Happy Birthday to Kaitlyn!

Happy 8th Birthday Kaitlyn!!! I hope it is a happy happy day!

For Kaitlyn's birthday she chose to go sledding. We had a blast. The weather was perfect and the hill we found was not too busy at all. We have more celebrating to do, but I wanted to come on and wish my (not so) little girl a very happy birthday!
I love you Kaitlyn.

Love, Mommy

Merry Christmas!

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas eve, I was even able to get the day off to go to Christmas eve service with my family! On Christmas we had a nice quiet day at home just the 4 of us. The kids were excited Santa came and left them some goodies. Aidan's favorite is the police set from the dollar store. It was a gun, handcuffs, cop style sunglasses a badge and a fake walkie talkie for a dollar...and that was his favorite of all the things he ended up with. Kaitlyn also had a great time. She is enjoying her "cheetah girl" clothes, and her american girl books (Thank you Grammie and Poppa!). Aaron and I just enjoyed being together as a family.
I had to work at 3:30 on Christmas and was off at 9:00pm. It was a pretty easy shift and I was grateful for that.
We hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

This week has been totally busy and it isn't even over yet! The kids and I did somebaking last week and most all of the cookies have been devoured, so I guess I need to make some more before Christmas. We made Butterscotch shortbread cookies, peanut butter kiss cookies, lemon bread, and english toffee. The lemon bread is usually moist and a nice deep yellow color for some reason mine turned out really dry and and not yellow at all. I know I followed the recipie exactly, so I think that it is the altitude affecting it...I'm going to look about adjusting the recipie for the altitude and try to make another batch.
I have so much to finish before Christmas gets here as well. I will be shopping tomorrow and Saturday to finish up the kids gifts! I had this bright idea of waiting until after Christmas at mom and dad's to finish their shopping, but didn't take into consideration when payday is so I'll be out with the crowds...UGG.
Both of the kids came down sick. Aidan started running a fever on Tuesday so I ended up not going to girl scouts and staying home with him. Then yesterday Kaitlyn ran a fever all day. It is weird just a fever and that is it. Aidan is now fine. Kaitlyn needed another dose of Motrin at 3:30 this morning so I'm not so sure she is out of it quite yet still watching on that one. I'm just praying that it won't be like last Christmas where they both had the influenza and couldn't really enjoy their Christmas.
Not only has my personal life been really busy, but also work life has as well. Last night they shut down the Denver airport. And while we only have a few flights a day out of there it was mad chaos on the phones last night. The worst part is that all of our Denver flights from last night until Christmas Day were completly sold out, so there wasn't really anything to move them to. They were working on adding some extra flights for the people whose flights had been cancelled, but it took awhile and people just wanted to know what we were going to do for them to get them out of there. As crazy as it was last night and as nice as *most* of the people were about it, I would hate to see what it would be like if something like that happened in New York or Florida where most of our flights originate from.....YIKES!! I also got an email from my supervisor that I had forgotten to charge a fee, so I'm not sure what happens with that. I'll probably get some demerit points or something....mistakes happen so I'm trying not to beat myself up about it, but I really hate being treated like a school kid sometimes. We get graded on calls and points if we don't do things exactly right. I try to remember everything we are supposed to do on all of the calls, but sometimes things slip and I guess this was one of those things. Ok, enough of that on to some better things.
I've got to run and get some more cleaning done so we don't have to spend all weekend doing it! Also, no Christmas cards will be sent out from us this year, I just ran out of time. So, I plan to send out cards for a different holiday instead. It's good to change it up sometimes I think.
Merry Christmas to all! I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

More Disney pics

Christmas and Disneyland.

Well, we had a great time at my parent's house visiting with everyone. It was so nice to see my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. Also it was great to finally put a face to my brother's new girlfriend Rhiannon. She is a doll and was so patient with the kiddo's.
We opened presents on Saturday (dec. 2) and I had 2 itty bitty presents that I told the kids were their "big gift". One was a miniature snowglobe of Minnie Mouse for Kaitlyn and a pressed coin book for Aidan with a picture of Disneyland on it. At first they opened it and just kind of looked at me like "These are our big gifts????" It was really funny, but then I broke down and told Kaitlyn to read what it said on Aidan's coin book, and said "We are going there on Monday!". Her face really lit up then, she was so excited! And I don't think she slept very much for 2 nights. It was such a fun way to tell them. Although Aidan didn't know what to think since he had never been there.
On Monday when we got there we took the tram over and Aidan kept saying "This is fun!". And we hadn't even gotten inside the park yet.
The park closed at 6:00 that night and so it wasn't croweded at all. Who want's to spend all that money for the park to close early? We just about walked on all the rides. It took us longer to buy lunch than to get on any of the rides.
The first two rides we went on were Pirates and the haunted house. Aidan looked like this for all of pirates and the beginning of the Haunted house. After that he enjoyed everything and most rides he said "I want to do that again!"

Kaitlyn had a great time getting some signatures for her autograph book that my cousin got for her when she was at Disneyland Paris. Her main concern was meeting Minnie Mouse. And luckily
we did run into her in toon town! Kaitlyn was very happy for that! All in all it was a wonderful day. And we are all looking forward to going back another day. Next time we would like to do a few days so that we can go to California Disney as well. The kids were exhausted by the time 6:00 rolled around and I don't think we could have done anything more they were so tired. Although they have both asked me when we are going back.

Thankful.

Lot's of busy things going on lately and no time to blog. We are in official finish Christmas shopping mode in the Wamp house. We leave a week from Friday for our trip to Calli. I am so excited and the kids are too. They still don't know about Disneyland and I can't wait for their reaction. My Mom and Dad are coming with us too, so I am excited for that too.
Other things going on around here...The new shifts came out. I received Friday, Saturday and Sunday's off. I will be so happy to get back into the routine of going to church with my family, but I did have to trade of doing Girl Scouts. There just wasn't a shift that had Saturday, Sunday and Tuesdays off. That is OK though. I have felt that God is telling me to give that up for awhile anyways. Kaitlyn will still attend I just won't be able to. I start my new shift in January.
We are headed to Aaron's parents house for a later celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday. Aunt Janet has a room that she calls "The Girls Room" and Kaitlyn will spend the night with her on Friday. Kaitlyn is excited to go play doll's with Aunt Janet and to spend the night with her. Aidan told her "But if you go to Aunt Janet's then there won't be any girls there" (there being Grandma's and Poppa's). Too cute.
Ok, Off to go get some more Christmas stuff done. I was hoping to have it all done and shipped by yesterday but Aaron was sick on Monday night and I slept on the couch so I was too tired to get it finished yesterday. Hopefully I can have it all done and shipped off on Friday.
Love to all! We are Thankful for all of you, you have each blessed our lives in some way and want you to know that we are grateful for it!

Breathing a sigh of relief.

I have never been so happy to have Halloween over. This year was one of the hardest years for me to stick to our beliefs. I have never been one to have a too hard of time for living what I believe. But with the birth of our children, and Kaitlyn going to public school I have been having a hard time sticking with what I believe.
We have chosen not to celebrate halloween due to the origins of it. So, we don't go "Trick or Treating" (I hate even the name of that.) And for years we have done nothing as far as dressing up. Well, the last few years they have had a fall festival at our church on a day other than halloween. That is fine. We go and participate the kids have fun. It is a fun time and an outreach into our community.
That part that has become hard the last few years is the actual day of halloween at school. They do a parade and have a big party. So, I feel bad when Kaitlyn isn't dressed up (she didn't for kindergarten) and misses out on the fun activities. The last 2 years I have let her dress up for the school parade, but then I feel guilty to not sticking with what I believe in. I mean if I am letting her dress up for school, but not go "trick or treating" or carve pumpkins or any of the other halloween stuff am I being a hypocrite?
It is just so hard to balance your convictions to wanting the best for your children. Not hurting their feelings or making an outcast out of them for their beliefs. I think some major prayer is in order before next years halloween.
I am so glad the day is over and that we can move on to celebrating things that are important to us...being thankful and Christ's birth!

