The Blacks Est. Oct. 11th 2002

Finally some new pics and an update!

2011-11-21T20:16:00.010-07:00

My cousin's wife took pics of the baby, they turned out so cute! This is Jaynie at 7 mo. these were taken a month ago, now she has 2 teeth and more hair. She's fun and crazy, she's trying to grow up too fast. She does most things pretty early, she's been crawling since 6 mo. and now she's a cute little human vacuum. She's lots of fun and has been a great blessing to our family.

Jaynie's first smile at only 1 month!

2011-05-08T18:29:00.004-06:00

She looks some like Wade did at this age. Good thing she is much easier than he was/is! He's a cute little stinker though!

Here is a picture of the boys way back on Labor day I always meant to put on here. They've grown a ton over the winter though!

Jaynie's blessing

2011-05-08T18:05:00.008-06:00

I'm a slacker at updating and putting pictures on! Here are a few pictures of Jaynie in her

blessing dress. Also, a month ago when she was only 1 month old she already started to smile! . She wouldn't smile for her blessing pics, oh well, at least she didn't fuss. She has been a good sweet baby, she already sleeps through the night most of the time too and today she turned only 2 months! Had a blessing she has been!

Here blessing dress really came with this hat; but I thought it was a little silly so I didn't use it. We took a few pics with it anyway.

Then I put her in my blessing dress for fun too, I would have just used this but my mom had already purchased this other one years ago.

Here she is in one of my favorite outfits, she wore it for the easter party, it has cute little chickens and a barn on it.

Finally got our baby!

2011-03-10T21:24:00.003-07:00

Jaynie May was finally born on March 8th. Now I have offically had all of my babies on Tuesdays. She came 8 days overdue after being in and out of labor for 3 days! However, after finally officially going into labor the last time in the hospital she was out in only 3 and a half hours. Here are a few pictures, they are not very good ones, I'll put on more later when I take some, most are on the camcorder.

Update again

2011-02-18T12:38:00.002-07:00

I hate updating without pictures so I put it off because I don't have any on my laptop. But, It's time. I'm due to have my baby in 10 days. I can't wait. The problem is I have to race the time clock to go into labor yet AGAIN with my doctor. This doctor is more lenient. He will let me go up to 1 week overdue before slicing me open. My other Doc. in Logan had a repeat C-section scheduled for me on my due date. I went into labor just hours before that and was able to have a VBAC. So know I have 17 days to go into labor but I would love for it to happen long before that.! How about NOW! It's a 3 day weekend for Joe! I feel like I'm going to pop and my back and sciatic nerve are so bad I would love to not be pregnant anymore! We are excited to welcome a little girl into our home. We have her room done up so cute and I've been given TONS of cute clothes and toys and blankets for her. She's totally spoiled already and non of it was us or our parents. A lot of it was my awesome aunt Bonnie who loves to shop for little girls. This is the first time we've had a big enough place to set up a nursery, it's been fun!

My boys are really excited to get a baby sister too. I hope all goes well. I'm more nervous this time about everything for some reason. You would think the third time around would be a breeze but it's been so long since we've had a baby, almost 4 years and with all the back trouble I'm a little worried. My due date is Feb. 28th so lets hope she is not born on March 2nd or poor Hyrum will have to share a B-Day! I've prepared him for the possibility of it. He says it is okay as long as he doesn't have to share toys. I promised him that he wouldn't need to worry about that. Atleast this time around, unlike Hyrum and Wade her interest in Toys should be so different from the big boys that they shouldn't constantly fight over them! Yay for that!

Update

2010-12-07T10:46:00.002-07:00

It has been a crazy fall, I'm constantly in more pain which is really hard, I never had this before. I count down the weeks until I can get more aggressive treatments for my back. 12 weeks to go before D day. It's a long time. The kids loved Halloween and Thanksgiving. I didn't like that we had to go to Chuckeramma for that but next year I can have my mom's good home cookin' again, yeah! We are very excited to have our first Christmas in our house! We feel so grateful to have moved here, we love it! The neighbors are really nice and we love the ward. Joe loves only having to drive, bike, or walk, a whoppin' .4 of a mile to work too! In many ways we are blessed and I keep having to remind myself of that to get through each painful day and horribly painful night. Joe has been sweet and patient with me on the most part too. Wade is finally getting potty trained! He's resisted for so long so just before Thanksgiving break I took all the diapers away cold turkey, which he hated and he would constantly cry for one. But after a week of horrible accidents and crying and mess, he finally started making progress and for the last 5 days he's done really well. Yeah! I didn't want to buy diapers for him and the baby, just don't have that in the budget. Wade is so smart, he's learning his letters and sounds at only 3 and loves the alphabet, he knows 18 letters and sounds at only 3 years old! So I told him if he's smart enough for that, he's smart enough to use the bathroom! he's just really stubborn! He loves his preschool and learning which is fun. Hyrum continues to struggle in school but is such a sweet boy and a good help to me. He loves to run and play and ride his bike and draw pictures, mostly of monster trucks. It's weird how different my two kids are!

Some days they are a big challenge for me and other days my joy and help. They love living close to Grandma, she's only a mile from here and they go to her house when they get tired of me. She enjoys having them over. I'm so glad she will be close when I have this baby, I think I will need more help than ever because of all the back problems and because now there will be 3. We've been lucky to receive and abundance of baby girl clothes so we won't have to buy much at all. She's probably going to be a bit spoiled by her grandparents too, since she will be the only girl on both sides of the family. We are excited. Wish me luck on my next 12 weeks. Maybe the baby will have mercy and come a few weeks early!

We're having a girl!

2010-10-27T21:22:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it, we finally found out what we are having and it's a girl! We were both really surprised and excited about that, finally she cooperated and revealed herself to us. So far things look good. Yeah! A girl!

My naughty baby!

