Can it be this good...really?

It's been too long, but not due to lack of plenty going on around here. I have been talking to so many people lately who are sick, hurt, lost, struggling or otherwise. I am at one of those points in my life where things are so good and I am so richly blessed that I feel bad about it. I am really content and have so much that I feel like I am in store for some trials or some tragedy. I am trying to counter these feelings with extreme gratitude and thankfulness, with a sincere recognition of where these blessing are coming from, keeping my pride out of it and definitely not saying out loud or having a single thought that I am "deserving" of any of it...So where do you go from there? Lots of prayers saying thank you, thank you and trying to stay aware that it's not "lucky", they're blessings. That being said.

We had our primary program late October and it went great. The kids made me cry and the spirit was definitely a part of the program.

Justin's Dad and Little sister Kelsey came over for Thanksgiving and we enjoyed having our dear friends Kirk and Jill and their kids for dinner as well,(we appreciate them caving in to all our pleading and begging:) Kelsey helped me make pumpkin pie filling and homemade crusts and I think this was my favorite part. I really enjoyed spending this time with her, laughing, teaching, and just spending time together. I miss that part of our family and really loved having them stay with us for a few days. My brother in law Chaser was going to come but had to stay home sick. BOOooo. we missed Grandma Wendy and Uncle Chase. If you ask me dinner was really good, none of the nightmares I had about raw turkey, burnt stuffing, or runny pie happened. It was the first Thanksgiving I ever did from scratch. I've contributed up to this point but never planned and executed an entire thanksgiving.
However Dad and Kelsey did come the same week that I started building my wall. Justin and I talked a little bit about turning our formal livingroom into a den/craft/guest room. So I called a long time friend and he came over we framed it up and we hung sheetrock. Then company arrives. It wasn't finished but fun none the less. Justin humored me and helped me finish sheetrocking inbetween visiting and cooking.
The next morning my buddy Jill and I started out to do some black friday shopping. 2:30am it looked a little like this. "testing 1.2. testing..." walkie talkies, CHECK. wallets, CHECK. lists, CHECK. plan, CHECK-CHECK.... we hit toy's R us first, then old navy(the line was ATTROCIOUS) so we bailed, stood in line for a few minutes at Kohls at 4am. by this time we are noticing the walkie talkies were the best thing EVER! (no joke- we really had 'em) then to Walmart for my cricut by 5am, success. Next- bestbuy, where I got us a new canon T1i digital camera on SALE. Then to target. While I was in line at target Jill ran to michaels and was back by the time I got to check out. THEN fredmeyer,K-mart, back to target and I think that might have been it. We got to see the sun come up, laugh, find things we didn't come for, smile about the things we got that we did come for. So black friday was a success. So much fun. thanks Jill.
The family is healthy except for the occassional cold- which is short lived due to our new found winter cold killer YOLI... whoo whoooo.
And I will have pictures soon, but I have a lot of software to upload since I did a PC recovery on my computer. so the computer is happier now, but naked of all it's normal software. I will get it back to normal as soon as possible with fun pictures of my new wall.
Heads up- watch for more fun news on Justins blog soon. If he doesn't post it soon I'll post it. Thanks for waiting so long between posts. we'll be back soon. :)

Z-X-I. I got em back...

I got my laptop keyboard fixed today- only took me a year, but none the less it DID get done. I know have "I, X, Z, and the caps lock" keys. YESSSS!!! It now feels weird to have them work properly verses not. Funny how we get used to the messed up things in our life and after a while they become normal.... Let that be a lesson to us about getting the real broken things in our lives fixed before they start to feel normal. Oh I'm sooo insightful. :) Love ya dearies.

When you say dots...your really mean spots...

I wanted to add Jacey's birthday cake picture and a picture I forced her friends to take so I have a reminder of how big everyone was at this party. So here are those and now for more updates.