SNOW!

Yep it snowed last night! I was working and was on the phone with a lady from the New York area. She was asking me about UT and how we must have better weather than where she is but we probably don't get all the changes of seasons. I told her that it was snowing at the time we were talking and she said..."I guess I'll stay put then". LOL! I thought she was really cute. (But I do believe that UT does have better weather than NY any day!)

Cookie got a hair cut.

Poor thing doesn't even look like the same dog! We tried to do it ourselves, but our trimmer wasn't working properly so I called all around and made her an appointment for Wednesday.
She had an appoinment yesterday for the vet to get her rabies vaccination and they do grooming there too and just happened to have an opening. We quickly jumped on it since she was so matted up. Well they took all of her hair away. Last night she even looked pink because of having so little hair left. Having no hair has turned her into a little lap dog because she is so cold. We'll have to get her a sweater soon.

She is already spoiled rotten. She loves to go for car rides and goes with us to take Kaitlyn to school. Since we car pool it is pretty funny to see 4 kids, me and cookie all pull up for school in my little Saturn. But it is a very short distance so I don't mind.
Other news besides Cookie. My brother in law's automotive shop just opened. He and his family have put in alot of hard hours to get it off the ground and we are so proud of you guys! We wish you all the best on your new adventure!

Pictures of our new doggie.

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Cookie has arrived! Yep, her name is cookie. The dog is supposed to be mostly for Aidan, all little boys need a dog. Cookie is a one year old Shih Tzu. She is really sweet, the first time we saw her must have been the first day in the shelter because she was really scared and didn't really know what to think of us. Today Aidan and I went to see her in her kennel before they called us back to the interview room, when we got their she was full of life and gave us both kisses on the fingers. We knew then and their that she was meant to be ours. So, we the interview was really more informational about what shots she has had and what was expected of us.
We brought her out to the car and she jumped right in the backseat with Aidan. And on the ride home she would go from me, to the passenger seat, to the back seat, to Aidan and back again. Aidan really giggled when she jumped in his lap.
As you can see she is in desperate need of some grooming. Her undercoat is pretty matted up and she needs to put on a little bit of weight. We were planning to take her to the groomers, but decided to do it ourselves since winter is coming and then would probably shave it all off. So, Aaron and I pulled out the shears and cut off as many of the mats as we could while still leaving her fur, and gave her a bath. She was really good, we were pulling and tugging and brushing and combing her and she just stood there. I don't think we will have a problem with her nipping at Aidan at all which I am thankful for.
Oh and one more neat thing about her, she has one blue eye and one brown one. It is really cool. She is such a sweetheart and we are glad to have her in our family. (PS Kaitlyn is having a playdate today, I am sure there will be lots of pictures with her and Cookie. We didn't intentionally leave her out!)

Another Aidan Funny.

Mommy: Aidan what would you like for Christmas this year? (Trying to be good and make up a list to send to my mom)
Aidan: I already told you I want a...a...a.... "TREE MA KISS"!
(Which would be a Christmas tree). Too funny.
I love that all that he will tell me is that he wants a tree ma kiss. That is always the highlight of Christmas for me, just the 4 of us shopping for and decorating the Christmas tree. Aaron does the lights, we all put up the various ornaments and I do the beads and the other household decorations. We listen to Christmas Carols and then when we are finished we turn out the lights and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
And if you all are thinking that it is way to early to even start thinking about Christmas I totally agree except that we are celebrating with my family the FIRST weekend in December. So with loosing a few weeks it had to be made up somewhere.
I hope you all have a beautiful holiday season and a very pretty "Tree MA KISS"!

Cruising.

So, we had a great time on our crusie. This is just my immediate family and my sister's boyfriend and my brother's roommate. We had a great time visiting with each other.
Aaron and I left a day early to make sure we would make it on our flight. We stayed at the Queen Mary which was really interesting. I did not realize how much history was actually involved with that ship. We took a tour and learned some neat things about it.
We had a great time visiting with everyone and getting to know Tom and Landin better.
We went to La Bufadora which is a blowhole in Ensenada Mexico. At the Blowhole there is a flea market and all the vendor's yell at you trying to get you to come to their "shop". I didn't much care for that, and once in the shop they would follow us all around. There were very few places that would just let us look around and not pester us, I told my mom that I wish that I would have found things to buy in those places as I enjoyed shopping there much more. We had lunch at a nice little restaurant which made the best fresh corn tortillas! They were so yummy! I did find some pretty good deals, and got myself a "Fucci" purse. (Fucci was our nickname for fake Gucci, my aunt bought a "Frauda" instead of Prauda).
Our only wish was that the cruise line itself would have been a little better. The food was not nearly as good as the last cruise we went on and the activities were so bunched up together that by 2:00 there wasn't much to do. Our next cruise will be on a different line for sure, but in hindsight it was actually good that there wasn't a whole lot to do because it gave us more time to sit and visit which is what this was all about for us.
We had an awesome time but it is soo good to be home to Kaitlyn and Aidan who we missed very much!

Disneyland here we come!!!

I am so excited! We are planning a trip to CA for the first week in December. I have already traded all of my days (which was so easy this time!) for work. And then I talked with a very good friend of ours who works at Disneyland. He said he would get us into the park one of the days we are there!!! Thanks Jimmy!

Aidan has never been there and it has been awhile since Kaitlyn has been there I think she was 3 the last time we went. We are going to have it be a surprise and wrap up some sort of Disney related gift to give to each of them while we are at my mom and dad's celebrating Christmas on the 3rd. It is going to be sooooo hard for me to keep it a secret because Kaitlyn has been asking me if we can go there and Aidan has seen the pictures of the last time we went and says it looks like fun and he wants to go there! I love good surprises like that!

I know I am spoiled, but I have been to Disneyland lots of times. Our graduation night was spent at Disneyland, a whole night staying up and enjoying the happiest place on earth...what better way to celebrate. Aaron and I were almost engaged at Disneyland..at least that is what I have been told, but he thought I knew so he decided to wait. (And I never knew by the way!)

Some of my happiest memories have been at Disneyland. We used to try to go once a year, and it is amazing to me how it has changed so much since when I was a kid. One of my favorite rides as a kid is no longer there. It was called the adventure through inner space, and by the time you were at the end of the ride you looked just inches tall.I think Star Tours took the place of that ride many years ago. I have seen Bear Country Jamboree go, which is really sad....And yet somehow the Tiki room is still there. I know there have been even bigger changes since my parents were children. When my mom was a child they had tickets to get on the rides.
Although Walt Disney said "The way I see it, Disneyland will never be finished. It’s something we can keep developing and adding to. A motion picture is different. Once it’s wrapped up and sent out for processing, we’re through with it. If there are things that could be improved, we can’t do anything about them anymore. I’ve always wanted to work on something alive, something that keeps growing. We’ve got that in Disneyland." And while I love that about Disney, I still long for some of the nostalgia of some of the lesser remembered attractions. But I do have to admit some of the changes have been for the better...case in point...Captain EO. It replaced "America Sings" which was entertaining and taught some sort of historical importance Captain EO was just awful. I have not seen the latest attraction that has replaced it, but I think anything has to be better that Michael Jackson!

