Happy Anniversary!!

So, tomorrow it will be 10 years that Dan and I have been married.. He will be celebrating in Shreveport, LA at dinner with an account, and I will be celebrating with my kids at the park. Sounds fun, I know. So, here is a brief synopsis of our lives the past ten years....
June 1999 - Married and both of us working full time and going to school full time in Ogden.

August 2001-Had Tarin 7 lbs 5 oz of fun....in Ogden. She was lovingly cared for by Grandma while Mom and Dad finish school.

May 2002 - Both Dan and I graduate from college at the same time...

November 2002 - Get first "real" post college job and buy our first home in Syracuse UT.

March 2004 - Dan gets promoted to field rep and we move to Mansfield Texas...6 weeks before we have ELLA

May 2004 - Ella is born in Arlington, TX. 6 lbx 13 oz and a full head of black hair, who's kid is this anyway? Best, most calm baby on the planet.

March 2006 - Dan gets a new job and we move to Pflugerville, TX - at first we hated it, then we learned to love it.

March 2007 - Walker is born in Austin, TX 7 lbs 6 oz of PURE JOY

July 2008 - Big Lay off's at Starkey...and Dan gets promoted....which means, you guessed it. ..another move....TBD

So here we sit in June of 2009...in Utah...in transition...trying to decide what to do. It has been a wild ride...but I wouldn't want to be in the car with anyone else! I love you Dan! Happy Anniversary!

Sounds like a lot of moving and shaking...we have made SO many fabulous friends and have left pieces of our heart each place we have lived. We have been so blessed through some serious tough times and we are so grateful for all our many blessings, including our FABULOUS kids. We have been so healthy and so have no complaints about where this past ten years have taken us...although Dan would say his only complaint is that he has had to leave Texas. I wish i had a wedding picture to post..but they are all in storage! You guys would all LAUGH!

Week of Lasts

So, this is the last week...today was my last Monday at Mom's eat free at Gattiland. Today was my last Monday lift class at the gym...and my last FHE in Pflugerville. THANK goodness we have a fun summer in Utah to look forward to. If I had to move somewhere next week and start my new life I don't know if I could handle it. I am SO SO SO grateful for my fabulous friends here who have really had my back these past 10 months. We had our Grand Finale GNO last week and it was a blast...simply shopping and eating with good friends just really lifts my spirits. Good ol' Pf-town will always have a special place in my heart. If you would have told me three years ago that I would be this sad when I left, I wouldn't have ever believed you. You don't just fall into places like we did here. We have had the BEST loop in the world, and I am not exaggerating. Just ask me, or Sara, and we will tell you why this is the best place on the planet to live. Where will we ever find a house conveniently located within walking distance (without crossing a street) to all three schools, fabulous club house, pool, and park accross the street, neighbors who are a blast and who care, a great climate, and THE BEST people on the planet? I am jealous of the people who bought our house...they don't know what they have just landed. I didn't know either, when we landed here. This to me, is priceless......

Tomorrow will be my last trip to the Austin airport...not that I am too sad about that. We had our last Sunday at church a few days ago.. What I am really dreading though, is the last swim at our pool with my great neighbors. Don't know if I will make it through that one without tears...I love that place.

Hopefully this isn't my last post from Pf...

8 Things.....

Here you go Keri...I guess I deserved the chastising email...

8 Things I look Forward To:
1. Weekends with Dan home
2. Lunch...my favorite meal, and it is my hobby
3. Nap Time
4. Vacations
5. Swimming Every Day with the Kids
6. Being Settled Somewhere
7. Fun Summer Up Ahead
8. Spending time with Family

8 Things I did Yesterday:
1. Early Wake up for Early Church
2 Church
3. Made Lunch
4. Invited myself to a BBQ...isn't that awesome to have friends that you can just invite yourself to their house and make them feed you there?? Thanks Busbys...You guys are FAB
5. Played ROCK BAND for the first time....FABULOUS!
6. Went to a FAB fireside on parenting....ask me about it, I will tell you.
7. Spent time with the fam
8. Sunday afternoon Phone calls home

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Orb my family to Utah and avoid the drive
2. Buy a house with cash
3. Go somewhere fun for our 10th anniversary
4. Express my gratitude for wonderful friends....words just aren't enough...
5. Go with Dan this week.
6. Move all my friends with me
7. Eat out every day so I never had to cook.
8. Think of one more thing I wish I could do.

