Family

I miss my family so much! I have the most wonderful sisters in the world. They love me. Warts and all. What a great feeling that is! I miss my brothers and their silliness together. Seeing everyone being better friends, and sharing everything with each other. I miss having big family dinners at Mom's. I love my Dad's hugs. They make EVERYTHING all better. I miss sharing with all of them. And just seeing their faces.
My children are growing up way too fast. I want to hold them a little longer. I want to share stories with them, just 1 more. I want to be there as they figure out this crazy world. I want to protect them from all the hurts.
I love you! I miss you! I am glad you are my family. (((HUGS)))

I miss Emilie so much! She and I have spent everyday together since the middle of April. She is so incredibly happy. Her favorite part of the day is putting on her name tag. :) Isn't that fun? She worries more about her companions than herself. I love getting her letters each week.

I enjoy going on skype with Cassia and chatting with her and playing with Aaron. I can't believe how fast he is growing. When he hears my voice he turns and looks at me on the screen. It melts my heart. I am so excited to have them come visit in November.

Our new house is really nice. We have deer in the yard all the time. One young buck comes up to the window every night and peeks into the window. We all have to go up and say Hi to him, then he slowly walks away. It is sooo fun! :) The dogs don't even scare them.

Life is pretty good. I get to spend the day with Reed tomorrow. Yay!

Oh wow! it has been almost a year since i posted!!!
I am sitting in Cassia's apartment waiting for her to have this baby. He still hasn't decided to make an entrance.
So much has happened in the last 8 months!
We moved. Emilie is going on a mission. (Anaheim, CA) She leaves on the 31st of this month. Conrad graduated from high school. Ali turned 16! Ben graduated from 8th grade. Then we spent the summer with friends in Rio Dell, CA I am not a fan of raising pigs! Chickens aren't so bad, but pigs are gross.
Reed has to drive 45min. each way to work now. He does not have a very fun job. I hope he knows how much we appreciate his sacrifice so we can live on the west coast again.
I love seeing my family! I have spent more time with Kristi than any of the others. It helps that she lives 10 min. from Provo! I love getting to see my sisters! I love them all so much. I wish we could see each other more often.

Novato is pretty! There is tons of wildlife all over the place. Ben and Emilie like to ride their bikes all around housing. My house is the bottom floor of an apartment 6-plex. No one lives above us. It is really nice for being so old. hahaha

hmmmm! Little boy might be here today! Cassia just got up saying her contractions are pretty regular. :) Yay

Update

I guess I should let y'all know what is going on with us. Cassia is fussing at me to blog. :)
Christmas was amazing! ALL the children came home. They flew home and then drove back. We made very sad looking gingerbread houses. They were really cute until they fell. We made cookies and candies and fudge. Oh man! So much food and goodies. I love having all my kids together. Listening to them talk and laugh and play is just wonderful! The kids got to know Joey. It's the first time they've had a chance. They bonded over video games. :)
Tonite we are going to a Chicago concert. (Reed, Conrad, Me) Ben & Ali are staying home and having fried chicken. Ben is a happy boy.
Emilie hurt her back. She saw a Dr. and now can"t do ROTC. She was wondering if she wanted to continue it anyways, so I guess it isn't too bad. She will have to be careful of her activities for the rest of her life.
Cassia is going to have a baby!!!! We are all so excited! Every week she tells us how big it is by comparing it to a fruit. I think this week it is a lime. I really wish we lived closer so I could be with her. Oh well, we both will be moving this summer. :)
Still no idea where we are going. It has never taken this long before. Keep praying it is San Diego!!!!!!!!

Hi All!

I often wonder why we don't keep in touch more. Then we started to blog for awhile. Then Facebook helped us all keep up. That is why I love it so much.

I find that I am more shy as I get older. Maybe because I don't feel good. Idk it is weird. I have to force myself not to erase everything I write. I don't want you to think I'm stupid or lame.

I love my family! I don't tell you enough. we are a crazy bunch, but so much fun. I want to see my sisters so bad right now! Visiting with them makes me feel SO much better. It is funny how we don't call or write each other very often. But, when we get together we pick right up where we were last time. All our different personalities and lives. It doesn't matter, we are sisters. Don't be upset Mike and Jim, we love you too. :) I think about how all 8 of us live in different parts of the country, some really pretty,(Wash.) some not (Texas). I want to live closer. We are praying that this next transfer will be close to family.
Let's try to get together in Feb. or March. May is too far away. I love the beach house idea. We move in June so we will visit either way then. MWAH! Love ya.

So the people who came to look at the house are the same ones who sold it to us! They left the house a complete mess. Garbage all over the place. It is so weird to me that they would be wanting it back after how they left it. Anyways I don't care who buys it as long as we sell the house before we leave.