And while most of the changes have been for the better, I believe there are 2 attractions that will always remain. Oh sure they may have some up grades and renovations, but the premise of them will always stay the same. And those are my 2 absolute favorite rides, I cannot go to Disneyland without riding on "Haunted Mansion" and "Pirates of the Carribbean". Aaron and I even took Kaitlyn on both of those when she was very little...and like us she loved them. She was a little scared in the Haunted Mansion, but for the most part she really loved it. If you could see Kaitlyn's face in this picture you would see that she is so full of glee. (Please forgive the not so great LO this one was done at the beginning stages of scrapbooking).

I am so excited to be taking both of my children to one of the places that I loved in my childhood, to give them the opportunity to find those nostalgic attractions that they can remember and tell their children about someday. After all Disney is a growing and changing entity.

Pajama Day.

So the weather has been cold and rainy all week. This morning I had to work for 2 hours, when that happens I usually let the kids watch a movie. It works well for us. Well today after I got off of work the kids were still in their jammies, and we decided to watch another movie. It was a nice time to just sit and not have to think about anything. I really ejoyed it.
Tonight I have training for work. They are changing the program we use to book reservations, actually they have been changing everything from the website our customers use to our intranet. I am at the point that I wish they would stop changing things, it feels like I just learned where everything is and now they are changing it again on me!
Ok, it is 2:30 I suppose I need to go get out of my jammies and into some clothes for work. Nothing better than Pajama Day :0)

Love is

I heard this song today and loved the lyrics. I wish I knew who sings it so I can get myself a copy of it. Anyways here are the lyrics:

Theres nothing to hide nothing to fear everything is crystal clear.
No phony disguise no faces to wear there is nothing we can not share.
Cause I am at ease when I am with you. I know love is gonna see us through.

CHORUS:
Love is higher than the mountains
Love is deeper than the oceans
Love is wider than the miles between you and me.
Love is stronger than a freight train.
Love is faster than a jet plane.
Love is bigger than the troubles that we'll ever see.


We're Never apart We're never alone. Love is Closer than the telephone.
No wall is to high no distance to great that love would ever hesitate
Cause we are the stage and love is the play.
And the scene is just another day.
Chorus


Long is the day and dark is the night I know love is going to be our light.
Valley is low the desert is dry....love will never die.
chorus

To those who are far away from us... We miss you and love you. (Mom, Dad, Janay, Sean, Jami, Brian, Hannah, Seth...and too many family members and friends that I dont' have time to mention.) We love you and you are always on our minds.

A fun day and flowers.

On Labor day I was lucky enough to get the entire day off. So, we decided to head up to Ogden to the Treehouse children's museum. It was really cool and the kids had a great time! The museum is set up like you are going through different parts of the world or different stories. This picture was from the china exhibit. There were also Africa, Japan, Germany, England, and a few others I can't think of right off the top of my head.
On the day we went it was Pirate day and the kids got to go to pirate school which they thought was really funny. The main pirate did a great job. They also did a treasure hunt where the families went all through the museum looking for X's with little words written on them. Then we were to unscramble the sentence to figure out where the treasure was. The treasure was hershey's chocolates, and who doesn't love that!

Although I have to admit I think my favorite part was meeting the president in his oval office. Did you know that they moved it to UT? LOL! Aaron and I did have fun pretending in it though, who says adults can't have fun too? Although I think that these 2 little ones are just about the cutest president's I have ever seen.
And now for the flowers. We have this bush that in the winter looks like sticks poking out of the ground but in the spring it has leaves and then in the late summer it produces the prettiest pink flowers. When we moved here the previous owners had it planted right next to the driveway and I just thought it was way to big to be there. So we transplanted it to right outside my kitchen window. Last year it didn't bloom and we thought maybe it had died, but it has taken off and I love looking at it when I'm in the kitchen, but the only problem is I have no idea what kind of plant it is. The buds start out just like a hibiscus, but they don't come out looking like that. So, if you know what they are I would love to know the name of it. I love flowers and so far this year the ones we bought are doing really well. There are so many beautiful ones that I just love to go out and putter around in the yard.
Aaron on the other had loves to grow veggies, and he is doing a phenominal job with it! We have had tomatos, peppers, pumpkins, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, onions, broccoli, carrots, corn, lettuce and watermelon. I have missed really good fresh tomatos ever since we moved here and to be able to just go out and pick them is so refreshing! Not to mention the amount of money we have been saving by not buying all of our veggies at the grocery store. We have been thinking that it might be beneficial to build a green house so that we can have fresh veggies all year. YUM!

So proud of Kaitlyn.

Today, I recieved a phone call from Kaitlyn's best friends mom. She told me that Kaitlyn's friend had told her Kaitlyn has said somethings that really hurt her feelings and that she didn't think Kaitlyn didn't want to be her friend anymore.
So, I chatted with Kaitlyn about it after school today. Kaitlyn doesn't remeber saying those things to her, but instantly wanted to call and apologize. She felt really bad that her friend's feelings were hurt. I told her that she needs to watch the words she is using. She doesn't deliberatly try to hurt people's feelings, but sometimes words just come out wrong.
Well, she called her friend and now all is right in the world. Kaitlyn said she was really sorry, her friend instantly forgave her. Now they are trying to plan playdates :0)
It makes me feel pretty good knowing that Aaron and I have raised our daughter to apologize when she has wronged somebody, and that she chooses good friends that will forgive instead of holding grudges....
Now if in Jr. High it will work like this, well that's a whole nother story I guess :0)

Not much going on here.

Nothing much going on here in our household this week. I had a shift change, so I now work 3:30-9:30pm. And I am still adjusting. It is ok, but it just seems LONG. Even though it is the same amount of hours it just feels long. On the other hand it is good for Aidan because he is only in his room for about 30 minutes before Aaron and Kaitlyn get home. It is weird too because at about 9:00 the calls just quit coming in and there are a few minutes between calls. You would think that I would have all this time to spend on my scrapping, but I am so tired by that time that I just sit there with my eyes closed. Hopefully I will get used to the change soon. And on another good note I get Friday and Saturdays off! I am so glad I don't have to work Friday's!
And I know you are all sitting on pins and needles waiting to find out what happened with my points. Well, I didn't actually end up with any! YEAH! I'm happy about that. I have a new supervisor with this shift and she answered all of my questions. But I was surprised that they don't discipline you for working extra time that you are not supposed to. I guess I probably worked it for free though.
Other than that not much else is going on. Kaitlyn will have her first break from school next week, and she is looking forward to spending some quality time with me. I'll have to plan something fun to do with her...Any ideas ladies?
Oh and at the end of the month we are headed for our cruise! I can't wait! The kids are staying here with grammie and poppa while Aaron and I are gone. We will meet up with a lot of my family and celebrate my Mom and Aunt's big 5 0. We are going on a 3 day cruise to Ensenada. Aaron and I did a four day cruise there for our anniversary one year and had a blast, but I always wanted to go with a lot of people.

We've made a decision.

I've decided not to interview for the flight attendant job. The main reason is that they could have me stationed anywhere basically. Meaning for at least the first year I could be living somewhere other than with my family. I just don't think I can do that. We lived without Aaron for awhile when he was working out of town all the time and it was hard. I don't think I should put my kids through that again. It is really scary thinking that I could be stationed somewhere like Chicago. I would have to get to whatever job I was working in 1 and a half hours which means I would have to live there while my family stays in SLC and not really knowing if it would be a year or more until I could get my prefered domicile (headquarters). So after several long discussions with Aaron and him bringing it up to Kaitlyn and her tears I decided not to go for it.
Now I am just watching and praying that something will open up where I won't be bearing the brunt of the customer's nastiness.

