Good Eyes, Folate and Iron

I never realized how lucky I was to have good eyesight, until this year. My eyes have rapidly declined over this past year and I now have glasses, although I am really bad at wearing them. So I just sit here at the computer and squint and strain because I am too lazy to go upstairs and get them.

Okay this is for all you health nuts out there. C'mon, I know you're out there. I have embarked on a new food tracking plan and I am trying to get in better nutrition. I am finding it a bit of a challenge to make my goals for Iron and Folate. Anyone have any good ideas. I have tried Total Cereal and Mulitgrain Cheerios, but I need some different ideas.

Anyone, Anyone?

Happy Holidays

Wishing I could give all of you a plate of these cookies.

I had a lot of fun baking cookies this year with Kate.

We made Gingerbread men, Spice-Cake cookies with

chocolate chips and cranberries, Cream Cheese shortbread

cookies with peppermint/cream cheese frosting (my FAV!)

And last, but not least, Eggnog Cookies. MMMM!

Ahhhh...my favorite afternoon past time.

Katelyn on Christmas:

Mommy: "Katelyn, who is Santa?"

Kate: "Santa Claus...candy cane...paper...stickers too!...girls...boys" (At our ward Christmas Party with Santa, they got candy canes and a paper with stickers of a manger scene)

Mommy: "Katelyn, who is Jesus?"

Kate: "Jesus Christ, Amen!" (the Amen said very emphatically, of course)

Mommy: "Katelyn, what do you want for Christmas?"

Kate: "umm...(eyes looking up like she's thinking) cake party!"

Last night. We were invited by the Galloway's to go to one of the nearby Nursing Homes to sing Christmas carols. We weren't there very long, but it was fun. The residents there really do appreciate even the smallest of talents. They are sweet. Afterward we went to the Library for about an hour. I checked out some books on Meditation and Relaxation. Should be interesting. Then we rented some Christmas movies. Last night we watched "Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage". It was a really good movie. I had goosebumps, tears, the works. We popped popcorn and made homemade brownies...MMMMMMM! So good!

Tonight we will watch "Fred Claus". Justin has to work Christmas Eve and Christmas night both, so Katelyn and I will have to get creative and have something fun to do while he is away.

We hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas this year, taking time remember the most important gift of all, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Hangin' With Dad

My future Food Network Star

Katelyn loves hangin' out with Dad.

Last night she helped him make the

Spaghetti sauce and then later he

took her shopping for new boots,

gloves and a cool "Dora" hat.

My Kate

I just had to snap a picture of these cute girls. Maggie and Chloe are Kate's new friends. She is a year in between both of them (Maggie-3 1/2, Kate-2 1/2 and Chloe-1 1/2). She just LOVES playing with them and getting to be very girly. Barbies, dress up, singing and dancing. I think it's great. We dearly love all of her boy cousins, but it is so nice for her to get to play with little girls. Luckily, there are a lot of them in our new ward. I love the cheeks on Kate and Chloe.

Kate thought that her hair was pretty funny yesterday. When I fixed it like that, she just started giggling.

I'm dreaming of a...

green Christmas! Well, it appears as though I spoke too soon. Last night it started to snow here in "winter paradise" and it is COLD! Luckily, there isn't that much snow, but the wind does blow something fierce down here, so that does not help at all. Justin and I are going to have to go out and pick up some winter coats, which neither of us have.



Last night was our ward Christmas Party. A good time was had by all. We had a delicious dinner, lovely entertainment, and of course a visit from SaNtA! Katelyn wasn't so sure about Santa this year, which is why I am in the picture. That's OK though. We are still trying to get to know people in our massive ward and a nice young family with three daughters was kind enough to sit by us. Kinda made having one child seem like a breeze as I watched the mom juggle 5 plates and their youngest one all at the same time.

Today I felt keenly aware of my frumpiness while at church. I really need a shopping spree! Everyone dresses so nice and almost professional like. I guess it would help more if I actually liked wearing dresses and skirts, but I don't. I made a huge mistake by wearing full nylons too and wanted to rip them from my body before Sacrament meeting was over. Never again! It's knee-highs all the way! Not only that, but I can't wear heels anymore. Anyway-someone please buy our house so I can go shopping!

