Puppet Show

We have a house!

We moved here in May of 2010 and decided to rent for a while until our house in Round Valley sold. We found a small place and figured it'd be temporary. Our house in Round Valley sold quickly, we were so blessed! I knew I had to go back to work, but after a 5 year break I wasn't sure I could find a teaching job in July. I applied to a couple of places, but nothing. Sean found a job in Pima and found an online position. I thought I would at least get on the sub list. I went to Thatcher and the secretary pointed out that a Science position was open still. It was 2 weeks before school started. Crazy! I had already applied for the position. I'm not usually pushy...but I knew I needed a job. So I went to track down the principal. I finally left my resume and my application on the counter at the middle school with a big pink post it that said, I'm really interested in this job. Left my number and hoped for the best. I heard that afternoon, they wanted an interview. So I went in the next day to meet with the principal and the superintendent. I got hired that afternoon. What a wonderful place to work. I'm starting my second year and it's been a great place to be. The blessings just keep coming. Since I was emplyeed and we were a little more stable...the house shopping began. It was more stressful than I thought. We weren't even should we could qualify for a loan. We found this house on the internet. I knew the house from high school...they had a bunch of teen age boys. It's a 3 level home, 5 bedrooms 4 bathrooms, family room, dining room, front room and a huge playroom. We walked in and it was home...not good when you aren't even sure you can afford it or qualify for a loan... The home had had some flood damage, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. We ended up putting an offer on the house in Sept. and after a horrible long process we closed in May. It was so awful!!!! but I love my house! It needs work and love still. But the basement is fixed and it is amazing to have so much space. We've had lots of sleepovers and had our first big party where there were probably 60 people over for pie. I love having a place for my neices and nephews to come hang out. We are so grateful! I work 5 blocks away and I can see the temple from my front porch. I have beautiful mountains that surround my house and am feeling like the luckiest woman alive. We are healthy and so very happy!

The last few months!

The last few months have been crazy! We celebrated Josh's birthday without him for hopefully the last time. It was a tough day for me, not sure why it seems to get harder the longer he's out...but it does. Thankfully 4 1/2 months and counting! Lia finally lost her front teeth and we are still waiting for the new ones to come in. Poor thing doesn't have a whole lot of room in her mouth. We have been doing some remodeling which has taken up most of our time. The bathroom is just about finished as well as the kitchen...both were long overdue. Still have details to finish up but hopefully that happens soon so we can officially put our house on the market. Have had quite a few calls but nothing definate yet, so hopefully that's a good sign. We finally have a definate job in Pima!!!! Sean is going to be teaching middle school Social Studies which will be fun for him, and something he's done for awhile. We have been blessed to be able to work for Jay and Dustin on the weekends and through the summer. Sean is really enjoying doing something more physical and different. Working with family has been fun and we have enjoyed every bit. Not looking forward to working in the heat, but we'll survive....The kids have no idea how hot it will get, they were complaining of the heat in April down there! Poor things! So now we are just winding things down here which is bittersweet. Such an amazing place! and so many wonderful people! it's going to be hard to say goodbye. What a blessing it has been to raise our family and grow together as a family in this amazing community. We love you all!

8 year Anniversary!

This month we celebrated our 8th Anniversary! I am so blessed to have found Sean, I can't imagine my life without him. I am lucky to have met and married my best friend. My only regret that it took so long for us to finally meet and I look forward to eternity with him.

January Storms

We have had more snow and more storms come through this area than I think I ever remember! It should make for a beautiful spring and summer! We have been lucky we haven't had the power outages and problems with all the snow other than the kids have been couped up a little more than they'd like.

Sledding with the Holiday family!