2010-10-13T23:09:00.003-06:00

I went to my 20 week apt. today and had an ultrasound, and the baby wouldn't cooperate to let us know what gender it is. It kept crossing it's legs and was in a weird position. This is the second time I've had to leave and ultrasound disappointed that way, it happened with Hyrum. I have been really miserable lately because of intense sciatic nerve pain and back pain that doesn't let me sleep at night and keeps me in pain all day. I hate it really bad. If it were not for that the pregnancy would be easy since I'm not sick. I just hope i can find the strength I need to get through this. Wish me luck!

The bun in my oven

2010-09-06T06:32:00.002-06:00

This little bun has made life a little tricky lately, mostly because of this darn sciatica I can't kick at night, but we are otherwise very excited. Most likely it will be another boy, oh well, we know how to do those. The bun is scheduled to arrive around the end of Feb. or first of March, we don't know yet. There must be something in the water up here where we moved because most families have a lot of kids. Hyrum is enjoying first grade, he's got a good teacher. Wade is also thrilled to start preschool this week, he's silly. He misses Hyrum a lot since he went back to school so it will be good for him, and me because he's been bored and tearing up the house!

Fun with my kids

2010-08-23T11:56:00.002-06:00

I am taking these next few days before school starts to enjoy my kids. It's been a crazy busy summer with all the work on the house that I feel the kids didn't get as much time from me as in the past in the summer. So today we did all the usual things we used to do in Logan, we went on a walk together and visited with neighbors and played at the park by my house. It was fun and refreshing, although made me really miss Logan, we are planning a trip up there soon. I think it will probably be in Oct. for UEA or the pumpkin walk. Hyrum starts first grade on Wed. I can't believe how grown up he is getting! He's grown so tall and handsome and is really excited to go back to school. Wade is going to go to pre-school 3 days a week and I will be staying with him to help out the teacher for a discount on it, and because Wade is a stinker and is refusing to potty train! I also will be teaching between 14 to 18 students starting soon, it's good money here in this neighborhood for me, but crazy busy, I have to decide if I will take them all or start a waiting list. Joe went back to work with meetings on Friday, he's ready to kick off another school year teaching as well. So things will be busy so that is why I'm thankful I can take the next few days just to play with my kids!

more pics

2010-07-18T16:19:00.005-06:00

before

after- it was a pain getting the weeds out of all that gravel! Round-up galor and ground clear for a year several times! We are loving our private little dead end and horse field behind all those trees, the back yard is shady and secluded, it really is a great location.

Update

2010-07-18T16:05:00.004-06:00

It's been a while. We've been really busy with our house. We are pretty worn out, we've re-painted most of the upstairs and done several repairs. The most frustrating thing is that when we went in the house to purchase it it was very cold and winterized in here so the oders were masked by the cold, but when we moved in and it warmed up a few of the rooms in the house reaked of pet odor urin and feces. We found out from neighbors that there were renters in here for a few months with 3 big dogs that they let bathroom all over the house. So we ripped up the carpet in a few rooms and replaced it. It was totally grose! The rest of the house just smells like wet dog if you sit on the floor, which I avoid. I just get sick when I have to get on the floor to paint floor boards since I'm super allergic to dogs. But we are getting the place whipped into shape each day. We are also hoping to replace carpet in the rest of the upstairs with our tax return and then save up for the basement. I'm just mad, why did the renters feel that was okay? That is so grose to let your pets do that! I even found poop on the floor boards in one room when we moved the carpet out of the way. So, here are some before and after shots of the house to show our progress. The boys have been really patient with how busy we have been and enjoy the new place, the neigbors are really nice and we have a great ward. We dont' regret buying it at all but just wish we had the money to replace the rest of the carpets. no matter how many times they have been cleaned they just don't get better.

This is the upstairs kid bathroom with a big sunken tub before we moved in, the after picture is first because blogger is being stubborn about my pics.

Now after we have changed mirrors, light fixtures, and painted it, it was always a really nice bathroom but now it's even nicer now that it has a medicine cabinet. This room was a ton of work!

We Closed on the House

2010-05-23T22:45:00.002-06:00

We closed on our house on Thurs. took possession late Friday and got to work. It is a ton of overwhelming work. It's just because I think we have to have it perfect before moving in but I can see we don't have time to make it happen. I want to clean and paint but we will see what we can get done with no one to watch our kids and I'm the only one not at work. But next week Joe won't be working anymore since school will be out and that will help. But, either way we are moving in on Sat. I expect the place will be a wreck for a while since there is so much to do. We are super excited however, and It's wonderful to think I finally got my house!

FINALLY, THE CONTRACT

2010-04-28T10:48:00.002-06:00

It's been nothing but high stress and drama with the house from the beginning. We were really scared that we were going to have to move on to a different house because even though they accepted our offer over two weeks ago, it took them until this morning to get us under contract. It was one problem after another. The bank took forever, and we needed to be under contract by Friday to get the tax credit. Finally this morning with only 2 days to spare! We really had to sacrifice for this house, I hope it will be worth it! It feels like the right thing to do, and I've been wanting this house for so long it almost seems to good to be true, we've been wanting the house since Oct.! I never though we would get it, mostly because it was a short sale and because it was more money than we were going to pay. But, really think it will be worth it, especially because then we won't have to move again for a long time, I am in no hurry to go through this stress again! As long as Joe is working in this area and as long as we can make the payments, we will stay! Yeah for a miracle, even if I had to fight to the death for it! Now we just have to go through the wait time for closing, I hope that goes more smoothly!

The House

2010-04-16T21:44:00.008-06:00

As I said again on Facebook. The bank accepted our offer after we negotiated with them for 10 grueling days. But the day they accepted our offer we found out that we can no longer get the grant we had lined up to help us pay for the house, actually 2 grants. So we thought for a few days we should look for a different house, one we can afford easier but for some strange reason that doesn't feel like the right thing to do. We've looked at a few. We went over to our house today with our realtor and looked around for a long time. We really love the house and feel like it is the right place for us. It is just scary thinking of getting in all that debt after finally saving up a bunch of money. So I think we will go through with it. We are not under contract yet because we have a verbal agreament with the bank of america that owns the house, it is a forclosure. They are taking forever to get us the paperwork back so that we can be officially under contract. So here are a few pics of our house that we will most likely buy, funny thing is that it is the same house I've been in love with for 6 months and already posted one picture of on our blog months ago. The best thing about this house is the awesom location. It is in a really nice neighborhood with a lot of kids, it is on a beautiful dead end, and has a great view of Mt. Timp. And, is only 1/2 mile from Joe's work and only 1 mile from my mom's house. There is a park and a church a block north, and the house faces south west so it is very sunny. Can it get any better than that?

