Tagged

1. Where was I 10 years ago? I was living in Thatcher AZ where Chris and I met and were going to school.

2. What's on my to do list today? Today I need to finish steam cleaning my carpets along with taking a walk with Hayden and later we have a birthday party and the ward talent show to go to.

3. What if I was a billionaire? I would pay off all of my debts along with any of my family's. Then I would probably save some and then give to others in need.

4. Five places I have lived- I've lived in 4 different towns or cities in Arizona, California, North Dakota and soon in Colorado.

5. Snacks I like- I love to snack on popcorn, slush punch and almost any kind of bread.

6. 3 bad habits- chewing my fingernails, snacking after dinner and shopping.

7. Who am I tagging? I am not going to tag anyone but whoever would like to do it. I would love to read there answers.

Our Plan

With Chris's job it is really hard to plan things. You always have to be willing to do things on a whim. I feel like the Lord has really blessed our family with the way we hope things are going to work out for us. Chris is supposed to go to a 6 week training course in November and then be home for a couple of weeks before he is to leave for another 6 week course in Vandenberg, CA at the end of January until the middle of March when we will all move to Denver, CO. Since he is leaving for almost 4 months we decided that we would pack up our home her in North Dakota and store our things in Colorado while the kids and I go to live with my parents in Snowflake, AZ. The kids were nervous to move until they found out that they would get to live with Nana and Papa. I am so grateful for a loving family that is willing to let us come and live with them until our family can be together again. I do not do well on my own and I am grateful that things have worked out that I will have my family's support while the love of my life is gone. While we are there we will get to spend the holidays with our extended family which we have not been able to do for about 5 years now. My mom is teaching the CTR 7 class in primary Which is another blessing, for Alec will be in her class. He has really had a hard time with liking church and I hope and pray that having Nana as his teacher will help. Moves can be hard and I am very grateful that we have the gospel to rely on during these difficult and exciting times!

Family Time

With a wedding and fun on the water during our vacation it did not give us much quality family time that was not spent driving in the van. So we decided to take a little weekend trip to Bismarck. We visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. The kids loved the statues and would pretend to be them too. They were very well behaved!

We went to Famous Dave's for dinner that night and the kids thought it was funny that there were so many pictures of pigs everywhere.
We stayed the night at the Ramkota Hotel which had a water park indoors. Hayden loved going down the slides and doing it himself too. Alec and Alyssa swam all night and did not stop.

Hayden loved the fountain kiddie area and he kept on dancing around like a princess!

We also did a little shopping and then returned home the next day. It was really nice to have some time together.

Get Us Out Of Here

When we returned home Chris found out that things at work were not going so swell. Two of his colleagues had been asked to not work in his section anymore which meant that there would be a lot of work to do. Our assignment here was supposed to be over in October and Chris was supposed to go to training in September. Since he is so good at what he does they gave our spot to someone else and pushed us back to not leave until the end of January. They needed my husband here to prepare for an upcoming event so they asked if he would go to his captain training in November instead. Things do not seem to be going our way. We just want to get out of here.

First Day of School August 28th 2008

The kids were very excited for the first day. They had a great time and Hayden was sad to see his brother and sister go. He would now have to spend his days with dreadful old mom. I always love seeing the kids go to school the next year. They are always so happy. I was happy for them too except when I drop them off and realize that my kids are growing up on me and that I have to let them go. Happy first day guys!

Open House

Alyssa and Alec were so excited when they found out who there teachers were going to be this year. Alyssa had been praying that she would get Mrs. Chick for her teacher. Mrs. Chick had been Alyssa's Hip Hop Dance teacher before and she was so excited that her prayers had been answered. Alec found out that he would have Mrs. Prock as his 1st grade teacher. They had an open house the day before school started so that they could meet their teachers and see what classroom they would be in. They took all of their school supplies with them.

Alec and Mrs. Prock
Alyssa and Mrs. Chick

After meeting their teachers I was very pleased which made things harder knowing that we would be leaving Minot soon. I love the school system here and the kids have had wonderful teachers every year. I am really going to miss some of the things here that make it so great!