My week

Soup. This week I made my first ever chicken noodle soup and it was very yummy. It's a great time of year for eating warm, hearty soups and stews. I used an entire rotisserie chicken...mmm! Delicious. I got the recipe from AllRecipes and then made my own variations.

Cookies. Tis the season for baking as well. Last night we tried out Tara's eggnog cookie recipe. If you like eggnog, you will like these. The only problem was that I added too much butter. I was looking at the wrong line of the recipe. Woops! So I threw in some extra flour to try and compensate. They still turned out tasty. We also tried out my friend Sarah's recipe for cream cheese shortbread cookies with cream cheese frosting, topped with candy cane bits. We LOVE these cookies and were always very excited to get them every Christmas season in Newport. They are amazing! Katelyn loves to help mommy in the kitchen and I try to let her help where she can. She's so cute. Next week we will make more cookies and deliver them to friends for the Holidays.

Quilting. The highlight of the week was finding this great quilt shop here in Richland. Village Quiltworks is a really cool and nice quilt shop. I was very excited to check it out because before we moved, I was in the quilt shop in Newport and there was some other lady in there saying how she hated the tri cities because there was nothing here and no quilt shops. Maybe she didn't know about this shop. I can't wait until I have money to spend again, so I can start up, or finish some existing projects.

Movies. If you are looking for some great family movies, here are two that we have recently watched and really liked. So many people told me how good August Rush was, but I never got around to seeing it. We rented it the other night and really liked it. Very clean film. Justin even got teary-eyed. Our other find is Nim's Island. I actually bought this one on a whim, and am very glad I did. It's a cute, clean show and Katelyn LOVES it. She wants to watch it several times a day. It's really nice to find movies that I feel totally OK with letting my toddler watch and don't have to worry about questionable content.

Other than that, I am very excited to be nearly half way through December without seeing one single flake of snow. It is getting colder here, but no snow yet. I hope you all are enjoying the Holiday Season.

My Brown Eyed Girl

couldn't you just eat those cheeks up?"cheeese"

After a particularly stressful day, I got Kate into bed and sat down to watch some mindless television. My first stop is usually the Food Network, but I can't stand to listen to Paula Dean's voice, so I began flipping. I ended up stopping on BYU TV, which always ends up being a really good idea, and listened to part of a talk Sheri Dew was giving. Although my stressful situation had been eased earlier this evening, I was still feeling pretty wound up and worried. It wasn't until I began listening to this talk, that I started to feel more calm. She quoted President Hinckley (see quote of the day) and it was exactly what I needed to hear today. I am very thankful to have God in my life and to have a rock solid foundation to stand on because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.





In other news this week, I became an Aunt again on Tuesday. Tabby and Travis (Justin's brother) had their second baby, a boy named Isaac. We can't wait to meet him! Hopefully we can produce another child, preferably before Katelyn is in high school, and join the two-kid club!





Katelyn: I just have to write thoughts down every once in a while, so I will be able to remember things about when she was a little girl. Sometimes I think Katelyn is a very unusual child. She is so mellow. I took her to the craft fair with me tonight-no stroller-and she stayed by my side the entire time. I had my eye on her the whole time, but she never wandered off or ran wild or anything. My Dad always tell me that she is exactly like I was when I was little. Very shy and reserved. I love Katelyn. She follows me everywhere when we are at home and wants to help me with everything that I am doing. She loves to color and read books and play mommy. Sometimes she seems very mature for her age, or maybe it's just because she isn't as wild and crazy as some other toddlers. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Molly, who is a teacher, was explaining to Katelyn that she should cough into her arm, rather than her hand. So today when I was coughing, Katelyn (very motherly-like) reminded me that I needed to cough into my arm. For a while now Katelyn has been calling me "momma". I can't really figure out where she picked that up from, by I think it's cute. It's not mommy anymore, just momma. Katelyn doesn't waste her time using too many words in one sentence. She gets right to the point. "Cold hands. Pockets. Nice and warm." One of her big things is to walk around with her hands in her pockets when we are outside. She is very much into wearing dresses right now, and likes to change her dress, or skirt, multiple times throughout the day. Katelyn also really likes to pray. Often times, we'll ask her to fold her arms for prayer and before we decide who is going to say it, she launches into her own prayer, which usually goes like this: "hey father, Jesus Christ, Amen." Sometimes I will even catch her during the day while she's playing, just randomly saying a prayer. I love it!

