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!

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

Couples Retreat

No, not the movie (though we did see that & I personally wouldn't recommend it...not very & often crude).


Dave & I had our first date away from home since before Jordan was born. My Mom has been in town for the past week & a half, so Dave & I made reservations up in St. George for an overnighter.

No matter where we go, & no matter how many lists I make to check off, something is forgotten. This time it was my Temple Recommend. I grabbed the husband's, but forgot to check to make sure mine was where I thought it was. Totally bummed out, we went up to the Temple grounds anyway & went to check out the visitors center. A Sister missionary working there asked if we had been inside the Temple yet. When we explained that we hadn't & that today was to be our first time, she advised us to call our Bishop or Stake President. According to her, this was a special circumstance & told us of her husband's experiences as a former Stake President with this.

I didn't expect anything to come of it, nor did I really consider it a special circumstance (I just don't have those in my life), but we called Bishop anyway. I was SO glad this Sister advised us to do so. We were able to attend the Temple that night, seal Dave's grandparents, & do some other work for some family members! It was an incredible night & we had so much fun! We left feeling refreshed & filled.











We wound up staying up until 2 in the morning, eating our Wendy's frosty's, watching movies & laughing. It's something we never do anymore & I can honestly say we really enjoyed this time together!




The next morning, we headed out to Zion National Park. We'd never been there & had heard so many great things about it, so we had to go check it out. The mountain views on the way were unlike any I've never seen before.



We stopped at an organic apple orchard & market on the way out there. The Fuji apples were ripe & ready to be picked. We loaded up a bag-full of the beauties to bring home to share.

Overall it was a really nice little trip. The kids did good for my Mom & I doubt they missed us for even one minute. When we got home, Logan was a little upset with me because I wouldn't take him to the Temple with me that day. He said he wanted us to go on our "date" to the Temple....just the two of us. Someday. :)