5 Years and Counting

Today is our 4th and 5th anniversaries. Five years from the day we were married, and 4 from the day we were sealed in the temple. We are one of the lucky ones that doesn't have to remember two dates for these days. We were so blessed to have been able to go to the temple exactly one year after we were married. 

These five years have been the best years. I am the luckiest girl on the planet to have such a wonderful husband and beautiful children. I'm not saying it's been cake, but it has been worth it. A couple months ago I was able to go out with two of my best friends to get away from the kids for a bit and get some ice cream at DQ. There it was that I found that we really aren't the only ones that have been struggling. It's nice to know that we're not the only ones our age in the boat without a paddle sometimes. 

Anyway, I have loved the last five years and couldn't (or wouldn't) have asked for a better life. Thank you Paul for all of it. You are the love of my life. I'm excited to see what eternity has in store for us.

Mackenzie's 10 month pictures and stuff

So, yesterday my sister, Angie, took Mackenzie's 10 month pictures. I know, we're a month behind, but at least we had them done. We went up Hobble Creek Canyon and found a pretty good place to do it. She wasn't the most pleasant little girl, but some did turn out. Thanks Ang for doing this again. We love that you take time out to do this for us. Enjoy:

Can't seem to keep her hands out of her mouth. She is getting her 4th tooth (and possibly 5th).

Can't remember if she's blowing kisses or playing peek-a-boo.

Love this one. She's such an angel.

Not sure what she's showing us with her fingers.

Not too excited when she was told not to eat the flower.

Kenzie hates wearing headbands now. It's been since we didn't make her wear one at Disneyland in April.

Kenz won the headband fight. No more headbands for her.

And Stuff...

We have new schedules in our home and Paul and I don't get to see each other very much anymore. With my new job, Paul has to get up at 6:00 and be there by 7:00 (in Orem) and works until 3:00 so he can be home by 3:30 for me to leave just as he's walking into the house so I can be to work by 4:00 (also in Orem). I work until 9:30, sometimes 10:00 last week, and I don't get to put Kenzie to bed anymore. We go to bed around 11:00 so Paul can be up at 6:00am. I'm sure most of you already do that, but it's hard to make this kind of change.
I'm also trying to get in a workout sometime. My kids don't really let me do anything alone. When Kenzie is up, she has to be in the same room with you and you can't just put her in the walker or saucer. She hates being confined to a small space (who can blame her?). And Zack can have a movie on in one room, but have to be in the same room with you. He'll bring his toys wherever you are and play. I'd like to walk on the treadmill, but since our fun neighbor experience with one, I am very nervous to have it on with the kids around (let just say 3 weeks in the burn unit and 2 skin graft surgeries is not something I want my kids to experience). This morning we did go on a walk around our neighborhood so I'm hoping that we will be able to do that for awhile. It'll be nice when it's not so warm in the mornings, but once it gets to cold do that or when the white stuff starts showing up on the ground, it'll be a little hard to push a two child stroller around. What do I do then?

So, Wednesday is our 5th anniversary. Since we don't have the money to take too much time off work, we are each just taking a day off. I am taking Wednesday off and Paul is taking Thursday off. We leave as soon as Paul gets off work on Wednesday and going to Park City to the same place we stayed on our honeymoon. My mom was so sweet to agree to come stay with our kids that night. Again, money is needed, so the only thing we will be doing that costs money (besides the room) is eating. We'll just hang out and watch  movies and go to the pool.

Anyway, enough with this post. Hope all is well with all of you (the maybe three that read this).

I got one!

No, I didn't catch a fish, I got a job! I start tomorrow at Robert's Craft. I am excited because this is a field that I don't have a lot of experience in, but I'm excited that I get to do something different and I'm not going to be in an office setting. I liked being in an office, but it'll be nice for a change. I don't have to be on the phone talking to demanding people. I get to do that in person now ;) . I love to shop there when I can, and now I can get a discount and get cute things for my house and do cute crafts when I get the chance. I will keep you posted on how it goes. Wish me luck on my first day tomorrow!