I had another one of those weeks here recently, the kind where there is multiple things everyday. I took Lucas to get his blood drawn (which he sat amazing for) early tuesday morning for his pre-op apt later that same morning Tuesday the 13th at 10:40 and then he came with me to mine at 1? or 2pm the same day. (I brought his car seat in and buckled him in it with a variety of snacks and other bribery, he did amazing at my appt. and he is always great for his) He was having his 2nd set of eartubes put in and possibly his addnoids removed. I was having "vein mapping" done for my vericose veins. they draw "dots" on you to show where you veins run and how they branch off and where they will inject different fluids, and anethesias, etc...Mean while my girls are at 2 different sitters because Jacey was going to the pumpkin patch that day for school (refer to Jill Smith's blog) and Taylor needed a nap so she played with Sheila and Chloe that day.

Wednesday morning I go in for surgery, Justin takes the day off to take care of me and Sarah comes in to take my kids. Then we get home, I wave to Sarah (I'm 60% drugged at this point) and fall into my bed where I procede to sleep most of the day away. good sleep too. :)

The following morning, Thursday I wake up at 5am to leave at 5:30 to take Lucas to his surgery which starts at 6:30. Justin's off to work. My mom comes over at 5:30am to watch kids until 8:30 when she leaves to teach school at which point my neighbor friend gets roped into switching with my mom until 9:30 at which point Jill comes over to let him off the hook. Lucas' surgery went great, his addnoids were "huge" says Luky's surgeon (who is amazing) so they were removed. His tubes are once again in place, he is a new boy. AFTER he wakes up from his anesthesia and is all loopy we go home? seems like we made one last stop while we were in town? hhhmm. don't remember. So I limp him to his bed where he sleeps off the rest of his anesthesia. maybe we went to the bank... what was it???

THENNN, friday I went in for a recheck of my surgery and have my bandages changed and leg rewrapped. The ultrasound technician that rechecked my leg saw me come in for my appt. and just started smiling like there was something really funny. Besides the fact that I am carrying my son's carseat into my appt to strap him into.... He then tells me all about how the rainbow is a cleaning system not just a vaccum and such..(this is what I talked about while half asleep in surgery). I try to defend myself for selling my vaccum by telling him "we just had it serviced, so I'm sure that's why it was on my mind" and he then says, "I know, you told us." I'm thinking I must have sounded like a nut case...Ohh mannn. He then said "normally people talk about they're dog or a loved one, but you told us about your vaccum..oh sorry, your 'cleaning system' ". At which point I had no words...I could only smile and nodd and be sheepishly embarrassed. ohhh the things anesthesia will dooo... :)

Saturday.....recooperate from that week. That is as quick as I can make those stories. There are some funny stories that I might have to try to write down later but for now we'll call that good. (personal reminders of the surgery: remembering telling them I was awake, washing off my dots, drawing them back on myself. Justin telling me to chew my whopper jr.

You've had a Birthday shout hooray!!!

Sorry it's been a bit fellow bloggers, We have been getting used to a different schedule around here. Jacey started preschool this year and it's right in the middle of the darn day. It's ok, but nap time is CA-RAZY. So while my kiddo's are sleeping for the last couple minutes I wanted to do one of those cute "show how much they've grown" birthday montages. Here Jacey now from birth to now. It's funny to see how much she grew from 3-4 she really changed that year.
Happy 5th Birthday Jacey you started out as a "hard" baby, you were colicky (I know that know-though I had no idea what was wrong with you back then) we figured that out with some help. I still remember doing power rocking with you because it was the only thing that made you happy when you got into one of your colicky spells. For those of you unfamiliar with power rocking it is a term I made up, it is basically is a power squat with a jump. hold baby like a piece of firewood (not a football) and bend down as far as you can then, jump up and continue this move several dozen times until baby stops screaming. It's also a great glute, hamstring and thigh workout. Once you were old enough to walk you got really good at climbing and hanging and talking. You will always be known for being my baby with adult type enunciation and pronunciation. You had an incredible vocabulary and the general public could understand you from a very young age. Some of you most impressive words were: Mississippi, quesadilla, supercalafragilistic....just kidding. but the other two were really funny to here your little bitty voice say, people couldn't believe such big words were coming out of such a little person.

