On The Move!

If you know us well, you know that things never slow down at our house, ever...   With having a more involved teaching schedule this year I just have not had the time to keep up with our family blog.  I am hoping that will change in the new year as our lives will be changing dramatically once again.

In late September/early October both Ronny and I felt an impression that something big was going to change in our lives.  We had no idea what it was to be, but just had a prompting from the Lord that something was coming.  To our surprise, in late October major changes went down at Ronny's office.  Restructuring occurred and at the end of it Ronny's job changed dramatically.  After counseling together, fasting, and much prayer we decided it was time for Ronny to go in a new direction.  He gave his notice and officially ended his employment with Red Brain Labs in the middle of November.  He spent much of November and early December interviewing with many companies all over the country.  When all was said and done, we had 4 great offers on the table and were turning away future interviews.  Once again much fasting and prayers went into the decision to move our family to Austin, Texas as Ronny is set to start he new career with Apple in their Data Science group.

For now we plan to rent our home here in Utah (if you know anyone who is looking for a rental in the new year in South Jordan, let me know!).  We are busy getting the house ready and making formal moving plans.  Ronny will start work on the 6th while the kids and I will stay to finish our semester here before heading down.  Thankfully Apple is taking care of the packing, heavy lifting, and even the driving!

We are are excited for our new adventure and I am excited to spend more time at home with the kids for now.  We would like to wish you all the best in the new year!

Arrow of Light

At the end of June, Joseph earned his Arrow of Light in cub scouts.  Joseph earned his Arrow of Light  after at least a year from the previous one, and the first to earn it under his mother as Webelo Den Leader.  We wanted to make the presentation a big deal to inspire the boys coming up behind Joseph that this was an important step in scouting.  I searched the web for different ceremonies and picked pieces from 3 different ones and put them together for this night.  Our cub committee all pitched in to make this a special night for Joseph.  We also did Joseph's bridging ceremony into Scouts so Ronny and I both were playing double duty as parents and scout leaders.  I sent him over the bridge and Ronny was there to greet him.

 These first few photos are fuzzy because the lights are off as part of the program.

Roses!

This year we decided to try our hand at roses in our back flower bed.  The driving power behind this was to try to prevent the landscapers of the town homes behind us from using their four wheelers and trucks from driving over the flowerbed to dump the snow in our yard each winter.  They have killed every plant we have had back there.  We decided on 5 different vines, one for each child.  We weren't expecting any blooms this year, just hoping the vines would show signs of growth.  They have sure surprised us with beautiful flowers!  Our kids love going out and checking to see if there are any new buds too.  After the first bud bloomed, I called the HOA office and very politely complained about the landscapers, and then threatened to send them the bill for all the plants we have replaced because of their actions.  The HOA office promised to take care of the problem.  We'll have to wait and see this winter but our plan is to put the big sticks with reflective tape at the top around the flower bed in hopes to deter their trucks from our yard.

June 2013

 Uncle Jon came to visit for a few hours.  The kids had a great time with Uncle Jon and were sad he had to leave so soon.  Hopefully we can talk Aunt Jennifer and baby Lincoln to come for a visit next time too......

 Another Dragon Award, and another early morning for Mom!  Way to go Joseph keep working hard!

 Ben lost his second tooth, he is following in his brother's foot steps with his teeth.  Quite a few of his baby teeth will need to get pulled as they won't fall out on their own, he has no idea what is in store for him.....

 Father's Day Breakfast in bed.  I'm not too sure how much sugar was on this and yes there was syrup too, talk about sugar high!

Ronny grew his hair out for me, I think he looked pretty good, he didn't care for the maintenance.  His bedhead in the morning though was priceless.

Tradition We Would Like To Break......

 It seems that every Memorial Day weekend we seem to have a trip to the E.R.  This year was Sam's turn apparently.  He slipped in the bathroom as he was getting out of the shower and his knee came down on the metal stripping by the door.  He got a nice little gash that kept opening up.  Ronny took a picture and sent it to his Dad who said if he were in California he would just throw a couple stitches on that, which was our cue to head into the E.R.  They were able to numb the area with some special goo so no shots, much to Sam's relief!  After cleaning it out the doctor decided he could just use Dermabond (super glue for the medical world) and a few steri-strips.  Unfortunately, it means we once again are banned from the pool opening weekend.  We headed to 7-eleven across the street for slurpees and a donut before heading home.  I think for Sam that was better than the pain meds!

Happy Birthday Aaron

Happy Birthday to my little angel today.  Aaron would have turned two today and we miss him desperately.  We are grateful for the peace our Lord gives to us to know we are an eternal family and that we will all be reunited someday.  Although he is not physically here with us he continues to remain in our hearts and minds and his sweet spirit continues to bless our lives everyday.  I love you Aaron!

Aaron's Garden

On the 1st anniversary of Aaron's passing last year, our family planted 300 tulip bulbs in our flower beds in hopes they would be in bloom on his birthday each year.  Ronny put them all in a giant tub and mixed them up as best he could.  Here is the result.  I wish you all could see how beautiful these flowers are.  For the past few weeks we have all enjoyed looking at each flower and each bud yet to bloom.  They smell amazing!  I never knew tulips could smell so sweet.  Our hope was to have a reminder of how precious each of our lives are and how much love can be shared through such simple things as a tulip, a smile, a touch, and a prayer.  Though Aaron was so small and lived only a short time, he shared his spirit, his love, and his gentle touch that has literally changed lives for the better.

