I'm so danged proud of myself!

The last few weeks I have been canning my brains out. My mom and dad have a big garden in Idaho and they gave me a bunch of tomatoes, squash, and zuchinies. I didn't want them to go to waste so I made spagetti sauce and squash soup and canned them using the bath method. I also made a ton of sour plum jelly from my grandpas orchard. We also juiced some grapes, pears, and apples so Kaden won't run outta juice.;) I must admit that there is a huge amount of satisfaction in making and canning your own food. We have been trying lately to minimize our spending, and this is the most awesome way to do that. . . Not to mention how proud I am of myself everytime we open one of those jars and eat whats in it! Its tasty too!!

Camping on Labor Day

So here are some pics of our wonderful hike up to Lake Alice. It was a 2 mile hike up and a 2 mile hike back. The kids did fantastic. Kaden got a little bit of help from Daddy, as you can see, but otherwise he was a trooper. What a fun and beautiful way to spend a day as a family. The kids found that there were tons of snails in the water and had a lot of fun collecting them. But for the next two days we had to be careful about what water bottle we drank out of.

This is the part of the hike (on our way down) that we saw the sign that indicated which way was for foot traffic and which way was for horses. On the way up, the sign was broken and we didn't see that we were taking the horse trail. Made for a fun time dodgeing piles of horse poop and repeatedly steep, rocky terrain.

Brooklyn and Kaden loved playing in the water and collecting snails. The cool water felt good on tired feet.

Lake Alice as you come out of the trees.

Roxie was a tired pooch about this time of the hike. We were on our way down and probably half a mile from the Jeep.

Kaden, taking a break on dads shoulders.

Our campsite. It was in a kind of bowl above Cokeville, Wyoming.

Our friends the Stones that we went camping and hiking with.

KADENS FIRST DAY OF PRE-SCHOOL!!

What a big little boy! Kaden has been sooooo excited to go to pre-school this year. He had a hard time last year when he couldn't stay when we dropped Brooklyn off at school. He had no separation anxiety. "bye mom" and he was gone. I was so proud of him. I am a little bit worried about his speech, but they are going to screen him and let me know if he needs to see a speech therapist. On his first day he learned how to hang up his coat and backpack, wash his hands, sit in the reading circle, and what the rules are. I think it will be wonderful for him to go and learn and play with friends and teachers at school. He is such a good little boy, but sometimes its good to get away from mom. ;)

Brooklyns first day of Kindergarten

Brooklyn was kind of mellow on her first day of Kindergarten. I think she was scared, but was really excited about starting school. She had a lot of fun picking out her outfit and how her hair was going to be fixed. She had a big breakfast and packed her backpack and went off to Mrs. Vinyards class. She did wonderful!! I, however, balled like a baby. I did fine till I walked out of the school and saw my friend Magda on the sidewalk. BWAAAAA HAAAA HAAAA!!!! She threw her arms around me and said, "Its ok." Brooklyn is loving school so far!!

Cute toes

Sweet brother and sister!

The Devil in his Eye!

Beautiful Brooks

New wonderful pics by Jo

Swim Lessons

Brooklyn and Kaden are loving swim lessons! This is the first year that we have been able to put them in the lessons it is everyday for three weeks. They constantly smell like chlorine and have dry skin, but the naps are nice and long! They both have jumped off the diving boards and did really well. Let me tell ya, these kids are a couple of fish! Everyday they tell me "mom I held my breath under water!!" Brooklyn is good at kicking, but she sinks like a rock. Kaden floats ok, but doesn't get the kicking thing quit yet.

Oh my,

So about 15 minutes after I took the pic of Brooklyns tooth on Arians hand, Kaden must have crawled up on the counter and gotten ahold of it. I just noticed that the tooth was missing. Kaden said that he dropped it in the sink. At this particular moment, the sink was FULL of dirty dishes. Oh my.

Brooklyn looses her first tooth!!!!