Just Random

So, I tried to move these pictures down below the actual post, but they just wouldn't budge. Anyway, these are just random pictures that I thought I would post since it's been so long since I posted pictures. Sorry they are so random and some are really old, but I liked them.

So, I was thinking that although it hasn't been too long since I last posted, I should do something. I don't have too much to say, but that I am grateful for amazing people in my life. We have had a lot of support from everyone we know. We have gotten to know people better and have enjoyed doing so. We have been so blessed from our Heavenly Father in so many ways. We have been able to pay our bills even though we shouldn't be able to. We have random money show up just at the right time (this is also because of help from our wonderful parents, but also in other ways too). We have been so happy even in the low times. We try to make lemonade when we are handed lemons. It is hard, but it really does work if you really want it to. You all know who you are that have been so supportive and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We love you!

Job Hunting

Here I am taking a break from the never ending job hunt. I have been doing this now for about 2-3 weeks every morning for at least 2-3 hours. It's a process that will never end because of the following:

A) In order for me to get a job I have to work during the day because most offices aren't open after Paul gets off work, this is the only past work experience I have. If I were to go back to work full-time during the day, I would have to find a job that pays more than Paul's and get excellent benefits. This is not possible in the receptionist industry.

B) For Paul to get a job, since he has his CDL, he has to have 2 years driving. If he doesn't have at least that, he has to have endorsements, which he doesn't have.

C) If we do find perfect jobs for each or one of us, we apply and hear nothing back. The add also indicates they do not want any calls or emails about the position.

HONESTLY! How does anyone get a job? I am so tired of this process and I don't think I can handle it anymore. But, we HAVE TO have another job ASAP.

Well, sorry about the venting, but I needed to do it somewhere and I really needed a break from the job hunting.

Hope all is well with everyone. Have an enjoyable weekend.

Potty Training

Well, this journey is usually very unsuccessful for some people, but for my wonderful 3 year old, Zack, he has done a fantastic job. He has had very few accidents, besides Tuesday which was his second day. We are so excited for him. He tells us when he needs to use the bathroom and he has gotten better about going when we need him to before we leave the house. We have had to stop once in the car and let him go on the side of the road. We were on the freeway headed to Orem when he told us so we got off the next exit and pulled off the side of the road (with very little traffic) and let him be a boy. The world is a boys urinal, right! Anyway, it's been a week and he is doing great. We decided that we should celebrate by taking him bowling sometime this week. He's very excited about that.

Big Week for Us

So last week was a big week full of fun and not so fun stuff.

First, on Monday, Paul got a call saying that his grandma had passed away. She had been sick and we were lucky enough to have gone up just the night before to see her.

Same day...our computer got a nasty virus...it's pretty much done anyway.

Still same day...Paul sits down after work and turns on the tv. Nothing. TV dead.

More from Monday...while I'm out doing last minute things for scouts before we leave town, Paul's playing with Kenzie on the floor and she starts crawling. I miss it. But she's crawling :)

Wednesday night is the viewing.

Thursday morning I get a call from the doctor (I've been awaiting test results for myself and Zack of why we have been sick to our stomachs since the 5th of June), the results are in...we have E-coli. No idea where we got it from. The medication they want me on will cause me to not nurse anymore. Kenzie is having a hard enough time with a bottle as it is, but I guess she'll just have to deal since that's the only way she's going to get any liquids. So she's forced to stop nursing.

Thursday is the funeral.

Saturday, Kenzie is very whiney. While I'm trying to feed her baby food, I see a little tooth popping out of her bottom gums.

Sunday...Father's Day. A wonderful day spent with my family. To my amazing husband and father, Happy Father's Day!

As you can see it was a very long week for us at our house. Hope you had a good one.

