The last month of the year 2010-December update

Can I just begin by saying...What a way to end a year!! You'll understand what I mean after reading about this month.
So This month was super crazy busy for us! As it is for everyone, I know! The holidays just seem to add busyness to our lives (Good busyness of course), but you add a lot of stuff of life on top of that holiday busyness and you get this hectic, fun and full of tons of emotions all at once type of month!!

We began by Patrick and I going on a trip to Denver, CO the first week of this month. Patrick's work (former employer. aka Jones/Simkins) sent him there for a CPE Training. They gave him a $ amount of expenses that they would pay and he had to find the flight the hotel and such. Well he found us a great deal on flights and was able to take me with him. Plus while we were there we stayed at Patricks Mission Presidents house so that cut one nights cost of hotel and food. Needless to say we ended up getting paid to go on this trip. We left the kids at G&G Munsons house and left for 3 days. This was the first time Patrick and I had gotten away for a night since we had Porter. So it was a much needed and enjoyed get away. I was a little worried about the kids(my motherly nature) but once we got away and Grandma said the kids were good I realized it was it was okay to relax and enjoy my time without the kids. While in Denver, I was able to go see Harry Potter all by myself since Patrick was in Trainings for 2 days. I was also able to go to the Denver Mint. Patrick's Mission President and his wife came and picked me up and took me there. Then after the Mint we picked Patrick up for lunch. Then later we were able to be shown the Denver Temple and some of the area around. It is a gorgeous place and Patrick and I were almost talked into moving there by Rick and Stephanie. :)

So Brave!

When we got back from Denver, we took the kids home and started the big adventure of packing to move! With it being during the holidays it was crazy because of all the friend, family and work parties we attended. So the middle two weeks we packed, went to Patrick's work party, which by the way we won a 150 $ prize!! OH YEAH!! We had 5 choices of what to choose from, and we had all 5 of them, so we decided to get a second surround sound. Anyways we also went to the Tuttles house for some Yummy Brazilian food made by Phil and enjoyed the time spent with them and the Johnsons that evening. Then we decided to plan to have all packed by Friday Dec 17th so we could go down to Family Christmas Parties. We always enjoy those fun parties and the laughter involved!

Last few minutes in our Home in Logan, UT.

Then Monday the 20th came and it was MAJOR packing and cleaning time! We of course thought we had most of the packing done, but you leave for a weekend and you have laundry to do and lots more things. So we were go go go Monday and Tuesday. We loaded up the truck Tuesday night and left our adorable home in Logan around noon.I totally bawled the entire 20 minutes to Brigham City and then decided to buck up. But We loved Logan so much!! We left a LOT of GOOD behind us and it was really really hard! Anyways more about that day and the move, It was snowing lightly in Logan when we moved and raining in North Ogden at our new home. So things got wet and it made for a slippery walking things into the house. We had great help from the Elders Quorum here in our new ward and it was nice to meet some people. We tackled the unpacking and got quite a bit done so we could leave Thursday for Christmas.
So we left Thursday early evening for Grandma Christensens house. Friday we woke up and got things ready for the Christmas Eve Party that Night. We went and picked up a couch and a bed from my brother who was so NICE to give them to us for our new home!!!

Christmas Eve was so fun! We got together with the Christensen Clan and ate a nice dinner and caroled to the Skeens and Brandon and Holley! The kids all performed some of their songs they sang for their school Christmas Programs. Corbin fulfilled the Dad role in our Christmas traditions of reading the Nativity story and then making us Eggnog! We went back to Grandmas house and got the kids ready for bed. I let Porter color Santa a picture and write a note to him. We got the cookies and milk and carrots out for Santa and his reindeer and all that fun stuff! By the time we got the kids in bed it was about 10PM!  LATE I know!

Christmas Morning we woke up before the kids because we were so anxious for them to open their presents. Porter got up about 8:30 and we took him into Grandmas room to wait for Kinley to wake up so we could have family prayer and then all go out together to see if Santa had come.Well, just our luck Kinley slept and slept and slept. It was about 9AM and she still wasn't awake so we went in to try and wake her up, but... even kissing her on the cheeks and moving her wouldn't wake her up! So we tried to play games with Porter but then we turned on some music and that woke her up! It was about 9:15 AM and Patrick went to turn on the Thomas the Train set that Santa had set out for Porter. And he turned on the music and Porter heard it and got wide eyed and said "THOMAS the TRAIN!" and BULTED for the front room. He was in AWE at what Santa had brought him. He played with that Thomas all day. While opening presents he played with it in between gifts that he had to open. He still plays with that Thomas ALL DAY LONG! Let me tell you-he ran the battery dead within that one day on Christmas and has since gone through another set of batteries.
Kinley being not quite One caught on pretty quick. Almost all the gifts she got played music and after just opening a few she learned and from then on she would dance every time it was her turn to open a gift! She loved ALL the toys scattered on the floor!