You were also know for your great blond curls, and always funny expression. Some of those expressions have been caught on tape and in pictures, which are some of our very favorites. Here are a few. You were the reason the term "sprouts" came about as a reference to yours little bitty pig tails. I hope you always stay as funny as you are now, we love having you as part of our family.

It's good to see me...Isn't it???

Taylor got her first haircut a week ago, the "fro-fro" hair was getting out of control, she did good and I got some cute before and after video that I won't fiddle with but here are the pictures. She's so darn sweet. .
Anyone who has gone to see "WICKED" in Seattle knows where I got the title of this blog entry. Though it does also fit for Taylor's before and after picture. I might just be the most spoiled girl I know. I have an amazingly handsome husband who is as helpful and hardworking as he is handsome. And that means VERY VERY helpful and hardworking. ;) I don't know, I just like him more and more all the time. This last week has been as we call it in our house, "wild and woolie". Monday: I took Jacey to preschool, and had a primary presidency meeting, Tuesday: preschool and a baby shower, Wednesday: playdate and babysitting, Thursday: Preschool and a show in Seattle called "wicked", Friday: pres. and my first Yoli Meeting, Saturday: cleaning house and General Relief Society Broadcast, followed by dinner with the girls. My sweet Justin did a lot kid watching and playing along with my schedule. He has requestd that we don't have a week like that again please... WHEWW!!

Mondays Meeting: So our ward split a month ago and now there are a lot of opportunities for callings that will put you out of your comfort zone, and guess what....I got a new calling. The 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency, it made me feel a little overwhelmed at first. I was trying not to be negative but being in a presidency of any kind puts me outside my comfort zone. It will definately give me opportunities to balance responsibilities at home, at church, and work, forcing me to grow in my planning skills, (which lets be honest- I don't have much of.) I am also learning to have a sense of humor with the kids and learning that music is a great teaching tool. I have MUCH to learn and hope I can give this calling all I have.

Tuesdays babyshower: The baby shower was done just in the nick-of-time. Some of us girls from church put together a shower for Megan Erickson on Tuesday and she had her sweet baby boy Cooper, early Sunday morning. glad we didn't wait a minute longer!

Thursdays "WICKED": Wicked if you haven't heard is a musical production of what came before the wizard of oz. Basically the story of GA-linda the good, and Alphaba the green.

Alphaba (the wicked which of the west)wasn't actually wicked until oz uses her in his plot to give the people of the emerald city someone to hate. So they make her into the bad guy by putting a spin on what really happened, and she really never was wicked, just misunderstood. In the words of Tommy
Boy, "IT..was...AAWEEEssooommmmmeeeee!!!" TOTALLY AWESOME, I would go a dozen times if I had the money and the time. REALLY REALLY GOOD, and if some of you are debating on going. do IT! you'll love it. You know how Justin took me to the nutcracker last Christmas? We enjoyed it but wouldn't go every year. I would take Justin and he would like wicked and I would go EVERY YEAR! Needless to say I'm glad I went. And the company was good too. thanks Sheila and Jill for inviting me. Here's a picture of us "going to wicked, going to wicked" (say that like we're chanting-cause we did that a lot) :0

Fridays meeting: Thanks to all of those who were able to make it to the meeting and sample Yoli's Truth citrus blast, you are among the elite who have had a chance to taste the best thing to hit the beverage market EVER! ok so it tastes like tang, but the health benefits reach way beyond anything in a bottle or powder so the fact that it's amazing in every aspect and still taste good is pretty amazing. Way better than the tahitian noni juices and sludge waters I've tried to get the health benefits that this blast cap delivers. At the saturday webinar we learned that Yoli is now being endorsed by Carl Lewis the Olympic gold metalist, and Bryan Clay an Olympic Decathalete who has now medaled in two olympic games and is being named to medal in the upcoming Olympics, and if he does he will be the only decathalete to medal in 3 olympics. I thought that was really cool. Athletes of that calaber know health and nutrition and their bodies. If they support Yoli I know others will start to get it as well.

