Oh Christmas Time

Man oh man! I haven't posted in forever and haven't really given any kind of information AND haven't been reading any blogs! Whats HAPPENING?! So unlike me. :(

(Side story real quick, I was just talking on the phone, Sam's sitting in my lap sleeping and when I said goodbye, Sam mumbled "byyye..." in his sleep! Too funny!)

So anyway, Christmas this year has felt REALLY different, not just because I'm not in my own place, putting up my own decorations and all that; but it also doesn't feel like visiting family at Christmas because we're living with family. Its just weird. Its been hard to get into the Christmas spirit and I can't believe its only a week away! Jinglebells, I need to get moving! (That was my effort to get into the Christmas spirit, by the way.)

So I finally got to go into my first dr.'s appt. since we moved! I was really excited until I got there and had to wait, and wait and wait and WAIT. Two hours after my appointment was scheduled did I finally get to leave, and its not like I did anything excited, except give a ton of blood. Mostly just waiting, and filling out paperwork that I'd already filled out before. Poo. So I did get to finally schedule an ultrasound, but the lady who does them is gone for two weeks for Christmas, so its not until January 7th! By then, I will let you all know what kind of baby we're having (as in boy or girl, not naughty or nice) (oh look! More Christmas references! Yay!).

I think time is weird. You can have so much to do, and in between be so bored. Its like fast and slow, but never normal. Atleast thats how it feels right now for me. I really miss all of you down in Utah SO MUCH! I honestly thought when we moved that it would be a piece of cake, that I would have family and friends up here to keep my mind off of missing anyone, but thats just not true. I hope everyone knows how much I love them and am wishing I could fly down there today to hug you and tell you in person how awesome you are!

Oh, and real quick, we went down to Bethany's school this morning for an assembly because Bethany won a "Terrific Kid" award! You know the ones, where you see on someone's bumper "My Child is a Terrific Kid!" Yup, we have one now! haha I'm glad she's terrific at school, wish she didn't use it all up before she got home though! :)

Alright, well, I suppose I have other things to do! Merry Christmas everybody!

Woah!

Month of December:

Fri. 4th: Festival of the Nativity
Sat. 5th: Christmas Party
Mon. 7th: Gingerbread Houses
Mon. 14th: Candy Trains
Fri. 18th: Polar Express Party
18th-20th: Dave's Guard Duty
Mon. 21st: Game Night
Thurs. 24th: Christmas Eve Party
Fri. 25th: CHRISTMAS!


And those are just the things set I can remember, there's still shopping and wrapping and watching Christmas movies and, and, and!! I only wish it would snow just once! Gotta love the holidays!

Just More of This and That

I don't have tons to tell you today, just two big things:

Number One--David found out when he leaves for basic, and that is January 25th. He'll be there for about 9 1/2 weeks and then start his individual training for another 9 weeks or so. Oh, and its in South Carolina, he's never been past I think Montana, so big change for him! Hopefully they're going to give him a couple days to come home when the baby's born (I hope, I hope, I hope!!), but other than that, after January we won't see Dave until the end of June-ish. Crazy crazy crazy...I can't think about it anymore or I'LL be going crazy! Oh and also, he didn't get to do Military Intelligence like he wanted, but he'll be doing like HR work, so he'll be like an office guy sort of thing. So there you go with all that.

Number Two--it was Maddie's birthday Sunday, she turned FOUR YEARS OLD!! I can't believe how fast the time goes and how old my kids are getting! I wish I could add the pictures from the party but I can't take the pictures off my camera onto this computer so that part sucks. :( Since her birthday was on Sunday we just had a little party at my mom's house with cousins and aunts and uncles and such, and it was a good old time! I decided on Saturday that I was going to bake her a fun cake, and let her choose one from a book I had. She chose a castle sort of cake, so I said okey dokey! Except it didn't really want to cooperate with me, the cake broke when I tried to take it out of the pan, so I had to sort of operate on it, then I burned my finger pretty bad (good enough to get one of those burn blisters--ouch!) and things were falling over and I was getting messy and bah! Oh well, it got done and she liked it so thats all that matters! She loved her presents and loved Aunt Bev story telling to them, it was great fun had by all! (Well, hopefully everyone had fun, atleast all the kids really did! haha)

