Blessed Season!

Whew what a crazy month yet a very blessed one as well! Going into December money was really tight! Our previous landlord shorted us $750 which I had planned to use for Christmas presents and travel. Well we scrimped on everything, did some serious bargain shopping, and limited our buying to kids only, no presents for any family and told them the same for us. The results were an ok Christmas for the kids but nothing great. Then the wonderful people in our lives started to come out of the woodwork! First Jeff's amazing aunt talked to the kids and got their wish lists. She picked the expensive items and informed us not to worry about it. She easily spent $500 on us way more than I ever have or would! Then one of Jeff's friends, that he has known since he was 8, called to tell him he and his company selected us to do a secret Santa for. My pride kicked in (of course) and I told him "no we are fine, the kids are fine". Jeff was more humble and gave him the list of items we weren't able to get for the kids... he filled in the holes. Needless to say my kids had one of the best Christmas' ever! We enjoyed a week in Utah enjoying the first Christmas morning ever with Jeff's sister and tons of creative time with the rest of his family. We even found time to zip up to Morgan to see our friends the Limbs (minus John...Stupid UPS!). Then on to Idaho Falls and my amazing sister who housed us for the next week. Snowmobiling, sledding, pictionary, and Just Dance II. Another amazing week. The trip lasted 2 weeks including 28 hours of driving and 2240 miles. Then another blessing, 3 days later we get a flat tire in our garage :). All that travel and a flat in the safety of the garage. The spare tire kept us mobile until the wonderful day of student loan deposits! Now we have 4 pretty new tires and money back in savings! Heavenly Father definitely watched over us! Thank goodness for the daily blessings.

Black Friday!

Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year, not only because of the great deals but the pure entertainment! When we lived in civilization I always went with my 4 sisters, mom, and youngest brother. It truly was a sport. We would meet together on Thanksgiving night with our ads and map out the night's activities. Mom always went to BestBuy, I usually got assigned to ToysRus with Lexie, Nichole hit Fred Meyer with Kim in-charge of Target. My brother's assignment was to aid whoever had the longest list. Then we would all go to the clothing stores, Old Navy, AE, and anywhere else with a rockin' good deal. Afterword we would meet for breakfast discuss our adventures, distribute our loot and settle up financially.
Here in the middle of nowhere my store choices are limited to Walmart, Shopko, and Old Navy. No one waits out all night to get a good deal and there is little strategy required. I embraced the limitations of my situation and charged out with my good friend Becca and Emerson at my side. First stop Walmart; 12:01. No need to rush or push here, plenty of merchandise with little fuss. Then back home to rest until 4:30 when off to Old Navy Jeff and I go. Ran into Becca there of course and discovered no other stores opened up until 8:00. Back home to my warm bed. The alarm goes off at 7:30 but my pillow holds me hostage until 9:00. Back out to the mall, solo this time, to grab a few small things left on the list.I completed my shopping with little fuss and even less excitement!
The excitement I enjoy isn't the rumored tales of violence and rudeness so many speak of, but the thrill of hunting down and capturing the elusive deal. The pre-night preparations combined with fellow hunters plans to deliver a great bounty! New friendships are forged through the freezing cold night and once the doors finally open we all look out for one another. We grab doorbusters for each other just in case one of the notorious "bum rushers" break through our ranks and get the deal before the die-hards make it. Then while waiting in lines, that wrap around the entire store, we hold a stranger's place in line while they run grab that one last forgotten item. I think Black Friday brings out the best in people and I love to see it as well as be apart of it. I can't wait to get back down close to my family and a real Black Friday experience and enjoy one of my favorite parts...the people!

Snow DAY!!!

In the last two days it has snowed here more than it did all last year! As a result the kids Thanksgiving break started early. Emerson and Adison tried to shovel the drive-way but by the time they finished the drive-way was covered again. Jeff went out and relieved Adison. After 3 hours of fighting a losing battle they came in. The girls (joined by Adison) enjoyed playing in the winter wonderland.