Later that evening we went and stayed with G&G Munson and Kelsey. We played games and opened some presents. Then came home Monday morning.
We had lots of fun seeing the bright eyes and smiles on our kids faces this year! Seeing that Santa had come and had eaten the cookies and drank all the milk gone. Rudolph had some of the carrots we left out and Santa even wrote a note back to Porter! Now we really can't wait for next  year...we'll have two kids who 1 REALLY gets it and 1 who will start to get it! YAY!

P.S. Kinley LOVES this little EGG WIRE WHISK!

November 2010

This month of November has really been a busy busy month for us! To start off , I got back from tending my sisters kids and Kinley finally started to crawl! So we now have a little one on the move. But its a good thing because I need her to be able to move around and do what she wants while I'm packing. Yes I said packing because also this month we went house hunting and found one, so we will be moving shortly.

We are moving because Patrick accepted a job in Ogden, UT to continue in the field of accounting. This new firm is a little bit smaller but he has much more opportunity to do more than just the tax side of things and he has room to grow here in this new firm. Also did I mention what a great atmosphere he will be working in..?? This firm starts all of their meetings with a prayer! I can't share with you just how good we feel about this opportunity, we know it's what the Lord wants us to do!
So this month we accepted the job offer and started house hunting. We started on Thursday and found a house on Saturday and our offer was accepted Tuesday. Interest rates dropped on Thursday and went back up a week later. We were so blessed in this whole process! It is amazing how The Lord has been guiding and blessing us. There is no way of denying it.  It is such Bitter Sweet feelings we have. It is really scary to commit to buying a home and completely uprooting your whole family and changing every aspect of their life. Leaving all the good that we have here in Logan. Leaving our first home, the one we started our family in and brought 2 children home to. Leaving the wonderful amazing people that we have come to love so dearly and all of those bonds and relationships it took us 3 years to build. Yet buying our very own home that we can paint walls in and really establish ourselves in is an enormous blessing we have come to realize is something The Lord is giving us that will continue to bless our lives and make us happy.
Also this month we celebrated a few things. #1- the house hunt. #2- Patrick passing his 3rd section of the CPA exam. And #3-Thanksgiving. We started Thanksgiving week off with buying us a van. Yes I'm driving what I call the Swaggon Wagon(A.K.A Swagger Wagon-with out plagerizing because I don't drive a Sienna). It's a Chrysler Town and Country Limited Edition that we had to swallow our Pride and take it because of the amazing deal it was. Then we celebrated Turkey day with the Munsons.
We really enjoyed our time with family and loved strengthening our bonds with those we love! We are so grateful for all our blessings! There is a hymn called Count Your Many Blessings and in the lyrics it says to count them one by one. I believe that we have so many it is nearly impossible to count them one by one.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

Oh and how could I forget! We also enjoyed the first LEGIT snow fall of the year. Porter and I went out and played in the snow and soon after we were out there his neighborhood friend came out and joined him. They had fun falling in the snow and making seat in the snow as well as eating the snow. We built a snowman and the kids threw the head off and started eating the body of the snow man! It was really cute and I think they had a fun time!

October Happenings Part 2

So going on with the month of October... This month Kinley turned 9 months old. She had her Dr appointment and is doing well. Our Dr. was a little shocked that she wasn't crawling and told me that we really needed to start working with her on that skill. That was all he really had to say, beside that she is going to be a really pretty girl when she is older and that her fiesty stubborn vigor will come in handy for when those boys start coming around. LOL! Also new news for her is that I can finally put her hair in pigtails! These pictures are from the first time I did it. she only had enough on the sides to do. Isn't she adorable?

 The last week of October I had the wonderful opportunity to take my two kids with me to my sisters house and watch her 6 kids plus my two all by myself. It was an eventful week and I really enjoyed that time I had with my nieces and nephews. They were great kids and Porter and Josh became best buds that week. They had the time of their lives jumping off couches and building fires out of pillows toys and blankets. And as you can see in the picture they had fun being silly little goofs at lunch time.