The funny thing is that we didn't even know her tooth was loose until a couple of days ago. We can't believe that our baby is already 5 and loosing her teeth. Believe it or not, we both thought she would start loosing her teeth when she was 7, not 5. It blew us away when her tooth just suddenly was so loose. She is so proud of herself. We made a big deal of washing the tooth and putting it on Arians hand. Arian is a little fairy figurine that is holding her hand out and has a little glass cup sitting next to her. The tooth fairy will take the tooth and leave the money in the glass cup. This is such a fun adventure to take with our little Brooklyn!

My Grandpa Hyrum, Dad John, Brother Johnny and his two boys Dallin and Ian

Just for you Mom

Vroom Vroom

My dad gave me a little Honda 110 last year and I am finally getting around to fixing it up and riding it. I went and took my motorcycle learners permit last week and actually passed! I got the motorcycle all painted up pretty, but I am still waiting on the new seat cushion to arrive in the mail. I will be covering it with white vinyle along with the back buddy seat. It is still a work in progress, but at least it isn't the ugly orange it used to be. The max speed is about 40 mph and people keep telling me it is more like a scooter than a motorcycle. I refuse to call it a scooter dang it! So I am now a motorcycle riding, 2 kid having, helmet wearing, momma.

Brooklyn and Kadens birthdays!!!

Ok. So my two kids are the most spoiled kids ever. They have birthdays which are 4 days apart. So we basically spent a whole week celebrating. We had a birthday BBQ here in Kemmerer with cousins and friends. We roasted hot dogs over a fire in the back yard. Then our darling friends had a BBQ in Logan for them and we had a little celebration. THEN my family had a party for them in Idaho that weekend! These are some pictures of the BBQ in Logan. Our friends the Samsons hosted the little party. That's Adam grilling us steaks! He got a new grill for his birthday/Easter/Fathers Day and was dying to try it out. Sunny is due any day now with their second little boy. Our friend Jo and her two little kidlets came to the party too. We ended up spending the night at Sunnys house that night because we were too tired to drive the rest of the way to Boise. These two little rats made out like bandits! 3 parties!

These are the pictures of the party in Boise. My sweet big sister and her daughters made Brooklyn and Kaden the CUTEST!! cupcake cakes ever!! The pictures are to your right. Brooklyn got butterflies and Kaden got an alligator. We had a lot of fun at the park playing and blowing bubbles. Those are my nieces Kylie and Halie in the pictures with Brooklyn. I had a hard time catching Kaden to get a picture of him that day. He was too busy. After this we went to Jodies house and set up the trampoline and put the sprinkler under it. Everyone got soaked and played till they dropped. Later that night GrandMary took the little kids and Aunt Jodie took the big kids and the REALLY big kids got to go see a movie. Johnny, Molly, Brian, and I went and ate seafood at McGraths and saw Angels and Deamons in the Theatre. Talk about a perfect day. Brian and I love to double date with Johnny and Molly cause they are a BLAST!

Bless my moms heart for taking all of the kids home for a sleepover so we could have a date.

So my babies are 5 and 3 now! yikes. What a huge blessing to have so many wonderful friends and family to celebrate these milestones with.

Clogging!

So I have a good friend who is teaching a clogging class one night a week. I finally got feeling well enough to go. Talk about a fun workout! I thought "aw, I don't need to take my inhaler, its clogging!" Whoe! I was dripping sweat within the first few minutes. And Cindy was taking it easy on me! Anyone who thinks clogging is for sissies? Let them come to a clogging class. My legs are killing me.

Scrapbook page

Someone asked me once, I can't remember who, asked me to post a pic of some of my scrapbook work. This is one of my favorites. On the right page is a mini booklet that opens up to show 4 more pages and pictures. This is one of the classes I designed and taught in Logan. I ended up teaching it two more times because people liked it so much. Lots of glitter and sparkle! The pictures are ones my friend Jo took and had printed for me. That's her daughter Lexi in the pictures with Brooklyn. They are good friends and love to play princess and dress up together.

My hero!

Can I just say what a Muffin Stud my big brother is? I wanna be like him when I grow up!

