are always reminding me to pray and read scriptures because they say that we need more "scripture power" in our lives :)  I love the competitions we have to see who can sing the books of The Book of Mormon song the fastest or who can sing the Frozen songs the loudest.  I love how easy going my kids are and how willing they are to go everywhere I drag them.  I love their contagious smiles and their desire to help people be happy (even if that means making hundreds and hundreds of cards...at least they are getting really good at drawing and writing :)) I love my family so much.  I wouldn't trade them or any of my trials for anything.  They make me who I am today.

Here are some random pictures from the trip! I love my cute kids!

So Long Sweet Summer......

 Dance Recital

The girls had their dance recital this May.  Although I miss teaching dance, it was so nice to not be in charge of the recital this year :)  Phoenix did a ballet and a character dance and Eva was Minnie Mouse.  I enjoyed being in the audience this year just watching my girls!

The Front Porch

We spend so much time on this front porch!  My favorite place to be is in my rocking chair watching the girls ride their bikes, play baseball or basketball, play in the rain, or talk to the cows.  I get to enjoy a beautiful view of the mountains and watch the hummingbirds fight each other for the feeder! I love reading my book, looking at the stars, and watching the turkeys early in the morning.
It will be really hard to leave this beautiful place next year.  

 Huntsville to Texas to Rock Island

We had a fun summer full of trips to Texas, a dance concert, Huntsville Space Center, eating blueberries, hanging out with family, taking pictures, baking cookies, going to the zoo, taking selfies, riding our bikes, and going swimming! It's always hard to travel home without Sampson, but I have to say my kids are pretty comfortable on airplanes and that makes my life so much easier! Sampson had to take 2 huge tests and finish rotations for his 3rd year this summer.  His 4th year started off with him at a 2 month rotation that was about 2 hours away....that was not a fun commute for him.  We enjoyed every bit of time we got to spend together though. 

The girls love to be with their dad!  He took them hiking, swimming, fishing and teaching them to clean the fish, gathering eggs and making breakfast, and their favorite: daddy daughter night! They love eating frozen yogurt with daddy!  The summer went by way too fast, but we definitely enjoyed it!

 

 

 Phoenix's 1st Day of Kindergarten

I can't believe I have a Kindergartener!! It is so crazy how quickly kids grow up! It was a hard adjustment for Eva and I after Phoenix left.  We missed having Phoenix at home, but it is working out great! Eva loves to have 1 on 1 time with mom and she is a big helper with her baby brother.  She also loves to do homework with Phoenix every night.  Phoenix is so sweet to always let her sister tag along and make her feel a part of her life.  I love when Phoenix reads to us each night.  It is really special to see your child learn and grow.  It makes me smile. As difficult as it is to be mom sometimes, there are always moments that make everything totally worth it!