Craftgasm

So you are probably wondering what exactly a craftgasm is, right? Here's the story: Recently, one of my sisters was telling me of a new shoe store they are putting in Spokane and she is so excited because she has been to one of these stores previously and had what she called a "shoegasm". I guess you have to be a shoe lover to relate. Well, I was out doing some shopping today looking for a particular allusive item and decided to try the Craft Warehouse. Ok, maybe I don't get out much, but I think I had a "craftgasm". I was expecting it to be really lame and sort of dollar-store-ish (not that I have anything against the dollar store), but it turned out to be really cool and they had some really nice fabric in there and all kinds of cool stuff. I was just buzzing in there and came out with some cool projects that I had not intended on. Just wanna let my family know, they are getting hand crafted gifts this year for Christmas (even Alura). I can't wait to get started! I came home triumphant and treated myself to a "PMS-er's Delight" brownie (recipe follows) and I will sleep a happy woman tonight!

Brownies: The real name is "Fudgy Toffee Bars"

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C Confectioners' sugar
1/4 C baking cocoa
3/4 C cold butter or margarine
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 t vanilla
2 C (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 C coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 C flaked coconut
1/2 C English toffee bits (i.e. heath bar)

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cocoa. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press firmly into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat milk, vanilla and 1 Cup of chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with nuts, coconut, toffee bits and remaining chocolate chips; press down firmly. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Giving Thanks

This year's tree. It's only 3 feet tall, but it will do. We didn't think to bring any of our Christmas decorations down from our other house, and I am not sure if we will be making it up there before Christmas, so we decided to get this small tree and some mini ornaments so we could have something at least. We got some LED lights this year and wow are they bright. Almost too much for this little guy.

Just before we moved I was talking with someone about the uncertainty of making a big move, feeling bad for leaving a small area that needs people, but having to follow what you feel is the right thing. This person said to me that "maybe it is the right thing, but maybe it just doesn't matter. Just think of it as an adventure!" At the time it seemed like a cool way to look at it, but as we have spent the last month here in the Tri-Cities, I have had a reassurance and confirmation of the decision we made to move here. I am sure there are things in life that the prior mentality can apply to, but this was a big decision for us and I believe that it did matter, that we did pray hard about it, and we did get an answer from Heavenly Father. I am thankful for the ability to be led by the Spirit of God, and to know that we can trust in His plan for us. We feel very blessed to be here as a family.

My Quirks

I just noticed that I have been tagged. Maybe I would have known earlier if it didn't take all day to get from one blog to another. Anyway, I think I am supposed to list six quirky things about me, so here goes..

1. I hate wearing a bra. I have even been known to go to the grocery store without wearing one, but only if I happen to have a heavy sweatshirt on, so you can't tell. I know, I'll probably have nice saggy boobs when I get older.

2. If I don't get a nap every day, I am not too happy about it.

3. I cannot eat raw onions or garlic. They make me feel sick.

4. Hair: I have to wash it every day and I hate fixing it. I would be fine with a pony tail every day, if I thought it was socially acceptable.

5. I hate quarreling.

6. I hate when I lose control of my emotions.

Sorry, that was really not very interesting, but there you go. Now I am supposed to tag two other people. So, I tag: Sarah P. and Molly

Thanksgiving Day Re-Cap

I have discovered that it takes nothing short of a lifetime and the patience of Job, to download a picture on my blog, now that we have the lovely NetZero. I cannot wait to have fast internet again. Anyway.