Visits

We are planning on going to Boise this week instead of going to Moab like we originally had planned. We found out about a unique job opportunity in Mt. Home, Idaho. I told Brooklyn that we were going to go visit GrandMary, Aunt Jodie, and Uncle Johnny. We love Aunt Jodies house. It has a trampoline, an adorable yellow lab named Sheba (who I must say must be the most patient dog ever), and Aunt Jodies never ending loves. She then said "are we going to see Ian?" Of course darlin'. Ian and Brooklyn are really close in age and they play till they drop.
Brian is bummed because we aren't going to be able to take his motorcycle so he can ride with his brother Shane. I said, ride 4 wheelers instead. I think that was the wrong thing to say.

"No need to fear . . . Underdog is here"

Brooklyn has decided that she is crazy about the new "Underdog" movie. She asks to watch it a couple times a day. I put it on for her today so that I could work on the computer for a while. Ya know how sometimes you hear your kids, but your not really listening? Well, I suddenly came to the realization that Brooklyn had gone back to her room with Kaden and was yelling . . . "No need to fear, UNDERWEAR is here!" I laughed, snorted, and then went back to the bedroom. I found Brooklyn and Kaden, each with a pair of their underwear on their head yelling over and over again "Underwear is here!" I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time. Brooklyn asked me to get a pair of my undies to put on my head. Ummmm no.

The Mission Call!!!!

After much preparation, doc appointments, disappointing trips to the mailbox, and worry . . . Ron and Karen Ashliman have finally received their mission call from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are going to Cleveland, Ohio Mission to serve in the Kirkland Visitors Center. They report to the MTC on June 8th. YAY!! These two are going to do a fantastic job as missionaries!

7 days off

Brian was moved to the schedule of 7 days of work, then 7 days off a while ago. This last set of days off has been a roller coaster. Brian got the sick I had that turned into pneumonia, so you can guess how much fun we have had. Our kids are about ready to rip the house down. They are so tired of being cooped up, not to mention that it snowed for 4 days straight. I am feeling much better now that I have finished the heavy duty 10 day anti-biotics. But what blows me away is how long you are tired and run down after pneumonia. I'm going on 3 weeks of this stuff. Brian is on the same meds I was on, and he hates them too. They leave this nasty taste in your mouth that makes you want to constantly suck on mints. We are so blessed that the kids didn't catch it. Brooklyn danced in her last recital on April 1st. Jo, Lexi, and Kaleb came for a visit and we had a slumber party! It was wonderful.
Brian and I are feeling the effects of cabin fever too. Tomorrow we are going to drive to Logan, just to shake things up. YAY! Road trip! Brian goes back to work on Thursday, works 7 days, and then we are taking off to go to Moab, UT. to go Jeepin for a week. Our big vacation this year. I am cooking my brains out and freezing food so that I don't have to cook while we are camping. Just open the Ziploc and warm. *sigh* I love Ziplocs. And paper plates. Anything that keeps me from doing dishes while camping is "superfly."

Well, Its official!

I officially have pneumonia. I just got home from the emergency room where they had to give me an IV, 2 bags of fluids, x-rays, blood work, and 2 different kinds of anti-nausia medicine. I haven't been able to keep water down for over 5 days. I couldn't even keep down the anti-nausia pills they prescribed me. As of right now I have lost 12 pounds and I feel like my mouth will never be clean again. Yuck! Brian is back to work this week, so my awesome friends and in laws have been splitting the Ashliman kids care. Wow! I have never had pneumonia before and it STINKS! I wish I knew what caused it because I don't EVER want to have it again. I really am praying that I get better soon. My friend Jo and her two little ones are going to come to Kemmerer to visit and see Brooklyns dance recital on the 1st of April. Can you believe it? Someone is actually going to come and visit Kemmerer! I can't even get my family to come and visit. I want to be in tip top shape when Jo gets here so I am chanting in my head "make myself well, make myself well"