On another note we had a really wonderful day on Saturday. Aaron and I took the kids bowling...they had a great time! It was so funny to watch Aidan throw the ball and it barely grazing the pins. The bowling alley we went to had automatic bumpers, so the kids could use them and Aaron and I didn't have too (although I think we could have used them some ourselves). Then after bowling we went to the dollar theater to see Over the hedge...a cute movie, but not one that I need to see again. I'm glad we saw it in the dollar theater.

Well, I'm off to get somethings done before I have to work today! I hope all you readers have a wonderful day!

Lots of thinking and prayers going on around here lately.

Recently, I posted on how my job is hard to take time off. Even though it is an at home job. Lately, I feel like I am missing out on a lot with my family due to work. My schedule is changing on Sunday and things will be a bit better, but it is still a pain if I have to get sometime off. I feel like I am in my "Dungeon" ( that is what we call the basement) working, and getting paid hardly anything for what I endure each shift. While if I was working outside the home and had a direct boss I feel like I could talk with them and get the time off I need. And while if I had more of a career instead of an entry level job, I would feel ok about not getting the time off.
Take 6 hours of non stop talking to people and add jerks every three or four calls...cussing you out, asking you rediculous questions and just plain being rude and nasty to you. It just starts to wear you down. I have worked in Customer service related positions before and have never been treated this badly. I think being "ananomous" to the person you are talking to helps people feel like they can treat you however you want, it really shows the true attitudes of people.
So, what am I thinking and praying about. I am thinking of applying for a flight attendant job with another airline. I know that I would still be dealing with mean nasty and rude people. I know that I would still be away from my family, much more so actually. But I would be making double the pay of what I am right now. I would have other people around me who would be going through the same thing, and at the end of the day be able to commiserate with me.
I have emailed a friend of mine who is a flight attendant, and she gave me some wonderful information...Thanks Kim! I have talked with Aaron about it at length. The job which Aaron is working right now allows him the flexibility to work around a more hectic schedule for myself...which makes us feel that this may be the right time to pursue a career rather than an entry level position. Kaitlyn is now in school full time and Aidan is asking more and more everyday when he can go to school too, so I think the kids would be alright with it...but would I? I know the first few years until I had some seniority built up would be esp. hard.
And now I am praying about it. Sky West airlines is having group interviews in a week. While one side of me would like to stay with JetBlue it is just not possible for flight attending as I would not be stationed in Salt Lake city, more than likely it would be New York or Florida. At least with Sky West they do have a hub here so I *might* be able to be stationed here.
Anyways, I can use lots of prayers for the decision that we are trying to make around here. Right now we are leaning towards me applying for it, but I am not %100 sure on that.

Getting back to normal.

Well, Things are starting to get back to normal around here. The kids are feeling lots better! I am so thankful that it was just a short virus, I hate seeing them sick.
On Sunday I ended up working a shift that I *thought* I was supposed to work last Sunday. What happend was last Sunday I thought I was working a 3:30 am shift. Aaron woke me up at 5:50 am and asked me if I had gotten off early. NO, just that my alarm wasn't turned on even though I specifically remember turning it on, which means little hands must have been playing with it. So, I called in. Got my demerit points and finished working my shift. Fast Forward to Friday. I am checking to see if everything is correct for the new shift I am starting on 27th, and I see that I am starting work at 3:30 am on Sunday. ARRRGGGHHH! I checked the shift and double checked it and could have sworn that it was in there for the week before. I don't know what happened...story of my life. But I would like to hear what is happening with my demerit points since I worked an hour and a half that I wasn't supposed to, but she seems to be ignoring my emails and voice messages...she is off today so I may try to get ahold of her again tomorrow.
Anyways, so life is somewhat crazy here in our household. I am working lots trying to earn some extra money before we go on our cruise next month! I can't wait, it should be a lot of fun. We are going with a ton of family to celebrate my mom and aunt's big 5 0! And the kids are staying home with poppa and grammie, so it should be fun!
Well, if you have listened to my rambling this long I commend you! TTFN (TaTa for now!)

Sometimes I really hate my job!

The last week has been exhausting. Monday Kaitlyn came home from school with a really high fever. She was home sick for 2 days, finally felt well enough to go back to school yesterday. Aidan woke up last night with a fever. This virus gives the kids REALLY high fevers, Kaitlyn got to 104.5 at one point. Now Aidan has one that keeps creeping back up, and then he started vomiting (yes I know it is gross but it is a fact of life). So, I call in to work seeing if there is any way at all for me to get off some today. Nope, none at all. No PTO no Same day PTO.
They pride themselves on being a family friendly company, but a mom can't get 2 lousy hours off to take care of her son until his father gets home. A coworker of mine just had a baby, she took time off to have the baby and now the baby needs surgery. She is stuck trying to trade the hours she is supposed to work, they aren't helping that poor mom out at all.
Ok, I'm off to take care of my sick baby. I just needed to vent that out.

Kaitlyn's story.

Kaitlyn has been practicing her typing. This is a story that she wrote today. I thought it was cute.


At noon Lin and her Mommy went shopping. Anna went too . They bought fruit and vegetable. Dad was mad becomes Mom did not buy his favorite kind of chocolate. He was very very mad after dinner become he did not have his favorite ice cream. Mom , said its ok I will buy one. She ran to the store and bought his favorite kind of dessert. He was so much happier.

Balboa Island

We did this page at the fun scrapbook convention I went to in July. All the paper and chipboard letters and tags are from a company named "Pressed Petals". I loved this paper and couldn't wait to finish up this Layout.
The idea for the journaling on the picture came from another teacher at the convention. One of my all time favorite scrapbookers Theresa Collins! She does some amazing work.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the Layout!
(You can click on the layout to see a larger version of it if you like>)

Poor Aidan

He has decided he does not love "taking shots". He did get his neat bandages, but was walking like he was limping. After a huge chocolate chip pancake at IHOP he was feeling much better. Although when he woke up from his nap he was running a bit of a fever and saying his legs really hurt. Some tylenol and a carrot from the garden and he was raring to go.
I'm so glad he doesn't have to have shots again until his Kindergarden ones.

A little late with this update.

Well, Kaitlyn has long been back from Girl Scout camp and I have yet to update. She had a great time! She tried everything which is what I asked her to do. She even went on a canoe and had a great time. She came back with dirt and mosquito bites all over her, but was smiling and very happy. She looked even more grown up to me. People have asked if she missed us and the answer was "Not really" so I guess that means she had a lot of fun!
I was a little worried about her because the counselors don't stay in the cabin with them, but sleep outside in a tent. She said that it wasn't a problem, but they did get in trouble the first night because they kept turning on the light. She said they told the girls it looked like they were having a party...she thought that was too funny.
Each girl got to pick a name for themselves...they had Kitty, Sparrow, Pony, Boa and several others that I can't think of right off hand. Can you guess which one Kaitlyn chose? Pony of course, I thought that was pretty funny.

On Tuesday Kaitlyn started her first day of second grade. Their school building is under renovation, so they are going to another elementary school for the next 3 weeks. Although her teacher told me that they are worried that it will not be finished in that time frame. I don't know what they are going to do if they are not finished, the other school will be starting in Sept. and those teachers will need to get their rooms back and set up.
Kaitlyn's teacher seems nice. Kaitlyn likes her, I will know more about her in the next couple of weeks when we have open house. So far all the notes home have sounded pretty good. I wish I could go volunteer in the class room, but with Aidan being 3 there is just no way for me to do that. So I have to go with what Kaitlyn tells me.
And on a final note, I was worried about Friday's. Kaitlyn gets out of school at 1:50 and I have to start work at 2:15. I don't think I can physically make it back home in time to start work. Well, we found out that one of Kaitlyn's friends that was in her class at Edgemont is going to the same school and lives right up the street from us, she is not on the same track though, but we do overlap. So, I am picking up in the mornings and then Kaitlyn will ride home in the afternoons! I am so glad that it worked out, a total God- Thing!
Now I have to get Aidan ready to go to the Dr's. He is getting some shots today. Poor guy. It is our tradition to go out to lunch, breakfast, or treat after getting shots. I always feel so bad about the shots that I feel I need to make up for them with something fun.
I told Aidan that he needs to get a shot and told him I'll take him out to lunch wherever he wants. He said "I love taking shots" and "I can't wait to get a neat bandage". Yes, he calls band aids.. bandages, I don't know where he got that but I think it is pretty cute. I am sure he won't love taking a shot when he gets it, but I'm sure he will be a trooper.