8 Shows I watch:
1. American Idol
2. The Closer
3. The Biggest Loser
4. Prison Break
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. Private Practice
7. Barney
8. Super Why

8 Bloggers Tagged:
1. Emily Gilliland
2. April Francom
3. Carin Chugggg
4. Kirk Chuggg
5. Kristi Higham
6. Kami Hally
7. Amy Davis
8. Livia Busby

Enjoy folks!

Question?

If we leave Texas do we have to change the name of our blog?? How crazy is that? I guess i should post a little bit about the goings on. So, our house finally sold....after along time of "trying" to sell it. We sold it simply with a "For Sale By Owner" sign in our yard that you can hardly read the phone numbers on. Yup, that was it. if the buyers didn't have a realtor, we would have been sitting pretty in the no-realtor goal. Anywho... we sold it and are supposed to close next week Friday. They are letting us stay until school gets out June 5th....

Where are we going you ask...hmmm don't really know. Arkansas most likely. We are lucky, huh? The kids and I are going to spend the bulk of our summer in Utah with family. Dan is going to be the unlucky one who flies in and out of SLC every week. Once we find some new digs...we will move in.

So, we are kindof in a stressful spot right now....good stress though...but stress none-the-less. Lots of sadness about leaving "the loop" places like this don't really exist in the real world. Lots of sadness about leaving friends, and lots of nerves about a new place and a new life. Lots of questions, but amidst it all...Peace. We know this is the plan, we know our lives are being guided and it is nice to know there is someone watching over us and helping us get where we need to go.

If you are in Utah this summer...look us up, we will be at my mama's. If we aren't there, we will probably be at the North Ogden Pool. I don't know what we are going to do without a pool accross the street....I know we won't be as tan, that's for sure!

You can Take the Girl Out of Texas.....

But You Can't take Texas out of the Girl... Thanks Liv for the picture!

Photo update

We went to a fantastic park in St George when we were there over spring break. The kids had so much fun and there was TON for them all to do.

Here is what Walker found to do. Notice the progression of his parents giving in to Walker's one true passion........WATER

Long Time No post

So, it's been a while. Things are crazy, as usual. I wonder when they will slow down? Tonight I did something very brave. I cut my girl's hair. I don't think I did a BAD job, just don't think I did a great job. Whomever cuts their hair next will probably be disgusted at the unevenness of it. But, they were brave enough to let me try and I was brave enough to try it. Tomorrow when they wake up we will see how it goes.

We had a great low-key easter weekend. We went to Fort Worth to see some friends and to buy a car. We have been car shopping for over a month...and for any of you who know my husband, to say we shopped for a month is somewhat of a miracle. He doesn't have a whole ton of patience for shopping around. We were patient and held out and ended up getting a great deal. We bought a 2006 Nissan Armada....pretty nice. It even has a back-up camera so I can see what is going on behind me before I back up. It will keep those around me very safe..

For Easter we had a small Easter Egg hunt at home and then went to church, a little late, and then had a houseful of people over for dinner. It was a fantastic dinner and I am still feeling the effects of it...but still eating leftovers too. Gotta love caramel bread pudding...thanks Union Grill for sharing the recipe. It is FANTASTIC!

Tarin is in full swing with soccer. She still loves it and has an excellent coach and likes the girls on her team. She is very active and asked me tonight why when you do ballet you have to make your toes point so funny. She thinks it looks silly...

Ella was showing off her ballet moves tonight and I am really surprised at the grace and poise she has when she does her little ballet moves. She is definately the ballerina princess....She is going to turn five in May and doesn't want much for her birthday, just to go with her friends to Hawaii to the beach. Or, she would like to take all her friends to Sea World. Seems simple enough, right?

Walker is turning into a wild man. He loves playing outside and has a car in the back yard that he LOVES! Gotta love neighbors who pass down toys. I think that thing is going to keep him busy for hours a day. It is one of those Flinstone-like cars that you push with your feet. He is always happy and has a serious sense of humor.

Dan's mom is coming this week for a visit...we are all SO excited. It has been a LONG time, like almost a year, since we have had visitors. HINT HINT! Come on ya'll and see us!

Teach Me!

So, I was driving on our way to Southern Utah this past week....and had the cruise control set at 75 in a 70 mph speed limit zone...safe you would think. Nope, I got pulled over. He said I was going 77 and I GOT A TICKET! Teach me to blog and brag about getting out of stuff. I am pissed. 7 MPH over...who gets a ticket for that. and it is going to cost me $130.00. Yeah, no fair...that is all I have to say.

Other than that, the trip was great fun and we made it there and back alive. It was about 50 hours in the car..I know you are all jealous! It was worth it though!