My Favorite Things

1. Not being sick.
2. The thought of not being sick.
3. Have I ever not been sick?
4. My big fluffy bed after a day of being sick.
(ok, no more whining about being sick)
5. The show "Bones". I love that forensic stuff.
6. When Kaden says, "Mommy, I lub you."
7. Eskimo kisses from my kids.
8. Texts from my friends.
9. When Brian comes home from work.
10. DATE NIGHT!!!
11. Trips to Logan.
12. "Tricksters" by Tamora Pierce. The book I happen to be reading right now.
13. Pictures Brooklyn brings home from school.
14. That time each evening between putting kids to bed and falling asleep myself. When I get to pretend I'm a grown up and talk with Brian about anything I want to.
15. Calls from my Mom.
16. "Pamper Me" nights. Usually includes a bath, Enya, and no trips to the Emergency Room.
17. Watching my brilliant husband design something and make it real.
18. Ice cold water, fresh lemon, cucumber, molasses, and cayenne pepper. Try it before you judge me.
19. Reading to my children
20. Hearing my Dad say "How are you doing Kimberly? Are you alright?"
21. Snuggles from Brian.
22. Late nights of no sleep and sore sides from laughing, talking to Johnny and Molly.
23. Play group!
24. My fav music on my ipod and some running shoes.
25. The Library.
26. My Eternal Family

Barf

I hate hate hate being sick. Today has been a bad day. It is almost seven in the evening and I am, yes believe it, still in my pj's. My kids have been bathed and dressed, but I look and feel like death warmed over. Brian and I have been texting while he is at work. He says "Just keep the kids alive". Funny. I am just glad that they have had food to eat today. Graham crackers, peanuts, and orange juice is food right? Karen just got home from work and pushed her sleeves up and is now feeding and wrangling my kids. Bless her sweet heart. I must look really sick.
Poor Brian is on his sixth twelve hour day at work. I really hope he doesn't catch this crud.
On a happier note, it was nice and warm here today. Big surprise! The kids just couldn't resist going out and rolling in the melting snow (or mud). I wish I would have gotten some pictures of them. They came in giggling and covered in mud. I have a goal of having a new camera by the end of the summer. Our old camera has been dropped one too many times and my phone takes pictures that leave much to be desired. We have missed many sweet and funny photo ops due camera shortcomings.
Our parents, Ron and Karen, put their mission papers in on Sunday. Karen is scared because it could be as soon as two weeks getting their call. They have been working on this for months. You have to have so many physicals, dentist appointments, and letters from physicians in order to submit your papers. Brian and I are going to live in their house until they get home from the mission. It has been a real blessing to be here and be a part of this.

Brooklyns Special Day!!

Today was Brooklyns special day at pre-school. Special day is so fun, she got to wear a crown, pick the activities, they sang songs to her, and she showed off her poster. She also got to pick which treats to give to each of her classmates. She chose Juicy Juice boxes and pudding cups. Chocolate of course. We had a lot of fun getting ready for Brooklyns Special Day. She got to pick a pretty outfit to wear and how she wanted her hair fixed. She felt so special on her Special Day!

Getting ready for Moab

Brian and I are spending much of our time together planning and getting ready for our next family trip to Moab. We have been to Moab about three times. Two of which I was pregnant, one when Kaden was only 4 months old. I'm unbelievably thrilled to be going when my body is my own and our kids are big enough to kind of enjoy it. That and the camping part will be very easy compared to previous trips. I am so glad we have a fun family tradition like this we can plan and save for. Brians parents and little brother usually go with us. This year, however, Ron and Karen are preparing for a mission and will probably have the call before we go. Brians little brother Shane works for Micron and doesn't know if he has a job for much longer. They will be laying off 1500 or so more people by August. Scary.
Here is a picture of the unfinished rack that Brian made to go in the back of the Cherokee. It will help to be able to pull out a cooler without having to move everything that is piled on top of it. We are also making a magnetic curtain to put around the hatch when it is open. This will help the privacy thing for our little luggable loo. I refuse to go without a potty! One of our trips to Moab, I was 8 months pregnant. Going potty out in the middle of nowhere was not fun when I was that huge.
Brian did a fabulous job with this rack. It is exactly how I wanted it to look. It goes in the back cargo area of the Jeep. He is also making a cargo barrier. This is so that nothing falls forward on the kids in the back seat. We are going to be rock crawling so this is a good thing to have. Having a husband that can weld anything you could want is a good thing too!=)