This year we stayed home and had my Dad, his wife, Brandi, Eli the dog, and last but not least, Britany come down for Thanksgiving. They all arrived Wednesday evening. Justin made a big pot of yummy chili for dinner and we just visited for a while.

Thanksgiving Day, I cooked while Justin shuttled tours for my Dad and Brandi. He took my Dad to see the new Police Station and then later came back to pick up Brandi to head out to show them our new town. They both seemed to really like the area and were surprised at how much bigger it is than they thought.

Instead of having a traditional T-day turkey, we went with a delicious spiral ham from Costco. My Dad helped in the kitchen with some of the prep work and washing dishes. I made three new recipes this year. One for stuffing, one for green bean casserole, and one for candied sweet potatoes that were sooo good! Justin made a delicious jello salad and for dessert I made a pumpkin pie, that some of us (myself and Brit) were a little less than impressed with. Oh well.

An hour or so after dinner we went over to the full court gym here at the apartment complex and hopefully burned a few thanksgiving calories by shooting hoops and running around. We made it back to the apartment just in time to watch Survivor, but found that it was only a recap of previous shows this season and not a new episode. Nuts! (My Dad shares my same love for Survivor, so it would have been fun to watch with another fan.)




Brandi left Friday and Justin had to work. Britany, Kate and I went out to two stores (that was about all either of us could handle on "black Friday") and took care of one Christmas present, while my Dad went back to the gym to shoot hoops, take a tan and sit in the hot tub. So spoiled :)





Later that night we rented movies and made banana spits and just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. It was a good Thanksgiving, but next year I hope that maybe we could be in a house, with a HUGE kitchen to cook in. Hey a girl can dream, can't she?

Milestones

Wow, a lot of things have happened in Katelyn's little life this week. Lets see...where to start? First, she rather unfortunately, attempted to eat her first booger. Mom was NOT happy about this at all. I had been quite proud of the fact that Katelyn generally keeps her fingers out of her nose and had never tried to eat anything from it before. Next, she reached down into her poopy diaper and got a finger full of poo. Even better! I am her mom, and that little episode even had me on the verge of gagging.


We went to our first Doctor's visit here in the tri-cities. Katelyn has been coughing a lot for about a week and a half, so we decided we probably should take her in. Not knowing who to go to, we just picked out an office we saw as we were driving down the road one day-called "Center For Pediatrics". We felt good about the office and the staff was extremely friendly. Katelyn saw Dr. Tatunay, a female doctor who is foreign, about five feet tall, really cute and seems to be really great. She was very thorough and very nice. They said that they like to get a baseline CBC on their patients to check for various things (I know, I sound wishy-washy huh?). Anyway, I wondered how that was going to go over with Katelyn. She's a trooper though. Fortunately for her she got to watch mommy get her arm poked and have blood taken a million times this summer, so when I told her what we were going to do, she understood. She did awesome! She cried when the needle went in, but she recovered so quickly that I don't think it traumatized her too much. (*here is my soap box: do not act scared or worried for your child, it only makes things worse. I saw that too many times working in surgery. Over-reactive parents create scared, dramatic kids, who are terrible patients.) We were very proud of her for being so brave. The hardest part of all was trying to get a urine sample from Katelyn. She's not really peeing on the toilet yet, so I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. They sent us home with a little toilet "hat" and a bottle. Tonight I got her on the potty and filled up a glass with nice warm water and she had fun putting her hands and feet in it while she sang "tinkle, tinkle, little star". It took a while, but she finally told me that she went potty and sure enough, she did! Maybe we're onto something...


I am very excited about next week's Thanksgiving Day festivities. We will be staying in the Tri-Cities this year and are lucky enough to have my Dad, Brandi, and even Britany joining us. Oh yeah, and Eli-the dog. I am excited to cook the T-day meal. I don't think I have done one before. Not all of it anyway. Who knows, I don't even remember what we did last year. I am going to try some new recipes which I am very excited about. One of them being for green bean casserole. I am going to do one that is a little more unconventional this time and I can't wait to try it. I will also experiment with a new Stuffing recipe. I haven't found one that I am in love with yet, so we will see how it goes this year.