Quick update on everyone. Cassia is in Arizona for the weekend doing a big dance conference. She is excited about it. Emilie is in the Air Force ROTC program. She thinks she wants to do that for awhile. Joey is in the Army. Emilie the Air Force. Conrad the Coast Guard. Wonder if Ali and Ben will join the Navy and Marines! Hahaha. then we will have all the branches of the service covered.
What a patriotic family I have!
Emilie went to the Dr. with a spider bite on her leg. Turns out it is a staph infection!!!! That's what Ali had and had to have surgery for it! Oh, it makes me so nervous. I will have to find a way to get up there if Em has to have surgery too. Keep her in your prayers.
Conrad is enjoying his senior year. Every other day he gets out at 1:30. It's good to spend some time with him. We get to talk and not worry about being interrupted or not wanting to say something in front of the others. :)
Ali is running cross country, as you know if your on facebook. She has shin splints and is in a lot of pain, but she keeps running. She has gotten really good this year too. She will be running at districts. Go ALI!!!
Ben is playing football. He is enjoying it. kindof. The practices are a lot of work, but he is learning to be a good player. He is still in the band too. jock/nerd. :)
Love you all!

We had someone come look at the house yesterday. I had 30 minutes notice. Hopefully, they understood that people actually live here! :) Cross your fingers we sell this thing.

Hi all!
I finally got the computer fixed. :) Now I can blog more.
I had a really weird week. There is a lady in my ward who has similar symptoms as I do. We went to lunch to whine a little. Well, she had a major seizure right there in the restaurant! Freak me out! Anyways, her daughter came with us and she refused to call 911. What?? I know. This lady didn't want to go to the hospital. Her daughter agreed with her. I was so mad! Why do people put up with being sick and not do something about it?? It has been super hard for me to adjust to this new life. I don't know how she can just not do anything. It is a foreign concept to me. Anyways, when she had her seizure, or as she was having it she was so mean.She actually threatened to kill her daughter. Oi. I have always been so scared and apologize when I have one. I guess I'm trying to understand where she is coming from. I don't know life is just crazy.
That is my rant today.

I forgot

I always forget I have a blog! I think of things to tell all of you and then I get on the computer and get caught up in all the weird news things.
I really wanted to do the 52 weeks thing. It helps pull you out of your dark, sad thoughts. I really do have a lot of things to be grateful for!

I love spring. All the flowers blooming. Everything turning green. It is so beautiful! We are selling the house. I have been planting flowers all over the back yard. Silly, I know. But, I love them so much. I wanted something to look at while we waited for it to sell. It will probably sell really fast now that we have made it so pretty.

Everyone is doing really well. Cassia & Joey have moved into their little studio closer to campus. They just planted some flowers too. :)
Emilie is taking spring classes. She loves being up their and is now Relief Society president. So she is super busy. She will be going on a mini trek in May. That should be fun. Conrad and Ali have one in June.
Conrad is playing soccer for school. He also loves ultimate frisbee. They have a club here that he joined. Now he is gone all the time playing ultimate.
Ali is going to a spanish dance party on May 1st. I can't spell it- Em can. She has been practicing the dance for a couple weeks. we got her a cute little dress that we are adding sleeves to. It is fun helping her sew.
Ben is in football. They are already training for next year. He really likes it. He plays receiver.
Reed is starting to like his job. Now that he is learning most of the lingo and has gotten the training. He has been working like crazy on the house! He painted the outside mostly by himself. Conrad and Ben helped a little but, Reed did most of it. I am so lucky to have a husband who is good at fixing things. He knows haw to fix anything!
I have been back and forth to the Dr. and I FINALLY have a medicine that works! I haven't felt this good in a year and a half! It is so nice to get up in the morning and feel like i need a nap a half hour later. That is how I was able to work in the garden. It's wonderful. I feel so blessed. I am more aware of others and their needs. Just as it should be.

52 weeks of blessings

Ben!!

What a great kid! Ben, has always been my little bear. He loves to snuggle. I thought it would end as he got older but it hasn't. :) Yay! He will curl up on the couch with me or crawl into my bed when I'm having a bad day.

As you know, I haven't been feeling very good. Ben comes home from school and sits with me everyday. He tells me all about his day and all that has happened. Starting with 1st period and going to the car ride home.

We watch movies together. He LOVES popcorn, so I usually make some to share while we watch the movie. It is so fun.

This past week was Spring Break. We spent the whole week together. Ali and Conrad were busy with other things so, it was just Ben and I. We even played video games together! Nintendo DS.

I am so glad to have him in our family. He is so easy going, he gets along with everyone. He is the one to pull us all together. It's great!