Dance Recital

Today was Brooklyns first dance recital! She did so wonderful! She smiled and wasn't nervous when it came time to walk up on the stage. We fixed her hair up all pretty with red bows and put lip gloss on and some sparkly eye shadow. She told me that "I'm so pretty that I have to dance pretty Mommy." They danced to a jazzed up version of "Yankee Doodle." They marched and saluted and jumped in circles. I must say, I know I am biased, she did a darling job.

Chocolate Festival +Good Friends=Heaven

So a couple of weeks ago we drove to Logan because some friends of ours invited us to go on a double date and attend Logans annual chocolate festival. We were just starting on our first 7 days off so Brian was game for a short trip. We hired a babysitter and went out to dinner with Sunny and Adam, then scooted over to the festival. You would not believe how many people were there. It was SO packed that breathing room was a luxury. Most of the time you waited in a long line to get a sample of the different sweets that were offered. I guess that it was worth it though. It was really nice to get out of Kemmerer and see some friendly faces. Winter here is still in full swing. Kaden is getting a really mean case of cabin fever. I think pre-school will be good for him in the fall. I caught a nasty case of coldzilla. Whoa. I went to bed one night feeling just fine, but woke up in the morning unable to breath through my nose. I fear that my head may explode.
So Brian and I just finished watching Band of Brothers. GOOD MOVIE! It took us a long time to finish it because it is an HBO miniseries about WWII, but totally worth the time and effort. The reason we like it so much is because they have interviews of men who were there at the beginning of each section. I studied WWII in school and everything, but this was really amazing to experience.
Brooklyn is dancing at the grand-opening of the new Events Center here in Kemmerer. I think I am more excited than she is. It is her first dance recital. She gets to wear a costume and be on a stage. She is doing really well in learning the stretches and exercises. But her favorite part is wearing the ballerina costume and prancing around.
My big brother, Johnny, who is my hero, is in the Idaho National Guard. He has been in the east at a training for the last few months. He got a new phone and has texting (wahooo) so I have been able to communicate with him a little bit. I heard through the grapevine that he had a run in with a rather large black man with a gun. For those of you who don't know my big brother, he was an Army Ranger, speaks Arabic, and could probably kill you with his pinkie. So I texted him and asked how he was doing after this gun incident. He said "oh, I just got in my car and drove away. But pray for me, I'm more scared of not passing my training course than I am of black guys with guns." I laughed for a good ten minutes. That's my big brother.

I love tax returns!!!

Brian and I just got home from getting our taxes done. YAY! I love tax returns. We are just so relieved that we don't have to pay this year. I could not believe how big the smile on Brians face got when we found out that we were getting money back. So the Moab trip is ON! We are going to camp our way through about 7 Jeep trails. There are some really fun pictographs that I want to see as well as breathtaking views. Anything that involves family time and an insanely happy husband . . . count me in! This man is a maniac about jeepin and combine that with every other week off of work, well, the monster is born. We already plan on doing a ton of camping this summer. We have everything that you could ever need to camp in luxury, in a tent of course. Brooklyn and Kaden don't remember camping the last time because they were too small. We hope to break them into the roughing it thing before they get too old and don't think we aren't cool anymore.