This picture really doesn't seem that great, but

this is what I have been waking up to almost

every day that we have been here. Beautiful

sun-shiny days! I love it.

We only have one car right now so I either have to

drive Justin to work, or let him have the car, which

I hate doing because then I am stuck at home for 13

hours with no transportation. Some days I let him.

Yesterday, he drove the car to work because I did not

want to get Katelyn up at 5am to go with us. I decided

that Kate and I would have an "adventure" and take

the city bus over to the Police Station to pick up the

car. If I could only get Justin to ride the bus.

It was sort of fun. I used to have to ride the city bus

home from high school every day, but I have not been

on a bus in years. It's so economical, but I can't imagine

doing a bunch of shopping and trying to tote all your bags

and a toddler onto the bus. That would be tough.

Katelyn was wide eyed the entire time and seemed

to really enjoy the ride. However, we we got off at our

final stop, I asked her "was that fun or what?" and she

replied: "what." I got a kick out of that.

After picking up the car we took foo-foo drinks and scones

over to Molly's and then spent the day with her.

We went to the mall to pick up a couple of things and the

place was just bustling with holiday shoppers. I really

LOVE the Christmas season, but every year I struggle

with the whole idea of buying a bunch of presents. For

the past couple of years I have sort of felt like I was just

buying presents, just to buy presents. Just to have things

under the tree. Some of them may be meaningful and

others not so much. Maybe I would feel better about it

if I started my Christmas shopping earlier. A lot of

times, I am cutting it close to the deadline so I am just

rushing around trying to get "things" to fill up space. This year

I am going to try and be different. Overall though, I feel

like Christmas is too commercialized. I think the present

giving should be simplified and heart felt.

A Blustery Day

Because we are paying a house payment and rent right now, I decided that we could cut back on some things. One of those things is Internet. So I signed up for NetZero, which was quite a steal! 5 bucks for 3 months. Not bad, eh? It's just really annoying when you want to surf the net. How did we ever survive on dial up???

This week has been fun. Sunday night I went to my ward's women's chorus. It looks like they sing in church once a month. It was awesome! I haven't been able to sing in a group for a really long time and it was so great to be able to sing with a group who can really sing and read music and sound good. (did I already write about this?)

Yesterday Kate and I went to the play group at church and met a lot of cute little kids. Katelyn had a great time playing with them and I got a kick out of watching her run up and down the length of the gym. I think she's pretty cute when she runs. Still sort of awkward and unsteady at times. Meanwhile, I had a chance to chat it up with the other moms. Everyone was really friendly and nice. Tonight I am going to a Bunco party with my good friend Molly, so I will have a chance to meet more people. I'm pretty excited.

Yesterday it was so windy that Katelyn got knocked down on her little bum. Until that point she was loving the wind and having a great time.

Hello from the Tri-Cities

We finally arrived in the tri-cities last Saturday after a long 4 and a half months of waiting. I can hardly contain my excitement about us finally being here. I am so happy to be here. Every morning I wake up and look outside I just feel so happy. It was a fairly eventful first week here. Monday Justin had his first day of work and his swearing in ceremony. He and one other officer were sworn in together. It was a great turnout of various police officers, detectives and other staff members. I felt so much excitement for Justin as I listened to the Chief talk. And I felt really proud of Justin for making through the hiring process and getting this great opportunity. The Chief made it very clear that they are very, very picky about who they let through the door, so I also felt incredibly grateful that we made it. I got to pin on Justin's badge and then they gave the two officers' families a tour of the brand new Police Station. It is really, really nice and huge! The rest of the week, Justin did a lot of administrative type stuff-paperwork, reading, riding around with different people, etc.

So we got to have Justin home for dinner every night this week at a regular dinner time, which was really nice. Tomorrow he starts his training and gets to be on day shift for the first three weeks. He's a little nervous, but I know he'll do great.

Katelyn and I had a nice week. We went to story time at one Library, checked out books and a movie at a different Library and got acquainted with our new town. It has been a great week.