"So Much...

I love your hair" is what Aidan told me while sitting on my lap today. The only problem is that I haven't had it cut since February and it shows! It has been driving me nuts lately. But Hey if my son " So Much Loves it" then I guess I shouldn't complain. LOL!

What a fun week!

Well, vacation is over, but it was a lot of fun! We started out by going to California to go to a friends wedding. It was such a fun time. I haven't seen Jessica in a few years, so it was wonderful to see her again. She looked beautiful in her dress.
Their reception was a lot of fun, and Aidan became the talk of the party with all of his dance moves. I still wish we had a video camera to get him dancing....He did everything from slow dancing with Hope (the cutest little girl ever!) to break dancing. Everyone was talking about him :0)
We had a good visit with my parents, brother, sister and her boyfriend on Sunday. And then we went to Balboa Island on Monday. The kids had a great time playing on the beach and riding the ferry out to the Island. The houses are beautiful out there. Aaron and I are talking about getting some people together and renting one for a week! I would seriously love living at the beach for a week!
We then had a few days of a break back at home cleaning and getting ready for MY slumber party. It is a fun weekend of scrapbooking, and I had about 6 girls and cutie Audrey to stay over at my house. It was so much fun meeting these people in real life. We all got along really well and had a great time making some fun projects. Theresa Marie, her mom, and Audrey got to stay with us an extra night and we took Aidan and Audrey for a walk around the neighborhood and just had a good time chatting late even though we were all ready for bed!
I made some wonderful friends this weekend, friends that I think I will have for a lifetime! And of course like the good scrapper that I am I didn't take any pictures from this event. Although there were so many people snapping pictures that I am sure I will end up with something.
Kaitlyn is off to girl scout camp. We miss her (esp. Aidan he keeps asking about her and checks her room every morning). I am sure she is having a great time. We will pick her up tomorrow, so I will update on how camp was then.

A BIG Thank you to Aunt Janet

This afternoon I went to get the mail and there was a box on the front porch. Aunt Janet made Kaitlyn and her doll Elizabeth these adorable hats and dresses. She also sent a lot of other dresses in the box as well, but this was Kaitlyn's favorite.
Kaitlyn loves dresses from Aunt Janet, and wears them all summer long because they are nice and cool.
We feel so blessed for a wonderful Aunt who takes the time to make such adorable outfits.
Thank you Aunt Janet!

My way of relaxing.

Do you have something that you do that totally relaxes you and other people would just find it tedious and crazy? For me that is cutting things out. For instance titles on my scrapbook pages are always cut out by hand. I keep thinking about purchasing one of those new cutters that you hook up to your computer, but while creating this page the other day I found that this is what is relaxing to me.
I think my great grandmother (Mammom is what we called her) must have passed this love on to me. She cut out everything and saved it to put on cards and envelopes to make things look special. She told me the story of why she did that, and I think I'd like to share it with you...
When my Mammom was a little girl she had asked a babysitter to cut something out for her. Well, the babysitter cut it out, but did a terrible job of doing it and left the edges all jagged and awful looking, so Mammom said she vowed that as soon as she was old enough to use scissors she would always cut things out nicely...and she ALWAYS did. She was phenominal with the scissors.
So now whenever I am working on a title I end up thinking about my Mammom and her scissors. And yes cutting out these little tiny letters by hand is something that I enjoy doing. And I have figured out that THIS is what makes my style so me. Almost every page has a hand cut title. It might not be Creating Keepsakes worthy, but it doesn't need to be. I like my style just the way it is.
And just to let you know a little bit about this page.... The picture was taken by my dad at my cousin's wedding last August. The journaling reads: "Aidan, I love this picture Poppa took of you at Scotts wedding. What fun it was for you to drink out of a special "grown up" glass, but this picture also reminds me that someday you wont be my beautiful baby boy, but all grown up drinking champagne at your own wedding...and while I look forward to that day I am so not ready to give up the sticky hugs and kisses and having you all to myself. I love you my beautiful baby boy. Love, Mommy"
Thanks for looking!

Well the trash bags worked

I went into Aidan's room this morning and he cleaned up his whole room and even made his bed. I asked Aaron if he had helped him and Aaron told me he did it all by himself. The punishment must have worked. I was so happy that I let him pick one toy out of the trash bag. When I told him that he told me "I want Kitty" which I knew is what he would go for. So, I told him for each day he keeps his room picked up then he can pick one toy. It seems to be working...but alas I think all hope is lost that Kaitlyn will keep her stuff picked up. A mom can only hope....

I can't take this house anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll tell ya, I can't wait for Kaitlyn to go back to school. Since she has gone on summer break there is stuff everywhere! Everytime I feel like I am getting a handle on it she adds more to the pile.
We went through her room the other day and got rid of a bunch of things she doesn't play with anymore and cleaned everything up properly. That same day her room was a mess again.
Aidan is on a non cleaning streak and won't help pick up anything, so I took the trash bags to his room yesterday. And yes, even kitty ended up there. (Kitty was laying on the floor with the rest of his stuff).
Aaron has been working on the yards and I'm trying to stay on top of the house, but with the 2 mess makers it is a loosing battle.
And Mom I know you are sitting back thinking "HAHAHA Payback!" I feel horrible about the mess we left you with now that I know how horrible it is to stay on top of everyones stuff.
Vent over. Hopefully by the end of today the house will still be picked up if not clean, I know wishful thinking on my part.

Whew! What a week.

So, we had an incrdible time last week at my parents. Kim was right I am going to become so spoiled knowing that I can fly home for free whenever the feeling strikes....I love that about my job. But our trip was way too short. We flew out on Tuesday morning. I got up at 2:30 to call and make sure we would make it on the plane, and planned on going back to sleep, but Kaitlyn woke up at 3:00 AM so that meant no sleep for mom. We made it on the plane without any problems.
The kids had a blast on the airplane although Kaitlyn had to sit on a different row than us, but just right across from us and she did a grea job. When we got to Long Beach I was taking a picture of the kids infront of the plane, the pilot came out and offered to get a picture of all 3 of us.
We went and saw CARS that afternoon and Aidan loved it. It was a really cute movie. The next day was swimming at Uncle Seans, and then my cousin Kerry came out to visit with us too. The next day it was time for us to come home already. We barely made it on the plane, but we made it onto the very last row and the 3 of us got to ride all together. The kids enjoyed the snacks and behave really well. (Esp since mom took the middle seat so they would be seperated! :0)
Kaitlyn thought it was funny that I had to wear blue gloves. The blue gloves are for cleaning the plane. The company policy is that we are all part of the same team, so therefore if we are on a plane we all need to help clean it. I did my part although they told me since I had the kids I could go, but the kids enjoyed helping to clean too. The pilots even come out and help clean up the cabin. The best part was getting into the pilots seats though, the kids just thought that was the best thing ever!
Then on Friday the kids and Aaron went to a baseball game for the SLC Bees. The game started at 6:00 and they finally got home after 11:00, but the game had not even finished yet. Kaitlyn was a bit disappointed because she didn't get to stay and meet the players, but we had a surprise for her on Saturday that we needed to get up early for. Her cousins Hannah and Seth were at Grammie and Poppa's house. When we told her that she flew out of bed to get ready to go. The kids had a great time playing together and getting dirty. Aaron's Aunt Janet took Kaitlyn and Hannah over to her house and let them pick through this HUGE pile of doll clothes (that Aunt Janet made) that will fit Kaitlyn's american girl doll. Kaitlyn was so excited she and Hannah both ended up with at least 25 outfits apiece. Aidan and Seth played all day long with very little fighting, wich is usually not the case with those 2. All in all it was a great week, but boy was it sure exhausting. Since I worked on Sunday we didn't do anything for father's day. I hope Aaron had a relaxing day though since he is the best daddy ever! We love you Aaron.