Fever Princess

So late Friday night Brooklyn came to me and said "Mommy, I don't know what is wrong with me." I felt her forehead and wow! She had a fever of about 103. Whoe. Ok, if I had a fever that high, I had better be on my way to the er. But Brian gets really high fevers and it doesn't effect him so much. So we are on day three of Brooklyn fighting off a fever, vomiting, and dizziness. Nights have been nasty, if the Tylenol wears off even a little bit she is sobbing and wanting daddy. If this lasts much longer, we are in big trouble, because Brian just got switched to straight nights at his job. Yuck. But the good thing is we are now back on the 7 days on and 7 days off schedule. I like having 7 days of Brian home. More traveling! Brian is already planning a trip to Moab to go Jeepin!!!!
Anywhooo, I think that Brooklyn is so upset about being sick because she had to miss school and dance class today. I am scared to death that the rest of us are going to catch this crud. Poor Brooklyn, all day Saturday she was so still and snuggely. That was what scared me the most. Brooklyn is hardly ever snuggely. That and she turned down candy. You know she is sick when she turns down candy!

Kade-Man

So most of you either know how busy Kaden is or you can imagine a 2 year old little boy who has endless curiosity and energy. This little boy keeps me running and exhausted, not to mention most of our possessions are broken. My sister-in-law describes him as a sweet, loving little kid, but he is like a blender with no lid. When Molly first told me this I laughed out loud because she hit the nail on the head. He is sweet and tries to be a good boy, but his curiosity and determination make him as unpredictable as Wyoming weather. It was 35 below here this morning by the way. Burrrrrr. Now I remember why we didn't want to move back here. Geeez! So we have been (well I have been) half hartedly started potty training Kaden. It is kind of hard to work on it when the bathroom is so far away. But I think Brooklyn will have Kaden potty trained single handedly. He will sit on the potty and go for her. When I try to take him, it isn't as successful. He likes to be a big boy, but when I make him go it is a fight.
Wall-E is Kadens favorite movie right now. He got it for Christmas and lets just say that I'm thankful that we have two televisions. It is really cute, but I can only handle watching (or hearing) it once a day. Kaden also loves flashlights. Poor Grandpa Ron. Every flashlight that the guy owns is taken apart, lost, or broken. Ron tries to hide them, but this kid has the nose of a bloodhound. He can find anything that he sets his mind to. He can also dismantle anything that he sets his mind to. I fear for my toaster and vacuum in the future.

Figuring this Blog stuff out

So I am a little slower on the learning curve for cute blogging. But HOW FUN IS THIS STUFF!? I have to admit that I needed to do this a long time ago. I just have to teach my mom and sister how to look at my blog now and start their own.
Anywhooo, now that we finally have insurance . . . the first time in almost 3 years, I made an appointment with an OBGYN to find out what in the heck is going on with my body. Hopefully he can figure all of this out and tell me why my body is turning on me. And hopefully fix it all. That would be nice.
We are really excited because we get to go to the new Draper, UT. Temple open house tomorrow. Our friends got us tickets and we get to take Brooklyn and Kaden to see a temple from the inside for the first time. You know, they hear about temples all the time and we are hoping that this will help make it more real for them. I have to admit that I am excited too. I have never been to an open house. I have been to a dedication for the Las Vegas Temple, but I am interested to do an open house now that I know more about temples.
Update on the new bathroom going in. . . The tiles are almost finished being laid, then the grout, and we will finally get to put the claw foot tub and toilet in. YAY! It will be really nice to not have to run up a flight of stairs when we have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The bathroom is going to be really pretty. Ron (Brians dad) has done all of the work himself and it is looking beautiful.
Brians job is going really well. He is taking every chance he gets to practice his welding. He will hopefully get enough experience in to take the welders test and become a certified welder himself soon. This will be a really smart move on our part because they always need welders and Brian already has a lot of experience welding. Pray for us, it would be a good occupation for him.
I am still scrapbooking, but on a much smaller scale. There is a little gift shop in the hospital here that is buying baby scrapbooks from me to give to each of the new mothers in a gift basket. It has been fun doing baby girl and baby boy albums for them. I can do about 2 albums in two hours, so I don't get quite so bored. I still haven't heard from SEI to find out if they want me to continue to teach for them this year. With the economy, the owner might just teach the classes herself. Who knows? But I think it was a wonderful opportunity while it lasted. All in all we are settling in really well here in Kemmerer. It is still really cold and snowy, but welcome to Wyoming.

