Holy Blogging SLACKER Batman!

Good grief, I sure wish whoever was supposed to keep up this blog would do it! If I want anything done around this place I have to do it myself! What a summer and fall it has been! Busy busy busy and still livin' and lovin' it! We have done so many cool/fun things but in no particular order (does this sound familiar?) here are a few pictures now that I have a place to put pictures on my computer again!

Summer time with new friends! These people have a huge blow up water slide! It was such a blast to play on! We loved it! The friends are awesome as well! ;) By the way, isn't he so dang cute?!

Labor Day weekend on Mt. Graham. We hiked with all of these kids (don't worry, their parents were there too) up Soldier Rock. What a blast. It made me a little nervous to have my kids climbing on this HUGE rock but we all made it down slowly and safely! We also have picture somewhere of President Kimball's tree! For those of you that don't know, President Spencer W. Kimball grew up in this little valley and carved his name in a tree. Its about a 2 mile straight up hike! No kidding but the kids made it and it was a blast! You can totally still make out his name. Rumor has it Seth's great grandpa's name is in there too!

This boy and Q tips! He loves them. No, really. Love is not too strong of a word here. If I ever can't find him, he is more than likely in my bathroom doing this. I have never gone through so many Q tips! Phone home? ;)

Scary moment here. Chloe was playing at Grandma's one Sunday evening and was stung by a scorpion. She couldn't walk, was salivating like crazy, hot and then cold, eyes darting back and forth and was totally restless. We finally called my EMT brother and he said get her to the ER quick (this was after about 5 hours or 1 am). We hesistated because we 1) didn't know about a trial anti-venom that our hospital happened to have and 2) we are self pay (ER's aren't cheap to be told there was nothing they could do and to let it run its course). She didn't even cry when they put in the IV. She was such a trooper! After 2 doses she was sound asleep and the next morning, NOTHING! What a blessing!

Labor Day on the mountain again. Ahh, we loved this weekend! 5 days of no phones, TV, movies, hardly electricity (except at night to play games or put kids to bed with the generator). Pure dirty mountain bliss! The bike belongs to Seth's uncle and they brought it up to our cabin so we could take the kiddos for a ride. A blast!

Climbing Soldier Rock. He is getting so dang big!

Mud holes with cousins. Isn't this the cutest picture? And no, the shirt was not originally white! Whew! :0)

Dance Class!! I've waited 3 LONG years ;) for this day! She REALLY does LOVE it! She didn't want to text this picture to dad but isn't she cute!? You should see these 7 little girls that are 3 and 4! Monday's are one of my favorite days now!

Ahhh, the BIG finish to the BIG HUGE race! I trained for and did my first (yes there will be more) triathlon! Can I just tell you this was the hardest yet one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life?! I learned how to swim strokes just this summer and did awesome on my swim time. Complete the entire race in 1 hour 57 minutes and my goal was under 2! It was a 625 meter swim (25 laps) 15.5 mile bike and 3 mile run. The run stunk. It was brutally hot! Like late August in Arizona hot! I was totally beat. I felt drained and amazing at the same time! Gave me the courage to train for my half marathon in January. I've discovered a whole new world of athletes and I love it! One word... amazing!

I went with Seth's mom and sisters and all of the nieces to see Cinderella at a dinner theatre. The dinner was gross but the play was a blast!

Skinner family reunion 2011. It has been more than 6 years since this bunch was ALL together. Probably closer to 9 when we got married. It was so much fun to be with everyone. The company, activities and of course the food was awesome!

Ha! Love this picture! T-ball in June (again, AZ heat...ahhh)! He was so nervous but had super awesome coaches and LOVED it after the first at-bat! We got one of these after every inning!

Another one of the hardest things I've ever done. I know, you are probably totally laughing right now and I am sitting here with tears in my eyes! This day was one that I totally looked forward to but dreaded at the same time. He walked on in and didn't look back. He runs off the bus and then slows it down to a cool guy walk. We were totally bored the first two weeks without him. Would sit by the window for 10 minutes waiting for the bus to drop him off. The other kids would beg for him to come home. We are mostly adjusted now and he is learning and growing so much. He's lost that little boy charm and has gained a "kid" adventurers outlook on life. He is so much fun and it is a blast to see how much he is changing. I still yearn for my baby boy, the one we like to watch in family videos sometimes. But, he still comes and cuddles me and now reads to me before I read to him.

Life is busy but good. The two biggest kids are in soccer and dad is the assistant coach. It is so fun. They have lots of little friends and are loving being close to cousins and grandparents. Mason is also growing like a week. He is asking to be potty trained and I am psyching myself up to doing it! ;) He talks a ton and has us all wrapped around his little chubby fingers!

Seth is enjoying work and life back "home". He always has tons of little projects going on and takes the time to take kids with him and teach them. I fall in love with him all over again when I see him on a horse and back to his old tricks and his old self that I remember from when we dated in high school.

I keep busy with the usual house and home and projects and training. We are enjoying being by family and loving the life we are making here.

Ahh, that feels good! Maybe I will stay a little more caught up now on blogging. No promises though! Love to you all!

The NEW House!

So I'm finally getting around to blogging about this (or blogging anything for that matter). I've tried so hard to get the pictures in order and with only a little frustration, I did it! So here is your tour!