Saturdays Broadcast: This is getting to be a long post and I haven't even gone into much detail or the fun stuff. So the broadcast was uplifting and just what I needed. Charity Never Faileth. Let it be our slogan.

And then back to the beginning of September, I woke up one morning and enrolled Jacey in a local preschool, I knew she needed to do something with her brain and get used to a class room setting with a teacher (besides me). Next fall is all day every day Kindergarten which I think she'll do great in but this is a nice stepping stone.
So here she is on here first day of school. She loves going, and loves her teacher, (Mary miss lou). It's really fun to see her enjoy this next step, she has been waiting sooo long to go to school. When I told her she got to go that first morning she jumped up off her stool to get in the car with out finishing her breakfast or getting dressed. I had to stop her and make her finish her cereal, besides that her class didn't start until 12:15. SOOO EXCITED!!!!

Funny kids, love the comments, Old-thello!!

Hi bloggers....I love you guys. Thanks for your comments, they are the cherry on top of a blog sundae. I was just reading my friend Kristen's blog and she made her blog a book! A hard bound colored picture book and it is AWESOME! Then I began reading my blog to see if it might be book worthy and the answer is....YES! I love my blog. These story make me laugh out loud and I wrote 'em. Can you imagine as time goes on how much these stories will mean to me? This is fun journaling thanks for following along y'all! keep the comments coming, I love 'em!! :) P.S. this is some of Othello, and some of the reason we're not moving there, even though those goats look really nice. :)

Taylor being so cute and me with my name sake, we finally met at our Ames family reunion in Aug. 2009. It was the first time in my life that someone would say, "Jennis" and they WEREN'T talking to me!! ha ha. I learned she likes burned hot dogs just like me and carrot cake, I knew we were meant to be bonded in name and spirit. Jacey making some truckers laugh. she looked at me and said "mom that guy looked....then he laughed...then he looked again...hahaaa"
And this is Lucas, do you see what's going on in this picture? why this picture is significant? It marks a time when I "tried" using a refrigerator door lock on his seat belt buckle as a last resort to try and keep him in his buckles! It lasted one day then he popped it off. He's the next Houdini.

The perfect end to the perfect day.....

Alright folks. I don't post this stuff to sound whiny, negative, or pessimisstic. This blog is just about how it really goes around here.
9:15am- scrub cereal milk out of my freshly shampooed carpet. (I just cleaned a few areas 3 days ago because the same boy was mending his "wounds" awhile back and got bagbalm all over a spot and it was attracting a lot of dirt.)

12:30pm- after trying all morning to get ready to go to town, we are finally ready to head out the door and Lucas pees himself all over the bathroom floor. He's horrified that he's getting a cold shower (which he didn't) but after a lot of closed eyed growling to myself he's clean, floors clean, he's dressed, we leave.

run errands all over town, come home put Taylor down for a nap, put Jacey and Luky in their room for a quiet time and tell them very firmly, "this is momma's quiet time too, so DO NOT come out unless you have to go potty."

3:20- find wet spot in kids room. I asked Jacey "are you spitting?" "uh-uh, no! "what's wet?" Lucas pipes up and says, "Jacey peed in a bottle." What??? he then proceeds to show me the bottle...NO Joke! a tupperware dressing shaker thing. I grab a towel and make her scrub the dribble on the carpet. We then proceed with the obvious talk that HAS to be had. More eyes closed growling to myself.....

8:52pm- call Poison control after finding Taylor sucking on the tube of childrens colgate toothpaste, and noticing she's had a "bit" more than a pea size amount.

