Bringing in the New Year!

Welcome 2012!! This year, for New Years weekend, we had our very best friends come for a visit! Arlin and Shannon have been such a big part of our lives since Shaelyn was born, and it is so nice to have such wonderful friends. While they were here, we were able to go sledding. Up sinks canyon, there is an old ski resort, that is the funnest tubing hill that I have ever been on. We sure had a lot of fun!

Izzy and Aylah trying it out...

Cute little Grayson...

Once we got the girls to go down, they didn't want to stop. And they did not want to go with any adults...they wanted to go all by themselves.

    

Spencer...I LOVE his face. This kid is fearless, which doesn't make mom very happy sometimes. :)

I really got a kick out of watching Aylah go down. I thought she would be so scared, because she is such a quiet little thing, but as soon as she started to move, she started laughing so hard. I think Arlin actually looks a lot more scared than she does. :)

The kids... Minus Shaelyn and Grayson. Spencer is actually there, Izzy is just sitting on him. :)

Contemplating... Things sure do change as you get older. :)

Izzy wanted to try things out on her stomach...

Trying really hard to convince Shannon to go...

Still thinking it over...

Wow! I love the feet action! Can you tell I was trying to slow down?

Arlin getting some air...

And David too...

And Shannon too...

We had such a fun New Years, and couldn't have spent it with better people. We love you guys!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas this was for our family! It seems like it snuck up on us so fast, but it sure was a great one! I absolutely LOVE this time of year. We put our Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving, which David thought was a little crazy, but I love the holidays, and they always seem to go by so quickly....so I like to enjoy it all as long as I can. :)

 
                             

Christmas Eve- In their new Christmas Jammies

  It seems like as we get closer to Christmas time, David gets his project "itch." He is EXTREMELY talented, and his work absolutely amazes me. Last year he made my parents a beautiful queen bed. This year, we got Spencer a Sulcata Tortoise for Christmas, so David decided to build a tortoise table. If anyone knows anything about these tortoises, they get very large in size. When we got him, he was in a very small aquarium-type cage, that was way too small for what he needed. David drew up some plans for a new home for our new pet, and in a couple of short days he produced this....

This is what he lived in before...

All the kids meeting "Crush" for the first time!

           David and I have been  married for almost ten years now, and I can honestly say, that he amazes me every day! I have never met anyone in my life that can do absolutely anything, and can do it the way he can.He teaches me so much!  I am a very lucky woman!

My Christmas Present...

    This year, in October, we got a camper! We have been wanting one for so long, and are SO extremely excited about it! We are already planning a long trip up to Yellowstone this year, and cannot wait! I wish it would hurry and warm up already! :)

          We really had a wonderful Christmas this year. Its such a special time of year. A time to really reflect on the savior, and his life, and what he has done for each of us. A time to really focus on family, and what is really the most important things in life. We love you all!

Our New Home!

Well we have moved again! This is the 12th move that David and I have made in our almost 10 year marriage, and was definitely one of our hardest moves. David was right in the middle of turn-around, so we only had two days to get all of the big stuffed moved over, and then I had to get everything else done. With being sick with bronchitis, dealing with kidney issues still, being a single-mom (because David was never home), and with all the driving and packing and putting stuff away I had to do, I was extremely exhausted! Right in the middle of the move, the owner of the previous home called and said she had a showing on it the next morning. I remember just falling to my knees and just crying. I don't think I have ever been so tired. 

We have been so blessed with this new home! When the owner of the our previous home called and told me she was putting it on the market, I didn't know what we were going to do. We don't  live in a place that has ANY rental places, and with having to short sale our home in Green River, we don't have any other choice for a couple of years. We went and looked at a few places in Riverton, that were HORRIBLE and very highly priced. When I say horrible, I mean unlivable. We really didn't know what we were going to do. Then, one day, the owner of the previous home (who manages this home) called us, and let us know that this home came available suddenly. When I drove over to look at it, I could believe it! I couldn't believe that we were being blessed AGAIN with such a beautiful home! Plus, the owner of this home is probably going to be able to work out some kind of owner finance program, so we can purchase this home! I don't know what we have done do deserve how much we have been blessed! 

The kids have had to make quite an adjustment with moving schools. Spencer more so than Shaelyn. Spencer is really shy, so it took him a while to get used to new people and a new place, but he is doing SO much better now.... The schools over here seem like they are doing a lot more academically, so that has been a little bit of a struggle too, but I am very impressed with the schools over here compared to Riverton. 

 

We are so happy here, and are hoping to be here for a long time. But we know that if we aren't, we will be taken care of, because we always have been. :)

Thermopollis!

A couple of weeks ago we were able to make a trip up to Thermopolis, to take the kids to the hot springs. It was a VERY fun day! We were able to take the kids to the pool and also walk along the boardwalks they have and look at the hot springs.

         

  They also had a large bridge that went over the river, that was built a really long time ago, that actually moves when you walk on it. Needless to say, it took me forever to even step on the bridge. I was scared to death!

The outside pool...

The hot spring pools were really fun for the kids. The water was really warm, which was good for Izzy. When we take her to the pool, she has fun, but she is always shaking because she is so cold. There were 2 pools, 3 waterslides, and 3 very happy kids. It was a great day!

Our Yard!

Well we have been extremely busy trying to get our yard ready for grass. A few weeks ago, we were able to get sod layed, and we absolutely LOVE it! We ordered 17 pallets, and when all the grass got here, we seriously thought we ordered WAY too much, but we used almost all of it. Our good friends, Arlin & Shannon, came up that weekend to help.....and are so thankful to them. If David and I would've had to do it all ourselves, we wouldn't have been able to move for a week. :) We are so thankful for such good friends! We love our yard, and are amazed with how good it's done so far. It makes the world of difference when you have a yard for your kids to play on. 

                                                                  Before...

We had two of these....full of grass.

The kids enjoying the new grass!

Two weeks later...