Going home...

I'm using my flight perks to go home this week! I am super excited. I haven't seen my mom or dad since November...can't believe it has been that long! The kids are excited because Uncle Sean (my bro) says that they can come over and go swimming in his pool. It is going to be hard to wait until Tuesday to go!

I've been tagged by Kim

In my fridge:
1. Milk

2.Cottage Cheese
3. Last nights dinner left overs...italian pasta shells
4. broccoli
5. a ton of different salad dressings and condiments...I love to try new dressings, but I don't always love the dressing so there they sit until I decide to clean it out.


In my closet:
1. Clothes
2. 2 iris carts that are being used for our sock and undies drawers
3. a canvas box that holds all of our winter scarfs, gloves and hats
4. cleaning solutions for the bathroom (our closet is in our bathroom)
5. Shoes

In my handbag:
1. my day planner
2. makeup
3. hand lotion
4. antibacteria gel
5. gum

In my car:

1. a box of kleenex
2. aidan's booster seat
3. a notepad
4. dust
5. a Martina Mcbride Cd

On my TIVO/DVR/etc.
1. About 3 episodes of Er needing to be watched by my hubby
2. An episode of the west wing also waiting to be watched by my hubby
Other than that there is nothing on it. We are all caught up.

I'm going to tag Stacy.

Decisions, Decisions

We had a meeting at Kaitlyn's school the other night to determine what school the kids in our neighborhood should go to. Seems like they really don't know where to put us. Half of our community go to one school and the other half go to the other school. East vs West. Well the meeting was pretty informative. One thing I didn't know what that with the school Kaitlyn goes to right now when she gets to middle school she will not be going to the same middle school as all of the friends she is making currently. I don't like that because I think when children hit the middle school age they really need their friends to help guide them through that really awkward time.
At the meeting we were given 7 choices. Only one of which seems like a good choice to me, but the other parents were not happy about that choice. It was to send them all to the year round school that is right up the street from us. (the other parents didn't like the year round idea...I'm not too sure how I feel on that one.)
Aaron and I got to talking about it and we really liked the principal of the year round school. I was told that we could go get a special permit to have her put into that school. The changes that the school board are looking into would not happen until the 07-08 school year. We think if she has to change it would benefit her to change now. So, I went and toured the school. It was really nice, and they are remodling it this summer so it will be even better when she gets there. We talked with her about it and she seems to like the idea ok. She will miss the friends she made this year, but really why wait and let her bond further with those friends when she will be pulled away from them later. So, it looks like change is in order for her and us, but in the long run we think it will be the best for her...
Now we just have to decide on what track we like!

Another year older...

Wow, so much has changed for me this last year...I guess that is what growing up is all about, the changes.
This was the first year that I didn't spend Christmas with my parents, and I hated it. I missed the big family Christmas. It was made worse by the kids both being sick though. I think it wouldn't have felt so bad if they had both been feeling great and enjoyed themselves (and I wasn't so tired from staying up all night taking care of them). Although, this was the first year that I had 2 Christmas trees and I really loved the way the house looked this year!
This year was the first time I have gone back to work in 8 years. This change has been hard on my family, but I have been enjoying my time at work. It feels nice to be working again. AND this is the first job I have had (except for my 2 year career as the church janitor) that has not involved working with children. And although I think that working with children is very important, I want to still love my children and be there for them when I "get home" from work. Working with children drains me and when I get home all I want to do is be quiet...I'm happy to be working with JetBlue (and I think my kids will be happier in turn).
This year my Brother and his girlfriend came to visit me for the first time since we moved to UT. We had a great time although Leah wasn't feeling well, and I really hope they enjoyed visiting also. I can't wait to have them come back for another visit!
This year my inlaws moved to UT, and it has been nice having them a little closer by. The kids have esp. enjoyed having them come and stay when we needed some over night care! They are also looking forward to having them come and stay when Aaron and I go on a cruise in October.
And this year I have come back into contact with some old friends that I have missed very much. I was so happy to hear from those people! And I am praying that I can rebuild those relationships even if we don't live near each other.
Some things that I am wanting to work on this year before I turn the big 30....
I would like to really get in shape and stay that way. I can't believe how hard it is to get and stay fit. I never realized that is what happens after you have children.
I would like to stay in better contact with my sister and brother. I miss them so much and wish we talked more on the phone at least...thank goodness for computers! It has been nice to stay in better contact that way.
I would like to keep my house clean...easier said than done with a 3 year old running around the house. And I would like to actually get bedroom furniture...yes it has been 8 years of marriage and we still don't have bedroom furniture! I really would like our bedroom to feel beautiful when we walk in there. Right now all I want to do is run right back out of there!
And this year I want to take at least one trip on a JetBlue airplane...Kaitlyn has already asked me when we can go to the American girl museum in New York! She is so excited that we will be able to do that (I'm thinking that might be a good birthday trip).
And one last thing...I want to take pictures a little more regularly! I love photography and it has been one of those things that I have let slip this past year, so I'm trying to be more consistant with my picture taking.
Well those are my thoughts of my last year in my 20's! I can't believe that I'm going to be 30 next year!

I'm officially an employee of Jet Blue!

Thanks for all the well wishes. I got a 93% on my test. I had to pass with an 80% or better. I'm glad it is done. Next week will be easier, we only go from 4-10. I can handle that.
Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes!

Exhaustion is setting in.

I know it is almost over, but I'm just so tired right now. Within the midst of all this training I caught a nice little cold, still have it some but I'm almost through with it. I slept until noon on Sunday and if I didn't have to get up then I probably would have stayed in bed much longer. Poor Aidan is so ready for Jeremy to come in the afternoon so he has someone to play with....I'm glad this is my last 4-12 week. Next week we go from 4-10...I can do that, I'll be alive to do some things with Aidan. It is just getting through with this week and my final on Friday that I'm ready for.
Aaron became a deacon on Sunday. I am so proud of him, his testimony was really moving and I really think God is going to use him to do great things. At the same time it is kind of scarey running through life letting God be in control of it rather than taking control ourselves. We are just trying to remember to lean on him for all things cause great things happen when we do! On the first day of training we had to get up and talk about ourselves for a minute. One of the things I said was that we moved to UT 3 years ago and it was an adjustment but we are starting to really love it here. Well, I got questioned further and finally had to tell the whole class that I'm not LDS... That was a big moment for me. I don't mind letting people know that I'm not LDS, but it is not usually the first thing I let people know about me and esp. not talking with a whole group. God is really molding the shy insecure person to be BOLD. Why should the fact that I am a Christian not be the first thing I tell people? It was really scarey and exciting. I'm praying that God uses me to witness to someone, I had thought it was going to be one of the few men in my class, but he ended up getting a different job and left jetblue, but there were seeds planted I'm sure because he was one of the ones who kept questioning me about my move. And then we spoke further about my beliefs. I pray that God will send him someone and that the seed was planted in the short time I knew him.
To all of you who read this, I hope you have a wonderful week! I'm sure I will post on Friday or so to let you all know how the final goes this Friday...Please pray that I keep sane this week! The nerves are starting to settle in! Thanks!