Our Little Dancer

There is a really sweet lady here who teaches dance classes for $15 a month. She accepts kids 4 years and up. So Brian and I decided that we could afford to put Brooklyn in dance classes. She loves everything ballarina and princess. As we all know, princesses dance, so she wants to learn how to dance. She is learning how to curtsy, point her toes, and strengthen muscles that you need to be graceful. You can walk into a room at any given moment and Brooklyn will be showing Kaden how to dance and be "gracie" or graceful. The other day Kaden came running into the room with a pair of Brooklyns tights, leotards, and tutu on. Oh my . . . . Brian was home and he was NOT happy. Brooklyn was so proud of herself, getting tights onto a two year old boy is not an easy thing to do. Of course Grandma Karen had to grab her camera and take some pictures of him. We tried to stop her, but we were too late. Sorry Kaden. I will see if Karen will let me have one to show you all. Just please promise you won't hold it against Kaden when he is older. Poor kid.
It is becoming quite a fight everyday to keep Brooklyn from wearing her "ballerina clothes". It is still really cold here with lots of snow and ice on the ground. Tights and leotards are just not warm enough, but explaining that to Brooklyn isn't easy. We let her wear them as much as is appropriate, but she is a very determined and persistent little girl. We have to allow time before we go anywhere for Brooklyn to put real clothes on. Hee hee. She is such a girl! Right now she is trying to grow her hair out so that we can put it up in a "ballerina ponytail" for dance lessons.

Saturday, January 2009

Yes, please don't faint . . . I am actually writing on my blog. It has been a rough summer and fall. On my birthday, June 13, Brian lost his job with NOVAK. It was all a nasty affair, but the short story is that we were all summer without a job. I worked a couple of jobs to keep us in food and diapers and Brian applied to about 150 jobs over a three month period. We were praying hard that we could stay in Logan where all of our wonderful friends are. I guess it took us three months to decide that we would go anywhere . . . please just let us get a job. Soooooo here we are, back in Kemmerer, Wy. For now we are living with Brians parents while Brian works as a welders helper for ExxonMobil. I'm not going to lie and say that it was an easy move. We are losers living with our parents, but our children are happy and we are slowly getting out of debt. I was a real weenie about leaving Logan. We have good friends there who took really good care of us. I am adjusting to life in Kemmerer now. We have been here for 5 months and I am making friends, getting involved in as many things as I can, and hosting scrapbooking twice a week. My mother in law Karen as a dream kitchen with a bar that will fit 6 scrapbookers at once. He He He. I am enjoying that.
Well Brooklyn is in pre-school at KCDC here and is loving it. She gets to go with her cousin, Cyndi, and that helped the transition a little bit. She still talks about her friend Lexi all the time. She misses how busy we were in Logan. She is sharing a room with Kaden here and they have both been wonderful. Of course, having Grandma Karen here to spoil them has made a big difference.
Kaden is loving being here and helping Grandpa Ron build the new bathroom. He is good at handing nails and tools to Grandpa and sweeping up the dust. Kaden is sooo ready to go to school. He has a hard time on the days we drop Brooklyn off at preschool. He wants to stay and play with her. He gets lonely when she is gone and I have to get creative with entertaining him. My sweet sister in law describes him as a "blender with no lid". He is always busy and taking things apart to see how they work. He is a good kid, if you can think to tell him "NO" before he can think up new ways to be destructive.
I have been focusing on being mommy and loving every minute of it. Brooklyn and Kaden are really good and well adjusted kids, they make my life so full and happy. Brooklyn starts Kindergarden in the fall and it is all day here. You can probably guess how bad I am panicking about that. She will be gone all day!!!! I don't want her to grow up this fast. Kaden will start preschool too and I think he will do wonderfully.
I really hope you all will forgive me for being so negligent in my blogging. I promise to do better from now on. I hope you all are doing well and please let me know what your blog addresses are so I can read yours.