9:08 Put Lucas in his bed and he says "uh-oh mom, there's pee pee on my blanket." grab the blanket, flip the light and RUN from the room.

And THAT my friends is the perfect ending to the perfect day. It would sound like we are out of control over here but really this was a lot more pee and spills than I normally clean up in one day. However it has been a doosy so I am off to rest up for what adventures tomorrow might bring. Enjoy the fact that your day probably went smoother than this. :) and heres hoping my day tomorrow might go a little smoother as well. No 911 tomorrow, that is the goal.

Your only 4 it can't be that bad.

Family Home Evening.......Oh what to say about Family Home Evening with a 4 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old. Tonight was the first time in a long time that we had f.h.e. with our whole family and it turned into Mom and Dad singing the closing song while all three of our children proceed to cry through the entire song. (reverently, quietly-the lesson was on why we take the sacrament and why it's important to sit reverntly for it.) Justin then puts Taylor in the bath and I sit Jacey and Lucas down for a chat about how this was their chance to show dad how good they can sit for the lesson and the way they were acting was really naughty. Jacey then in tears tells me, "I was going to be a good girl, and then you ruined my life..." I had to laugh just a little bit because I know this is the way she'll feel for the next 14 years. I calmly sent her to her room. A moment later She comes out, gets a pen and paper and draws a sad curly haired girl. Next with pen in hand she asks me...."How do you spell.....ruining my life??" ohhhh as sad as it is, I had to laugh. Cause thats pretty much the most dramatic thing I've ever heard come out of her mouth. I guessed that they would think I ruined their life at some point but I never guessed I'd hear it so early. I think she'll love me again in the morning. I sure love you sad curly haired girl. It stings a little bit, but I know she still loves me.

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise....

I told my mom I was going to put this on my blog because I caught her at such a funny position. We laughed and laughed at this and she said "is that what I really look like?" I assured her this was just a "half way there" shot. And I couldn't let you belief that this is as good as she could do because obviously she has some good flexability and a little cheerleader in her somewhere. (I don't think she was ever a cheer leader, but not cause she couldn't do it!)
This is us waiting at the border for 1 1/2 hours so the kids were waiving at cars and yelling "china dina" I have no idea where she comes up with her stuff. I kept asking her, "what are you saying??" and she would very frankly tell me..."china dina." she had lucas doing it too. they were cracking themselves up. waive..."china dina!!!"

My first cherry tomato out of my garden. man are they so good fresh off the vine. YUM! Luky and I eat them right off the plant. He's my little 'Mater!

Someone told me they are not going to comment until I give them something interesting to read so I'm not promising interesting reading I'm just writing something new to look at. So what is a blog without pictures? Not much fun I say. I have 8 minutes to get a few things on here and that is going to go REALLY fast so here it goes.

Lately....well... all summer, I have been a ranting, yelling, angry, lunatic. My children suffer most of this wrath due to the fact that they don't listen. But frankly they're pretty little (I've been told) and it could be that I expect too much out of them. However, I am their mother and I do know what they are capable of because I have seen them successfully accomplish the things I'm asking them to do when they are in the mood to do it. SO I know it can be done and they are just choosing NOT to do it when I ask them. And I'm just really tired of saying the same thing over and over so hence the ranting and yelling and frustration. My neighbors probably think I'm crazy. The moral of the this story IS.....Justin came home from Canada for a job in Cle Elum, WA which puts him in the U.S. of America, making U.S. dollars, not waiting through border checks, and an hour closer. He's still not home every night but we'll take one step at a time and enjoy this piece of progress.(these are the things he'd post on his blog if he were here to write them) again back to the point. When he's home he goes to bed EARLY. I'm a night owl. (12am-2am) and he's an early riser. (I know it's wrong but that's him. :) So I have been going to bed early with him(10-10:30) and getting up normal with the kids. (7:00-7:15) And can I tell you how much better I feel?

