Playing Picture Catch-Up

I have decided to make up for my lack of blogging by posting pictures from each month I didn't blog since we moved here. That seemed much easier to me than trying to type it all out. Plus, going through the pictures helps me remember what we did!

September

 

Goodbye apartment living! In nearly 10 years of marriage, this is the first house we have ever lived in. 

I loved that it has a backyard for the kids to play in.

Jared moved into the house at the end of September and the kids and I stayed in Pocatello until I finished work at the end of October.

October

 We finally got all moved in the week before Halloween. I didn't put up any decorations this year, but we still had time to carve some pumpkins. 

 The neighbors have a row of tall trees right next to the fence, and guess who gets all the dead leaves? Yup, us! We made some good sized piles and tossed the kids into them.

November

 I got bit by the crafting bug and made some wreaths, like this one for Thanksgiving...

 ...and this one for Christmas.

 I also made these decorative Christmas bottles from glass Coke bottles and spray-on glitter. It was a big pain in the butt scraping the Coke logo off of each bottle.

I also made this stockings sign, with a little help from Jared (he screwed in the hooks). I have wanted to make one of these for a long time, and I was happy to finally have one. 

December

As usual, we attended the annual Hunsaker family Christmas party in Rupert. The kids were excited to tell Santa what gifts they wanted this year. 

 Uriah wanted a race car and video games

 Jordyn wanted a doll house and some dolls

 Bonnie was a little too scared to say anything to Santa. I'm sure he knew what she wanted.

 I found this doll house on Black Friday at KMart and got it as a birthday present for Jordyn. It took me more than 2 hours to put together. She ended up loving it and plays with it all the time, so it was worth it.

 We were the surprise recipients of a 12 Days of Christmas from a family in our ward. They brought us a piece to a manger scene every night for about 10 days.

 On the last day, they brought us this book and the baby Jesus. It helped bring the Christmas spirit into our home and I feel special and blessed for being a part of this ward.

 Another craft a friend helped me make. I love that it uses Christmas lights. 

This Christmas I decided to get the kids 3 presents each, and it was the best decision I have ever made. It was the easiest shopping I have ever done.

 Uriah got a race car, a Leap Frog Explorer game and amiibos for the Wii U.

Bonnie got a Team Umizoomi Milly doll, a Frozen camera, and an art easel.

Jordyn got a Frozen scooter, a Leap Frog Explorer game, and a My Little Pony camera.

January

 In January we went skiing with our good friends Matt and Amber Grayson at Pomerelle. I am not very good at skiing and had a mini meltdown at the beginning, but I got better at getting off the lift and was able to enjoy myself after about an hour.

 In mid-January we got a bunch of snow after having a very dry, cold winter, so the girls and I built a snowman and the girls named him Olaf.

 We had a lot of fun playing in the snow, making snow angels...

 and burying Jordyn.

Even Olaf had a good time.

February

Sometime in November we got a new bed because our mattress was almost 10 years old. Uriah inherited our old queen bed, but we didn't have any comforters big enough to cover it. Since we were using the only queen comforter we had for our bed, I decided to make Uriah a Super Mario quilt big enough to fit his new queen-sized bed. It took me a few months to do the top part, and when it came time to put the quilt together, I didn't have a quilt frame, and everyone I knew who had one was using theirs. I was a little sad and frustrated that I had worked so hard on the top only to be halted by not having a frame, so my awesome-sauce brother decided to build one for me! I bought him the materials and in a few weeks he had it all done. I was super impressed, and now I have my own quilt frames.

 I think the cat thought the quilt frames were for her...

 And here is the finished quilt on Uriah's bed! I am very happy with how it turned out and I can't believe that I made something so large. I am definitely not an expert sewer, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of my sweet sweet mother-in-law, who basically gave me step-by-step instructions on how to make it.

We had a great set of missionaries come to our ward and they visited us often on P-Days to share a lesson with us and play the Wii. On the left is Elder Spitler and on the right is Elder Olsen. They have both since been transferred and the kids miss them very much. 

We celebrated Bonnie's 3rd birthday at the end of February. We went to eat at Gertie's Brick Oven Cookery and opened presents. Next year is when we will have the BIG party, because she will actually get a real birthday on leap day!

March

In March, Jared and I took an impromptu early 10 year anniversary vacation to the east coast. Jared has always wanted to take me to Philadelphia, where he went on his mission, and I decided that if we didn't do it now, we may never get to for a long, long time. We took the kids to grandma and grandpa Nichols' for a week and I got on my first airplane ride ever!