Good Afternoon, Thank you for calling JetBlue Airways, this is Shannon how may I help you?

Just when I think I can't learn anything else they keep stuffing more into my brain. Actually, I am loving it. I miss being away from the kids and Aaron, but I love going in to work every night and learning how all of this works. They are trying to make it as fun as possible, and they are doing a pretty good job at it. I have met several people and have made a few new friends. Now I am waiting to finish training and then I can use the flight benefits....My friend and I already have a trip to New York planned for may! I can't wait. I've never been to New York.

Our Church is Broken.

I mentioned in my last post that Aaron was asked to be a deacon and that we had been thinking about leaving our church. I thought I might explain just a little bit because I have been asked what a deacon does.
Well, our church just seems to be broken. Nobody knows what they should be doing, and it is seriously affecting all aspects of the church. We love it there, and love the people...BUT we feel like something just isn't right. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it. When we joined we were told that our church is "elder rule"...meaning that there is a group of 12 men that pray and make decisions of where things should be going. Well, I guess awhile back our deacons were the ones who did this, but things happened and that is not the case anymore. Now the staff are the only ones making decisions....
So, the children's groups need help, the deacons don't know what role they are playing, our church isn't following it's bilaws (the group of elders), and things are just an all around mess. Nobody has any direction. When you offer help it is turned into "take all of it" not just help with it. It is seriously frustrating....
So, to answer the question "What does and Deacon do?" Right now, not a whole lot in our church. They should be the leading force, but they are not. Aaron was told that a lot of changes are being planned for this next year.
We had been planning on looking for another church, but Aaron was asked to teach Sunday School...he accepted we stayed. We had planned to leave, and Aaron was asked to be on the church planning committee basically figuring out what is needing to be fixed (everything in my opinion) he accepted and we stayed. Now He has been asked to be a deacon, he will be ordained on April 2 if they decide that God wants him there...we prayed, he accepted, if he makes it (which at this point it sounds like a formaility) then we are committed to staying for 5 years.
All of this has happened within the course of the last 3 months, and the latter 2 within the course of the last month. We feel that God has us there to help the church through the ripping off of the band aid and putting on the medicine so that the wounds can be heald. It doesn't matter how the wounds got there, just that they are there and need to be fixed.
It will be a long time to heal, but I think that God has big plans for us and our church.

News from Wampville.

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Things have gotten crazy hectic since Jetblue called and then on top of all of that I got sick and then Girl Scout cookies came in...so I am just now finding time to sit down and give you all an update.
We have been so blessed with wonderful friends and family who have graciously offered to come and help us take care of Aidan while I am transitioning into the world of the employed. This Wed. my inlaws are coming to stay for 2 nights while I am in Orientation meetings on Thursday and Friday. I am so grateful that they are able to do this, these meetings are during the day. Then on Monday we have a neighbor boy who also goes to our church coming to watch the kids after school so that I can make sure to get to training on time. That way Aaron doesn't have to worry about how quickly he needs to get home. God has been so good to us and just took care of all of my worries about this transition.
More news...Aaron has been asked to be a deacon in our church. While kind of scary it is such an hounor for our family. We had been thinking about pulling out of this church for awhile, but it seems the more we try to pull out the more God asks us to do. So, we feel like God it telling us we need to stay put and try to help make the change. Not exactly what we would like, but as we have learned before we need to do what God wants. So, please pray for us as we are still making the decision about this. Tonight Aaron is going to meet with a few of the deacons and they will be questioning them about his faith... please pray that God will direct his answers.
On one last note...Girl Scout cookies are here! We are busy dividing them all up and getting them ready to be delievered. If you are out of state and ordered some I will be trying to mail them out before Thursday. We have already sampled some and boy are they yummy! Our troop is also doing a few cookie booths. We have 360 extra boxes of cookies to sale and we have already sold 88 of those boxes! The girls have done such a great job!
Ok, I'm off to go paint. A friend of ours works for a blind installation company and he brought over a drape for our slider (no more yucky verticals!) It is a really pretty beige microfiber, but now that it is up the wall looks yucky...so I'm going to paint the 2 walls in the family room and the one wall that wasn't painted in the kitchen a nice beige color that matches the drape. When I get it all finishe and put back together I will post some pictures.

Jet Blue Called!

So, it is over. All of the background check that is! Finally. I am happy. They want me to come in for testing this Thursday, Aaron's Birthday. 9am, I have to study. Pray that I will get through the test.
Then onto training. March 16 and 17 I will have orientation, then I will start a four week training on Monday the 20th. This is good. It is sudden, I was thinking that I still needed to get some more things together, but I guess they were able to take care of it. I am getting nervous for Thursday though. I'm glad it is Aaron's Birthday, he is taking the day off to watch Aidan and then we will go do something afterwards...not sure what, but it will be fun whatever it is.

WOW It has been awhile since I blogged last.

So much has happened this last month I just haven't even had the time to sit down and update my blog. The first thing that happened was Aidan has his birthday party. This was the first party for him and he had a great time.

We also went to the UofU gymnastics game with our girl scout troop. Ufortunately, I wasn't feeling well before we left and forgot my camera. The girls had a great time, although the meet and greet was very disappointing. The U won and it was fun to watch. It gave Kaitlyn the bug to want to do gymnastics or dance...I'm not sure where she thinks we are going to add this extra stuff though, we have too much going on as it is.
So, I told her maybe she can pick something up in the summer when we don't have AWANA'S and Girl Scouts...although we might just like the time to be at home.
It snowed this weekend and Kaitlyn was excited to finally be able to use the Snowman kit that Aunt Janay got them for Chrismas. He sure did turn out cute (and that little thing she is holding is a small snowman that she built on her own.)
They had a great time, and Aidan helped too, but he got too cold and tired and had to go take his nap.
And one last thing to report on....Jet Blue sent me and email last Friday. The employment verification company that they used didn't update my file with either of the letter's Stacy wrote for me, and they didn't do any employment verification. So, I am having to do all the leg work. I have to get a letter from my previous emloyer at Yucaipa Christian Preschool, and luckily I have a W-2 form from when I worked at Brethren Preschool because most of the people that worked there when I did have moved on. AND I have to have another Proffesional refrence letter, so my friend Renee has sent me one...Thank You Renee! I have contacted Yucaipa Christian Preschool, but Frankie (the director) wasn't there, so I'm going to keep trying. Anyways, It is good to know that I am still in the running for Jet Blue! I was thinking of going to work at our Churches Mother's Day Out program (a 2 day a week preschool), just for Aidan to go and socialize a few days a week. BUT I have no desire to go back into the preschool work force. It was reall reassuring to me, when I got the email, that I should keep holding on for the Jet Blue position.

The internet is an amazing thing!

I have a myspace account to help me keep in touch with my sister, brother, and my brother's girlfriend. Yesterday, I was posting to my brother and I got a message from a long, lost friend! My mom and her mom are best friends, and we basically grew up together. After I graduated high school I lost touch with her for the most part. We were as close as sisters, so I always wonder how she is doing. It was so good to hear from her yesterday! She sent me her email address, and I was able to send her a nice email and I got a lengthy one from her in return!
What an amazing tool that we have! After years of not talking with a dear friend and then all of the sudden we are able to reconnect while being state's away from each other. I hope that we are able to stay connected. I am so thankful for these new fangled things that weren't even part of our vocabulary 15 years ago, and today it keeps us connected to people we live far away from, helps us to create new friendships with people we would have never met without the internet, and reconnects us with long lost friends!