I woke up this morning for the first time in 3 months with energy, and a good attitude. (can you imagine living with me for the last 3-5 months?? Ick.) I've felt it. I know the kids have felt it. And Justin very generously puts up with me but I know he's felt how worn out I've been. It's hard being a family apart.

SO the old saying about EARLY to BED and EARLY to RISE makes a man (or woman) HEALTHY, WEALTHY, and WISE really does hold to the truth. If you want to feel better get some BETTER sleep. NOT more necessarily just better. I tried sleeping in til 9 when the kids were up at 7 because I was exhausted. It doesn't work so well. That is why I only had 8 minutes to type this entry because I am putting myself to bed. So now that I have health, when do I get my wealthy and wise?? :)

That lovely little red gem, that holds my whole life...

So all of my posts require me to get the pictures off the camera and show you all the lovely things we've been up to and though I fully intend to do just that, tonight is not that night. My thumbs are over zealous in punching the space key at the moment so beware of that.
Ya know when you misplac e something and you don't remember exactly what happened to cause it to be lost in the first place? DUhhh why else would it be lost right?? I know! So I went to Safeway to purchase a bunch of nothing separately so I could have enough transactions to earn my great interest on my checking account. So about a 1/2 hour later I wander over to the computer to balance my account and what do you suppose I can't find....yup. My wallet. dun dun dun...I guess amidst all of my separate transactions I misplaced my whole life. Of course I checked the obvious places and then got online real quick just to see how much a thief might be able to spend in a 1/2 hour and was relieved to see nothing I hadn't spent myself. I began the ever so tedious process of call ing my banks and canceling cards (after I called the store to see if they had found it). I was just headed over to the neighbors to ask if they'd sit with my sleeping kids while I run down to the store and search for it myself. when... I ha d an epiphany..."lighting just struck my brine!" (really we call that inspiration from the H.G.) I went to the car (for the 3rd time) and open the passenger side door and what do you suppose I found? one guess is all you'll need..... yup, that little red gem tucked ever so nicely between the seat and the door. It had just slid off the seat, CAUSE APPARENTLY I drove 80 in the 2 blocks from Safeway to my HOUSE! 80!!!! I get back on the phone and tell the banks I'm retarded and I found my wallet, and my identity isn't stolen. And of course I still get new cards cause once you call those nifty little cards lost, their lost forever. Moral of the story is. Hold on to your wallet cause your whole life is in there and don't forget to pray. I wish keyboards had musical notes. Can I patent that? a musical note on your keyboard. It would be the new favorite key. Don't steal it I thought of it first. more to come. more to come.

2nd Snipet, BIRTHDAYS GALORE!! OK so it's the whole story...not a snippet

I don't know what happens 9 months before June 30th but it has become very popular to have your birthday on this day. I know 6 people on this day including myself. and LOTS AND LOTS that are close to it. So There are lots of double birthdays, and cake calories times six, and fun times a dozen. My brother Tom and I share a birthday, My good friend Kirk, and my good friend Sarah's daughter Courtney and a few other people who I know but don't ever see. So between the bunch of us we party hard and eat a lot. Not to mention We get fireworks right after.