Meet Harley!

Harley joined our family yesterday afternoon.  The kids have been begging for a dog ever since they could talk!  After moving into our house here we knew we wanted to get one but with Aaron's adventure, Ronny's medical adventure, and just plain craziness we just haven't been able to make it happen.  Charley is also allergic to cats and dogs so we knew we had to get one that was hypoallergenic.  I however was not willing to drop a ton of money on one with so many animals at shelters needing homes.  Ronny has been watching the adds on KSL for months and even called on a few and taken the kids to adoption days at the pet store looking for just he right one.

Late Friday night Ronny called me up to see a dog he had found on Harley.  He's a Basenji/Red Heeler Mix or at least that is what his previous owner thought.  Basenji's are barkless dogs and Red Heelers are Australian cattle dogs.  Basenji's are hypoallergenic, curious, smart, and have lots of energy.  Red Heelers are smart, even tempered, and also have lots of energy.  The add said the dog was already house broken, and raised around children and other dogs.  I told Ronny to call the number and Ronny made arrangements to take the kids out to see him Saturday afternoon.  Charley didn't seem to have any problem with him and the boys fell in love with him immediately.  And so......Harley is now home with us.

I have heard him bark once at the Pet Store when another dog challenged him, other than that he hasn't made a sound.  Ronny gave him a bath last night and he has been great with the kids.  The kids are loving playing with him and taking him on walks.  He isn't so big that he is in the way and not so small we are tripping over him.  He is a year old but doesn't look like he is going to get much bigger.  Ronny is looking forward to taking him on his morning runs.  I think Harley was worth the wait.  We love him already!

Weekend Madness

 This weekend was CRAZY!  We babysat this cute little guy from Thursday to Friday.  Attended the sealing of a good friend Friday morning, Nana made a quick visit, haircuts, volleyball games, and getting a dog!

 Saturday morning I had a few errands to run but we started the morning off at IHOP for breakfast with Nana.  Next we headed to Walmart for glasses repair, birthday presents, and a few groceries.  I saw the salon and told Charley to go over and ask how much the haircuts were and if they could take the boys right now, as I just didn't have time to do them myself and they reallllllly it done.  She hollered back the price was reasonable and they could take the boys.  So I sent the boys over to get started with Nana while I finished checking out.  It was awesome and I was done with all my errands by 10:30 am!

 We then headed to Charley's volleyball games, they are undefeated going into the tournament next week, way to go girls!  While at the game my mother came, and my dad called saying he was in town and joined us as well.  Who would have thought she would have 3 grandparents there cheering her on.

Show Me That Smile!

 After two long years of torture (at least that is how Charley's refers to it) Charley had her braces taken off.  Doesn't she look great!  Even Dad says it was worth the money, although he would much rather her have the hardware on until she leaves for college.....

Back from Hiatus

So my teaching year is finishing up this week and I just completed the online class I have been taking so I finally have found some time to start the blog entries again.  So first lets catch up from February to April.


APRIL

 We went to cheer on the Cougars as they beat UCLA to clinch the MPSF championship.

 Ronny ran the Ragnar Trail Relay in Southern Utah with his office.

 Ronny's office dinner in Park City.  I ordered the spare ribs as that was the only thing on the menu that looked like it was something I would like, this is what they brought to me, now really how am I supposed to eat this????  I don't think I even ate a 1/4 of it that night, it was HUGE!

 Summer shoe shopping, I introduced the boys to converse!

 Joseph mastered the Rubix cube!

 Ben's first birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  I was out of town so I told Ronny he could decide if he wanted to drive Ben over.  I asked him later if he remembered to take a gift, I'm pretty sure the blank look on his face meant no, next time I leave I will have to remember to do that ahead of time....

 Girls weekend with my sister, my mother, and my grandmother.  We went down to Vegas for shopping and dinner at Lawry's.  The weekend included capturing a lizard that made its way into Grandma's house.  My sister, my mother, and I were laughing so hard during the capture I accidentally let it go the first time and had to catch him again.

Ronny taking the kids to look for dogs while I was out of town.

 Planting Rose bushes in our back flower beds.  One for each of our children.

 Easter flowers for Aaron.

 I love having children old enough to hide eggs for the younger ones.  Thank you Charley and Joseph!

 Pinewood Derby.  The night before we had 5 neighborhood boys at our house finishing their cars.  I'm not quite sure how we got designated the "shop" but we did.  One dad even dropped his son off and left!

 Ben turns 7 and had his first birthday party!

 Valentine's day complete with bike racks and a pound of Scotchmallows!

 Joseph earned his Weblo.

 On the spur of the moment we decided to drive to California to follow the BYU men's volleyball team to Pepperdine and USC.  Thank you Morgan family for putting us up and joining our madness.

Beach day in California, the weather was gorgeous and the kids had their first experience boogie boarding!

 Science Fair madness.  I had to remind Ronny a few times it was a 5th grade project and not a Phd dissertation.

 Finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family for the 12th time.  We finished while Ronny was in Romania so we took a picture for him.

 Weblo and Bear den meeting.  A member of Salt Lake Swat came to talk to the boys.  Ronny was recently called as Scout Master and I was called to be a Weblo's Den mother.  I guess we are now a scouting family!