So Very Long Ago

It has been forever since I updated this blog. We have moved into a wonderful little neighborhood and the kids enjoy having friends so close they can play with. Our ward is very nice and Johnathan and I have both excepted callings in the scouting program, we are both very busy but it is fun.

Sweetwater is still out with Avalon, I have not heard anything but hope something will come about in the next couple of months, it is very hard to wait though. I am still writing and enjoy spending time with my writing group on Wednesday evenings at the library. It is inspirational to go and listen to them and work on our writing together. I did Nanowrimo again this year and have fallen in love with my story. I might put a descritption of it on here some time.

The children are getting big. Andie and Tyson enjoy school and are both working very hard. Casey is still home with me, he will go to Kindergarten next year, I am a little sad about that because he is my buddy and we enjoy Casey Mommy time while Jenna naps. He told me it would be ok when he went to school though because he wouldn't miss me. I am glad for that. Jenna is full of personality. She made the great step onto toddlerhood when she was potty trained over November and December. She is doing great and I can't believe she is such a big girl. I will try to get some new pictures up of them all.

Christmas was wonderful. Santa did a great job this year and everyone was happy. We enjoyed time with family also. My brother and his wife came up from Colorado and we got to spend time with them. Also Mom and Dad Duncan came up for a visit between missions, it was sure fun to have them and learn about Guam and what they did there. We will miss them when they leave again but it is such a blessing to have them serve so willingly.

Well that is a brief catch up. Hopefully this year I can do a better job keeping this up to date. Welcome 2011!!

Packing, Garage Sale, Moving

Always something at our house. Like I mentioned before Johnathan was offered a very nice job with Walsh Engineering and we accepted it. Because of that we decided that we should move to Idaho Falls. After about two days of looking we stumbled across a nice sized home on the west side for rent and a few days later we found out that we could have it. Now we are planning a move. The kids are done with school on the 27th of this month and we are headed out on the 28th. It will be nice to be moved and out of the boxes and mess that we have made in he house.

Tomorrow we are having a garage sale in hopes that we can get rid of a few things so we don't have to haul it off to the new house. The kids are kind of excited about being able to sale a few of their things to help with the Disneyland fund for next summer. It is going to be a wonderful warm day tomorrow and so we are going to enjoy the sun.

The best part about the move is that for two years Johnathan has been traveling from Rexburg to Idaho Falls everyday about 28 miles one way to an 8 minute drive one way. It will be very good for time and money of travel. Over all we are excited about this next adventure in our lives.

Lots has happend!

So much has happened in the past little while I thought I would update. We had two birthdays, Andie and Jenna, that weekend Ben came home on leave and we had a good time with him while he was here. I went to girls weekend with my sister-in-law's and we had a blast!!!

Jenna's Cake

Andie's Cake

Last week Johnathan graduated from BYU-Idaho with his Bachelors Degree. It was a busy weekend and we had family up for a BBQ Saturday. I am so proud of him sticking it out and going to school full time and working as much as possible, I got myself a great man!!

Graduate!

Last Friday I received an email from the Editors at Avalon and they requested a full manuscript of Sweetwater Springs. Needless to say I was thrilled and today the beautiful package went in the mail. I know that it is going to take a lot of waiting but I have been doing that for two years so I think this will be ok.

Sweetwater Springs


Other than that, Johnathan received a very good offer from Walsh Engineering in Idaho Falls so we will be moving there in June as soon as the kids are done with school. We are very much looking forward to staying close to family and working so we can buy a house sometime next year. So all in all lots of GOOD things have happened to us and I am very thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives.

Having a Boy Moment!

Casey had a boy moment yesterday when he had a run in with the bunk beds and had to go for stitches. When we heard him crying we didn't think much of it because it was a normal bump cry, not a "I cut my head open," cry so when he came out with blood running down his face we were surprised.

After cleaning him up a bit I hauled him over to Community Care and the Doctor told us he would need stitches. The nurse put a little numbing gel on it and we hung out for a few minutes until it was was numb. The Doctor came in and asked Casey to lay down, then he draped the wound and put three stitches in, Casey never cried or anything. When the Doctor was done all Casey said was "Thank you Doctor." Pleased as punch he hopped down and went for his toy. I was so proud of him for being so brave, all he asked was that I hold his hand.