We have been promising the kids we would take them sledding over the Christmas break. When we were finally all feeling better we headed to our friends in Alpine to go sledding. Wasn't the best sledding, too much fresh powder, which is not an issue for grownups but when the powder is thigh high, it makes walking a little difficult. Lia and Dani tried to make a new run, I tried to tell her she should just stick with us, but they were bound and determined they could make a better run....hmmmm wonder whose kid she is? These poor girls hiked and dragged their sled over to another hill where they quickly flipped their sled and buried themselves in powder. They decided sledding was dumb after that and wadded to the truck. lol We had a lot of fun and after a great afternoon of sledding (which Tobe the youngest survived the most runs and had the most fun!) we headed back to their house for waffles and cider and a movie. By the time it we were ready to go home, everyone was dry and ready for a nap! Best day sledding!

More Christmas pics

Christmas in Round Valley

Sorry they'll be sideways till I can figure it out....but figured that way was better than no pics at all!





Christmas on the mountain always starts with the light parade. We make a batch of hot chocolate and bundle up and head down to main street. The kids have a blast listening to Christmas music and waiting for the parade to start. We were grateful this year it wasn't too cold! We had our ward party were the adults got to act out the Nativity play, the kids favorite part was King Herod. Bro. Stroud really got into his part and the kids had lots of questions about that part of the Christmas story when we got home. They got to see Santa! That was their favorite part! Poor Lia wanted to ask Santa if he would bring Josh home for just a couple of days and then he could take him back to Mexico. I'll have to admit, I've been in a funk myself missing the boy. We decided to stay home for Christmas. I'm glad and sad at the same time. The kids had fun! We however spent most of the holiday break sick. It started in Safford and just worked it's way through the family. We didn't get as sick as some of the family, but it was no fun. We were able to feed the missionaries for Christmas eve breakfast and then got to talk to Josh. Big stinker gave me the wrong phone number! The poor lady I kept calling had no idea what I was asking and I had no idea what she was trying to tell me. 45 min later Josh called and was like are you going to call? Not a clue! We talked for a couple of hours. I am so impressed with him! He is growing and changing so much. His accent was so cute! We forgot to get the stuff to record the call...bummer! He is missing family and is stressing over what to do with his life when he gets home. The kids were so excited to be able to visit with him. He sends his love to everyone, he asked about all of the family and wanted updates on how everyone is doing. We started reading the Book of Mormon together, that will be fun. It was awesome to hear how his testimony has grown. What a blessing he is for our family!
Christmas morning was mellow, the kids don't have their big brother's internal clock and slept in. We finally broke down and got them a wii... they had been asking for one, but said..."it's no use, we'll never get one!" When Lia realized what they got she held the box over her head and just yelled, "we got a wii!" I'll have to admit, it's been a blast! Our family is so blessed, we had an amazing Christmas. I am constantly reminded how lucky I am. We love each of you!

Holiday season

We were able to go back down to have a special Nativity program with family. Those really are one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season. I got so involved I didn't get pictures. We went to Dad's and had awesome cider, hot chocolate and lots of goodies. The kids acted out the Nativity. It's amazing to see how much bigger our group gets each year. I think this year we had 3 different sets of innkeepers, a host of angels and lots of animals in the barn so all the kids could have a part. I was bummed about not having Josh there, but I am so grateful for the choices he's making to serve a mission. We got some shopping done, thanks to Kally's awesome store! and had a great time. Lia came home minus one front tooth and the other one left at a 45 degreee angle, thanks to a collision with Ashley's head! (who never even cried) It was even funnier because Jacob had been working on getting a tooth out and finally did, and not 2 min. later she comes up, blood all over, minus a tooth. Never did find the tooth, we figured she must have swallowed it. The next day when she used the restroom and I suggested she look around for the tooth, she made the best face! She was terrified I was serious! We shared some of Sean's families traditional Christmas cookies and made crepes for the family. We started a fun tradition of the sisters going shopping at night, we each had little things to finish before Christmas. We started at Kally's store and ended up at Wal Mart getting home after 1:00 am. It was fun to let loose and just be sisters, we definately have to do this again.