I will admit, I was pretty terrified on my first plane ride. It was in the middle of the night and I couldn't see anything out the windows. I wasn't accustomed to the movements and feeling of the jet and we were all squished together like sardines in a can. I did survive, however, and our connecting flight from Detroit to Baltimore was much better.

 

We stayed with my bestedest friend Jason Barfuss and his wife and kids, who lived near Baltimore, Maryland. I was so excited to see him when he picked us up from the airport. 

The weather wasn't exactly ideal that first day, but we didn't have anything planned except for sleep so we didn't mind the snow too much.

I took over 300 pictures from our vacation and don't have enough room in this post for them all, so I will just have to give the highlights. 

 My husband had always told me about Rita's Italian Ice and why snow cones were just the worst thing in the world, but I never believed him. This trip converted me to the world of Rita's. Mmmm mmm.

 We saw the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's grave, and the Betsy Ross house.

 This is the room in Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Without the events that occurred in this room, Joseph Smith may not have been able to bring forth the gospel in this dispensation.

 This is the National Archives in Washington DC where I saw my friend swear an oath to protect the country in front of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. It was a very spiritual experience and something I will probably never see again.

 We went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw President Kennedy's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

 The changing of the guard at the tomb was a very solemn and respectful experience. It is something I will never forget. We probably didn't even see 1/3 of the entire cemetery.

 In DC we also went to the Air and Space Museum (awesome!) and the Museum of Natural History.

 Jared and I went to the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia and toured this white and red ship and went through this submarine.

 Crawling through the port holes on this sub were a HUGE pain in the butt!

 We also got to see the construction on the Philadelphia LDS temple. Jared never got to attend a temple on his mission and he is happy to see this being built.

 Finally, we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where they have the Rocky statue and his footprints. We got a beautiful view of the Philadelphia skyline from there as well.

This was probably the coolest thing ever...the Philadelphia Eagles stadium! I wish we could have gotten a closer look.

We also went through Baltimore and saw the Baltimore Ravens stadium. I really wanted to go to the Edgar Allen Poe house but they were closed while we were there.  Big bummer!

It was a quick trip, only a week, but it was one I will never forget. Thank goodness I had a guide who had been to these places before!

I have to add this picture to March. We went through the car wash and Bonnie HATED the sound. Can you tell?

April

 We colored eggs for Easter.

We bought a van in March and my mom and I took it for a maiden voyage up to Baker Creek and Galena Summit. We stopped at the Sheep Herder's tub and let the kids skinny dip. 

 Aubrey, Jordyn and Uriah

 Bonnie wasn't interested in skinny dipping.

 We got some unusually warm weather at the end of April, so we took the girls swimming by the falls...

 ...where I promptly got sunburned. Some of the worst pain I've ever had from a sunburn.

May

 Uriah and I made this crayon wreath for his 1st grade teacher for Teacher Appreciation Week.

 The girls helped me give the van its first bath.

 The kids playing nice with Tootles.

 Bonnie fell asleep like this one day.

Someone told my hubby that he looked like a bunny when he was in his ER suit, so they slapped some bunny ears on him to complete the outfit.

June

 When Uriah was done with school I started the kids in swim lessons. Uriah and Jordyn did the first two weeks and Bonnie got so jealous that I enrolled her for the second two weeks. They had a blast and wish they could do it all summer long.

 Jordyn jumps off the diving board. She did so well in her first class that they let her skip the second class and go straight to the 3rd level.

 Jordyn loves the pool.

 Bonnie loves the water but didn't like the idea of jumping off the diving board.

It was a great way to keep them entertained for a month. 

In June I got to see my bestedest friend Jason for the second time in a year. He came to Idaho for a funeral, so us best friends got together for some quality time while he was in town. 

Arlen Hunsaker, me, Jason Barfuss

We had some great laughs and did some catching up.

Uriah turned 7 this month and we went swimming at 1000 Springs Resort (I had never been there) and then we came home for a bbq of chicken, steak and corn on the cob (Uriah's choice) with some family and friends. I would say he got pretty spoiled. I can't believe that next year he will be 8 and getting baptised!

Well, I think I'm about as caught up as I can be. Hopefully the next post won't be another 6 month catch-up.

 

Stay-At-Home-Momming

So when I said I should have plenty of time to blog when I became a SAHM, I guess I really had no idea what I was talking about. For the first month I did a lot of unpacking and organizing of our new space. I was also exercising every day and my day was filled up. Things slowed down around the end of November and honestly the holidays were kind of a blur. We went to the McCurdy's house for Thanksgiving and I went Black Friday shopping with Amber Grayson that night and we had them sleep over and play games.

