Perfect Camping Trip

Our Camping Group (minus Bill & Cindy :(

The Romans family went camping this weekend. ALL of the Romans. This is an amazing feat. First to get everyone away from work & the feed lot. Second it's the first time we've all been together since Hallie's funeral last year. It's been a hard year & so it really meant a lot for all of us to be together. Not to mention the kids love camping, rocks, dirt & water, what's not to love? For me, it's getting away, leaving the daily stuff behind & focusing on family. Love it!

My cute family


Marti, Jeff, Braxton & Brooke Bair


Kelli & Dan Ruf


Jeff & Julie Romans


Traci & Elliot Huntsman

6 month Princess

I put a new dress on Ruth this morning & after wards Spencer looked at her, "Ruth's a princess." I couldn't agree more! As hard as it is to believe, today she is 6 MONTHS OLD. She has been a complete joy & treasure to our family. She is so happy & so easy going ALL the time! She makes it easy for me to keep going and doing. She just spreads the happiness where ever she goes. Thank you for your sweet spirit, quick smiles and endless joy. We love you baby Ruth!

Box Depression!

So we've been in this house for a month now. And I'm lovin' it. The space is perfect for our family. The location is fab-U-lous, amazing yard, I could go on & on. I'm SOOO glad we've made this move.

But I'm STILL not unpacked!!!

I pride myself on being an amazing mover (I've had enough experience, thank you very much!) Apparently it is time to be humbled. Granted we've taken on lots of projects & Kurt and I are both very busy. But still, I hate excuses!

I'm on the count down to the first day of preschool so at least we have a deadline, those are always helpful! We're getting there but just at a turtle going rate. Progress is progress. RIGHT???

The Big Yellow (not-so-magical-to-me) School Bus

The school bus thing really scares me. There are too many unknowns. It feels like I'm turning my child over to a pack of wolves. After the first day of school Austin wanted to know when he got to ride the bus. Nothing like the present to get over your fears. Apparently. So if my son is brave obviously I can be do (or try at least.) So I kept telling Austin (& Kurt) that Monday was the day. Well Monday came (as in yesterday) and Austin still wanted to do the bus thing so there was no backing out for me. He crossed the road & climbed the steps like the big school kid that he is. No worries. Too bad his mother cried all the way back to the house. And I won't go into details about how I fretted & stewed that the bus was 6 minutes late when they dropped him off (I did restrain myself from calling the police!)

He climbed back on that yellow bus again this morning. My heart still ached as it pulled away & more restraining will take place this afternoon until that yellow bus again pulls into view.

My Fabulous Man!

Saturday night was my preschool open house. I had the 2 classes come with their families to meet me, see the classroom, & meet other kids in their class. Kurt and I spent all week getting the room ready for people to see. Monday/Tuesday was priming & painting the walls & ceiling banana peel yellow. I also painted some shelving blue. Wednesday the vinyl flooring was laid. Thursday we bought new doors & electrical outlet covers. Saturday the contractor the work on the outside of the house. So at 1 pm we were busy painting the sliding to match the rest of the house (& it really did match so perfectly!) Then it was clean, clean, clean & set up a few things. We had a great evening & I'm excited for preschool to start next week!

So Kurt has been so AMAZING through this whole process. Of course everything takes so much more work than I envisioned. We contracted the work of the garage make-over because Kurt is always so busy. But I didn't realize how many things he still had to do. He was so willing & so supportive. I really couldn't have done it without his help! It really meant a lot to me & I know his support will contribute to us having a successful year. Honey, you are so WONDERFUL! I love you, love you, love you!

Tender moment: our family was asked to do the musical number in church on Sunday. All week we had been practicing "Teach Me To Walk in the Light" to sing in church. Saturday night Austin woke up with cramps in his neck. He was in lots of pain [slight understatement.] It didn't look like he would be able to go to church. I had a meeting before church & I was scrambling trying to find a song I could play on the piano as a backup. Nothing was working out the way I wanted it. So I left for my meeting with a prayer in my heart & trying to exercise a lot of faith. I rushed home after my meeting & saw that Austin was dressed and ready for church! It was so sweet to be singing together as a family. That is MY song for my kids & to be singing as a family, there was a sweet spirit. The kids did so good to sing all the words. I was so proud of them! Austin went home after sacrament meeting but I really appreciated his sacrifice for the team. Thanks Austy!