We're Home

On a long car trip I was wonder if we will ever make it home. It was so nice to see our house again and especially our beds. After a trip I always wish that I had a maid. It always takes a while to get things back in order with laundry and unpacking. We also had to get ready for when school would start. All week I kept repeating in my head that quote from Alli's blog " I am so far behind that I think I am in first place" Just when I thought things were getting better I discovered that we had some sewage backup in our basement. It ruined our carpets and our bed comforter. I think I spent a week trying to get the smell of things out of our house. Needless to say I was grateful when that was all over.

On the way to aunt Liz's house we went through Yellowstone. We decided to take some time to see a couple of things. We walked on the planks around the geysers which was awesome except for the smell that is. Sulfur! ewwwwwww!!!!!!

We also saw Old Faithful go off which is always a treat.
We then decided to see the upper and lower falls which were beautiful.

To hike to the lower falls you have to climb down over 400 steps or so. By the time I reached the bottom my legs were shaking and going back up was very hard considering you could see below you as you were climbing. Not a good place for people who are scared of heights. But it was so worth it!!!!!!!!
This was a little before the upper falls. The picture of the lower falls is our header.
I had to show this one because it was just too cute

There were a ton of buffalo everywhere. Most of them stay in a valley named Hayden (how cool is that). I wanted to take a picture of the sign but we passed it when it was to late to turn around.

It was pretty late when we were leaving the park and the moon rising was awesome. I just had to take a picture.

This is us with Aunt Liz and her family at a little lake near their home.

The boys loved the dogs and we had a great time with them too.

Bear Lake 2008

Bear Lake is always so much fun. There is plenty to do and the kids along with Chris and I love getting to see his family. Each morning a crew goes with Grandpa to the marina to get the boat for water skiing or wake boarding. The rest of us head to the beach to play in the sand or catch some rays. Around lunch time we head to the house for some grub. After that we usually get cleaned up and play an array of things including: the slip in slide,going to the resort pool or playing card games or puzzles with the kids. Each evening their is usually plans for each night of the week. Mondays we have family home evening. Which this year it was Chris and I who got to teach. Every evening after that we have an array of activities like Cody and Ron's birthday celebration, having Raspberry shakes, playing softball with everyone, the men playing golf, and reading books. When the kids go to sleep the adults pull out the card games and we play our hearts out. It is always so fun but tiring. On Friday our family had to get back in the van to at least get to Cody WY. The rest of the family always heads back to Provo for a day at Seven Peaks water park and eating dinner at Tucano's along with a visit to the temple for the adults. Chris and I always hate missing out on those events and hopefully when we move a little closer we will be able too. We love our family and we miss them already!

George Castle Family

From left to right : Cody,Emily,Melissa,George,Caleb,Steve,Trina,Justin,Wesley,Miriam,Ron,Ainsley,Sarah,Hayden,Chris,Alec,Alyssa and Rochelle.
All the grand kids starting at the top is Miriam, Alyssa, Justin, Wesley, Caleb, Alec, Ainsley, & Hayden
Trina, Emily, Sarah, Melissa, and Rochelle
The Girls: Ainsley, Alyssa and Miriam
Grandpa reading to the kids.

Wesley, Chris, Rochelle, and Alec eating raspberry shakes and ice cream
Alyssa and Alec at the pool
Cody, Chris Ron, Grandpa, Alec and Caleb on a golf outing
Alyssa up to bat playing softball
Hayden running from Aunt Trina to home plate. He was laughing so hard!!!!

Caleb, Alec and Wesley on the boat
Hayden playing on the beach
Alyssa and Miriam riding the sea do with Uncle Ron who rented it for a while
Chris took Hayden wake boarding this year and as you can see he did not quit like it that much. But aren't they cute.
Ron and Cody with their b-day cake that Trina made.
Happy Birthday guys!!!!!!!!!

Leaving Snowflake

It is always hard to leave home for me since I only usually get to go there once a year. We left on Sunday morning the 10th and headed to Provo, Utah to see Aunt Deb, Uncle Rich, Kelly and Lindsey. Deb flew home from the wedding and made it home a little before we arrived in the van. We had fun at Deb's. They let Chris and I sleep in their bed and the kids slept on some air mattress's in the living room. The next morning Aunt Deb made pancakes with sausage and fruit it was delicious. Thanks Aunt Deb it was so nice to get to stay with you. We then got in the van again and headed off to Bear Lake for our annual family get together with the Castle's!