So anyway, those are the big things that have been going on this past week and I'm excited for all the fun Christmas stuff coming up, it will be great! (Not that I can post pictures to show you or anything...heh heh)

Updating Again

Its been awhile, sorry about that! What can I update you guys on...well, David started a seasonal job at See's Candies this last week, he looks very dashing in his "uniform". hee hee I really need to take a picture so you all can see how awesome it is!
Also we're done with all the Guard testing and are getting ready to sign on Tuesday (I really HATE to say that because it seems like everytime we think we're going to sign, there's more paper work or something comes up and the day gets pushed back, so here's hoping its ACTUALLY tuesday!) And THEN I can finally tell you when Dave's going to Basic Training and everything will start moving for us! He did very well on his first test and scored high enough to do the job he wants to (which is Military Intelligence--no stupid puns please about how thats an oxymoron, I've heard it plenty) and he passed his physical (barely!), although we learned that his hearing isn't that great (I've been saying for years!) and his eyesight isn't perfect anymore (I've been saying for years!) and he's partially color blind (also been saying for YEARS!), but he passed so thats good. He also took a language test to see if he would qualify to learn another language and go down to California but he didn't score high enough to do that. BUT he can retest in six months so thats still an option. I think thats it about that for now...atleast I can't think of anything else! :)
Lots of things to get used to here still, like that it takes FOREVER to drive anywhere around here, the traffic is bad and it rains A LOT. Not that I didn't know that before, just getting used to it again. Trying to get used to have a smaller ward, where Bethany and Maddie are in the same Primary class because there aren't enough kids to have separate classes--its weird! :) Other things going on, besides Thanksgiving, it will be Maddie's birthday next Sunday and she will be FOUR YEARS OLD! Crazy kid, will be four but still wears two year old clothes, sheesh! Bethany's doing good with school, she's handling it really well I think, if I could just get her to stop throwing massive tantrums when she gets home, also sheesh! And Sam's getting bigger and talking more every day, its so fun to watch him talk because everything sounds like a question and he's trying so hard to make sentences, so cute!
Also still really missing everyone so much! So hard to not be able to hang out and see everyone! Hope you all know I've been thinking of you and missing you!

What's Going On?

Its been almost a full week since we got here and we've been pretty busy. David has been putting in applications, going to interviews and talking to the army guard. I think we've done pretty good so far, and it looks like hopefully Dave can get a seasonal job at See's Candy (I know, crazy right?). I really hope he gets it and it all works out! Also, he's supposed to go in on Monday for his first test with the Guard, and I think the next test is on Thursday. We're really hoping and praying he scores well, so your prayers would be much appreciated too!
Bethany finally started school, we got her in on tuesday and then had to turn around and pick her up a few hours later because there was some miscommunication about her peanut allergy. We had to get that all worked out before she could go back, so she started again yesterday. I really think she's doing good, I worry so much that this is going to be so hard on her but she's a friendly girl and seems to be adjusting really well. She really likes her teacher and she said she's already made three friends (although she can't remember their names)! We drove by her school yesterday and saw her playing out on the playground, made me tear up a little to see her out there! (But I'm a little emotional anyway, ya know?)
We miss everyone down there so much, its so weird not to get to stop in at your houses' and say hello! I think we're starting to really settle in and get used to all the changes, but still lots to do and lots to get used to! Oh and get this, I already have an appointment to see the Bishop on Sunday, they must really need the help here! haha Wish me luck that I get an easy calling right? Oh, and I really am starting to feel (i.e. look) pregnant, it's weird. We'll get to find out soon what we're having too, well, ya know, after I get a doctor and insurance all set up...that won't take long will it?

We're Here!

Hey everyone, just stopping in here to say we got up to Washington just fine and are settling in. I wish I could put pictures up from Halloween but I didn't take any pictures! Sad huh? Not from the ward party either, maybe someone else took some pictures and you can catch a glimpse of us in the background. Thats the best I can do!
Hopefully I'll be able to give you a better post soon, until then I just want to let all our great family and friends back in Utah know how much we love you and miss you! You really were wonderful to us and I hope you know we appreciate your friendships' and the time you gave us! So hard to move!