So there we go, Casey's first set of stitches. I am pretty sure that they won't be his last, but if every time goes as smoothly as these ones did maybe we will all survive. Every boy needs a right of passage I guess.

Christmas Time!

My Brother-in-Law posted something on the family website that has got me thinking. The question was "Who in your house is most excited about Christmas?" My first though must be the kids. They have anticipated the gifts under the tree, the Advent House and all the yummy treats and goodies. And just like every other kid in the world they can't wait to open those gifts. I would give them a 9 on the excited scale.

But I would have to say that I am closer to a 11 on that same scale. Why, you might ask? Well I will tell you.

Money is tight, it almost always is, and some years that has gotten me down because we can't give our kids the same things as other kids. No ipods or computer games, no Wii or bikes, we simply can't afford those things. But instead of letting that get us down we turned to the drawing board, no really... The boys love to play with cars so we designed and have made a HUGE car mat for them to play on. Johnathan and I have worked hours on it and we are very close to being finished, but every time I see the little corner of is poking out behind the couch I get excited.

Andie loves clothes, she is a typical girl. She also loves jewelry. I have a friend we several older girls and she was going though their clothes and she gave two huge bags to us. I went though and picked out some wonderful sweaters and other really nice things and every time I see that box under the tree I know she is going to freak out when she opens them. Along with that I got a few necklaces that were hand me downs and I cut them and removed the beads and with them I have made two beautiful necklaces that Andie is going to love, along with some really inventive friendship bracelets.

Jenna is getting a baby doll and I know she is going to love it. I made the baby a blanket and she found it before I could wrap it. She drug it around the house all day before I could sneak it away ofter she went to bed. We also got her a little stroller and I think she is going to have a great time racing that baby around.

Some other things we did were make the boys shirts with dinosaurs on them, a blanket for Tyson, and handmade pillow cases from Santa. Johnathan is working hard on handmade Tithing, savings, spending boxes that are an exact replica of the ones his father made for him and his siblings. They are going to be really beautiful.

The one thing I am most excited about though are the ornaments. Years ago Johnathan's grandmother made crochet Christmas ornaments for him and his siblings. Johnathan has three of them on the tree and he loves them. This year I got his cousin to send me the patterns and I am making each of the kids their own ornament just like Great Grandma Duncan made. They may not understand it this year but in years to come I hope they will be treasured just like Johnathan's are.

So what does this all mean? Well I just wanted to tell you that one: Christmas isn't just for kids, and two: you are only as joyful as you choose to be. I have to say I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever, not because of the amount of money we spent, but because of the amount of love that went into every gift. Merry Christmas to all of those we love and care about, and I hope that Holiday cheer comes in the shape of a heart this year for you too.

Jenna, Miss Tude!

Though I would do an update on Jenna. She has turned into Little Miss Personality. She is really just a ray of sunshine in our lives. I don't remember any one of the other kids being so anxious to have fun and be happy. There are those times when she isn't happy, but they are few and far between. It doesn't seem to matter where we are she can command and audience. When she is angry at her brother she will clench her little fists together then raspberry all over. When she is happy she laughs and waves and dances around. Sometimes she gets herself all dizzy and falls over. She has one fun attitude and attention, but what girl doesn't?

She has several things she really likes to do, one is read her favorite book, others include playing outside, swinging on anything, and playing in boxes. She also likes to do anything that big kids, or mom and dad do, such as play on the computer, pound on the piano and jump on the trampoline. We have been pleased how healthy she has been, only one ear infection which is really a wonderful thing compared to the other children. It has been a wonderful 20 months with her and we look forward to Christmas to see if she catches on to the idea this year. We love her very much.

Washing Your Brain!

The other night Johnathan and I were watching TV when this horrendous commercial came on. I don't remember exactly what it was about, but it was disturbing. We just looked at each other for a moment and he commented on how he would never be the same after that. I looked at him and told him that I needed to go and wash my brain to get the picture out of my head.

Last night I saw yet another commercial, this one was for Tabasco sauce, there were peperoni and then they grew heads and started to sing. Again I felt the need to wash that picture from my brain. How many of you need to wash your brains?