This summer has been one of the busiest I can remember in a LOONG time. It started for me about May 1st and hasn't stopped. Just to give you some idea of what I'm talking about- the oil in my car isn't due until 9/8 but I have already put more than three thousand miles on it since June 8th. that's a lot. I'm definitely not complaining I'm happy to go, and do, and have so much fun.
This weekend I drove down to Eugene, OR for the Oregon Country Fair. It is a Ka-RAIZY craft fair with dozens and dozens of vendors, maybe a couple hundred. (our booth was 282- I don't know if they start one or what) My friends have a food booth and make burritos, tacos, taco salads, breakfast burritos and all things burrito. The Grand parents started the booth 30 years ago this year and the siblings and grand kids run it together now. It is a weekend of hippies, greeners, crazies, love, peace, political agendas, partial noodies, masks, dirt, costumes, parades and all things tie-dye. This is the 3rd time I've gone and hope the invitation is open for future fairs because it is a blast. The food is alllll amazing and there is plenty of things to choose from. I mostly eat at our booth because frankly it's just stinkin yummy. Some of the family and friends camp behind the booth so they can get an early start on breakfast, they also take care of all the behind the scenes things that you know are being done but you never see. So that is a short intro for you non-country fair goers who have no idea what I'm talking about. however there is no explanation complete enough to give you the country fair experience without experiencing the country fair first hand. And if you ever decide to see the country fair you should go hungry and have cash for the trinkets cause you'll most likely leave with something unique you didn't know you needed. (most likely it's organic!!) :) Anyways wasn't this post about birthdays.....that was just part of the summer fun the kids and I have been having.

OK, my birthday was shared with lots of friends and some family all over the course of a week.

Justin got me a new knife set which I asked for and was really excited about. My M-in-law got me my bathroom towel hanger set I've been eyeballing for 2 years and I am enjoying a variety of other goodies which were all thoughtful and special just for me. Can't beat that. I think that birthdays when you get to be an adult somehow turn back into the celebration of one's life and less of about what gifts you received and having a party. But I got gifts, parties and ate cake three times and I'll take that kind of celebration any day!!! Yeah for cake and lots of people I love to share it with. Here is a picture of my new knives. Oh so pretty. thanks sweetheart darling face, you did good. (He thought knives were not very exciting for a birthday gift) oh contrare!!!

A long snipet. Zach and Debbies wedding

There is just too much to post all at once.... When am I going to have time you ask? I know not... But here is a snipet and it might be the only snipets from these events so... read quickly there is a lot.
Manda and I drove down to my brother Zach's wedding on the 27th of June, we had some puking in the car, some puking the night before the wedding, some puking before the wedding and puking at the reception, Harley in the car on the ride down, then Lucas a day later and through the night, with a little of Jacey the night before the wedding. Taylor didn't get it and Emily and Manda helped catch puke from my kids while we were spralled out with towels and bowls all over the room until all hours of the night. Everyone was mostly better by morning and we were all smiles for the wedding day. Everyone looked adorable. The lethal combo for Lucas who seemed to get the worst of it was sprite on an empty stomach. The wedding went smoothly Debbie and Zach looked great, we took some pictures and were off to a cute reception behind the church with great shade and a beautiful cake and good food. We got to catch up with family, enjoy the sunny day, feel the grass on our barefeet, hold babies, and just enjoy being together for this happy occassion.

On the car ride down to Utah we were attacked by HAIL the size of marbles, NO JOKE!! we took pictures cause we knew they were blog worthy pieces of ice. It came out of no where and hit us so hard that we thought at first rocks were hitting the windshield and rooftop. It wasN'T raining or anything...just BAMMM into the glass and then another. and then for a LOOONG couple of minutes it was sheets of ice. We pulled over and so did most of the cars behind us. With every piece that hit I winced a little, I was sure my poor car was going to look like I parked it at the driving range and let people use it for target practice. But it sounded a lot worse than it really was and my car was unscathed. Next we hurdled a lone CHUNK of a blown deisel tire that didn't quite clear the frame of the car and again made us cringe a little as it kind of thunked under the frame of my car. Again no damage just some black rubber to wash off the paint and she looked good as new. So my car was put through the road trip worthiness test this trip and... GOOD NEWS... SHE PASSED. What a keeper. I sure do like my car. I think it's time she got a name....I'll let you know when I think of a good one. We have "LOLA" the GPS and Mom and Dad have "Tilly", their new camper. Em has names for all her trucks I think my trooper of an SUV needs a name. YUP it's time.
A quick side note. We were headed to Yakima to pick up Harley and Manda. Lola(the GPS) was leading the way and after a while Jacey asked me, "mom why isn't she saying anything to you?" ME "who, Jacey?" HER "that girl" ME "what girl?" HER "LOLA, why isn't she saying anything to you?" after I laughed and laughed and LAUGHED, I explained "Lola" doesn't talk until I need to turn onto a different road. BUT it was HYSTERICAL. I still giggle a little bit writing it down. Oh man, she has always been funny. My cute girl. always so observant.