Today we had our second Sunday in our new ward. The ward is HUGE! It couldn't be any more opposite of our ward in Newport. Today, we were one of five new families that had moved in. It's easy to get lost in the crowd I suppose, but I would rather be in a big ward. One of the other families lives in the building next to us at our apartment complex and they have two kids. I also found out that another gal named Deanne, who was in my home ward growing up, just happens to be in our ward, and they have two little girls, so that is kind of fun. She is in charge of the ward "play group" so Kate and I are going to check that out this week.

This is a really exciting time for our family. Justin doesn't really show his excitement a lot, but I am so, so happy to be here and we feel like we are where we need to be right now and that is a good feeling.

Justin's Farewell Party

Last night there was a farewell party for Justin with

the Sheriff's Office crew. His sergeant hosted it and

there was a really great turnout.

Cake
The "swing-shift" guys
(Jerry, Corey, Justin, Matt, Questin, Jeff)

Justin with his sergeant, Questin, and Jeff

(don't worry, he was only drinking a Pepsi).

Below: video of Questin's "speech"

It was a really nice evening. I know Justin

really appreciated it, even though he hates

being on the spot. He will really miss these guys.

Nice Apples!

I have really been itchin to make pies lately.

Maybe it's because it's fall, I don't know.

Anyway, I wanted to make an apple pie.

I found this sugar-free recipe and decided to try it out.

I think it turned out really well. It was sweet, but not at sweet

as a regular apple pie would be. I think maybe next time I would

try adding more spices and maybe a hint of brown sugar.

Gotta Love Toddlers

It's really hard to punish your child when she is excited about the punishment. For example: Many times when Katelyn is being disobedient I will say, "do you want a spank?" to which she replies, "uh-huh" and then turns her bum toward me. Tonight Katelyn would not eat her dinner (surprise, surprise) so we said "you can go to your room then" and she, rather eagerly replied, "okay!" and ran off to her room. The first time Justin checked on her, she was lying on her bed. Cool! She wasn't feeling well earlier, so we thought she might just go to sleep. A little later Justin went to check on her again. I sat down to do some blogging- because I have much to blog about- and turn to see this:

Apparently Katelyn was just layin' there naked on her bed.

Who knows why, but it's really funny.

Aren't these the cutest little guys? Check them out here

laniejane is the quilt store of a friends sister-in-law...if that makes sense.

Kate in a few years

This is what Katelyn is supposed to look like. Nice try, but

that is not her at all. Thank goodness too, Katelyn is way cuter!

It's a GIRL!

Today I became an Aunt again. Sarah had a baby girl today at 1:44pm. Her name is Audrey Christine and she is beautiful! I'll let Sarah post the details and pictures though :)

Forks

I have been in Forks, WA for a week now. I left last Thursday morning to head over and be with my sis-in-law, Sarah when she has her baby. I got a call on the way over that she had been having some contractions and she suggested I skip the overnighter at my dad's place and just come straight to Forks. So I did. It was all a little anticlimactic, because now a week later and no baby has arrived yet. But that's ok. I did have the "pleasure" of a run-in with a not so nice State Trooper in Port Angeles. Jerk! Yeah, yeah, I know, I am married to a cop so I should be nicer about it. Well, this guy had absolutely no sympathy for me at all. He gave me a speeding ticket for doing 10 over in "bad conditions" (it was sprinkling)-$113.00. My driver's license had just expired three days prior because I had a birthday-$550.00. And lastly, I was driving Sarah's car back to her and could not find proof of insurance-another $550.00. Needless to say, I was pretty irate when I got back in the car. I know I can get the insurance and license taken care of, but I thought he could have at least given me a warning on the speeding seeing as how I have NEVER ever had a traffic infraction before in my life. And on top of it all I got sick and have bronchitis and feel like the biggest slug ever. All I want to do is sleep. I am sure I am fun for company.

