February 2011

On to a New Year and the last month felt weird, but I guess I'm getting used to saying 2011...anyone else??? The first weekend this month my wonderful  husband, Patrick, let me have a girls night here at our place. So Paige, Mikelle, and Mirae all came up and we partied all night! I'm surprised the kids slept through it all. We had a blast and made some fun music videos and were crazy! I can only be that crazy girl around them and I guess a few other people(Yes...you know who you are! And don't you love that you know me, that freaky crazy girl?! haha You should feel privileged.)
Then the next weekend was marvelous, because Mom and Dad Munson and Kels came up and saved us parents and watched the kids for a few hours so we could go to our wards Valentines Dinner/Date activity. Patrick and I needed it so much, not just for ourselves and being together, but it was a really great night for us to get to know some people around here in our ward. There was a live band and ballroom dancing, which you all know we didn't participate in, but we did do a line dance i'm proud to say! It was fun to get dressed up and be fancy and nice for our spouses! It was just an all together great night.
Then the next day(a saturday) we spent with Mom and Dad and Kels! That was awesome! We love to be with family. Dad helped Patrick in the yard and around the house, while I showed Mom and Kels the Ogden Area and went into some fabric stores! I got some curtains for Kinleys room and I'm stoked because I can finally see her room coming together in my mind and I can hopefully get to work on it here soon.
Also this month Patrick and I decided to read the book series called The Hunger Games together. It's the first time we have read a book together and we are enjoying it. It gives us something else to talk about and brings something else to the table. haha P.S. We thought the books were pretty good. Not AMAZING but good and kept you wanting to read and conitinue on with the book! For me, ( i'm not a reader) it did something..so I guess that is sayin somethin..Right?!
Kinley is starting to learn how to walk. She loves to have you hold her hands and walk her around the house. Once you start the fun don't stop though. She is beginning to show her true personality and BOY does she have personality! We love her spunk, yet i'm a little scared for the next few years with that spunk.
Porter is Still madly in love with Thomas the train. But he's starting to venture to Magic School bus a little bit more. He is so cute and such a good little boy!
We are still in the Tax Season Rut..actually it's getting crazier! 

January 2011

So I know I've been Way LAME on blogging lately! But life for us has been really flipped upside down. Not that's it's super busy but, everything involved has made it hard for me to post anything on here. Prolly mostly because of the Lack of Motivation to tell you all how lame life is right now! haha No! I shouldn't be saying that! This month has been full of GREAT things in our lives, but change can be difficult to cope with sometimes.
Well so we moved toward the end of December, so therefore a lot of this month has been with getting situated in our new home. We were pretty much all unpacked by New Years Eve, which was nice. All was out of boxes and getting ready to be put in its place. Which is what I've been doing this month, trying to give a place for everything and finding out what works best for us in this home. My mind has been going CRAZY with decorating ideas, which are now totally confused and by the time we'll be able to do something with the house I'll have a bagillion ideas to pick from and won't be able to make up my mind. Its also a good thing though, because I'm able to really think about what I'll like best. Nothing has been hung on walls yet, no decor is set up, because we are planning on painting and we figure we might as well wait til that is done to put some holes in the walls!
Speaking of the home we have painted ONE room. And it is really seriously the ONLY room in this home that has been touched with any sort of decorative hand. We painted Porters room, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do in that room, so we chose to start there. Porter LOVES his room! We haven't quite finished with hanging things on the walls yet in his room, but the painting is done! While we were painting it he would always say "I like the Green one and the Blue one!" So cute! When we finished I realized we just add some red (which I'm intending on doing) and it will be kind of like a Thomas the Train room! And then Patricks cousin Alex came to visit and he called it a Buzz Lightyear room. Either way Porter would be happy! I mean Porter is totally fixated with his Thomas, but he also really likes Toy Story.
Also this month we celebrated Kinleys 1st Birthday! She is growing up so fast. It really has flown by this past year. I very strongly remember the emotions and feelings I was going through the day we had her, as if I were back in the very hospital, in that very bed, in that very room on that VERY day. She is definitely teaching us things Porter hasn't! Though they are very similar they are also very much two completely different persons with different personalities. Porter was our cautious one. Kinley, though cautious at the start, doesn't take long to get into LOTS and boy does she give us trouble while at church! She is the noisiest little 12 month old you have ever heard! Our little terror, which gets Porter into doing things he has never done or considered of even thinking of doing!
She is learning some words now and can say "ball" and "dada". I'm also convinced she can say Porter "Powrah" She squeals and giggles and screams and whines and cries and is starting to learn the hitting thing already! She also CHOWS down on any food you give her. She is a GREAT AMAZING little eater, which we know at some point will change. We love her to death. And as I've talked her up to being this little spaz with attitude, she is also the most sweet and loving thing on the planet. She sees her dolls and will hug and kiss and sing to them She will cuddle you and love you at any given moment. She squeals with excitement when you go to get her from her crib. She wiggles and moves that little body of hers in anyway possible when she hears a beat of music. And she is the sun to all of us flowers in this home! We soak every ounce we can get of her in!
For her birthday we didn't do much because its a week after Christmas and she is only 1 years old, she doesn't know the difference. So we decided we'd hold off on gifts and wait to get her stuff for the summer time instead. But we did do the whole cake thing. We did it twice. The first time here at our place on New Years Eve, and the second at my brother Corbin's house while the whole family was together for Hudson's Baby blessing. Porter was so into it! He was blowing out her candle for her and licking every bit of frosting he could get! She wanted to touch the fire but we didn't really let her. As soon as her finger got into the flame I blew it out so it wouldn't burn her. Then she daintily started scooping frosting with her finger and licking it off, and soon she dove into the cake with her face. I guess she decided why get my hands dirty, I'll just use my mouth! It was so ADORABLE!
Patrick is enjoying this month of easing into Tax season and learning the Audit side of things here at his new job. He loves the environment and the people he works with. He was also called into the Young Mens Presidency here in our new ward. Funny story actually...he had been sustained before our first Sunday there in our ward! Not to mention the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric in our wards name is Patrick MOnson. So Patrick is well known in our ward! Nobody has forgotten his name at least. We also spoke in our ward and that helped a lot of people get to know us quickly, though we are still fighting hard to get to know everyone else. Its tough I tell ya!
I'm fighting everyday to try and stay sane with 2 little ones and being locked up in an undecorated home in the winter time and not really knowing anyone. Life is great, but I see myself getting down often and I have to remind myself of all the blessing I have. And then I also tell myself to get out of the house and take the kids to the library. So I do! Then I also get myself all worked up in a frenzy and just go crazy cleaning the house. That's another thing about a real legit home is that now that we have doubled the square footage of our living space, my time of cleaning has been tripled! (uck..right?!!) I know I know! But It gives me something to do, which is one of the biggest reasons I'm so behind on blogging. So forgive me please!
That is pretty much all that has happened this month... and wait a few more weeks (I guess) for February's update. Lots on this month I'm sure that won't disappoint!

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!