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.

The Problem.

The Culprit.

This happened twice in a 12 hour time span. You can't tell by the picture but the floor was SOAKING wet. Its a good thing he is so cute!

Another LONG catch up post

Here I am playing catch up again. Oh well, I guess that's life these days. Where has November gone? It has been such a whirlwind month and December isn't looking to slow down any. But, we are still pushing through, smiling and enjoying the journey together. The weather has officially turned cold and Christmas is in the air! I LOVE this time of year! Love the holidays and the spirit that comes with them. But, before I get to Thanksgiving (no pictures, sorry) I better fill you in on what we've been doing. And, in true to myself fashion, I'm way too lazy to go back and put the pictures back in in the right order so I'll just tell you how it went!

While in Arizona, we did a little combined birthday party for my mom, my little brother Collin, Chloe and Mason. Chloe loved her cupcakes.
I tried to make Mason a huge cupcake but since I had very limited time and I was too cheap to buy the $30 giant cupcake pan at Wal-Mart this is my attempt. I LOVE this picture. Look at his eyes!
Apparently my brothers Pork and Collin thought it was taking him way to long to dig in so they decided to help him out.

Ummm, Pork........

Collin?

I don't think so! Mason has gotten super shy around crowds and my brothers were slightly too much for him to handle. Daddy tried to step in and help but....
It was over. No cake, no ice cream. Just huge tears! I thought this was the funniest thing ever. Pork and Collin kind of felt bad but it was too funny to see Mason react to them.

Presents however, were another story. Tons of kids helping out but it was fine. In fact, for this kid, the paper and bags were fine.

Logan and Mason got Chloe a microphone. For those of you that know her, she is our little singer girl. This has been perfect.

Some dolls from mom and dad along with a sit and spin, a doll from granny, puzzles from Chandler, Emily and Jared and way cute hats from Aisley and Rigdon. Don't forget the jammas that saved us on the way home from the Hawkins crew!

So here is the snow we got about two weeks before Thanksgiving. There was a little more but not much.

The kids still played in and ate it.

Before all of that jazz our Maser Racer boy got his first haircut. This kid is a champ! He just sat so still, never cried. It was awesome!
I know this doesn't look like much but there was tons more on the floor. I just wanted a picture of how long it was.

Is this not the cutest thing ever?! LoVe this kid!

The weekend before Thanksgiving Seth had to work in Arizona so the week before the kids and I headed down with my mom and the girls that had spent the previous weekend at my house (I know, totally confusing right?). It was such a blast to have most of my sisters here as well as my mom. Seth was gone to Utah for a conference and we just hung out, shopped, late night run to Dairy Queen and just spent time together. Love my family.

So for Thanksgiving we stayed in Pima and had our big meal with Seth's family. It was so fun to get together with everyone that was there. We played games, the guys went shooting, and just got to spend some much needed time together. Our families are getting so big and busy that it is rare that we get to just be together. It was such a nice weekend. Friday we did family pictures with my family and Sas and Kolby blessed baby Carter Grace on Sunday. We headed home in the ice and snow and are now trying to get back into somewhat of a routine.

We are so excited about Christmas time and the spirit that comes with this season. We are looking forward to time with extended family as well as with our own little family. Love to you all!