Yup, You Guessed it: MORE PACKING!

Hey, its me again. I don't know why I'm even posting, not like I can give you any new information; more like: Hey, still packing! And thats about it.

It's Saturday, so that means Dave's mom gets here on Tuesday and his dad on Wednesday! Just a few more days left to pack and clean and load up the u-haul and we're gone! Its so crazy to think about--I think my head's gonna explode!

I do have to say I'm so thankful for nice friends and family who are willing to help out, I hate asking for help, I really do, so I'm especially grateful for the people who've been there for us! I got my first taste of missing people yesterday too; my good friend left for a trip and wouldn't be back before we left, so I had to say goodbye. It was so hard! I was hoping I could skip all those sad feelings and just be excited to be home, but no, it still hurts!

Once we get up there it will be easier right?!

Pack, pack, pack!

Just stopping in here real quick to tell you I'm still alive! Its been a week since I shared all my big news and I've been trying to get tons done. I don't think I've hit the "tons" mark, but I've gotten a good amount done, with a good amount left to do! The thing with packing is you can pack a whole bunch of stuff, think you've done a lot, look around and realize you've just barely scratched the surface! There's just so much stuff you don't realize you have! So its been really good to go through everything and get rid of stuff we don't need and get a little more organized! I'm excited to be up in Washington, although right now it all feels like a really fast paced dream and its hard to really picture it! The kids are really excited and ask every day if we're moving tomorrow, and Bethany is finally happy to move except she's nervous about starting a new school, and I can't blame her, I remember feeling the same way. I'm hoping and praying everything just works out well and this will be an amazing experience for us! Alright, need to get going and get some more packing done!

Ya'll Ready for This?!

Today is the day! Today I am FINALLY going to tell you all my news and plans! Are you so exciting you just might wet your pants?! Probably not yet, but after you hear it, that just might happen! So be careful!

First up, if you've been thinking at all what "big news" we might have, you might have come up with us moving (since we've been talking about it for awhile now, and almost did awhile back). Well, if you came up with that, YOU'D BE RIGHT!! But I bet you didn't guess that we'd be moving in about TWO WEEKS! Yes thats right people, we are moving before Halloween, and I'm feeling a little crazed, so watch out! (Oh, by the way, we're moving up to Washington, if you hadn't guessed.)

Other news, David's joining the military. Did you see that one coming? Once we get up to Washington, he's going to join the army guard and we'll find out then when he'll be leaving for basic and whatnot. It will be very hard to be away from him, but I'm so glad we'll be home so I can have the support of my family during that time.

Now you also might have thought..."hmmm, 'big news', maybe Melinda's pregnant..." Well, you'd be RIGHT ON THAT ONE TOO!! Insane I know, first one of all our kids to be an "accident." And to think I used to roll my eyes when people said that, I so deserved that to happen didn't I?! We are due April 14th, and I'm something like 13 or so weeks along now. So stop looking at my stomach, yes I look fatter--thank you very much.

And what do these lovely people win for guessing?!

Your prize is my eternal gratitude for the amazing friends we've had, the awesome experiences and all the opportunities we've grown from. I am so grateful for the time we've gotten and even though I know its time for us to move on, I will never forget how much I've loved it here! We've had two of our three children, watched Bethany start school, had some amazing callings and really had to grow up. Thank you, thank you, thank you Utah!

News and Plans

Okay, so we're not going to do the chicken costume. Even though I love it and think its adorable! :( But I found another idea we really love and all the kids can do a theme together, which is perfect! I'm really excited about it! Are you ready for Halloween?

I'm also really excited because today was like my last official day of work! Shocker for me, it was very euphoric driving away today, I am so excited to be home with my kids, get some projects done and have some time to do what I want to. :) I'm still going to be painting some murals at the daycare, but I can do that on my time, and I'm excited about it. Don't worry I'll take lots of pictures!

My parents are in Las Vegas right now for a family reunion and to move my sister and her family back to Washington! I am so sad I can't be there with them!! I REALLY REALLY wish I was there! Darn it all!

Lots of big news coming up, but I'm mean and will make you wait until things become more official! Ha ha! Just going to keep hinting at stuff until you explode! Or its not exciting anymore?