Spencer's BOYZ

For those of you who don't know Spencer very well he is such a character! He loves to tease, is constantly joking, & just an all around funny kid. He has a big personality for a 2 year old. I can rarely get a straight answer from him because he's always joking around with a million dollar grin & perfect dimples.

He has been on a favorite kick lately. His favorite book, favorite song, favorite toy etc... On our trip to Nevada last weekend he randomly proclaim in the middle of the desert that Braxton & Kade were his favorite friends. "They are my boyz."

Kurt responded, "Your homies?"

"No. They are my boyz."

A few days later when he saw Braxton the first thing that came out of his mouth was. "Braxton, you're my boy. You're my friend."

Well today was Spencer's lucky day because Kade was over for a play date when Marti stopped by. We convinced her to let Braxton stay so Spencer could have both his BOYZ over to play at one time. They played so well together & there's nothing quite so satisfying as knowing your son is blissfully content with his favorite playmates.

Personalities bring a lot of spice to life.

School Report

The first "week" of school is over. I remember now why Fridays are so WONDERFUL! I just wanted to celebrate from the moment I picked him up. It was an emotionally draining week.

Life as a kindergartener in Austin's words:

"Day one was good. Day two was better. Day three was better than one & two. It keeps getting better."

"When do I get to ride the bus?" (this makes mom especially nervous!)

"All teacher does is talk, talk, talk & some work. All kids do is listen, listen, listen, & lots of work."

"My favorite part on Wednesday was getting to know the people that were there. My favorite part on Thursday was music time. My favorite part on Friday is when we got to do math center."

"Why can't I go to school on Saturday?"

School Boy

The First Day of School at Vale Elementary in Mrs. Wagner's Kindergarten class.

Beginning of the End

The long anticipated day finally came. And went. We did survive. More accurate, I survived. It was never a question of Austin surviving. He was awesome & did fantastically.

I managed to contain the emotions until I left the class room. They came immediately after I walked out. I ran into so many other moms from Austin's preschool group. It was nice to talk with others who were going through the exact same thing, feelings the same emotions & trying to cope. A soft rain was falling, it was so perfect.

And we did cope. I felt like something was missing all day. Yeah, that would be Austin. It felt like a hole in my heart. We stayed busy but kept an eye on the clock. Constantly. We only ran one "errand" into town to drive past the school (during recess) to see if we could see him.

When 3:30 finally came we ran to greet Austin with open arms. We rushed home for "T Time" - where we Talk & have Treats. We were all anxious to hear the details & we were generiously rewarded. It was a success, he loved it!

I am officially a school mom. The change has already started to happen. It is the beginning of a new stage of our life. The end of another. Is it okay to mourn & rejoice at the same time?

Pics Say It All

13 of the 19 cousin present to celebrate

Ruth meeting Grandparents Waite for the 1st time

Fearless, water loving Spence

Warm Springs - Ruth's first swim!


Emma Lynn adored my 10 yr old cousin Drake. Thanks for being a good sport!

Home made rackets - pretty cool - and Uncle Sam - the coolest!

Road side break - lovin freedom from the truck.

Full

The very first thing Austin did when we got home from our Nevada trip was run & tear off the chains on his first-day-of-school count down. The boy is excited. What a major blessing for this momma that isn't.

Tonight was Kindergarten Open House. Austin and I went down & met Mrs. Wagner, his class room, asked a lot of important questions. Austin picked out his desk, sharped his pencils & put them all away. He held my hand and was pretty quiet & most questions were answered by his head nodding. It was very reassuring for both of us to see how it's all going to work.

After FHE Kurt gave Austin a Father's blessing. I was so impressed with Austin's understand of the sacred nature of a blessing. He sat so still (I've never seen him sit that still while he was awake!) with his eyes completely closed, little legs dangling a couple inches off the ground. My heart swelled & felt completely full. Full with the joy of having a worthy priesthood holder in our home, full with the joy of Austin ready & willing to step out into the world, full of the joy that he has been taught & is understanding gospel principles and full of the joy that this is how life is suppose to be.