Milestone Pictures

On Sunday my wonderful sister, Angie, took pictures of our kids. Kenzie's now 7 months, but we're saying these are her 6 month pictures and Zack will be 3 on June 7th, so these are his yearly pictures. They turned out perfect. Thanks again Ang for putting up with us. It really saved us a lot of $ with you doing this and they are better and totally what we wanted.

Enjoy:

California Family Vacation April 2010

The last week of April, we spent 6 fabulous days in California. We spent 3 days at Disneyland and the others just hanging out at the Los Angeles Temple, at the hotel pool, and doing tourist stuff. We had a blast and didn't want to have to come back to reality. We can't wait for another vacation hopefully soon. Enjoy the slideshow of our trip.

That's not Grandpa

Children are so smart and funny.

Everytime we go to Evanston to visit Paul's family, we go through Heber. On Main Street there is a park. At that park there is a statue of my great great grandfather, who founded Wallsburg, not quite sure why it's in Heber, but not the reason for the story. Anyway, everytime we drive by we wave to him on his horse. Zack has gotten into it and we've told him that he's his great grandpa. So, we were driving down Main Street in Springville the other day and there too is a statue of a man on a horse. Zack sees this and waves to him and says "Hi Grandpa!".

With a little chuckle, we tell Zack, "That's not grandpa." His response, "Yes, it is!" We go back and forth for a while and decide it's not worth arguing with an almost 3 year old. So everytime we drive down main street in Springville, he continues to wave and say hi to his "grandpa". They do actually look a lot a like, except for the size they are very similar. I took pictures of the two of them and I'll let you decide.

Heber - the real grandpa

Springville - not grandpa

What we've been up to

I really hate the internet sometimes. I've already done this post once before, but I got kicked off before I could finish and post it. Now I need to remember to save every once in a while.
Anyway...it's been a while I know. I'm just going to do a quick update by adding pictures and captions. They are in no order. Hope you enjoy...

Mom's (Shauna) Birthday party - January at our house

1/2 the grandkids playing cars. Zack, Isabella, Camden, Jaxon, and Jordan

Adri & Paul chatting with the adults.

Dave, Skyler, Jaxon, and Zack

The blanket that I made for my mom's birthday. Mom holding Mackenzie, Angie holding Baylee.

Mackenzie and Asher. Mackenzie is 2 weeks older than Asher, but so much bigger back then.

Easter dinner - Dave's family moved to Georgia just a couple days after this so it was kinda a going away dinner.

Dave, Brayden, & Paul in the adult conversation

Susan, Mom w/ Asher, Dad w/ Mackenzie

Jordan and Zack running in the back of my parent's house

Adri and Baylee

The 3 babies. Asher, not too happy, born Nov. 5; Baylee, born July 1; Mackenzie, born Oct. 20.

Easter morning: Zack, Paul, and Mackenzie

Zoo - March

Zack measures to be a juvinile and Paul much taller than an adult male

Zack, Paul, and Mackenzie in front of the elephant that spits

Paul & Zack by the giraffe's.

Jordan World Circus @ UVU - Jan or Feb??

Jaxon, Adri, & Baylee

Asher, Mom, and Susan

(back to front) Skyler, Camden, & Jordan

Mackenzie, Becky, Zack, & Paul

Just yesterday...hanging out on mom and dad's bed.

Our new addition to our family - Cinnamon

We got Cinnamon at the shelter in Spanish Fork. She is our outside cat that takes care of our vole (mouse/mole) problem. They have burrowed all over in our new grass in our back yard. We're not too happy about that.

Yard Adventures

We were able to get our fence up this year and with that we decided to get a play set for the kids. This took about a month to put up with all the other projects and aweful weather we were having. Zack loves it and mom is so excited to let him go outside and play and wont have to be chasing him all over the neighborhood with the fence in now.

Thanks to Chad, Maren, & Jack for all your help with the swing set.

Mackenzie's Room

This is just the beginning of her decorations that we are making. We are hoping to finish here soon. I'll post more when we do get it done.