I've just been tagged by Stacy!!

The rules for this particular tagging are as follows: Remove the blog name in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add yourself to the bottom slot.

1. Leah

2. Heidi Z.

3. Heather

4. Stacy

5.Shannon
Then you get to select 5 people to pass the love on to. I would love to see what these people put on their list!

1. Jami

2. Kim

3. Aaron

4. Ma Wampler

5. Brian

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Wow! That seems like so long ago! I was teaching preschool, and going to college.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Adjusting to my new life here in Utah, making new friends.

Five snacks you enjoy (in no particular order, as all snacks are created equal):
1. Popcorn
2. Strawberries
3...Hmmm, I can't think of anything else I'm not much of a snacker.

Five songs in which you KNOW all the lyrics:
1.Billy Joe McGuffey (Chris Rice...Thanks to Cameron and Kaitlyn!)
2. Broken Wing (Martina McBride)
3. Amazing Grace
4. Somewhere over the Rainbow
5. Hippopotomus (Mary Rice Hopkins)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Pay off everything (House, car)
2. Take my whole family on a vacation together somewhere warm!
3. Buy bedroom furniture (we still don't have any!)
4. Finish the basement and remodel the kitchen.
5. tithe it to our church
Five bad habits:
1. Staying up too late
2. Sleeping in (see number one)
3. Not eating enough good foods (rather to much yummy stuff)
4. Too much TV
5. Not putting the laundry away (I'm working on it!)
Five things you like doing:
1. Hiking with my family
2. Camping
3. Creating
4. Reading
5. Organizing my house

5 things you would never wear, buy or get again:
1. My bowling shoes (they were these red plastic shoes that I loved and my family called them my bowling shoes...sadly they are long gone now!)
2. Anything NEON in color.
3. Rolling up my jeans (or pegging as it was called...ugg!)
4. No 2 toned socks...on color on top the other on the bottom and vice versa on the other foot!
5. Ok, not something that could be bought but something that I will never do again.... the WALL of HAIR! You know, the bangs that are shallacked straight up with hairspray and then curled back just on the ends...UGG! What was I thinking!

Five favorite toys:
1. My art supplies (stickers, markers, stamps, paper, glue...the list goes on and on just ask Aaron!)
2. My computer and printer I count these as one.
3. My camera
4. My dyson vacuum (stacy I can't believe dyson isn't on your list!)
5. My playmates...Aidan and Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn's Jewlrey

A sample of just a few of the beads she brought with her, she has a HUGE suitcase filled with these little boxes that are all filled with beads, she pulled out the more inexpensive ones that would keep the cost to what I had asked for, but there was still a huge selection for the girls.


As per requested here is a rather blury picture of Kaitlyn's necklace and bracelet. I had a hard time getting the pictures to turn out, but at least you can see what it turned out like. I wish I had taken pictures of all the samples that the "bead lady" did, they were very pretty. The girls really had a good time making the bracelets.

Parties and Painting

The party was a success! Kaitlyn had a great time and the girls all did a great job on their bracelets. We had 12 girls come, so 13 counting Kaitlyn. Since I stay at home with Aidan it was nice to actually get to meet her friends from school. They are all a very nice and diverse group of girls. Kaitlyn had a wonderful time, and they all went home with some beautiful creations. I would love to post the picture of all the girls and their bracelets, but I don't have permission from their parents to post it on the internet, so I think it best not to. So, you will just have to take my word on it :0)
Another thing I am excited about is that I finally took the plunge and painted my kitchen. Just 3 walls, but I really think that it makes things "pop". I have been thinking about it for a long time and on the way home from church on Sunday we stopped at lowes and bought the paint (only 1 gallon and I didn't even use all of it). It went pretty quick and I love the results!
I am now looking for window treatments, which I think will really finish the whole room. I feel like I am finally starting to make this house our "home". Pictures are finally being framed and hung on the walls, and things are being painted in our colors and it is just feeling homey now. Amazing what a gallon of red paint and a few hours will do for your home.
Next we are planning on doing our bedroom.
Aaron found some really neat black and white pictures of Italy and France at world market that I plan to get black frames for. So, we are still in the discussion phase for this one, but I think we are going to try our hand at a French country look...
And on one last note...We have girl scouts tonight. Kaitlyn is excited because cookie sales are starting on Saturday. We aren't allowed to sale online, but let me just say if you are in the market for some I know of an excellent source!

Funny Aidan.

I love my kids, and sometimes they do the funniest and sweetest things....
Yesterday we were getting ready to go out. So, I put Aidan in one of his new "spideman" outfits that he recieved for Christmas. Only this one has a vest (or as he says jacket). I wanted him to wear it, he HATES jackets. So, while I was folding the laundry he went upstairs and took it off. When I brought the laundry upstairs he said "I took my jacket off" I told him it was time to go and he needed to put it back on, but I didn't see it anywhere. I told him to show me where he put it, he proceeds to crawl under his bed and pull it out! HA! I mean how many 2 (almost 3) year olds come up with stuffing it under their bed so that they won't have to wear it. I thought it was too funny!
Later that same day we go to the bank, the girl scout store, the gas station, the mall and best buy...everytime we were walking out of one of the stores he would say to me "That was fun!" Even at the gas station :0)
While at the mall we needed to get him a belt. While looking at them I hear "I want a belt like Unc Sean" And sure enough there was a studded one that looked just like my brother's, unfortunately it was still too big for him, but we got one that in his eyes looked close enough to "Unc Sean's". Now if I can get him to actually wear it....

I fixed my blog!

So, I have been wondering why nobody has been posting comments to my blog. I know people who read it, and some people have told me they commented on it, but I never saw the comments.
Well, I guess in my zeal to keep unwanted comments (people trying to sell me something or such) that I had marked "Moderate comments" which means that I have to go in and mark them and then they will be published to my blog... So, now that I know what is going on I fixed it. I appreciate the comments from everyone, and I was not ignoring you! LOL! So, please keep on posting, I don't have to moderate them anymore.

Invite 

Birthday Invites.

I finished the birthday party invitations. They turned out pretty cute I think...Kaitlyn likes them and that is all that matters. She is excited for her party. We are having it on the 14th, inviting 15 girls and have the bead lady coming. The girls will be making necklaces and bracelets...so this year is a total girly party! So, now I just have to get those Christmas decorations put away...something I am so not looking forward too.

Getting back to normal.

Christmas is over, and this has been the first year I've been glad to see it go. My poor babies were sick and could not enjoy it. We practically had to force Aidan to open his gifts. Aaron's Brother and family were here and ended up taking the junk (illness) home with them. I haven't heard from then, but hope they are all feeling better now. It was nice to visit even though the kids and I didn't get to go on all the fun outings this time...oh well there is always next time.
Kaitlyn had a great birthday. I was so happy both the kids were feeling better by then. We ended up going to the Natural History Museum and then on to McDonalds for lunch. We had some clothes to exchange at Khol's so we did that next and then headed on home. After Aaron got home we headed out for Kaitlyn's favorite dinner...Sushi! Yes, she loves sushi and will pick that almost over anything. Then afterwards we drove around and looked at the downtown lights. Back home for presents and ice cream... we will have the cake at her party on the 15th.
New Years was spent with some of our very good friends, and this was the first year that either of my kids made it until midnight...this year they both made it. We had a great time chatting, eating and playing games.
So, now it is time to put the Christmas decorations away. Wake up with the alarm clock and get Kaitlyn on the School bus...everything back to normal...and hopefully it stays that way for awhile!
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a Happy Year full of good health and no influenza virus!