The front of the house. Like my project in the driveway? Hand me down dresser that will be refinished black and put in our bedroom. This picture was taken last week and it still looks like this out front. I'm waiting for Seth to fix a side that was broken. We live in a small cul-de-sac. There are only 5 houses in it! LOVE IT! Its so quiet and the kids can play out front without me having a panic attack when I see my 18 month old half way down the street! ;)

This is the living/dinning area. It is one big great room. Pros and cons about that but overall we are really loving it.

A small kitchen but very functional! I am really liking it. Lots of cabinet space and they are deep which is working out nice! It is usually a little cleaner than this but oh well.

My first pantry! I've always had cabinet space for a pantry and now that I have one I don't think I'll ever go back! I am in love with this little room! My cansolidators just came in so I am currently working on making it functional and cute of course!

The office. This is right off of the dining room table. This door is closed for a reason. It has been since we put all of those boxes in there. Seth wanted to do this room. This door might remain closed for a while.

Seth's other room (not the laundry, are you kidding?)! The laundry is mine, unfortunately and the garage belongs to Seth. There are lots of cabinets and a counter top behind the laundry room door that is great storage as well. That basket, has been there for a while. I'll have you know I did fold it before blogging this post.

Kids/guest bathroom. LOVE the calming colors in here. We need some calm. Again, lots of cabinet behind the bathroom door that gives tons more storage!

The boys room. All things airplanes. The quote is my favorite! It says...
Brother will you...
build forts,
skip rocks,
shoot hoops,
tell me stories,
Always be my best friend?

LOVE IT!

Chloe girl's room. Slowly coming. I'm going to make a headboard eventually for her bed out of bead board so this will change a little.

Our room. The project on the driveway will one day makes its appearance in here. Until then...
I am really loving our room. The Forever, Promise saying has some meaning. We always used to write that to each other. Great reminder some days!! Just kidding honey!

We are still unpacking and reorganizing but we are loving it. The back yard is huge and we share a wall with the stake center which makes getting to church on time convenient! More post to come soon about our quick Vegas trip and our night in the ER with Chloe!

Homeless No More!

I know pictures are always the best part of a blog but my computer died and I haven't uploaded anything to the laptop. That being said, I will get on with this post.

We have been busy busy here in Arizona. The kids are loving being around all of the family and so are we! Logan just turned 5 on Sunday (that deserves its own post later) and we just signed him up for Kindergarten (sniff, sniff) yesterday. Mason is walking and can open the door to sneak outside! Chloe is as sweet as ever and provides much entertainment for the rest of us! Seth is loving his job. They keep him really busy and he comes home exhausted but only having to work 3 days a week, he can handle that! I'm still selling Shelf Reliance and it is paying for my loans until something opens up. I'm loving teaching and getting our own stuff prepared as well.

Now, on to the BIG news! We have finally found a house! It is smaller than what we wanted but we are really happy with it and we close May 5th! We are so excited! We are looking forward to finally being settled and feeling like we can start life here.

Until next time.... Cheers to you!

Feelin' the LOVE!

Wow! I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long! I can say to my defense that life has not been exactly normal around here though! As I'm sure most of you know by now, we have moved back to Arizona. Just before Thanksgiving Seth got a call from the office he had been driving the 7 hours from Farmington to work in every three weeks and an offer of a full-time position. We always knew we wanted to come "home" but planned on being in New Mexico for at least 4 or 5 years. I mean come on, we bought a house!!!! But, that is not what was to be for us and we packed up and moved right after Christmas.

Now, some have said that buying our house in New Mexico was a mistake but let me share a miracle with you. When we went to look at the home it felt so good. We knew it was special and as often (which was often) as we tried to talk ourselves out of buying it (even the day before we signed I went and looked at 2 rentals) it just felt so right. So, we did it. Then, when we decided to take the job in Arizona we knew that somehow, it would all work out. We had 2 families in one day come and look at the home but never heard back from them. Kind of scary but we had faith. We didn't want to get a Realtor because of their 7% commission so we gave our key to a neighbor and the office manager at Seth's office there. Through a round about way, a woman tracked down the office manager, went and saw the home, made an offer and we are set to close in two weeks. We haven't lost any money on the home and only about 1/4 of the money we put into the carpet and laminate that we installed. I still cry to think about it.

Now we are in Arizona, staying at my parents until our home in New Mexico is officially sold and we can get into something here. My parents are gems. They are so easy going and it has been nice. Some days are rougher because the kids feel like they are on permanent vacation but we are making it through. Seth loves his new job. We miss New Mexico and the friends we made the short time we were there. The office there was great and we miss them too. But, we know this was the right choice for us and we are so glad to be "home". The Lord has something in store. We are slowly learning not to question why or when but to answer, "I will go, I will do" and then doing it was complete, total faith. For those of you that know me best, not having a plan has been rather challenging but receiving the blessings of being obedient and faithful has been so rewarding.

I've been a slacker at taking pictures of our adventures here but will get better. We've already had a ball with life and I'll try and stay updated a little better. Thanks for helping me to feel the love and telling me we are missed! Love and miss you all as well!

Mason helping with the laminate install in the New Mexico house.
Seth and the kids (yes, the dog is like a kid) taking a break. We really miss this house. We loved it there!

my right hand man

Logan has become my right hand in the kitchen lately. He is always wanting to help with breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is starting to become a lot of fun. I will admit that my patience is sometimes tried during these times but I try to keep in mind these moments won't last forever.
On this particular night we were making tortillas. He got pretty good at flipping them over. I love this kid. While it isn't always easy being the mom, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is moments like this that make it all worth it.