Cruddy Camping!

Two weeks ago we went camping. We planned this camping trip way back in February, not knowing that we would have just moved into our house. So the timing was cruddy. We first had to locate all of our camping gear in our cluttered garage. We spent one whole day getting ready to go on the camping trip and finally arrived to our camp spot at 10 p.m. We then had to get up early the very next day to cook our breakfast (shared meals and ours was first). Jon and some friends went to load our boat into the lake, just to tell me one hour later that our boat wouldn't start. The rest of the day was spent trying to get Maddie to take a nap in our tent while Jon entertained our other kids on our friends boat. Maddie & I didn't get on any boats or swim the whole weekend. The next day the weather was cruddy, so we packed up early to go home. We do these things mostly to entertain our children and they had a great time! (I also usually love camping but this trip turned out to be a big bust!) Both Jon and I were very bummed about the boat and still don't know what's wrong with it! I did get some fun pictures of Maddie. This was her first camping trip since she has been walking and she loved every minute of it. We are so excited to do this all again (do you sense the sarcasm) this weekend!

Wednesday August 29, 2007
Hooray for Computers!

I'm very glad to announce that we finally have our computer up an running! I've had it for about two days now but this has been my first opportunity to blog! It's been four weeks today since we disconnected our computer. I never thought that I was so dependent on modern technology but that's a long time!!! We also finally have our dish hooked up and enjoyed watching TV on our new 52" flat screen. The whole time I was gone at mutual tonight I think my whole family was glued to our new toy! All we need now is our morning paper and we'll be set!

Tuesday August 21
Sweet Sixteen (NOT)

It's been sixteen days since I have posted anything on my blog. I have nothing exciting to announce, and of course no pictures but lots has been going on. I will highlight 16 events that have happened in the past 16 days.
1. cleaned my old house with several friends & young women
2. handed over my keys to the new owners and kind of felt sad
3. had the new owners over for dinner last Sunday (the mom introduced herself in Sunday school that day with her name and then said I'm the person that bought their house, we were sitting with her!)
4. Made several target runs that included spending nothing short of $50 each visit!
5. stayed up until 2am one night hanging all my blinds with Jon
6. not one broken nail with all that moving and cleaning (Temple would be proud!)
7. mopped my floor twice already in just two weeks (they are very dark and harder to keep clean, what have I gotten myself into)
8. signed my kids up for another round of swimming lessons which means lots of runs back and forth to the gym!
9. got new bedroom furniture for myself and some of the kids rooms. everyone wants to sleep with mason on his new high bed (pictures later)
10. finally celebrated maddie's bday where aunt temple gave her 10 real frogs, (they were in their back yard and they caught them for her) Brooklyn immediately was attatched to them and when one died 3 days later she had a funeral for her little frog. CUTE!
11. went camping for three days, the kids had a blast!
12. spent one whole day getting ready for camping, (finding the camping boxes, food prep, boat prep, etc. etc!)
13. was very disappointed to find out that our boat that we've had absolutely no time to take out this summer didn't work! (we found this out after we hauled it to camping 2 1/2 hours away from home!)
14. purchased our new king size bed @ Costco on the way home from camping (we left early b/c we couldn't boat and spent money instead) Loved sleeping in such a big bed!!!
15. put my first nail hole in my new walls to hang a new clock!
16. started my school shopping today with two of the kiddos and more to come tomorrow

We still have lots to do in the house!!! I don't even have my computer set up yet. I'm at Jon's work right now doing this post at midnight!

We're Exhausted!
Since Wednesday we have been working nonstop!!! It takes so much time to move, unpack, clean and everything that goes along with a move! Each night Jon and I have been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep. We've had so much help from friends, neighbors, and family. People have taken our children for us, had us over for dinners (I'm actually at a friends right now typing this post after she fed us a yummy dinner), helped us move, mowed our lawn, and are going to help us clean our old home this coming week. We are so grateful for great friends and family and can't express how much this help has been. We have a long way to go but we did spend our first night in our home last night. I have not moved my bathroom stuff yet, so this morning I had to walk across the street in my bathrobe to get everything for my shower. Hopefully in a week we'll be much more settled!

August 2, 2007

Maddie's Two!

Two years ago yesterday Madelyn was born! I can't believe that she's already that age. My whole pregnancy with her was filled with a whirlwind of emotions! From total shock to pure joy! We felt so blessed to have another healthy, sweet baby girl! With the chaos of our lives right now I decided to postpone celebrating her birthday. All of my other children were sad, especially Brooklyn! They all kept on asking me about her party, birthday breakfast, and especially presents. I was telling this story to my aerobics class yesterday (Aug 1, her bday). They all agreed that it would be okay to celebrate later. My good friend Jana came up to me after class and told me that she was going to make a birthday cake and deliver to our house later that evening! She came with her husband,

two girls and a yummy cake. They ate cake with us and then stayed another two hours to help us move. It was a very sweet gesture. It's a blessing to have great friends! And if you're wondering about Madelyn , she will get her special day next week!