Since 2011

Since the last post in 2011, a lot has happened. We moved into our home. We made tons of friends! McKenzie attended school there for 2nd-4th grade, Owen attended school Kindergarten-2nd grades and Zoey went to preschool. I played LOTS of volleyball, worked at a daycare and became the manager. Matt worked and started taking classes and worked towards his bachelor degree.

We got a cute dog. His name is Jack. Matt was opposed to getting him, but finally agreed. Matt and Jack are now good buddies. 

We had a family reunion in Washington. We all had so much fun seeing cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents again.

Owen was Baptized on February 1st. Later that day after he was baptized, a shelf that he was laying under fell off the wall and hit his head. He had 6 inside stitches and 4 outside stitches. He was very brave. 

McKenzie also had to get stitches while we lived in the house. She asked me not to take pictures, so I didn't. She was twirling on the monkey bars at school, slipped and fell. She hit her glasses, which broke and cut her nose. She also was very brave. 

Zoey was so excited to play T-ball. We got her signed up and all she wanted to do was bat. I told her that if she wanted to bat, she had to play in the outfield. Most games she would scream the entire time she was in the outfield. 

McKenzie played softball and learned a lot. She improved so much!

Owen wasn't interested in baseball, but wanted to try soccer. Owen LOVED soccer and was really good at it! He made a goal on his last game and was so proud of himself. 

We had 3 Christmases in the house. 

In 2013, we made a special announcement. :) 

We lived by our cousins, so we got together often. Halloween was really fun Trick or Treating!

We have so many wonderful memories in this home. Matt lost his job, but luckily was able to find a new job pretty quickly. We were really blessed to find a job so fast. His new job was about 50 minutes away. The commute was hard on both of us as well as the kids. After praying, we made the very difficult decision to move closer to his new job. We sold our home pretty quickly and moved to our new home. We live in a small town and now Matt can walk to work, the kids walk to school and we are close enough to walk to the grocery store. We are now saving so much money on gas. With gas prices around $3.85/gallon, we are saving a few hundred dollars every month. 

After we moved into our new home, Avery made her debut! She was 9 lbs 15.2 oz and 22.5 inches long. She is so sweet! We all love her so much! 

Here are updated pictures of all the kids. Taken July 23, 2014

Avery

McKenzie

Zoey

Owen

Wow!! It's been a LONG time!!

There has been a lot of talk from the Prophet and Apostles that the Lord is hastening his work. I KNOW this to be true. One way to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to share my testimony online.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2008/07/sharing-the-gospel-using-the-internet?lang=eng


We have also been counseled to keep a journal of our family, personal experiences, etc.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2014/07/young-adults/keeping-a-journal-your-way?lang=eng

Lately, the Spirit has prompted me that I need to be doing both more often. This is why I am starting to blog again. I stopped blogging because I felt that we were too boring. Plus, it takes time. Now that a couple years have gone by, I've noticed that I have missed recording some very important family memories. I can always go back and record the past, but there will be things missing. Sometimes of the things missing could be important things that maybe future generations could benefit from.

So starting today, I am going to try again to be diligent in writing about our family and sharing the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

First Day of School!

McKenzie and Owen started their first days of school. Owen kept saying how much fun he had. McKenzie also had fun. She made a couple new friends and even has a boy that we go to church with in her school class. I can't wait for our house to be done! Right now it's about a 30 minute drive to take the kids to school. It will be nice to not have to drive so far.

Our Home

Well, we are moving again, but it is taking longer than expected. We put an offer on 2 bank owned homes that didn't work out. 1 was the home next door to my sister. Since we were having trouble getting into bank-owned homes, we decided to build a home. Our home should be done in about 2-3 weeks!

We're Moving! Again...

I know! I know! We move a ton! This time is different. We are buying a house and will be closing the end of July. The best thing is that it is right next door to my sister and my brother and his wife and buying a house in the same subdivision!

The house is currently 3 bedrooms 2 1/2 baths. 2300 sq ft. it needs a little bit of work (new carpet and there's room to add 2 more bedrooms) but its prefect for us.

When we first moved back from Pocatello, we went to church with my sister. I remember feeling like we were "home." My husband thought it was because we weren't in Pocatello anymore, but everything just felt right. We are so EXCITED!

Softball Is Over

Our softball season ended last week. I really loved coaching and my girls are awesome!!

Mckenzie was the most improved player. She started softball afraid of the ball. She couldn't throw very well and she was scared to catch the ball so she would let it bounce first. By the end of the season, she was able to catch the ball and make an out.

Schools Out!

Yesterday was McKenzie's last day of 1st Grade. She is really excited to spend time with the family and her neighbor friends, but she is going to miss her school friends and teachers.

When she got home, she was asking to play with friends, go swimming, spend the night and more. Mckenzie is excited to have some free time.

Next year, Owen starts kindergarten, so for a few hours a day, I will only have Zoey at home...it's going to be weird!