The other day we did a little drive around town and saw some of the "Twilight" attractions. I will have to post pictures later though. We also went down to the beach which was really cool. So, hopefully Sarah will be having a baby sometime this weekend. Her due date is Saturday. Justin's last day with Pend Oreille County is tomorrow night and then Saturday he will be driving over here to pick up Kate and I and visit for a little while.

NEWS FLASH!

WAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUSTIN PASSED THE PSYCH TEST!! WE'RE MOVIN' TO KENNEWICK!!!!!!!!! JUMP UP AND DOWN WITH ME! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Kate's Room

Here is Miss Kate's room. So cute!

We didn't do much to it, just freshened up

the paint, rearranged, and added some decor.

Michelle has introduced me to spray paint-

LOVE IT!

Bedroom

Okay. Here are some updates on our house projects.

We have been working our little...or big, buns off this week.

Friday night we (Michelle and I) took out the carpet in

the Master bedroom. You might have to click on the first

picture to see it well, but a serious crime was committed indeed.

That crime being that this carpet had remained

in our home for two years TOO long!!! Look how nasty it is! Yikes.

Two innocent lives were taken during this heinous act.
Check out the groovy floor we found underneath the carpet.
Justin worked really hard on getting the carpet in. He was

so frustrated that he even said the "P" word...TWICE! Those

of you who know Justin, know he just does not swear,

so he must have been really irritated. It made me laugh.

More groovy floor

Ahhh...finally...a peaceful refuge for the night!
We're almost done
Just a few finishing touches to do
I'd like to thank my sponsors: Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target,

TJMaxx and Home Depot.

And most importantly Michelle...my hero!

House & Lumps

I wanted to write about all the work that we have gotten done this week, but I am just too pooped out! Just wanna thank Michelle, Crystyne and Jenny for coming this week to help me. It's so much better with other people to help and other kids to distract Katelyn.

On another note: Justin had his complete physical this Monday for the job in Kennewick and the doctor found a large "lump" on the left side of his neck. He thought it might be a growth of some kind on Justin's Thyroid. We were able to get into the doctor that afternoon back in Spokane as well as get a CT scan on it. And the good news is that they did not find anything abnormal, so it appears that Justin is just really buff in that area of his neck and has an enlarged muscle. Sort of strange. It still seems suspicious to me, but I will trust the doctor.

Chocolate is a gift from Heaven

I haven't posted anything for a while it seems. I have been super busy lately trying to get our house ready to sell. It is just plain harder to get things done when you have a little toddler who requires your attention. We are getting there though. This weekend we were able to get some help from Justin's parents and my mom. We got the back deck repainted, hauled a bunch of crap to the dump and various other things. The only other major projects we have to do are: trim work in the bathroom and entry way, install carpet in master bedroom, and paint in the kitchen. By the way, we decided not to replace the kitchen cabinets. I really wanted to. It would have been a nice update for the home, but time is of the essence, as is cash so...we will repaint. I can't wait to get high on paint fumes again! WEEEE! Anyway, I am really hoping to be done in the next week to ten days.

I have been able to get rid of some things on craigslist which I LOVE! I also found a really cute toddler bedding set on craigslist and got that for Kate. She loved it...such a girly girl. It's amazing that we had two yard sales this year and I am still finding things to get rid of. I just loaded up a big box of stuff that I am going to take to the thrift store tonight.

So Justin had to work tonight in order to have tomorrow off to go down to Kennewick for his physical and treadmill stress test. I decided I needed a little "noise" in the house and turned on BYU tv. One of the reasons we got DISH is so we could have this channel and I sadly admit that I hardly ever watch it. Well, I sat down for a while and caught some really stellar talks on the topic of adversity and trials. This is the same topic that I was asked to speak about last week in church. I happen to love this topic and have a great testimony of the necessity of trials in our lives. I won't go on and on about it, but I will say that I know we can trust in God to support us in our trials and that adversity is absolutely crucial to our mortal experience and to the changing of our souls to become more like Christ.

I am really looking forward to General Conference next weekend.

And my last thought for the night is: chocolate is truly a gift from heaven!

For Uncle Aaron

This video is dedicated to "Uncle Aaron" who claims he

has never heard Kate say one word. ever.