Quitting, Sales and Kitty Cats!

I hadn't posted this week because I've been busy!! I wish I'd been more organized, but Shanna and I decided to have a yard sale this last Saturday. So I spent some time getting stuff out and ready for that, even though it was sort of a bust. With the weather being so cold, the road work along our street and Conference, I think it just was working against us! But whether we sold stuff or not, it was good to get rid of all this extra stuff cluttering our house! I'm still finding more stuff I could have gotten rid of, but it will happen! Also Saturday as we were getting stuff out of the shed, we heard a little "meow! meow!!" in there, and found a brand new little abandoned kitten! I didn't take pictures of it but it looked something like this:

Except little-er and fuzzier! Cute huh?

Well, I tried to feed it some milk and keep it warm, but eventually we had to call some people to come take care of it, I was really afraid it was going to starve to death. Plus we don't need a cat. :)

Other things going on? I gave my notice at work! There's a lot of stuff up in the air we're trying to plan, so when things become more concrete, I'll fill you in better. (I feel so mysterious! Actually, I just don't like to share news that can potentially not happen.) :)

So I have today off, and I'm planning on going to the Star Mill since I've never been there, and I have a project I want to do that I can hopefully find stuff there! I've been feeling so crafty lately! I wish I had the time and energy (and money!) to do all the things I want to! Hopefully when I'm at home all day, I can get a LOT more stuff done! Yay for that!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Oh my goodness, I found the cutest costume on the whole planet! I would LOVE to make this for Sam, I'm just not sure if he would rip all the feathers off and fall on his face every two minutes! :)



The only problem is, I really love to do our whole family in a theme for costumes. Like last year we did "Popeye", where we were each someone off of the show. And I love that, but maybe this year we'll do something different?

Are you planning stuff for Halloween already?

Random Updates

So we really haven't had much going on this week (well LOTS goes on, just nothing exciting), mostly we're trying to get ready to have a garage sale. I mean, I knew we had a lot of junk but man there's nothing like looking for your junk to make you realize how overwhelmingly you have junk! (Did that make any sense?) So wish us luck this next weekend that our garage sale will bring us tons and tons of money and we won't have so much garbage in our house! :)

I got released from Young Women's a few weeks ago. :( Its been such an odd change! After three years of meetings and Tuesday night activities: nothing! Can't say I haven't enjoyed spending time with my family, but I miss my girls so much too! Young Women's is such a special calling, I know they're all special, there's just something different about working with the youth. I loved it so much!

We went to the most awesome birthday party the other night, it was amazing! Tiffany's party blew me away! There were pony rides, a bounce house, playdough for all the kids, cupcakes, a slushy machine, popcorn, a DJ, a pinata; you name it, they had it! I loved it almost as much as the kids I think! So much fun!

And I finally got my hair cut! Oh man, if you've never had short hair, you just don't realize how irritating it is when it starts to grow out! But now that my neck's all shaved and cleaned up, I feel so nice! I'm thinking about adding some red to my hair, what do you guys think? Would that be weird?

Campfire Fun

Well, we've been having a little bit of fun this weekend, which is just so needed! Life has been crazy and busy and it was so great to get out with friends and do something fun! So thank you friends for being awesome, I just adore you gals!

First we decided to go up the canyon and take some pictures, see if the leaves were changing, let the kids play and run around.










But we got hit by a little storm and couldn't stay very long, but we didn't want to waste the $6 it costs to go up there, so we decided we'd go back up last night and have a roast out. It was so much fun, we really had a great time getting all sugared up!











Now that the weather's starting to cool down, we won't get to do that kind of stuff as much. Hopefully we can think of other fun things to do! :)

I Need My Shows!

The other day I was driving and I turned around to glance back at Maddie, but when I did I saw the saddest face humanly possible. Her mouth was pinched tight, her eyes were huge and round, and they had the slightest little watery edges. It was so sad it made me start to tear up myself!

So I ask her "what's wrong?!"

And she says in the softest littlest voice, "Remember when we were at Grandma Carol's?..."