Is it Luck??

I just remembered a few things, and thought if I didn't blog them, they may never make it to our family history and I just want my children to know how truely gifted their mother is....at getting out of things.

Situation #1 - - pulled over for going 41 in a 30. I say, "but officer how are we supposed to keep track of the speed limit on this road when it changes 5 times in two miles." We argue about the speed limit up ahead...literally 1/4 mile. I tell him it is 40, he says 35, I am right. I get a warning.

Situation #2 - - pulled over for doing a "California Rolling Stop" with my three kids, plus my neighbors three kids all in the car. All of them buckled appropriately and everyone happy. I get a warning, by simply apologizing, or looking pathetic with all those kids, or he was just too scared to think that some crazy lady in her late 20's could possibly have six kids.

Situation #3 - - -on my way home from a massage one night I drove approximately 10 miles on the freeway and as I was exiting...I knew I wasn't speeding because I was slowing down to exit...i get pulled over. He told me he was suspicious that I had been drinking because my headlights weren't on (it was about 10PM). Apparantly that is a warning sign of a drunk driver. I get a nice reminder to turn on my lights. I apologize profusely because of course it was just a mistake. I was in Dan's truck and not used to having to remember to turn them on.

Situation #4 - - -I am late getting Ella to school and I hurry and put the kids in the car and head down the road with only my cell phone. They just installed a new traffic light in our neighborhood and it happens to be in the middle of the school zone. The intersection where the light is used to be a 4 way stop, and I have accidentally run the red light a few times forgetting there was a light there, so I was very focused on the light and not so much the school zone. Sure enough, I gun it when the light turns green and find myself going 36 in a 25mph school zone. The cop just walks out from behind the tree (because the motorcycle cops park their bikes and just stand there to pull you over), and pulls me over. I immediately realize that I have no wallet, but my insurance card is there, so hopefully that is good enough. The cop approaches me and asks for my stuff. I tell him that I was running my daughter to pre school, running late, and forgot to grab my purse. I don't know my driver's liscense number, and so I just hand him my insurance card...mind you this was on February 3rd. He then looks at the card and asks for a CURRENT card...you see mine expired February 1st, and I hadn't replaced it with the new one. So, no I don't. I NEVER cried, I just had to laugh. He said "Ma'am this just isn't your day is it?" I laughed and said, apparantly not. He goes back to his motorcycle. I think to myself, surely my luck has run out and this is going to be the BIGGEST ticket of my life. He come back to the truck, and says.....well I am going to give you a warning for the speeding (WHAT? HOORAY!!) But I am going to write you up for no proof of insurance and no dirver's liscense. You just have to go show those two things at the courthouse and your ticket will be waived! Yes, I am the luckiest person alive.

Dan however, is not. For the number of times I have gotten out of a ticket, he has gotten twice as many and paid a whole heck of a lot of money to the courthouse. I think he has had three tickets since Christmas, isn't that right honey?

Moral of the story...watch out for PFPD! They are out there in force and may just be hiding behind your nearest tree!

Things to remember.

2 Years old and GROWING!

My Sweet Baby is Two.....although the size of an average three year old

I cannot believe that two years ago tomorrow my baby boy was born. He has been a complete joy since the first day we had him....other than the fact he wanted to be born upside-down....

We had his birthday party today so that Dan could be here. We all met at a bus stop and then rode the city bus to a McDonald's ate their oh so yummy goodness, played a while, had cupcakes, and then rode the bus back home. It was fantastic. This was all for the boy, who every time he sees a bus...asks "bus, mommy, please?" So this was to fulfill his two year old fantasy, and it did. He loved it and I think his friends did too.

All the kids waiting for the bus


Ready to go

Luke, Karina, Ella, Jill, and Tarin are ready to ride

Denise and Sara were so awesome to bring Dawson and Scott to celebrate with Walker.

Ben and Al joined in at McD's

So did Kasey and Kade

As you can tell, Walker enjoyed his cupcake.

This is all of us, minus Ben and Al and a few other friends headed back to the bus stop to catch the bus. This was the scary part of the trip...a whole bunch of toddlers waiting for a bus along a very busy street. I think all of us were happy when the bus finally arrived and the kids were safely on board

Here he is with all his friends and family singing happy birthday to him. This is just a small glimpse into the sweet baby I have. Turn the music to mute so you can enjoy!






His friends by him are Scott on the left and Dawson on the right. Pretty fun, huh?

Happy birthday Big Boy!!