More House Drama

2010-04-06T21:03:00.002-06:00

As I said on Facebook we were supposed to find out about our offer tonight and our realator didn't even call at all! I don't know what's going on but I'm going crazy! I really know we won't get it but i'm torn up about it. I think I'm pretty stupid for letting my emotions enter into this process at all and putting all my eggs in one basket! Usually I'm very objective going in to buying things and always carefully and not being emotional. The weird thing is the feeling that I'm home that I get while there and I've got to feel that somewhere else. So instead of moping i'm counting my blessings and it really is helping me and will help me to find something else very soon. I just can't waite until this is all resolved!

update

2010-03-25T22:39:00.002-06:00

I keep meaning to post pics from Hyrum's b-day on the 2nd. But soon I will. We lost our camera so I will have to get them off of my mom's. The house hunt is STILL going, and we are getting a little discouraged with the inventory of thing sin our price range. There is one house we almost bought then changed our minds just before putting in an offer, then it went under contract and we are kicking ourselves some but it just wan't quite what we wanted. I don't know, I think I'm being far too picky. So in the mean time, the search goes on. Here is what we refuse to do because we are too picky, #1 absolutly NO townhouses or condos. 2# must not be more than 5 miles from work. and #3 have a 2 car garage. see, a tall order for a small price range, but hopefully we'll find something before our April 30th tax credit deadline.
My problem is that I'm far too in love with two of the short sales we put offers on back in Dec. and I keep holding out for them but now I don't think they are really going to happen so it is time to move on.

For Hyrum

2010-02-18T10:11:00.003-07:00

All this talk about Wade, but what about Hyrum? Hyrum is my big helper. He is in Kindergarten, struggling some but he's hanging in there. Things haven't been as easy on him since the move but I'm hoping he will find more friends and stability after we move. Hyrum is fun, immaginative and athletic. He plays for city league basketball and LOVES to ride his bike, although sometimes I worry about him getting hurt with all his crazy stunts and jumps he likes to do on it. What a joy! Here is his cheese face kindergarten picture, enjoy

Wade, Wade, Wade

2010-02-16T11:03:00.004-07:00

Well, It looks like he's made the headlines again! This time it's a little more frightening. Wade broke out in massive hives on Thursday, good old benedryl kept them at bay until Friday when his face swelled up and he started coughing. We called my mother-in-law who works for an allergist for adivce and she spoke with her doctor, whom we have an appointment with next week. Anyway, they think it's most likely a severe food allergy that has develped suddenly. We were so worried about him Sat. night that we Joe gave him a blessing and Sunday morning the hives were gone! But before that we had to keep him on a strict 4 hour regimin of benedryl and set our alarm at night to give it to him before his face would swell too much. Scary. Our most likely suspect is that he is allergic to soy which will be hard because soy is in EVERYTHING! Or peanuts. So far we have kept him away from both and he has been fine. Or it's what we are really hoping for a strange reaction to the cold virus he had in which case we don't have to be so worried about what we feed him. But for the next week it will be a mystery and my doctor perscribed him with an eppy pen in case he gets a serious reaction because the doc. said if it's a food allergy next exposure will be worse. Wade, Wade, Wade, what else are you going to do my poor little stinker pot? '

Last Night's Trip to the ER

2010-02-01T13:24:00.004-07:00

Yes, all of my blog entries lately are about my house hunt or Wade. And you guessed it... this one is no different! Last night just after we got Wade ready for bed he ran away from us after hearing "It's time for bed" and he tripped on the carpet and cut his head open on my mom's cedar chest. No other clinics were open because it was 9;30 so we went to the lovely ER, he got 5 little stitches on his forehead, and went to bed at midnight. Poor little poop!

All is well though, we enjoyed visiting on Friday with Joe's brother, Nick who just came home from his mission and had a fun relaxing weekend catching up on the trip to California Joe and his family took to go pick up Nick.

I'm depressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-28T14:05:00.003-07:00

The house that I've been dreaming of getting and praying to get for 4 months now that we put an offer on just sold today to someone else. Darn those people with more money than us! Anyway, I'm super sad and now I don't what to do because it was the only house I wanted. I guess I keep searching. Bummer!

I finnished the book!

2010-01-27T08:49:00.003-07:00

While Joe has been out of town to California to pick up his brother from his mission I have been reading like crazy. I finished the book. It was so good! After you get through the first 200 pages the next 600 are much better! It's not that the first 200 were uninteresting but they were just so sad! But it gets much better and I really liked the book. I'm naughty for reading it in only 9 days because it was at the sacrifice of some sleep for staying up late, and at the sacrifice of doing my housework. I better clean today so Joe doesn't come home tomarrow to a disaster! But it was worth it.

The Undaunted

2010-01-20T13:26:00.001-07:00

Has anyone read this book. I'm about 180 pgs. in and the first part was so depressing! I almost couldn't finish it. Any thoughts on the book from those who have read it?

My mischievous little boy and our toilet in the snow!

2010-01-11T21:22:00.003-07:00

Happy New Years everyone! Hope the holidays were good. Well, Wade is up to no good again. Despite being harder than ever getting him bed, mainly because he sneaks out and wakes up a lot at night, he's been up to no good during the day too. Heaven help me get through the terrible 2-3's with him! Last week was quite the adventure! My mom had left some clorox clean up spray bottle on her counter and I don't usually use that bathroom so I didn't know. Anyway, right as I'm getting Hyrum ready for school and we were running late like sometimes I hear him scream. Wade had sprayed it in his eye. He came downstairs screaming that his eye hurt, I could smell it on him and knew what happend so I tried to rinse his eye out but he being very large and strong faught me very hard. Finally after drenching him while he screamed I took the screaming 2 year old, threw him in the van and drove Hyrum late to school. I came back and tried again to rinse his eye and he wouldn't let me so finally I called a neighbor to come help hold him down while I ran a srynge full of water gently over his screaming eyes for several minutes. But finally then he settled down and is okay.