Thanksgiving

We were able to go and spend time with family for Thanksgiving! It was nice to leave the cold, we were even able to swim!!!! Being able to spend time with all the family was such a blessing. It was nice to have Papa and Patty home from their mission to spend the holiday with them was so wonderful, we have missed them. It really gets me excited to move and spend more time with all the neices and nephews! We were able to see the new store that Mark and Kally opened, the kids even got their picture taken and put in the local paper (thanks to Angela). We also got to show the kids the temple that is being built there. They loved the fact that the Angel Moroni was already on top. I can't believe how fast it's going up. That will be so great to have a temple so close to home! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sam's birthday

We finally had Sam's party! It was fun! We had a training course, did blindman's punting, watched some of Josh's old football highlight film and had tons of cake, ice cream and rootbeer! Sam had a blast with all of his friends over!

Arizona's gift to the capital

Some friends of ours were able to cut down the 85 foot tall Christmas tree for the capital this year. It was cool! We didn't make it out for the cutting, but were able to go see it before they took it on it's "tour".

Halloween

Since I lost my camera I've just been in a funk and haven't taken many pics. I hate when I lose things!!! Anyway Halloween this year was fun, it's funny we have tons of ideas and things we aspire to do....but life has a way of keeping me in check. The kids had a hard time choosing what to be, Sam wanted to be a cowboy that way he could wear his regular stuff, then it was a jaguar, then a cop...so many choices. He finally decided on a football player but wanted to be black and gold. He loves it! Lia is usually a princess and this year wanted to be Tinkerbell, which is hard to make winter friendly. She then thought about a cheerleader, found a great deal on ebay and we were set. I really don't think she'd care as long as makeup was involved. Anyway nice additions to the dress up trunk. We decided to bag on going to the trunk or treat, it's just getting creepy. Too many people passing out homemade candy that I don't know. We went around the neighborhood and had a great time visiting. Ended up at Sonic for 50 cent corndogs and free ice cream. The kids got plenty of candy, and had more fun passing out candy to everyone that came by. I wanted to make home made rootbeer, but the stuff to make it is getting harder to find. bummer! Nothing like a rootbeer icee!!! Another time! We missed seeing family for Halloween but can't wait to see pics of all the costumes! Love you guys!

Canning, canning, canning

So it's the end of the growing season and I've started trying to can some things. I wish was better at it, but at least I'm trying. I got asked to teach a class on how to make Salsa for Relief Society, still not sure why. I tell them pretty up front, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Things thankfully turned out alright and I was able to bottle 12-15 bottles of Salsa, and deliver a bunch to neighbors and friends when I was too tired to can anymore. Sean and I made pepper jelly which is wonderful on grilled cheese or a cheese crisp...but it's best with some little cherry peppers we got out of Jay and Tami's garden and there weren't very many of them. I was amazed out how well it turned out. Then I tried to can a mint syrup from my mint that takes over everything. Sean loves an iced mint tea and I thought it would be fun to have some through the winter. That one still needs work, it didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but it's decent. Now the apples are ripe and I'm trying to keep up. I made homemade applesauce which I thought was amazing! (and so easy) but Lia informed me the store's is better....can't please them all. So I've got tons of empty jars waiting for applesauce, and apple pie filling...hopefully soon. And of course we never come home from Safford empty handed (thanks again Curtis') Sean brought home a huge grocery bag of habenero peppers. I'M NOT TOUCHING THEM!!!!! He loves drying the peppers and ginds them into this amazingly fresh powder. I can handle cayennes or some of the others, but not habenero's. I'll keep you posted on how they turn out! For now I'll stick to the apples.

Apache County Fair

We always end up going to two fairs, the one here in Apache County and the one in Safford. The one here is pretty small and not a lot to see, but the kids love going and seeing the animals, and know most of the kids that take care of them. The Hannah's always have a few animals and the boys show their goats. So it's fun for the kids. It never fails they want to ride the rides, which I think is a big fat waste of money. Especially when we will do it all again a few weeks later. So this year I came up with a plan. There was a guy selling pvc marshmellow shooters and cap guns. The kids of course wanted one. So I told them I would buy each of them a cork gun, if we didn't ride the rides....surprisingly they went for it! They have even behaved themselves with the cork guns. I'll have to admit they are pretty cool, I'll have to try to figure out how to make more as of course there is never enough to share on some days.