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.