Two days later ........................ while running behind again getting Hyrum ready for school Wade goes in my mom's bathroom again while I was down stairs, my brother was in the next room so I thought he sort of had an eye on Wade. Anyway, he flushed 7 things down her toilet. Luckily 4 of the things were floating in the bowl. An entire roll of toilet paper, the plastic rapper the TP comes in, a toy dump truck, and a hair brush. Then after I pulled them out the toilet was still clogged, I plunged and got out an entire tube of toothpaste, and no all seemed to be well until the next day when Hyrum did his duty, it backed up. Then my mom and brother spent a few hours trying to unclog it. Finally they got a toilet snake, took the toilet off and tryed from both directions to unclog it with no luck. Finally my frustrated brother threw it out in the snow and said we were going to have to buy mom a new toilet. But, I didn't want to shell out the money so when Joe got home I begged him to try something. I knew the boys toothbrushes were missing so I suspected that is what was clogging it. Joe ran the garden hose through the toilet out in the backyard and banged on it and finally out came the missing toothbrushes! Now all is well and all we had to by was a new beeswax seal. Phew! Any one want to invite Wady over?

So lately I've been missing Logan really bad again. Any ideas on how to find friends for a kindergartener to play with? We live in the most unfriendly neigborhood. I can't waite to move away from here into our own place hopefully in the spring. Hyrum has been sad a lot lately and I feel really bad.

continued from last time

2009-12-15T15:04:00.003-07:00

The blog was being weird and didn't let me finish my thoughts, anyway, the debate is, originally going into the homebuying experience we refused to count my income for anything because I don't want to HAVE to teach. But.... just adding a few hundered dollars a month to our mortgage payment adds a HUGE difference in the type of home that we can by. So the debate is, do we go with a monthly payment we are comfortable with and buy a dump that we hate and will want to move in a few years, or do we stretch oursleves a little and get something we are much more likely to stay in? If not here's what we could be looking at moving into.or worse than that, this.......

What do you guys think we should do and don't tell me to go to crummy eagle mountain because at this point I refuse! Help, this is more stressfull than I thought.

Homebuyers help please!

2009-12-15T14:55:00.004-07:00

It's been a while. We've all been sick forever, and still am. We've been really busy with the home search. Yes folks, it's finally began, we are looking for a house! We so far have only looked at short sales since we are not ready to close until spring and they take a while. There is one I totally fell in love with and we made an offer on it last week. Here it is.. I love it because it faces south, is a half mile from where Joe works, and is on a dead end near a park. The problem is that it is a short sale and we can't offer any higher than we did and I'm sure the bank won't take it and someone can easily outbid us, but I really love this house!

Haloween

2009-11-04T08:44:00.012-07:00

Boys at the Ward Party Then pulling their scary dragon faces.

I borrowed some cute costumes from my friend. Hyrum was Buzz Lightyear and Wade was going to be a cute green dragon. But... Wade was scared of his costume, so at the last minute I put together a Super Sleuth Winnie the Pooh costume for him to wear. He even had a hunny pot to put his candy in. Then two days after Haloween Wade decided he wanted to wear the dragon costume so I took a few pics. Silly boy! The kids had fun. Hyrum had to wear his costume 4 days in a row because of so many activities.

Also I threw in a pic. of Joe's trip to Chicago when he went up the Sears Tower, he liked that.

I am woman, hear me roar!

2009-10-14T13:00:00.002-06:00

I probably made my neighbors out to be totally evil people which they are not, but I am not happy that they seen a cat outside their apartment and thought that it was okay to take it in as their own without asking around.

I am proud of myself for something. I"ve been mostly taking Hyrum to school towing him and Wade in the bike trailor riding my bike. It's only about a 1/2 mile to school but it's down a hill which means I have to ride the bike and trailor back up the hill to get home and I've been making progress on my time and ability to get up it and for the last 3 days I've been able to get up it with both kids inside without stopping and walking my bike up the hill. That's a lot of dead weight behind me! I AM WOMAN!

I shouldn't be a little mad, but I am

2009-10-12T12:22:00.003-06:00

So the day before we left for Disneyland our cat turned up missing. She was a great Cat super nice and patient with little kids and stuck around really well. We were going to take her to get her fixed as soon as we got back but she turned up missing. Well a neighbor of ours came over the night she turned up missing to drop off a recipee. I visit teach this neighbor. Well thier daughter claims she found the cat on a fence by thier apartment, they took her in and kept her as their own. We looked all over for her for 2 weeks, no luck. Well my mom went to their house for relief society business and there was our cat. They won't even believe us that it was our cat and said they righfully found her on a fence and kept her inside. I'm mad because I feel like our cat was stollen and I REALLY liked the cat and now I still have to visit teach her. I'll get over it but do I feel justified being a little frustrated that they didn't even ask around when the knew I had a cat? Plus they already have another cat too. I'm not going to do anything about it but I'm just venting. Most of you probably didn't know that I was a huge fan of cats.

Random Pics

2009-10-05T22:17:00.004-06:00

Hyrum's first day of Kindergarten.Here is my third and final entry for today. Here is Wade's haircut and my haircut, although it's grown atleast and inch in the 6 weeks it took me to take a picture and post it. Pardon the cheesy pictures. Jackie and Leslie, I still need pics of your hair change! Wade pre haircut making a big mess.

Disneyland Pics

2009-10-05T14:03:00.005-06:00

Newport Beach Near Aneheim CA

Hyrum in a sand hole

Who are those other kids? These are my cousins from Lehi that came with us.

Disneyland!

