Pride

I know everyone wants pictures but I am not good at that(in case you haven't noticed). I do, however, want to tell you all how proud I am of my family. Ken is now back home and we are all adjusting pretty well. Ken started his new job at Massage Envy yesterday. He has been offered jobs at every place that he has interviewed at. Now maybe he will believe that he is as good as I say he is. Before they went to bed, both Chloe and Jared asked me separately when Daddy was coming home. I kind of expected this. It was so sad though. I feel bad that they are scared that he will leave and be gone for so long again. This is just another phase in the adjustment process.

Chloe gave her first talk in Primary Sunday. She and I worked on it together. We prayed before we started and we came up with the same things to say. It was a great experience. Jared's teacher told me that he kept telling him "That's my sister!" while she was giving the talk. They also got up to sing in sacrament since it was Mother's Day.

Jared is preparing to start kindergarten in the fall. He has had his physical and shots and keeps telling people that he will start school soon. He goes to preschool twice a week. He has quite a few good friends now. He loves to go on playdates.

Reba is getting really good at signing. We are all learning with her. For those of you that have not talked to us in a while, she can hear. We got her a sign language book and she was always bringing it to us to read so for her birthday we got her some more. We all have fun with it. I can't believe she is 2!

Colby is sitting up and getting up on his hands and knees now. Pretty soon he will be crawling (unless he starts walking first). He loves to stand up. He is so smiley. He laughs at everything. His favorite thing to play with is his brother. Jared likes to roll all over the floor with him. I hope they will continue to be best friends as they grow.

I have been busy getting things in order for everyone. I am trying to keep the schedule that we had before Ken came home and still let Ken be a part of it. There are chores and homework, playtime, friends, activities, my friends, etc. Life, you know?

Guy and Marilyn came out in April. While they were here we remodled 2 bathrooms, built a porch, painted the front room and went for a trip to the Outer Banks. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of work. I am so grateful to them for coming to help us. There is still a lot of finishing up to do but we have great looking bathrooms, a wonderful porch, and a pretty front room.

And now... back to our regularly crazy life. Hope you all are doing well.

Separation

I just wanted to express my feelings on this subject. I think that separation sucks. I hate to be separated from those that I love for a short period of time let alone for months on end. I don't know why people choose to be away from their families. I understand that at times it is good and refreshing to the relationship but to leave them behind for extended periods of time is just crazy. I think that this is the worst thing that I have had to deal with.

With Christmas just around the corner and Thanksgiving just past I would like to say "Thank you" to all my family for the love and support that they have shown and expressed to my family in NC and to me Iraq. It makes this difficult time a little bit easier to handle. I have never felt this alone around so many people before. I just want to be around family and feel in their love. For all those that have asked this is what I want for Christmas. Unfortunately I will not get what I want this year. I will have to wait a little longer for my Christmas present.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. May God be with all of you and your families.

Cute Colby

An Update. YEA!!!!

While I am here listening to the BYU football game I decided that I had better update the blog since it has been so long since the last update. So here it goes.

I am currently home for two week leave from a year deployment to Iraq. This has been a very trying yet uplifting time. I say trying because it is hard to be away from family and friends for such a long period with nothing but a phone call and emails to keep updated (at least we have these). I also say uplifting because it has put a new resolve into me to live my life for God and family. I have made the decision that when my current obligation is over with the guard I am done. I know I have put many years in and have many great experiences with the men and women that I have served with but I now want to spend time with my family and be with them growing up and not just a figure that they talk to and see every now and then. If things work out I will rejoin the guard later in life and get my retirement out of it. I have just learned that my priorities have changed. WOW! How things change in life when we think that we have everything figured out.

Lisa and the kids have been enjoying the company of Gramama while they have been here in NC and look forward to the remaining time that is left before I get to join them. We really don't have anything planned for after I get home on what we are going to do or where we are going to live. Again with life changing by the minute who knows what will happen. We thought that we had things planned but then due to the economy our plan fell through when an acquaintance decided not to buy a tanning salon that had a room that I would have been able to do massage therapy in. I was kinda bummed about it but life goes on and nothing was set in stone so it is easy for us to change and readjust.

Anyway I will close for now and hopefully get some pictures but up before I head back to the "Sand Box" for the final leg on the deployment and wait to see what life brings our way. Have fun and enjoy all.

Cute picture

If you want to see an adorable picture of Reba go to my mom's blog. Follow the link from this page to Gramama's blog. Enjoy.

Thinking of Daddy

Just when we thought we knew all of their tricks....

So I thought I knew all of the tricks and hiding places for clean up time. I thought I was so smart. To be outsmarted by your kids brings mixed feelings. I have hidden things under beds and in closets and drawers but this takes the cake. They found that the liner under the box spring on Chloe's bed was loose and starting to come off in one corner so they "helped it along". Then they hid toys in the boxspring. Their only mistake was "helping" the liner too much and putting things that were too heavy in there. I looked under the bed and saw something bulging. I thought one of the pieces of wood had broken so I pushed it up so that I could get a feel for what it was. I felt something round and some other things made jingling noises. You will notice in one of the pictures that Jared is holding the round tube and there is the pile of toys that they hid. In the picture of Chloe you can see the liner that she is on top of. I tried not to laugh. I was kind of proud of them too for being creative enough to think of this elaborate hiding place. I had to take a minute to take pictures before I could get stern enough to talk to them about it.