Kidnapped!!

Okay, so I had the best time last night! I had just put my kids to bed and was doing some more packing (getting sooo boring) when some of my best friends from the ward came and kidnapped me!! I've never been kidnapped before and it was so exciting! :)Blindfolded and everything, I had no idea where they were taking me. We parked and they held my hands while we walked to our destination- causing quite a stir, they tell me. haha :) We went to Sportz Comedy, and I haven't laughed so hard in at least five weeks. Wonderful! And then we went out for frozen custard and just chatted until way past my bedtime. I'm so grateful for good friends that have been watching out for me and gauging the stress lines on my face. I really needed a break. Thanks girls!

More about James...

Things I appreciate more about my sweet hubby since he's been gone:

-he always takes out the trash
-he always mops the floor
-he lets me sleep in on the weekends
-he likes to cook and is a better baker than I am
-he gives me breakfast in bed every Sunday (no joke ladies!)
-he's the "fun" parent, and the kids love him to pieces
-he's as competent a parent as I am, I never have to worry about how he take's care of the kids
-he paints my toenails (I just had to do it myself! :( )
-he offers to help me out a lot, and if he sees a need- takes care of it

I know, he sounds like the wonder husband, but of course when he's here I still find time to complain about something. Why do we do that? One of the top things though, is that he is my best friend and will listen to me as I tell him everything about my day and happy and sad spots. Two and a half more weeks!

James update

Well, my rugged mountain man has been gone for three weeks now. *sniff* This is the view from his office. I'm just teasing, his job is out in the wild. He's been hiking around in this wilderness, braving all kinds of bugs and ticks and scratchy branches.

This is all the gear he wears to take readings of the mineral content of the ground. I think. :) He's enjoying himself, although he misses us. That's what he says, anyway. With all the hullabaloo goings on the last week I'm sure he had more peace where he is. He'll be back July 1st, and we'll start loading our moving van the next day. He'll leave and drive straight to Iowa, drop off our stuff, and then fly back to Washington/Alaska for another 3-4 weeks. I'm taking the leisurley drive to Colorado for a family rafting trip, then I'll be staying in Kansas to visit with family and friends, and then to Iowa to visit James' mom for a week or so, and THEN I'll start unpacking stuff .

Happy Birthday to Logan!!

Logan just had his first birthday on June 10th! We sang him Happy Birthday a few times, but that is really all we did to celebrate. We want to wait for the party until James gets back on July 1st.
We can't imagine being without our sweet little guy. He loves to chase his sisters around, attack them (if they lie on the ground he will crawl over and collapse on top :) eating real food, and snuggling mommy. He creeps along furniture, and can kind of say uh-oh. His doctor's appointment was yesterday and he has lost almost two pounds in the last 3 months! I don't know what to do with my kiddos- I promise I really do feed them! He also had a nasty ear infection, so I guess that's why he hasn't been sleeping well. He wasn't pulling on his ear or anything, and my kids have never really had a big problem with ear infections so it's not a conclusion I normally jump to. Poor guy. He's still a pretty happy camper though. Gotta love those dimples!

Tyler and Mara's Wedding

Don't they look great?! My little bro got married last Friday morning, at the River Jordan Temple. My brother is such a sweetie, and has always been a good example to me. Even through my ugly attitude teenage years, he always treated me and everyone else kindly. What an awesome guy- I'm so glad he's so happy.

The week before the wedding I decided to figure out what we were going to wear. A little last minute, I know. I made a dress for Brooklyn, and my mother saved me by making a matching one for Brighton. I also made flower hair bows and made a last minute run to the mall for an outfit for me. We were a matching royal blue family! It all turned out really great, I'll try to find a picture of all of us. I guess the photographers were mostly concerned about getting shots of Tyler and Mara. Hmmph. :)

It was a long day- are weddings ever "fun"? But the kids did pretty well. The sealing in the morning, and then a drive through the mountains so the kids could fall asleep for 20 minutes, and then a luncheon reception. The favorite part for the girls was the dancing. The cake might be a close second. Oh, another cute moment was Brooklyn asking to see Mara's glass slippers. They thought she looked like a beautiful princess, and she did. Great day!

my "owee" girl

Brooklyn has such a fascination with her owees. She loves to talk about them and usually it's the only topic of conversation. Thankfully, they usually aren't bad ones. We joke that she'll be a doctor because she's always so concerned about anyone's hurts. James sent some pictures of scrapes he's gotten and Brooklyn had to call him right away to talk about it, and loves to go back and look at the pictures. Silly girl! :)

The beginning of the end

Boxes!! This is the start of my packing. It's kind of sad to dismantle my life here. And I really like everything to have a place and be where it's supposed to be, so living in transition is hard for me. :) However, it has been nice to go through and organize things as I pack them. I know, I'm crazy.



But I only do a few boxes a day, since most everything I need up until the day we move. I'm not sure how that's gonna work.


Making good use of James' side of the bed. He doesn't need it, right?!

Bear with me...

Okay, I'm back. Sorry for the blogging delay, I have had family in town for my brother's wedding, and things have been CrAzY! When you have seven siblings, getting everyone together is going to be hectic. I'll go into detail later, but here are some highlights:

Tyler's and Mara's wedding
The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point
dinner with just the girls at Mimi's cafe
my toilet exploding and needing a time-out outside
bowling at the Wilk
Cafe Rio
late night games

FUN FUN FUN!! Now, to catch up...