2009-10-05T09:10:00.004-06:00

We went to Disneyland on Sept 22nd. It was fun. Wade stayed at my mother-in-laws and Joe stayed and worked. We went with my cousins and my mom and brother who generously payed for us. It was super hot there and so I am freezing suddenly here! It was in the mid to upper 90's and humid! HOT!

We also went to universal studios and the beach. Hyrum loved the beach the most. He was scared of a lot of the rides. He LOVED however, the buzz lightyear ride and most of the outdoor rides. We were tired and sick when we got back, we've had this killer long and lingering cold that has plaged me for 3 weeks now, I'm finally kicking it. Here are some pics from Disneyland. Hyrum like to meet the characters.

Update finally

2009-10-05T09:01:00.005-06:00

So I took some pics of mine and Wade's drastic hair cuts but they are on my mom's camera and I can't find it. So soon, I will get those but here are a bunch of pics from other things. Back in Aug. we had a party outside with the slipn slide. Here are a few pics. Also there is a picture of the kitten we had for 6 weeks. When we first got her my kids were scared of her. It was stupid because she was a tiny sweet little kitten but they acted like she was a child eating gorilla! Finally, my kids got grip with reality and they came to love her as did all of us. She was a great cat but sadly she dissapeared 2 weeks ago and we really miss her. I hate how that always happens every time we get a stupid cat! So here a few pics of our party and our man eating cat!

Help it's Tater Tornato!

2009-08-20T21:54:00.002-06:00

So I keep waiting until I take and download pics to write the things I want to put in the blog and then I never get around to it. So this time I'd like to share a little bit about what we've gone through with Wade in the last week, his nickname for those who don't know is Tater. He's been screaming at me most of the day all week. Here is a list of some of his recent doings....
Eating Trail mix in Bjorn's bed
Breaking a picture off the wall- broken glass
Dumping out the kitten's litter box all over the garage
Dumping the kitten's food all over the garage multiple times
Getting into the coco drink mix 2 times in one morning getting powder all over the kitchen and pooring water all over it
Flushing wash rags down the toilette
Dumping Bjorn's cell phone into his drink water 4 times!
Breaking and chucking a flashlight, and throwing the poor kitten around
Opened a can of oats all over the living room couch and floor with water
dumped about 30 water spots all over the carpet all over the house
Pours water and ice out of the fridge despenser and overfloas it constantly
..............MANY MORE FORGIVEN INCIDENCES........................................

HELP WE ARE ALL SUFFERING FROM TDS WHAT DO WE DO? IT'S TATER STRESS DISORDER?

Keep in mind he's adorable and I love him.

Move Complete

2009-08-09T22:51:00.002-06:00

Well, we are officially free of our cindar block cell although we will really miss it. We still have a lot of stuff to put away but we moved to my mom's house in Lehi on Friday. Joe begins classes tomarrow, Monday and school starts next week. We are tired and sore but greatful for all the family help we had during the move. So now we start a new chapter of our lives in Lehi--- again.

Joe passed his defense!

2009-07-28T08:41:00.002-06:00

Yeah, the finish line is in our grasp now, it's in 3 days! Joe passed his defense yesterday which is a huge accomplishment to get his plan B master's project completed. This means he will graduate after his classes are over at the end of the week. The project was a huge pain so it's a big relief to know he has passed. His classes that he has to finish are manageble for him so he's not worried. Anyway, I am super proud of him getting his master's degree! We are moving next Friday to Lehi. We will miss it here but it's been getting really lonely here too, there are hardly any kids in our triad that come out now so that is preparing us to be lonely in Lehi. Anyway, for those of you who have never lived here, this place is really fun and social, as long as you have neighbors with kids. It's the funnest place to live in the summer with large enclosed play areas for the kids and big sidewalks and a central large playground, it's great for taking kids on bike rides without roads and things. But, they are super hard to live in at winter, so it balances out. We are greatful for the 4 years we enjoyed here and feel like we did the right thing by coming and by sticking it out here in Aggie Vlg. all 4 years.

HELP! AGGIE VILLIAGE BLUES

2009-07-13T12:35:00.003-06:00

So the last few weeks have been really stressfull. I'm trying frantically to finish this evil dresser project that we've been working on for months with little progress. It seems like I work really hard on it, don't like it, have to undo my work and try again. I'm ready to burn it!

Anyway, Joe's summer classes have started full speed ahead and he's been SOOO busy!! We've barely seen him, and to make things more crazy there hasn't been any kids around in our triad but mine. So boring for Hyrum. I really miss all the people with kids that used to live here, it's been hard. So we went triad hopping and have met a lot of people and then I got jelouse because we have the fewest kids of any triad and we are the only one without a slide. Why should I care, we are moving in 3/12 weeks. Owen and Leslie will be back after a long absence and that will help but in the mean time it's been hard to get anything done when I always have to take the kids to other triads to play. If they could just play happily in our backyard it would be easy but they get too bored without any other kids. So here is my question. How do all of you that were once spoiled with the great social life of aggie villiage cope after you leave? I'm really worried we will get too lonely, like it's been here recently. How is it done? I'm really having second thoughts about wanting Joe to be done with school, growing up and going to the real world. I've been filling out the benefit papers for his work, that's a lot of stuff! We've never had any benefits before so it is new to us what to do. Anyway, I'm just venting a little stress.

Bear Lake Pictures

2009-06-30T20:16:00.004-06:00

Bear Lake and other adventures

2009-06-30T19:56:00.010-06:00

Wade Loves in Pooh Bear, try getting it away from him these days, it's pretty cute.

So, in my quest to do many things before I sadly have to leave Cache Valley in a month, we've had some adventures this week. I took the kids to Ryan's Place Park a few times, they like it.

Anybody heard of it? It's in River Heights.

Today, Tuesday, as a family we went to Bear Lake because I had never been there before. We had fun playing in the water and eating a rasberry shake. Then we stopped at Tony Grove on the way back because I had never been thier either and it was recommended to me. We were able to play in the snow there, it was crazy because it was hot outside. Then we came home tired but it was a fun day. I still have several more things on my list to do and many pictures to take but we are sure having fun crossing it all off.