As always I got on here to do a not so quick post and I can't help but take just a quick peek at what you have all been up to. So my not so quick post is taking ever so much longer but I am going to type fast and hope for speed to accompany me. These last couple months with Justin gone all week and only home on the weekends have been some of the most trying times of my life. I don't know what it is about him being "gone" that is so much different than him being gone at work all day and only seeing him for that few precious hours before bed. None the less it is harder. My hats off to alllll you army families that go without your spouses for 6-18 months at a time and have children your husbands have never met until their 1st birthday. I applaud you. You are truely a unique kind of people who do this year in and year out alone. HOWEVER, I didn't sign up for this and it has been trying. That's all I'm saying, it's been a long spring. All of this is just backround for why Justin came home from Canada Tuesday to save me from........everything!! Chaos, kids crying, me yelling and frankly just me being exhausted from being with those babies 24/7. We had talked earlier in the evening about the kids just being themselves and how I was fed up with their fighting. The next phonecall I got was from him saying he is on his way home, which was good news but frustrating because it made me feel like I couldn't hack it without him. I felt bad for whining but really, I needed some relief that only a parent of the same children can give. I have generous friends that offered to rescue me on several occassions. That being said I think we just needed our Daddy home for a minute. They are big enough to miss him (and not just when they are sent to time out-though they cry for him a lot then too). SOOOOOooooo We packed ourselves up and headed for the coast. We returned to a place that Justin went lots of summers when he was a kid so he was especially excited. It was a pretty drive and a break from the house and our first family vacation in 5 years. He made some calls and got a little 2 bedroom apt type motel room right on the water, we looked out the windows and saw beautiful oregon coastline complete with the twin rocks. It was a lot of fun and just what we needed. Thursday was beautiful, (prettier than the forecast said- a special blessing just for us I think :) we got wet, made castles, splashed, wrote our names in the sand, Taylor ate sand, we laughed, hugged, talked, watched the waves, took walks and cooked some meals ALL together. it was Heaven on earth.
Here are some pictures of our spontaneous adventure. ENJOY, we sure did.







Then Friday it rained allll day but it was ok cause we took a trip to the Tillamook cheese factory and I got to add a squished penny to my collection which I like. We tasted cheese, saw cheese, had icecream, and bought the kids new favorite thing "squeeky cheese" those weird but fresh cheese curds that weren't my favorite thing but I tried them. Mostly it was a tribute to a memory for Justin. In the gift shop Justin found me a double butter tray and surprised me with it, (I had been looking for one off and on for a while). I got a penny and a present. :) Can't beat that.



After that we stopped at a pre-world war two blimp hanger that was an air museum of one mans very expensive personal collection of old planes and things. It is the largest wood structure in the world still standing. It could fit the Hindenburg inside for length but not gurth, if that tells you how large that dang blimp was. It was like seeing the 8th wonder of the world being in a space that large. the kids enjoyed it and we had a good time being together. Here are some pictures of the cheese factory and air museum. Had I more time I would have made a slide show for you. sorry you have to wade through them this way.




Then when we got back and got the kids some naps we it cleared up just enough for one last walk on the beach. We drew our names in the sand and called her a day!! Yup just what momma needed. To see my family happy all together. soon enough, Justin keeps telling me. Soon enough. He is my lighthouse in this storm always giving me a postive light to see through the darkness. I love you my sweet Justin. Thanks for whisking us away on an adventure. If we were a toasting family we would toast our apple cider glasses to many more adventures as good as this one. Here's to being together as a family. HERE HERE!!