No picts yet

Hey everyone! After a very hectic week the house is pretty much done but there was still painters tape and tools everywhere so we arent going to post pictures until after our much needed vacation. So come back on the 10th to see them. Until then we are out of town and going to be out of touch and just relax and lavish our kiddos with attention!
Later!

Giving Thanks

This holiday season has been so interesting because we usually look forward to and anticipate the holidays but we just didnt have time to even think about it this year. We have been so busy with the house and life in general that if it wasn't for Johns parents and sister we would be eating at McDonald's tomorrow (thank you very much Henderson Family!)

I just wanted to take a second to say that even though things are so crazy and so busy, I haven't felt so much peace in a long time. I really have felt an absence from the Spirit for a while as we got busy with moving and the house and all sorts of things that just seemed to clutter up my time and mind. A few weeks ago while fasting I got a very clear answer that I needed to get my foundation back onto the Savior and really take time to be in the scriptures. I cant even express the difference that I feel. Even though there are a lot of things that are going on around me that worry me and preoccupy me I feel so much personal peace. That is what I am most thankful for this year. No matter how long or how far I stray from Heavenly Father and the Savior they are always there to welcome me back and make me feel at peace. I truly have a testimony of the power of prayer and of scripture study and how much more enjoyable life is when we live it in companionship with the Savior.

I also want to give thanks for my family. That is what I love about blogging so much is that it really has brought me closer to my family as we have more contact. John especially has been so great this year. Everyone said that if your marriage can survive building a house it can survive anything and it truly has been a joy to build with him. He is such a wonderful, hardworking, and patient man and I love him. Of course I have to give thanks to my very patient and very loving children too who no matter how many errands we have to run are always ready to giggle and have fun and help lift my heart. I all of you so much!

And just so the pilgrims and Indians don't feel too left out here is our tribute that Caleb made in Preschool.

Another new little Niece

John and I are very proud to have become an Aunt and Uncle again. Johns brother Chris and his wife Dianna had a little baby girl on the 13th at 8 am. She was 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We are going to be able to see her in about a week and half and we are so excited! Look at those wide awake eyes!

A much needed break

With all of the craziness with the house we decided that the boys needed a break. John was going to SLC for a conference and so I gave keys to those who needed them and we took off Wednesday night and I didn't make a single call about the house for two whole days. It was wonderful. We started out by driving down to BYU on Thursday while John was in meetings and met up with our good friends Chad, Sarah, and their two darling kids. It was nice and so fun to be on campus again. Caleb was cracking people up who could hear us talking because he said, "look Mom even the girls have pack packs and boys have pack packs too." I asked him what was in their bags and he very matter of fact said, "show and tell." I bet my GPA would have been much better had that been the case.

John got out of meeting at 1:00 and we went and picked him up and took the train from Sandy to Temple Square. It was so fun for Caleb and we had a good time walking around temple square. We also made it through the first 20 mins of the Joseph Smith movie and are excited to see the second half another time. As we were walking around temple square we saw a bride and Caleb called her a princess. I told him that's why we get married in them temple for eternity so that we can be with our princess forever and he said, "But Mom, I don't want to be a princess!"


Friday the kids and I went to surprise my good friend Rachel because it was her birthday but sadly she was out. We got to spend the afternoon with our good friends Tyece, Max, and Lucy though. It was such a good trip and we have so many good friends up north and only wished we had more time to visit them all. Lucky for us they will probably be having these meetings 4 times a year!

Yesterday it was back to work on the house. It was a good and productive day but we still have a long way to go. I will be Thankful when its all over!

McDonalds Babysitting

So today has been a really crazy hectic day and I felt like I spend the whole day on the phone making calls and then having to remake the same calls over again. Trying to coordinate all of the subs here for the end and getting them to work around each other is not easy. Plus we changed Mortgage brokers because our new friend could get us a better deal and so I had to be on the phone a lot there giving him information and then gathering all of the papers he needed. That doesn't even give justice to what today was like! Needless to say by 5:00 the kids were done and just needed to play and Mom needed to not cook dinner (not that I have actually cooked something other than frozen pizza and burritos in weeks-and I'm not exaggerating!) I figured I would just go to McDonald's and let the kids play and I could just sit and not do anything! I felt a little guilty about it since I just wanted a break but figured my sanity was worth it.

Well, If I felt like a bad parent before the play place I walked out feeling like Mother of the year. Seriously there were 4 families in there. One woman was working and not paying attention. The second woman was reading a book and her 5 year old son came up and had a full conversation with her and she never looked up or gave him a courtesy "uh-hu." But the last father took the cake. He actually sat down put on his headphones and played with his i-pod. When it was time for him to go he stood up and started calling for his daughters. Yep, they had left and he had no clue and he had to go looking for them!

I couldn't believe it. I mean McDonald's can be a nice break every once in a while but seriously folks...its not daycare!

Rockin' Out!

Today in the car on yet another trip to the house (its like 25 min each way) I wanted to have fun with the boys to kind of liven things up a bit. I found the Avril Lavigne song "Girlfriend" on the radio and since it has a really fun beat we all were rocking out to it. Davis probably the best out of all of us. Well, tonight on the way to the kitchen Caleb starts bouncing up and down singing, "Hey! Hey! you, you, I wanna be your girlfriend!" He even had the beat and melody perfect! John looked over at me and was like...."what are you teaching these kids!"
Oops.

Cabinets

All I can say is
WOW!
Cant wait to show them to you all!

Our blessings

Just wanted to give a little update on our family for this past week. Its been busy and its been nothing compared to whats coming! John and I have been painting the house with any spare time we have. We only have 3 bedrooms left, the door frames, baseboards, and closets and shelving. So quite a ways still! It was really fun to walk through the house with the finished carpenter and tell him exactly how I wanted the shelving in each of the closets and rooms. This week will really be a huge transformation for the house. The outside will get the color coat of stucco and the flat work will be finished so it will be done minus the landscaping. On the inside we have more paint, the doors will get hardware, the cabinets will be installed, the countertops will be put in, we should finish the painting, the Heating and ventilation will be completed, lights will be installed, and we will start laying the wood flooring! So its going to be a very busy week. I think the poor kids are at the end of their ropes and we are just trying to hang in there for 2 1/2 more weeks!

This morning was the sweetest little moment with the kids. They got up VERY early today and so we all snuggled up to watch Finding Nemo. Normally Davis wont sit for very long but he sat for about 3/4 of the move just laying with his little head against mine. Caleb was draped across my lap with his head on my tummy and Davis just reached out and started to stoke Caleb's head so soft and so sweetly for about 5 minutes. It was the sweetest little moment Ive ever seen my kiddos share.

Well I better get running to get ready for Stake Conference. I really cant even begin to start to share how full my heart is for how Heavenly Father is blessing us through this process and holding our hand and helping this run smoothly. After seeing my friends build and having John be in the industry I have never seen a house be built as smoothly and on time as our house has. That's an especially crazy fact considering these plans had never been tested before. I am so grateful for the miracles and blessing that we have experienced along the way!

Halloween

Here are our cute kiddos out trick or treating. They had a good time and Caleb voluntarily got in costume so it was a good year. Davis was so cute in his little bear outfit and randomly went up to a tree and was pawing at it and growled a little during the night (both of which we have never seen him do before). Probably the worst part of the evening was when Caleb saw two trick or treaters walking a few feet away from each other and said "hes a boy, and shes a girl"...pause...then very loudly pointed out what parts of the body the girl was missing. I guess its good that he has learned the difference between boys and girls! The kids were in bed by 7:30 and John and I watched Harry Potter 4 and fell asleep. We had a great Halloween!