I love you, Ben! Thanks for being "my bear".

52 weeks of blessings

I am grateful for the internet.

Being able to keep in touch with my family is wonderful! None of us are big letter writer's. I didn't think anyone would really keep up with their blogs. Surprise! All of you do, except me. :)

I love to read about all the kids and their antics. It's nice to know they all do it.

I have been looking at Mom's blog everyday to see what new adventure she and Dad have had today. Their Hawaiian Vacation has been great!! I LOVE that Mom has shared it with us.

Even Facebook has been fun, now that all of you are on it. I will be better about posting. Keep sharing. Thanks for giving me smiles. I love you!!

Emilie's blog

http://www.tootoughforyou.blogspot.com/?zx=23553912eb13dbcb

I thought it would be fun to see Em's blog too.

Next week I go back to the hospital to get more tests. Wires all over my head. Tues. Wed. and Thurs. Wish me luck! I hope they finally find out what is causing these seizures. I had one at church and I hated it. I was embarrassed. It will be nice to not have to worry about this all the time.

Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season. The boys were in the parade last night. It is so fun! Conrad plays the drums. I love the drums in a parade!! Ben was on the evening news. He hates having any attention on him, so it was funny. Ben plays the bass clarinet. it is almost bigger than him!

Merry Christmas!

Go to Cassia's blog. http://dreamerdancer.blogspot.com/ She has made it into the dance major!
We are very happy for her. She is now going to be dancing her butt off, even more!

Day off

Hi all!
Yesterday, Reed had the day off. So we spent it shopping for Christmas stuff. It was so much fun. We spent the whole day at the mall. I am excited for fall. Then Christmas. I found some great sales. Cassia and Joey are going to love their stuff. They won't be able to come home so I wanted to get them some things to put under their tree. :) heehee I am so excited for the holidays!

SICK SICK SICK

We are all so very sick. Conrad started with a little cough, not a big deal. Then Ali got it. Ben and I now have it. It hurts so bad! All of us are still coughing and feverish. My Dr. said because I have FM it is going to feel worse for me. And it does hurt. My chest feels like someone is sitting on it. blah. ok enough of me.

I just read Dani's blog. I want to be able to run like that! How amazing! I think it is so cool how she and Brent are trying to be more healthy. Running like that. whew! I am in awe! I love that Brent is so sweet and supportive. Not that expect anything other than that from him. :) Way to go Dani!!!

Oops, I forgot the picture of the honey. It looks like a giant button! hahahaha

Oh Ali

Ali had a rough day yesterday. In the morning she made oatmeal for breakfast, then made her lunch for school. The honey had crystallized so I told her to put it in the microwave for a sec. Her brain was still on breakfast and put it in for 2 min.! Yikes! Burnt honey does not smell good. It was so funny. She was scared I would get mad, and I was worried she would get hurt. Lovely way to start the day. THEN, after school she was doing her cross country workout (running forever!) and she tripped and fell. Poor thing is all beat up. What a crappy day. Luckily, she didn't break anything this time or need stitches. We were able to laugh about it later in the night while we put bandages on her cuts. And she is so sweet- "I'm sorry Mom" SO SWEET!!!

Today is Conrad's birthday. He is 17. He is such an amazing guy! He is always there to help out whenever needed. He and Reed have gotten very close. It is so fun watching them laugh and joke together. Watching him grow into a young man has been such a pleasure. I love how willing he is to serve. He doesn't hesitate when he sees something that needs to be done. He is such a blessing to our family. Happy Birthday Conrad! I love you!

Back to school

I love this picture! 3 generations. Love it!!!

First of all, here are some pictures of the wedding.


All the kids are back at school this week. Emilie went back to BYU on Thurs. I miss her already. We spent a lot of time together this summer. Everyone is so busy now. Conrad has band and soccer. Ali has choir and cross country. Ben has band and basketball and track. Reed is working a lot. Cassia and Joey are in marital bliss. Emilie has a full schedule with 16 credits. I am trying to figure out what fibromyalgia is and how to live with it. Having a name to it eases some of the tension. I now know there are medicines and exercises I can do to alleviate the pain.

I love getting on Facebook. I don't feel like I have enough to say for a blog. So a one liner once in a while is great. Plus, ALL of you have gotten on it! Now I can see how you are doing. So many of my friends that I've lost touch with, in the CG, have found me. Before fb,moving around so much has made it hard to find each other. :)

This is a quick blog I will post more later in the week.

. . . . or not.

I can't figure out how to do a slideshow.

Cassia and Joey are back from their honeymoon and back to real life i.e. school and work.
Emilie goes back to school in a couple weeks.
School starts for all the others that week too.
Summer just slipped by so fast!