Present Opening

On the morning of August 9th we all met at my mom's house to have Kera and Paul open their gifts. My kids loved this part and would not leave the newly weds alone.

They received two beautiful quilt made by my Grandma and Mom.

After they opened gifts and we had lunch it was time for the love birds to leave for their honeymoon. It was an emotional moment for me. I loved getting to meet my new sister and it was hard to see her go.
Alec was also having a hard time. During the week he would see either Nana crying or Papa along with myself. So I had to explain to him that we were not sad but happy for Uncle Paul and that Nana was going to miss having Paul around. He kept saying that he did not want to get married because he still wanted to see us. He thought that after you got married you would never see your parents again. So, needless to say he thought he would never see his Uncle Paul or Aunt Kera again.
The kids with their Uncle Paul and Aunt Kera. We love you guys!!!!

Wedding Day

August 8th was the big day. It was a really nice wedding. The ceremony started at 6:30 and Kera and Paul looked awesome. Alyssa got to say the opening prayer and Hayden was the ring bearer. He loved walking Jayde down the aisle he. The kids made it through half of the ceremony and then they both decided they had to use the restroom so they joined us after that. The room was beautiful and my brother looked very handsome!!!!!
Jayde and Hayden had a lot of fun and Hayden thought it was not fair that Uncle Paul was the only one that would get to kiss that day. He wanted to marry Jayde, which who can blame him she was a cutey.
Everyone was so happy that day and I just had to post this picture of Hayden and Chris because it is just to cute.
Once the dancing had stared they had a mother son dance and since I have two sons I had the opportunity to dance with both my boys. It was a chore but I loved seeing how much fun they were having.
I will never forget would a great evening it was. It was so nice to get to see almost all of my moms family and to join a new one.

Crazy Week

After we returned to Snowflake things were so busy. I had started a scrapbook of my brother a couple of weeks before we left and most of the week we were there I was scrap booking. In between all of that was of course last min. preparation including, baking cakes and table preperations for the rehearsal dinner along with chatting and having family come into town. Chris was amazing and was truly a stud. He was so understanding with all of the stuff going on. He pretty much played the role of Mr. Mom the whole week while us ladies were running around with our heads cut off. I am so grateful for a wonderful husband. I love you babe!! I finally finished the scrapbook on Thursday morning right before the rehearsal dinner.

The dinner was great Hayden loved practicing to be the ring bearer. He loved hanging out with little Jayde, he kept saying that it wan not fair that Kera and Paul were the only ones that would get to kiss. He thought he would be marring Jayde since he got to walk her down the aisle. Each table got to say something that they knew or remembered about Kera of Paul. I was so emotional that I had to have Chris do it for me. He did great with a story of him and Paul involving a golfing and a hard hit from a ball.

After the dinner My Aunt Deb, Mom and I stayed to help finish up the decorations for the big day to follow. Before Chris took the kids home for bed we could not find Alyssa anywhere and I started to really panic. I started looking down basement window wells and crying. Alec was with me and he kept saying why are you scared mom? I tried to use the moment as a teaching tool to show Alec how important it is to always be by Mom and Dad. We did find Alyssa of course she had been playing on the stage the whole time behind all the greenery where we could not see her. Boy was that something I will never forget.

On To Snowflake

After our farewell's to the Albuquerque gang off we went to Snowflake. HOME SWEET HOME!!!! I was so excited to see my family and be there for my brother Paul's wedding. I finally got to meet my new sister to be and boy did I luck out because she is wonderful. I could not have asked for a better sister-in-law. I love her!!!!! We spent some time with the whole family including my grandparents and family that weekend and then we attended church in my mom's ward. Alyssa wanted Kera to do her hair and it was absolutely adorable.

We wanted to go to the Grand Canyon while we were home but we did not have the time but we did go to Flagstaff on August 4th and 5th. We needed some more things for the wedding including a dress for myself so my mom and I got to go shopping with Alyssa while Chris and Papa took the boys to the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park. Chris loved it and said that there was so much history of Flagstaff in that place.

We stayed the night at Ft. Tuthill in an A frame cabin which is always fun. The kids like to go hiking behind them where all of these little forts are built. Which look like little houses to them. We got to eat at Olive Garden while we were there too. YUM!!!!!!!!

We left by lunch on the 5th so that mom could get home on time for her hair appointment.