The next morning checked the school website and found out school was canceled. First thing the kids wanted to do after they woke up was to go out in the snow again. After forcing them to eat breakfast and brush their teeth they snow suited up and headed out. Jeff handed out the sleds we bought them for Christmas (he couldn't resist) and they went out to make their snow hills. We forced them in (it is 9 degrees out) and warmed them with hot coco. Emerson went back out to try to clear a path again and it started snowing about 2 min later. He was less than thrilled! :) Now we are all sitting around still in our p.j.'s eating marshmallows and being lazy! Love snow days!

Prodigal son

My amazing son Emerson has returned from his mis-adventures in Utah. He went back there in January to be with his mom and his friends. We missed him more than I could ever describe! Utah presented him with greater challenges than he expected. He fell in with the wrong crowd and he found himself alone without any supervision more often than not. His return came suddenly and in an interesting way. Friday night I got a text from someone in their neighborhood expressing their concern for Emerson and his safety. Saturday more calls from others expressing more concerns. Sunday 3 a.m. call from Emerson saying he needed to come home now before he got into real trouble. Sunday 8:30 Emerson boards a plane and by 3:30 p.m. he was home. Now he is settling down in to the craziness that is our family life :) He starts school tomorrow; eager to charge forward toward his future and embrace the challenges it will bring. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for watching over him when we couldn't and returning him to us safely!

Sister, sister..

So we finally have a visitor here in the wilderness! My oldest Kim came to visit and watch the BSU vs. UI game. After a couple of wrong turns she finally made it around 6 last night. We stayed up talking and making fun of Jeff til 11. Showing off my house and the town is so fun! She has to leave tomorrow afternoon so it is a short trip but since she will probably be my only visitor in our 3 year run here but It was great to have her even if it was only for a short time!

Clumsy ME???

Everyone who knows me knows how clumsy I am. Jeff always jokes that I could walk down a perfectly flat perfectly clear path and still trip and fall! My history of accidents proves this.... One day, when I was a teenager, I ran down the stairs at my house. I managed to trip over my feet and tumble head over heals to the bottom. I pushed my dress down just in time to see my family lined up at the top of the stairs looking down at me. Some how I had managed to end up feet up, head down on my back with my undies exposed. Fast forward to the future, I am at work into my second week at my new job.... I go to fill up my water bottle, trip over a child laying on a Lovesac and fall into a cabinet and break my thumb, four days before leaving for DisneyLand :) Next, again stairs! Chloie was sick and sleeping in the recliner to help control her cough. Being the good mother I am, I went up to her room to bring down her blanket and pillow... Trip, Falll = Broken big toe. And my most recent clumsy caused accident? Running late (as usual) to get Lauren from gymnastics. I rush out to the garage and reach my arm behind the huge dresser to push the button to open the garage door. My arm gets caught behind it and I get jerked back. My ear, is just the right height , gets smashed into the corner. I stumble dazed back into the house to tell Jeff he needs to go get Lauren. He rushes over to see what happened... The result? A nice gash INSIDE my ear. Blood poured out and my ear rang. It took a little while for me to find my balance (such as it is) again. Needless to say, "Grace" is NOT my first, middle or last name!!!

My cup runneth over!

I am starting to feel overwhelmed! As my semester comes closer to ending my stress level rises faster.... I often feel like I am drowning. All of my previous semesters have been pretty easy. I've had a few tests and projects to do, but I was able to complete them with relatively no effort. So when I registered for my 17 credits I thought, meh... no big. Then I added 2 more days of work to the week... again...no big. I didn't factor in all the kids things, Jeff's stuff, church stuff and oh ya...SLEEP! So here I am getting closer to finals and realizing most of them are comprehensive...WHAT??? What is this thing you speak of???....Comprehensive?? Seriously, last year I didn't have one and this year I have 3 in one semester.... just my luck! So I am working on my time management skills (which suck) and learning to run on 6 hours of sleep (I've always been a 8 hour a night girl). I am sure Heavenly Father is looking down on me hoping I learn my lesson. So I am going to pass my new found wisdom on to all you crazy busy mothers out there... don't take on everything! No one expects you to except for YOU... I know, easier said than done but well worth the time you have with your kids! (Or so I've been told, hopefully I will know soon!)