Disneyland to go or not to go

2009-06-21T18:39:00.004-06:00

My family, mom, brother and cousins was planning a Disneyland Trip without us in Sept. But then they decided to take Hyrum last month, we reluctantly gave our permission. Now my family wants me to go but Wade is too young and it would cost some although many of the expenses will already be covered. I can't decide. I don't have a clue what I would do with Wade for a week, who could I get to watch him? And it's not very fair to leave Joe behind working, I don't know???????? To go our not to go................. It's hard to plan many vacations around the we may or may not have a baby in a year or two so although Wade will be bigger in a year will I just have another reason we can't take the whole family besides money? Anyway, enough of my questioning ramblings.

Danish Aebleskivers

2009-06-11T16:51:00.003-06:00

So I had a naughty craving for a good old Danish Aebleskiver when I saw the pan for sale at the Smithfield Impliment. I love that store. Anyone been there? An old fun memory of a sweet old danish woman neighbor I had down at Snow College who used to fix these for us came back to me. It's been 10 years since I had one, but I couldn't forget, they are really good! So the almost exclusive Danish blood in me decided to do something Danish, and I splurged and bought the pan. However, my pan is castiron and after only 1 use it started to rust, does anyone know how to care for castiron?

Doctor, Doctor!

2009-06-09T19:27:00.003-06:00

Doctor, Doctor, I'm not feeling well, it hurts when I do this.....

Yep, that's how it's been for the last 4 months for our family, one doctor visit after another. But the stupid thing is, most of them end up being in vain and then we are left to feel stupid. Thank heavens for Medicaid otherwise we would have died with the copays alone.
For example, today I had to take Hyrum to the doctor because Wade poked him in the eye.. Hard! Hyrum cried about if off and on from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and rubbed it raw and red. I hate going to the doctor and waite until I think thier really might be a problem before calling, I'm not just the type to rush in at anything because I hate to be told thier is nothing wrong when I get there but yep, you guessed it, after waiting for the doc. for 30 min in the little room, his eye was just fine. They told me to come in for a scratched cornea but it is fine, once again, I leave feeling stupid.
I've also been going to the doc for a 4 month stomach ache no one can figure out and here is my conclusion, It must be in my head because medically I check out fine. So no more doctor for us unless we are dying.

Back to Logan

2009-05-20T09:06:00.002-06:00

We are back to Logan after being gone for 10 days. I missed it here and am getting sad to leave but it will be great to be around family again. The kids love having their big back yard back but that too will come to an end soon. We are excited to soon have the most financial stability we've ever had, although it's not a huge income, it atleast is stable and will be the first job Joe will have that actually has benefits. We have been really blessed with this. It looks like we will be moving on Aug. 7th down to my mom's to save up some money and work to get out of debt for a while. After that, we don't know but we'll just take it a day at a time. For now, yeah, he'll be employed in this crummy economy!

Joe got a job!

2009-05-14T17:04:00.002-06:00

We are excited that the long job hunt is at last over! We are surprised that he got one this early although we've been working for it for months. He actually got the job on the first principal interview. It was actually getting the interviews that was so hard. Ironically we are making full circle and although we've applied for jobs in 3 states and all over Utah, Lehi Junior High right by my mom's house is the school where he finally landed the job. I say we as far as applications because I filled all of them out and wrote his resume and cover letters. So WE got the job and that is why we are going full circle, we lived in Lehi before we moved to Logan and now we are moving back. Crazy! We are going to miss Cache Valley like crazy, but in this horrible job market you take what you can get. Besides, I can get students here easy and we will be by a lot of family. Joe will even be teaching one of my cousins in his woodshop class. He will be teaching CTE, Communications, and woodshop. He likes those subjects and will do well at teaching them. My mom is super excited at the thoughts of having the kids around again. And, we will have a willing babysitter too, not half bad. We are very greatful.

2009-04-19T14:23:00.003-06:00

Since our time in Aggie Vlg. and Cache valley is short which does make me kind of sad, I thought I would make a list of all the things I want to do up here and appreciate before I leave. I wish we could stay in Cache Valley, but there are no jobs, although we're having a really hard time finding job openings anywhere.
So this question goes out to all of you who have lived up here, what are some of your favorite things about the area that you wish you could have done, or did do that you really enjoyed that I might consider putting on or list of things to do before we leave?
So far I only have a few, visit bear lake because I've never been there. Go to Gosners a few more times, up the canyon, and one I just passed off, visit the heritage center. Now that the weater has finally improved we are really enjoying ourselves outside, and that great backyard of ours is deffinately something I will miss!! As far as the apartment itself goes I cannot get out of here fast enough, but the love of the area keeps me not looking so forward to moving day.

Fun Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T09:05:00.008-06:00

We had a fun weekend. Luckily we were able to play outside some. Hyrum learned to ride his bike without training wheels in one morning, now he's pretty good at it. He doesn't get that ability from me, it took me years to learn.

Thursday night we went to a 19th ward reunion dinner at Bishop Jensen's house, it was great to see so many people from the ward that I've missed. I wish I would have brought my camera or something but I still really enjoyed it.

Hyrum and I went to a movie on Friday, then I took him with Jackie and Talton to Baby Animal Days at the Heritage Center. It was fun, I totally wanted to take the baby Pigmie Goat home after holding it, it was so adorable! Hyrum's favorite part was the ride in the metal cow and the pony ride.

Yesterday for easter I cooked a nice dinner, going all out for me, and we taught the kids an easter lesson. In all it turned out to be a great weekend! The only thing I was sad about was that I didn't get out to Tridell for my mom's uncle's funeral. For the people some of you may know that is Paula and Lisa's grandpa that passed away. I would have loved to have gone but couldn't make the trip.

Wade is 2!

2009-04-06T20:13:00.003-06:00

Wade has his two year birthday. We were busy doing my cousins wedding that day but he already got his presents in advance and opened them. The terrible two's are in full force with Wade but as of yet he hasn't wrote with a sharpie again, just pens-on walls - and on my new lazy boy.....hm...pretty much he is banned from anything that can write. We had a fun busy weekend doing showers and a wedding but it is nice to be home.