I was trying to get her to say more, but...what can I say, she's 2.

My Husband

I have been thinking a lot this past week about how much respect I have for my husband, as a law enforcement officer. I never thought I would be married to a "cop". Some of you may have heard about the tragedy that took place near Sequim, WA this last weekend. (A park ranger was shot and killed, along with another man). When something like this happens, you feel a lot of emotion, but when you are married to a LEO, it hits home even harder. The ranger who was killed was the wife of my brother-in-law, Corey's (left) Field Training Officer. It makes it that much more real. There is a lot of stress involved with being married to someone in Law Enforcement. You cannot dwell on it though, or you would go crazy. I am just incredibly grateful to the men and women in law enforcement, who serve their communities well. I am thankful to my husband who really does put his life on the line every time he goes to work. I have learned to have faith in our Heavenly Father, and that he has a plan for Justin. And of course, a lot of prayers go up on his behalf. So, thank you Justin for the work you do to take care of our family. We love you!

More on Kennewick

Did you know that Kennewick's native name means "winter paradise"?

That's right. The mild winters and warm summers make for year

round outdoor fun! Some people would ask me why I want to live

in the "ugly" Tri-Cities area where there is nothing but dessert,

sagebrush, and wind. Well, keep reading and I will tell you.

*********

Here are just three little reasons why I do not want to

spend one more winter here in Newport.

You can gauge the amount of snow we had last year

by measuring it against my 6' 4" husband.

You get the idea?

1.

2.
3.
The capacity for which I have to express my abhorrence for winter

is truly lacking. The only thing I like about winter is the

Christmas season. I love the carols, the lights, the food,

the family, and good will towards all men.

So, you can keep your trees and mountains and snow.

It's sunshine and wind for me!

Congratulations To Justin

As most of you know, we have been going through a three month hiring process for Justin to get a job with the Kennewick Police Department. Yesterday was his Command Staff Interview with the Chief of Police and three Captains. The story goes that if they want you, they will offer you the job at this setting. If not, they will say "we'll get in touch with you". I dropped Justin off at 9:15am for his 9:30 interview. I was so nervous I have myself diarrhea. I went to fill up the car with gas and then decided to take it through the car wash, just to give me something to do. I got back to the Police station just before 10am and Justin called my cell phone. I saw him walking out of the building and he tells me that he wants to go home and has a disappointed look on his face. I don't exactly fall for his little trick because I figured he would try to make me think he didn't get the job offer. He gave it a good effort though, and then finally told me that they offered him the job. PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a long three months. Now, the offer is still contingent upon him passing his psychological evaluation and medical exam, but I just know there won't be any problems. It looks like Justin will be starting mid October with the new agency. I am so proud of Justin for working so hard on all the phases of this process. I am very excited, anxious a little nervous and will be sad to say good-bye to the friends and family we have here, BUT it is only a two hour drive. So now it's full steam ahead with the house preparations. I cannot even describe how frustrating it is to try and paint, pack or do anything with a toddler. I try to let her help though, where she can so she isn't totally left out. Anyone wanna buy a nice house in Newport????

Birch Bay...end

Hunter & Ethan
The whole gang
the Bay
sleepy crew on the way home

All in all it was a really fun weekend. Unfortunately,

I picked up the same head cold that my brother Jared had

and now I am really crabby. I get a little cranky when I am

sick, just ask my husband. The only bad thing about the '

trip is that it didn't last long enough. Hopefully we can do

it again next year and maybe for one or two extra days.

Thanks Dad & Brandi!

Birch Bay cont...

Saturday we all went Miniature Golfing.

There were some pretty tuff holes out there, huh Dad?

Hunter (almost 2 yrs old.)
Jared and Ethan
My dad
Justin and Kate
Jenny and Amanda (yes, she really is that tall!)
Michelle
Michael and Kristi (Hunter's parents)
Yours truly (it's hard to golf with big boobs)After golf, some of us stayed behind to
ride the Go-Karts. (Me, Braeden, Amanda,
Amanda's man Keith, Jenny and Michael).