Sweet 16!

August 26, 2010, Tyler turned 16 & I officially will now be known as his sister. I'm not old enough to have a 16 year old, I've decided.


He made the football team, we went on a quick vacation before school started to celebrate everyones birthday's with my family in Kansas, & he was cut from the team for missing 2 days of practice. He was disappointed, but I think slightly relieved. It was a lot harder work than he thought it would be, that's for sure!

He's still very much a kid at heart. He might be a near-giant, but he's still my first baby. :)

He loves to torment me with things like the skin of the copperhead snakes that came in to their camp site. Love this kid!

Jordan Gets Baptized!

Sounds like a great name for a book. Maybe a future joint venture for Jo & I? His new love is writing & I'm not terrible at illustrations, so maybe...

I'm so far behind in the blogging world, I don't know if I'll ever catch up! I guess I'll start with the recent baptism of Jordan.

We were able to have a few family members come to town for the big day, which was really nice. Both my parents, Dave's mom, & my younger brother Grant (just got home from a mission in the Phillipines) came out to witness the special occassion.

Jordan, waiting for the font to fill with water.

My Mom, Dad, & Ty

Dave & Logan, who looks like he's devising a plan of sorts.

Ty & Grant, goofing off.

Jojo & Daddo (as Jo used to call him)

Just before the baptism.

Amazingly, I captured a true Logan-look. He's totally a Mikey & that grin proves it!

Dave & my Dad goofing off. Nice grills!

Watching the water rise.

So handsome in his Sunday best!

Jojo & his Yaya (Dave's mom)

Jo, with the honored mom. :)

Proud parents. :)

My Mom, Dad, & Jordan.

On August 31, 2010, Jordan was officially baptized & confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm so proud of him for making the decision to join the true church of Christ!

Jordan's thrilled to be able to go to Scouts, finally. He's been looking forward to it for some time now & it couldn't have come soon enough!

MIA

I intend to try to get back to the blogging world a bit more frequently. We've been crazy busy lately with a move that took us by storm.

About a month ago, an old friend & boss of Dave's called to see how we were doing & to let us know he was just promoted to management at the Wyndham in Branson, Missouri. He wanted Dave to come out & work for him, so he offered to fly him out there after dangling a particular juicy carrot in front of his face. It was more of a carrot for me than it was for Dave. He dropped in the little detail that he looked up how long a drive to Derby, Kansas was & that it was a mere 5 hours from Branson. I grew up in Derby & most of my family is still there, so the idea of being closer to them for the first time in 9+ years was more than tempting.

When Dave told me about their conversation, I cried. I was mad at Jared (Dave's friend) for the tease & the reminder of the fact that I missed being near my family. Until that time, I never thought I was unhappy in Las Vegas, & now that little bubble had been burst. I wasn't about to be unhappy living in Vegas if that's the only place I was going to live in for some time. I'm not in to making myself miserable (mostly), so I've never even entertained the idea of living closer to my parents & brothers & sisters-in-law & nieces & nephews. Ever. Until that moment, that is.

Well there was no way I was going to let Dave go out to Branson without me, so I booked our flights & one for my Mom, too, so she could watch the kids while we were out of town. We've never been anywhere before, sans kids. That part was nice.

What was even nicer is that everything fell in to place. One thing after another, beginning with finding an amazing home the first day we were here. We signed papers with the owners a few days later (after looking at some serious duds in between), went home to Vegas & began packing all our belongings.

It's now three weeks later & here we are, happy to be in Branson. It's incredible here! We've had a few adventures since we arrived, but I'm just so thrilled to be here, none of that even matters. :D

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I entered in a contest a few weeks ago over at U create (one of my fav blogs to follow... tons of great, crafty ideas) & I actually won! I get $50 worth of merchandise from The Ribbon Retreat, which also happens to be one of my favorite ribbon suppliers. Needless to say, I'm thrilled!!

Now I just have to figure out what to spend it all on. :D

New Calling

I'm sad to be leaving my sweet little Sunbeams, but I'm excited about my new calling as the ward Provident Living Specialist! This is my first calling outside of Primary (other than being a Visiting Teaching Supervisor while I was also a Nursery worker, so I'm not sure if that counts). Ever. I'll be out of my element, for sure!

I still kind of see Relief Society as the place my mom goes, but not so much me. It's funny because I'm certainly old enough to go, yet I think it will take some time before I feel like that's where I'm supposed to be. What in the world am I going to do without a gaggle of kids vying for my attention!?

I don't have much of a food storage, & I'm terrible at rotating. I don't know much about emergency preparedness or survival should a serious emergency arise, so this opportunity is exciting to me. I'm always up for learning new & helpful things. I've been so involved with learning about the various uses of herbs & essential oils for the past decade, so now it's time to expand my brain a bit & gain more knowledge to share. Hopefully I can do that in a way that doesn't make me seem like a know-it-all (I fear I come across that way sometimes), & be able to get others excited about learning & implementing what they learn into their homes & families. :D

Exciting times!! :)