If I were not so clumsy

2009-03-26T14:33:00.002-06:00

If it were not for the fact that we ARE moving out of Aggie Vlg. in Aug. wether or not Joe really graduates-I would move now for more space. Tues. night I went in the boys room to get some sewing supplies, tripped on some toys and fell and landed on some others managing to sprain my ankle, bruise my knee and wrist. I'm doing okay though, I can walk on it, it's just tender. I'm now to the phase this is something I laugh about but Hyrum has been sweet and says he is sorry for not picking up his toys. He's been such a good helper and boy this week. He's really growing up and I appreciate him. Wade on the other hand, as much as I love him has managed to single handedly ruin our CD player with frosted mini spooners, a sucker stick, and a foreign DVD shoved in there, write on ALL of our furniture with a sharpie, yes, even our new unfinished dresser in the living room, and my newish lazy boy chair with a pen. He's also entering the terrible two's with a little foot stopping temper as his birthday approaches next week. But like I said I really love the little stinker, he's super funny!

Also, anyone know how to contact Tonya? I lost the invite to her blog when she went private.

Joe is still looking for a job. We've had a few leads and district interviews but nothing major yet.

Back to Logan

2009-03-21T22:24:00.012-06:00

It's good to be back home to Cache Valley, we are all still struggling to get well, It's been one thing after another but with Spring on the way we are hopeful it will be soon. We've really enjoyed the nice spring weather we've had this week. The kids have loved playing outside with thier triad friends again.

This is how thier Lowe's cars turned out. They had a blast!

We had a birthday party for Hyrum on March 2nd at the MASA office. It was fun, the kids played with cars and race tracks, hit a piniata, ate cake, and opened presents. All the guests got to take a hot wheel home too. I can't believe my boy is 5!!

Our homeade monster truck piniata

My cake I made Hyrum, my first attempt at decorating, well....it atleast tasted good!

Wade's sweet but messy little face.......

Winter time blues

2009-03-09T15:59:00.002-06:00

Although it's nearly spring and it definitely feels more like spring down here in Lehi where we have been staying for Spring break. We've all got the yuckys! We are all sick with various illnesses and yes, in the last week all 5 of us, my mother included have been on an antibiotic in some form or another. Poor Joe is the worst off with a fever, sore throat, cough, and double ear infections. What a spring break for him ey? Oh well, we are on the up hill swing of things now I believe and are looking forward to having some fun later in the week. Plus we have birthday pics. to post.

My Silly Kids

2009-02-28T15:28:00.007-07:00

We've taken pics of the kids being themselves, silly. Also, we went to Lowes for a few things and they were doing fun projects for the kids so we let our kids build a car then paint them at home.
This is my liitle sticky mess boy..........

Our Fun Weekend

2009-02-19T10:20:00.005-07:00

For our Valentines weekend Joe's parents came up to visit. Joe and I went to the Valentine's dance Friday night. On Sat. we went with his parents to eat at Cafe Sabor. After lunch at the Cafe, we drove out the the Hardware Ranch. Hyrum loved seeing the Elk and has talked about little else since. It was fun.

Also, my friend Racheal Gerber got engaged for those who know her, congrats Rach, what a way to have valentines!

2009-02-05T15:01:00.002-07:00

I just have to say that I'm very grateful for this semester. I'm really enjoying it. It's very busy but a good busy. We are so excited for the prospects of moving on in Aug. We are nervouse for the changes coming but the thoughts of moving on motivate us. Joe is working very hard in the graduate program and doing a good job. I'm so proud of his accomplishments. We are having fun and enjoying our last months in Aggie Vlg. as well and are so grateful for our blessings that we've recieved while being here.

Racing with the Boys

2009-01-21T10:01:00.003-07:00

We have been playing with the boys a lot because It's been to cold to go out. We had a fun weekend when my mom and cousin Shaylee came to visit. After they left my kids got really bored so we built the race track again on Mon. night. We are always trying to find condensed versions to build it. The boys love to race, jump, and play anything trucks.

Joe is busy with his job and graduate school. Sadly he lost his Grandma Black yesterday to Lung Cancer. We will be going down this weekend for the funeral.

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-11T19:34:00.002-07:00

Among the many things we have set goals to do this year, at the top of my list was to appreciate the time of life I am in-including where I live. Just changing my perspective a little has made a big difference in my attitude about being here. We were able to find a place to put everything away and after all what bigger blessing could have we recieved this year than the family togetherness we will be able to share this semester. Also, Joe's new job has been a huge blessing in so many ways so I can't complain.

More Christmas pics

2009-01-06T10:51:00.003-07:00

Here is some of the fun that the boys had at Christmas. Wade loves his new spiderman slippers, you can hardly get them off his feet unless you let him take off in Hyrums McQueen slippers. Hyrum loves sliding down her stairs and playing with his new toys.

2009-01-06T10:18:00.004-07:00

We are back after being out of town for 2 and 1/2 weeks. It was nice to spend time with the family. I thought I wanted to come back and get into some sort of normal routine again but I'm ready to leave again and it hasn't even been 48 hours! My kids are acting up so badly around here, I think they miss having people around and a much larger space to play in. I had to get creative about how to put all the new christmas things away in this little place. I always struggle here in January but hopefully this will be my last winter in Aggie Villiage, 4 is enough!

We were royally spoiled for Christmas, expecially the boys. My dad gave him a big race track and he got a rc Hummer among other toys for the kids. Joe and I also enjoyed our Christmas.

We did have some saddness this Christmas however, my uncle Marvin lost his battle to cancer on Dec. 21st. We will really miss him, our families have been so close for years. His funeral was the 27th. Our prayers go out to his family. I was so glad that I was home when all of it happened to be away from the family at that time would have been really hard for me.

Joe started his new job with the university yesterday, that job has been such a blessing already. We are so grateful for the blessings we've recieved while being in school. It's really amazing. Here are some pictures from our Christmas break. I made all the Grandkids on Joe's side PJ's for Christmas. They love them.