And I tell her yes and she goes on in this tiny voice that I can't hear, telling me something about Grandma Carol. And I'm thinking she just misses her, but I tell her to speak up and I finally get this out of her:

"When we were at Grandma Carol's, and I rode in her car...I wanted to watch a movie...but I couldn't because she doesn't have a tv in her car!" Big tears rolling down her face.

Well, we know where her priorities lay.

Learning Curve

Can't believe I haven't posted this yet! Well, a tad bit late, but better than never!

Bethany's first day of school!

I guess it was a tad bit windy?


Bethany loves school, thats no surprise. She's doing great and has been really good about doing homework. She doesn't always love it, but hey, neither do I. She has a male teacher this year, and she really likes him. He's very fun, and works really well with the kids. But what totally tops the list for going to school all day? LUNCH. She gets to buy lunch this year, and pretty much the first thing she tells me every day is what she ate for lunch. :)

Fun, fun!

So I'm finally getting around to blogging, this last weekend I was able to go down to Toquerrville where my grandma lives to see my sister and her family and her new baby! It was so nice to get away and be around my family, I just have to say there is no better friend than a sister. :)
So on Saturday we went to the little Peach Day's fair they had there, it was a lot of fun and the kids had a really good time I think. Here's some pictures from that:

They got their face painted!



And snowcones too!



Then later in the weekend I took a few pictures of my newest nephew Liam, he really is just such a doll! I'm so glad I got to meet him!











Too fun! The kids cried and cried to leave great-grandma amd their cousins, it was too sad! We miss you all already!

Can You Stand It?! So Cute!

So I just got to see a few of the pictures from our shoot with Tiffany, here's a couple for you to see too! (There's more on her blog, I can't wait to see the rest!)






Isn't the location cool?! I was surprised that we've driven by this old house tons of times and never figured we could stop there and take pictures! Its just right down the road in Pleasant Grove by Macey's. Makes me want to take my kids out and practice right now! So fun! (And a big thank you to Tiffany! They look fabulous!)

New Nephew!

I need a break. I would really love it I could just have one day to myself, to do whatever I want without anything or anyone else (mostly my kids). But mostly I wish I could go down to Las Vegas and meet my new nephew!



Isn't he the sweetest thing?! His name is Liam Edward and he has tons of black mohawk hair and I just love him!

(I also really need to get the pictures from Bethany's first day of school on here--what a bad mom I am--and lots of other things too. I also need to dejunk and get ready to have a garage sale. If only I didn't feel so yucky this week, hopefully next week I can go double time!)

Pictures, pictures

We got family pictures taken last night, I'm really excited to see how they turned out! It was a really long/somewhat difficult day yesterday, so at one point I didn't think the pictures were even going to happen. But it was good to just get them done with and not worry about them for awhile, everything worked out good and the location was really cool. Really can't wait to see them, hopefully they're fantastic! The lady who did them is Tiffany Ericksen and her's was the best price I've seen, and she was really nice. Click on her name to go to her website and see some of the stuff she's done.

The thing about getting our pictures done is that it makes me go all coo-coo for photography again! I love photography and kind of go in ups and downs to how much I do it, and right now I really want to do more photography. I wish I could take some classes, get some more lenses, get backgrounds and lighting, and all that! More than anything I just need to practice though. So I've been thinking I need to get out with my own kids and practice and then maybe I'll start asking people if they want family pictures done or kids pictures and just keep working on it or whatever. I can't wait to start feeling creative again! Anyone want to go take pictures let me know!

Sorry this is sort of a tangent on my thoughts, but thats what I've been thinking about lately! :)

I know, MORE trips!? Yep!

Okay, now that I've gotten the wedding pictures up, I can add pictures from the next big thing: Youth Conference!
Below the pictures I'm putting my favorite quotes from the weekend, they don't really go with the pictures or anything, and I'm not going to explain them, they just made me laugh!


"STARP it!"

"Hmmm, I think she's 4' 12"..."

"Leg locking, is that what they're calling it these days?"

"Moist towelette..."

"Want a sweaty sweet tart?"

"Hey, I wasn't born in the first century okay?!"

"Magical Nerd Game."

"Buoy. Gosh I hate that word."

"Sun poisoning."

"I think I broke my tailbone."


Despite the horrible wind and the not so warm weather, we had a good time. Goodness I love our youth!