Sunday, March 31, 2013

Proof

Sally's watched that last video so many times she learned the song.
So I asked her and a friend to sing it for the young women today in church.
But then shyness kicked in and Brienna ended up singing a solo.
So I had to film it when we got home, just to prove she could do it.

And then she changed and wanted me to film her being a pig.

Happy Easter!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Hot Cross Buns



3/26

Free nightly performances on our front porch.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Dyeing



3/25

Some of our family activities are more successful than others.

Egg dye-ing 2013 falls in the less successful category.

Sally & I blew the eggs out so I could use them for confetti eggs for a YW activity.

We had a bowl full of 11 eggs (their guts anyway) when Owen came to help.

He accidentally tipped the bowl over right into my open purse.

And then Sally peeked at a boiling cup of water and got a little too close.

She now has a lovely burn on her chin.

The night ended on a good note at least...we watched You Tube videos of the Primary Easter song, "Did Jesus Really Live Again" and were way too impressed with this random lady's visual aid. Sally watches it on repeat.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Helmet History

3/26/13
This helmet has some history.

It has been furry,
 
 3/23/07

 9/28/10

purple (no picture), and now orange.
2/15/13
 Aside: This was taken on a bike ride Drew did for a Tiger Cubs requirement.
We rode to his friend Dax's house and back...about a 45-minute round trip. I was proud of us. 

We've gotten our money's worth.
3/20/13

Halfway There

 On his half-birthday we discovered he could sit up.

I don't know why we didn't figure it out sooner,
his back is like this most of the time:
We breed board-backed, non-cuddly babies.


Then when sitting up gets old.
(or he loses his balance)


 She's never far away.

Friday, March 22, 2013

The Back to Back Birthdays



Sally's Day
- Pancakes with strawberries and whip cream
- Purple balloons
- Her "birthday outfit" that she laid out the night before
- Preschool
- Birthday shopping with Grandma
- Mac & Cheese
- A sick brother (Drew)
- Playing at Jones's house
- Spaghetti
- Angel food cake with more strawberries and whip cream,
but she chose the chocolate frosted one that was made for non-strawberry lovers instead
- Lego Friends/My Little Pony Pants/Ice Cream Necklace/Skylanders

 






 Drew's Day
- 3 Musketeers for breakfast
- Mostly better, but got to stay home from school
- Skylanders
- 3 Musketeers for lunch
- Heelys (the heaviest shoe ever made and he's so proud of them)
- A sick brother (Owen)
- Shopping with Grandma
- Pizza dinner
- Pinewood Derby (got 12th out of 29...not bad for a car that ran on 3 out of 4 wheels)
- Ice cream instead of cake

I felt like I didn't do a ton for their birthdays, but they were happy.
Having my parents and Cole in town made their days.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

He's a Civilian

 3/11

Justin is officially out of the military as of last Monday, March 11.

That was one tough decision to come to and I'm glad it's over with.

We were going back and forth until literally the day before.

Even that day I couldn't believe it was really happening.

After being in the military almost 10 years, I kind of thought we'd just do the whole 20 to earn retirement.

Which would be practical.

But it didn't feel right.

And now we feel peace.

Stressful peace if there is such a thing.

While job and school hunting (for an Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies masters program), Justin is doing some part-time work for my cousin Chad's company (thanks Chad!).

And we all have our dreams...

Sally wants to move to Arizona cause she really likes it and has friends (aka cousins) there, "Brook, Gwen, Payten, and the little guy Gavin."

Drew wants to move to Serbia. Yes, Serbia. His best school friend, Lazo, is from there. And if you're born in Serbia you don't have to have a middle name. But Drew likes his middle name.

Owen was going back and forth between moving to AZ to be near all his cousins or staying here with his friends and Jones. He ended up choosing to stay here.

I would love to stay here, too. Would also love to go back to Monterey. Or to Arizona. Or honestly, even somewhere in the Middle East. If there were a safe Middle-Eastern country for our family, it would be so great for Justin to live there and get fluent in Arabic. I think I could handle a year away. And then come back to a great job just waiting for him (on the West coast of course, even though he'd be fine on the East) where he could use Arabic, we could settle, and never move again.

Justin would like to start an Arabic program on the Rim in Payson. But really, he just wants to know the language well enough to have a career using it.

For now...yay for never deploying again.

Grateful that the military got us to where we are now, and grateful that we're done with it.

Friday, March 15, 2013

The White Stuff






 


Ready to go up to the Mogollon Rim.

Except we never made it.
Pulled off the side of the road to sled in the perfect snow.

 

 


Hot chocolate after the sledding.

First taste of snow.

 

  




Ended the day in the jacuzzi where Justin had them doing sissy tests
(jumping out and laying in the snow, running around the jacuzzi, putting snow on their heads, etc.)

3/9

It's like we had a good day in the snow or something.
We really did.