2008-12-09T09:25:00.003-07:00

Hi, no new pics. to publish but I thought I would do a quick update.

Thanksgiving was nice. We floated back and forth between the two families but ate at Joe's parents house. I risked my life shopping at Walmart the next day- a huge mad house!! I'm not sure that it was worth losing sleep over. I also picked up a mean case of strep throat that weekend that I've finally recovered from. Even with getting sick it was still a nice week home.

A bit of great news! Joe should graduate this weekend with his Bachelors!!! Yeah, that is assuming he passes his biology final, wish him luck!!! He isn't walking for graduation since we are staying for his masters degree. He got a job offer from the ETE department to do research, we are excited for the small pay raise and tuition help it offers. He is going to try and fly through the masters and finish in Aug. so he can start teaching in the fall. He already has 1/3 of it finished now so hopefully it will work out and I can finally get out of Aggie Villiage. I struggle here in the winters but I love the summers here. I've just had it with the drafty, small, cindar block cell, and noisy furnace! Okay, enough wining. On the flip side we have some great friends here we will really miss if he really does finish in Aug. I'm so excited for the prospects of moving on after being here for so long. Anyway, I wanted to say how proud of Joe I am that he is doing so well in school.

My Flowers

2008-11-07T16:36:00.005-07:00

Joe was sweet to give me flowers for my birthday. Since flowers die I have a cheesy tradition on taking a picture of them to remember it. I also have to say congratulations to Joe for being officially accepted into the graduate program! Some day we might even get out of Aggie Vill.

Pumpkin Walk

2008-11-07T16:18:00.010-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Logan Pumpkin Walk. We all really enjoyed it. I'm including several picutres of my favorite scenses from the walk. This is one of my favorite cache valley traditions.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-05T20:15:00.009-07:00

Halloween day was really busy. We went walking and trick or treating at family housing. Then to the towers that night and to a few places in AV. The kids had fun. Talton and Hryum loved being both Lightening McQueens. I think we are still on a candy high. I also had my 30th Birthday. It was a nice b-day but I'm still trying to come to terms with being 30.

Willow Park Zoo

2008-10-18T22:23:00.005-06:00

We took the kids to the Willow Park Zoo since we've had a few good weather days. We captured a few cute pictures. Also, the kids loved feeding the ducks.

Weekend with My Family and the Windcaves

2008-10-06T22:00:00.011-06:00

I, Natalie, was lucky to have my family come up to Logan last weekend. My Dad, Joe, and brother hiked the wind caves with me. It was beautiful up there with the leaves changing and the wonderful weather we enjoyed. My mom watched the boys while we hiked. Here are a few of the nice pics.

Bunk Bed Update

2008-10-06T21:42:00.006-06:00

I know I haven't commented in a while, things have been really busy. Jackie and I have been walking and attempting weight watchers. Wish us good luck.

Joe and I also got the bunk beds put together on Wed. Now we just need to build the ladder and do a few finnishing touches. The boys love them. Wade is out of the crib now and he also loves his new bed. Joe built them a little tent to play with thier toys under during conference. Conference weekend was fun, we relaxed! It was great.

Building Bed 1

2008-09-16T16:28:00.004-06:00

After 5 weeks of hard work we finally got bed 1 finnished. We had a few problems in the process. After a week of being annoyed at the dark stain on the foot boards and head board, I Natalie sanded off all the dark stain and starting over on the finnishing work on 3 pieces. Also, we had to resize the beds after putting them together, but now bed 1 is finnished and the boys are enjoying it. I love how sturdy it is. Bed 2 should be finnished in a couple of weeks, then all we will need is a few touch ups and a ladder. It has been an adventure trying to find enough space in the apartment and outside for all of this, thier bedroom is really crowded now but we are hoping Wade will be able to be out of the crib soon.

Boys outside

2008-08-23T22:31:00.004-06:00

With the bunk bed project the boys have had tons of time outside. They love it and here are a few pics. of the silly things they do with all the hours outside.

Working hard on bunk beds

2008-08-23T22:22:00.007-06:00

All week it feels like we have worked on nothing but the bunk beds. We have saw dust everywhere! We do however have one footboard completed. Hyrum is excited for his big bed to be finnished. He can't waite to climb the ladder. Here are some pics of our progress.

Also, you should see the mess on the back porch. I think we are driving the neighbors crazy with the powere sander. I'm not loving the stain. I though it would be lighter. I'm still trying to come to terms with how dark it turned out. But I do like that it is shiny.

More silly Boys

2008-08-15T15:29:00.006-06:00

I made Hryum some PJ's for summer, Wade didn't like his they need some

adjustments. Some of my projects for this summer have been sewing,

reading, and the bunk bed project we just started.

Silly Boys

2008-08-15T15:21:00.006-06:00

Hyrum decided he wanted to do the dishes. Well, what mom would object to that? It was cute to watch how he tried to do it himself, I couldn't help but take a picture. But, while I went to get the camera, Wade climbed up on the table and was sure proud of himself for getting there.

2008-08-14T16:10:00.005-06:00

My Dade, Wade, and I on the Zoo train

More pics from fun week in July

2008-08-14T15:54:00.010-06:00

Hyrum and his cousing Austin at the pools with the supper soaker.

Wade after a browie

Fun In July

2008-08-14T15:39:00.010-06:00

Back in July we had a fun week where I went down to my mom's house and we camped with my cousins in the backyard and did several day activities. After 3 days in the backyard we went to Tridell for a reunion and stayed with Paula's parents. It was a fun and busy week. Some of the activites we did was going to Hogal Zoo; a huge wate party fight, painting crafts, and tons of outdoor eating!

Summer Semester

2008-08-06T16:15:00.001-06:00

We are pleased to announce that Joe has successfully completed this summer semester. He completed 9 credit hours of graduate classes in 4 weeks. We are pleased that the end is in sight. I am proud of his hard work to get through school

Wade's Exploration

2008-08-04T15:22:00.003-06:00

Wade got into his diaperbag in the window. He had fun playing then sleeping in the formula mess. We thought he was asleep the whole time.