I came back Friday afternoon and got settled in and then later that night we went to a pumpkin carving contest with a bunch of our friends. We had a great time just enjoying great conversation and laughs at well..mostly my pumpkins!

 But it was a great night and we had fun! Then the next day was Saturday Oct 30th. Since Halloween was on Sunday this year we went Trick-or-Treating on Saturday evening. It was fun considering it rained on us the whole time we were out there. We maybe went to about 10 houses. But we got some great candy! Porter was Elmo and Kinley was Zoe. The two BFFs! How cute! Kinley didn't much enjoy her hat because it tickled her face, but she loved her necklace and tutu.  Porter wore his Elmo costume all day and had fun being Elmo. I was a Woopie Cushon. It was fun to dress up, even if  I did get soaked out on the hunt for great candy.

So that was our wonderful month of October!!! Looking forward to posting about the month of November... You don't wanna miss it... Big stuff coming your way!

October Happenings Part 1

Well this month has been so fun filled I need to divide the post into different parts. The beginning of the month started out just AWESOME! We went down to be with families the first of the month over conference weekend. Patrick scheduled his 3rd CPA exam Friday in Lindon so we stayed with Grandma C that day and then Saturday we went up to G&G Munsons house. They so nicely took care of our children so we could go to the Saturday morning Conference Session and then to Zupas for lunch right after to make it a little date. We really really enjoyed conference and felt the spirit so strongly when President Monson stood up for his opening remarks. The kids loved being with their Grandma and Grandpa. Even if it did take about a whole night of warming up to do. ;-) haha. We enjoyed being with family and love the time that we spend with them. We know that time is limited and we treasure every moment of it.

Then we came home and that next weekend Patrick and were invited to a Murder Mystery Dinner Party.  So that week leading up to the party I was super busy making our costumes! It was crazy and hectic, but lots of fun! especially seeing them in the end and how they turned out. I was a maid and Patrick was the butler, who  got killed off during the mystery.

Then we had a weekend to do whatever and then the next weekend I went on  a girls night retreat to Wolf Creek with my neighbor girl friends. It was lots of fun and totally beautiful up there! I stayed up til 5:30 in the morning and woke up at like 11AM so not a lot of sleep, but we enjoyed the hot tub and the talking! Something I don't get much as a S.A.H.M.

September 2010

 I seem to recall starting the month of September off with Labor day weekend. It was a wonderful weekend! We ended up going to Logans Zoo at Willow Park. It's a small park, but great for kids! We invited our friends the Bradfields to join us for zoo and a picnic at the park. They have a little girl named Lilly who is 2 months younger than Porter. They are seriously the best of friends! They both pray for each other in their prayers at night. How Cute!! I know! 
This month was filled with a lot Saturday morning Garage Sales. We would throw the kids in the car and bring books and turn on a movie and hope that would keep them occupied. It was lots of to do. Something we will keep doing I think.

Porter and Kinley seem to be growing up so quickly, it's really hard to keep up and remember all the fun things they do. Forever Porter has always thought the way to smile to a camera was just by tilting his head. But this month we taught him to show teeth and now there is no holding back. He loves to get balloons at Macey's grocery store and bring them home and let go of them in our front room with the vaulted ceiling. This time around I told him I wouldn't get it for him if he let go because I was busy at the moment and he would have to wait if he wanted to get the balloon back. Well sure enough he let go and didn't want to wait. He decided to stack all the couch cushions and add his step/potty seat on the top to get as tall as he could to get that balloon. But he still wasn't tall enough. I was so proud of his critical thinking! Smart Kid I have there!
Kinley is growing up quickly too. She turned 8months old at the beginning of this month. She talks and babbles like crazy and adds loud squeals  to it. She's definitely a girl. She is eating great and loves real food, none of this mush baby food anymore for her. I have to trick her into eating it every time.  Still no crawling from her though. That's one we are working on. She has no interest though.
Towards the end of the month we were lucky enough to be able to get a ticket off of our friend Matt for the USU vs. FSU game. We went with our friends the Tuttles and had a great time. The kids loved being in that atmosphere playing together and eating as much food as they could get. It was a little hot for the first 20 minutes of the game because of where we were sitting, but then the sun went behind the stadium and it was perfect! The kids were great and the game was a good one, even though USU lost. We had tons of fun and didn't spend a dime! It was an awesome way to say goodbye to Summer and hello Fall!