Emma Lynn & Spencer were very excited to have blessings too. It was a tender night.

Tomorrow is officially the last day of summer. We'll have to make each moment count!

Whirl Weekend

After a very fun & exhausting sleepover on Wednesday (I finally crashed at 4:45 am - others were still going strong!) we headed down for Overton, Nevada. It is a good 10 1/2 hours of driving time from Vale. We didn't get a very early start (the last girls left by 11 am & then we were on the road by noon.) But of course we had a few errands to run in Ontario (including picking out flooring for my garage, so-to-be preschool studio!) Anyways the kids were great travelers. We pulled into Ely, Nevada at 10 pm and decided to stay the night. I lived in Ely for 3 years as a young girl, I went to kindergarten & 1st grade there so I thought it was kind of cool to past through the town the very week my own son will start kindergarten. I don't know that anyone else thought it was as cool as I did. By leaving at 4:30 am we were able to arrive at 8:30 am.

Friday & Saturday were great. We spent lots of time with family, what's better than that? Saturday morning we headed up to Warm Springs. I was sad that they have basically ruined it from the amazing memories I treasure of my childhood. We had a nice reunion that evening to celebrate & thank Grandma and Grandpa for 25 wonderful years of Cousin Capers. I truly have been blessed with super grandparents & family.

We left early Sunday morning to start the trek back. We stopped in Ely to go to sacrament meeting. Emma Lynn could not understand why we were staying for all of church. She was crying in the hall, "I want to go to Primary!" I'm glad we've taught her well. We got home around 7:30 pm. It was a wonderful weekend, I wish it could have been longer BUT grateful for what we did have. I'm already looking forward to next years reunion!

A Tribute to Sister Richards

So today she's off, leaving on a jet plane, headed for the blessed land of Fiji. It has been so amazing to share her MTC experience with her. And I thank her for being honest & sharing all her feelings, good and bad. I'm excited for her to get to Fiji so she can start the meat of her mission, to find that amazing family & teach them the truth of the restoration. But in the same instant I'm a little sad that the letters won't arrive (both ways) as quickly, that the comfort of knowing she's a day trip away is gone. The great distance makes it very real that she really is gone, ...leaving on a jet plane... don't know when I'll be back again... Our prayers are with you, travel safe, work hard & love completely. God speed Sister Richards!

On the less exciting home front in Vale I continue the never-ending process of unpacking. Kurt asked last night, "Do you think we'll ever finish?" At this point the answer is a resounding NO! And then we reminisced of previous moves when the house was unpacked, organized and spotless the day we moved in. Granted we had a lot less kids & a lot less stuff at that point in our lives. We'll get there. We finally hung a clock on Saturday so time has meaning for us again. And all clothes are in the closets & in drawers. We are making progress, slowly.

But most happily they are working on the garage as we speak! The garage is being converted to a part of the house in order to accommodate the preschool I'm starting Sept. 2nd. I'm having a open house on the 23rd so we are on a race to the deadline! The fact that someone showed up & is working gives me hope. Like unpacking, we'll get there, slowly but surely.

Those boxes are calling my name...

Record the Date!

August 9, 2008

Ever since my kids could form opinions of their own their favorite songs have been "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" & "Once there was a snowman." Austin, Emma Lynn & Spencer have answered thus without fail every single time. And so we have sung them every week in FHE for the past 5 years.

Tonight we were talking about favorite songs trying settle down for scripture study & after Spencer and Emma Lynn declared the usual favorites (shocker) Austin truly did surprise me by saying, "My favorite songs are 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' & 'Teach me to walk in the light'"

Glory Hallelujah we will have some variety in our life! Good picks my boy!

So I totally had no intention of posting anything about this event in my life. I did want to record it for history sake but not publish it for all the world to see. I was trying to keep some sense of privacy in our small town. But that's all over now so I might as well really get it out there.

Our youth are going to the Twin Falls Temple right this minute. A trip that I planned but now I'm unable to go. I had surgery on Tuesday. 2 scopes not a big deal but I'm not fully recovered yet & even though I desperately wanted to go I knew I shouldn't. So yeah for me, that I'm finally learning to listen to my body after 28 years & actually obey. But admitting this does something to my super ego complex.

After Ruth was born Kurt & I decided to use an IUD for our birth control method. I had one after Spencer was born & really loved it. We prayed about the decision & felt good about it. So we went forward. They check placement a month after the IUD as been in. At that appointment they could not find my IUD. That started a whirlwind of tests, X-Ray & 5 ultrasounds. The IUD was definitely still inside but they could never find it on any of the 5 ultrasounds they did. It was causing sharp pain on a constant basis (daily) so we opted for surgery to find & remove it. That's what happened on Tuesday. Everything went well. They scoped my uterus & abdomen & found it attached to tissue on my stomach. My Dr. has put in hundreds and hundreds of IUDs & I'm the only case where it has gone completely missing & they didn't know where it was. So they took lots of pictures & will use me as a case study. So happy I could be a freak of nature for learning sake.

So obviously I'm no longer a good candidate for an IUD. That totally stinks! I'm back on the pill which hasn't proved to be the most productive (good word choice!) form of birth control. I'm a little scared. But this was my realization this morning: I totally believe that children come to earth, to their families at a specific time. The Lord's time. He is all-knowing & His timing is perfect. I know that to be true. Then why am I scared? My faith is stronger than that!

Since I'm cool enough to have pics of this event I had to post. Here my Dr. has found the IUD (white part) & is removing it. She cut it into 3 pieces to remove it from my body. It is recurrently sitting in a jar on top of my fridge. If only I could find a way to put it in my scrapbook!

Inside OUT

Cold Sore

I've been getting them since I was a little girl. My first grade picture proudly sports a nice big crusty cold sore. It is part of the herpes virus & will never go away. As I got older I made the connection that I got cold sores when I was emotionally stressed out. The normal stress isn't a big deal but its the emotional stress that always seems to get me.

I can always feel the moment they pop out & then watch in dread as it continues to blister & feaster & grow. I was sitting in church yesterday & felt the pop.

It's true there's a lot going on right now. But I'm also blessed with a sense of peace & that helps me to be calm. Faith in a higher being is essential. And my Austin has been praying for me freverently. If the unwavering faith of my five year old doesn't bring peace, happiness & hope then I'm a lost cause.

It's gonna be a good week in spite of that crusty cold sore.

Recap

Monday - Ruth was officially 5 months old. The carpet got laid in all the bedrooms & we actually slept in our rooms on beds. It was pretty sweet.


Tuesday - prepared for the arrival of Matt & Dawn & kids. We met them for dinner at the new Mexican restaurant in down town Vale.

Wednesday - visited & headed over to the Malheur county fair in the afternoon. After we saw everything we headed over to the rides which were outrageously overpriced. We talked the kids into happy meals and play place at Carls Jr instead.


Thursday - said good-bye to family (thanks for a GREAT visit! The kids keep asking when we're leaving on our trip to see "our friends" & Austin misses Luke.) Carpet guy came back & started work on the basement. Emma, Ruth & I headed over to Boise for a Girls Day Out. We had a great day together, I'm blessed with lovely daughters.

Friday - carpet guy finished!! I LOVE our carpet, it is nice & soft & CLEAN. Thank you Kurt for letting us splurge on new carpet everywhere! While the carpet was being laid the kids & I went to the library & to visit grandma Miles for her birthday.

Saturday - moved the rest of the junk to our new house. I have to admit I really liked the past week when we just had the BARE necessities. Granted I only had 2 shirt & 2 pants but I know how to do laundry. We still don't have a clock up, time has been a thing of the past for 2 weeks now. And I still can't find a pen to write Karen a letter...

And August is here. The whole month is almost completely full & we are on the school countdown. 18 days...Austin's prayer yesterday morning, "I'm thankful I can go to school to learn about everything. I'm thankful I can go to church to learn about Jesus." Okay, I can learn to deal.


Exploring & Enjoying the New BackYard