In December we had Jordyn's 5th birthday and Jared's 31st. I can't believe my sweet Jordyn is 5 and will be starting school in August. She got a doll house and lots of doll furniture. Grandma McCurdy made her some furniture out of yarn and mesh and Jordyn loves it. Bonnie thought she was getting a doll house for a present too. Thankfully  Jordyn and Bonnie love to play and share together. I planned a secret snow boarding trip for Jared's birthday. His friend Matt took him to Pomerelle and they had a day of skiing and boarding together. He loved it. The night of Jordyn's birthday party I think I got food poisoning or something because I spent all night and all day vomiting. It was horrible. I had gotten over that in two days, but when I went to Blackfoot for the Nichols Christmas Eve party I was so bloated and gassy I couldn't stand or sit or anything. I spent a lot of the time in a child's pose trying to get the gas out. I have never felt like that before. That carried over into Christmas morning and although it wasn't as bad, it was still very uncomfortable. We were supposed to go to the McCurdy's and open our presents on Christmas morning, but we got snowed it! It was crazy. We hardly had any snow in December and then Christmas night is snows and blows and blows. We ended up opening our presents at home and then going to the McCurdy's after the roads had been plowed. Jared worked on Christmas Eve and the days after Christmas, so it was just me and the kids enjoying the holiday break.

In January I was suddenly hit with terrible fatigue. It was around the time that Uriah started school back up and all I wanted to do was sleep. It was the strangest thing I've ever felt. I had no energy. I would wake up, get Uriah ready for school and take him, come home and go back to sleep for several hours, even though I had slept all night. That was the only symptom I had. I was stumped. I didn't know how to force myself to get up and do things and a lot of chores went undone for a week. It seems to have subsided a little but now includes a constant queezy feeling in my stomach every day. I'm not vomiting or anything, I just feel like I have an upset stomach all the time. It's not really that fun, and I'm not going to pretend like I don't know what's causing it, but now is not the time to talk more about it, especially since I don't know who reads this blog (if anyone). I'm sure it will come up in a later post.

Uriah has been loving his new school (Morningside) and I have been very pleased with their curriculum. They are very focused on reading and Uriah has read over 50 books in the 4 months he has been attending. He has had a few small issues, like hitting and licking and kissing other kids, but I'm just hoping that's an age/boy thing and that he will grow out of it soon. Jared still loves his job and I am very thankful for that. He knows some great people that work there and it is a very tight-knit group. He met a great doctor whom we have chosen to take our kids to for well-child checks and stuff like that. He is amazing and one of the best doctors I have ever met.

Well, I have been sitting too long and need to get up and do something. I am going to try to blog more often. No promises though.

The Refiner's Fire

My last post was rather depressing, and I hate to say that darkness continued on for 6 months after I wrote about it. Thankfully, I was eventually delivered from that evil to another job on campus in June and I don't have to let it take over me any more. I have cast off those demons. I have emerged a stronger element from the refiner's fire.

Where do I start after a 9 month absence? Catching up in one sitting could take me hours, so I will have to highlight the important stuff until I have more free time.

My husband graduated with his degrees in Respiratory Therapy and Health Sciences in May. We had a little setback in an elective course and he wasn't able to get his bachelor's degree until August, but he was at least able to start taking his RT licensing exams and start looking for a job. Our summer consisted of many trips to Boise, because the hubs had to take his licensing exams there and because that's where we take our son to see the eye doctor. We probably filled out 30-50 job applications and he didn't get any interviews until summer was almost over. In one week he interviewed in Logan for a part time job, in Idaho Falls for full time and Jerome for full time. He was offered the jobs in Logan and Jerome on the same day, but since the Logan job was only part time and not guaranteed any hours, he decided to take the job in Jerome. He has been working there since the beginning of September and he loves it.

I had been planning on going back to school to become a Massage Therapist, but since we would be moving to Twin Falls I wasn't able to do that, and now I am going to be a stay-at-home mom. I'm not sure how to feel about that yet. I know I want to be with my children and I should be excited about not having to go to work anymore, but to me being a SAHM is not something that should be underestimated. It is a lot of hard work and I will probably be more responsible than I have ever had to be in the working world. I have a lot of friends who are SAHMs and I know I can reach out to them if I need to. My last day of work is next Thursday and while I am excited, I will also miss the people I have met and worked with. I have been on this campus 10 years, since I left high school and became a college student. A lot of people ask me if I will miss my family when I move away, but my honest answer is that I know I will get to see my family again, but the friendships I have created through work and school...those people I may never see again, and that will be the hardest thing for me to accept.

At the end of September we finally said goodbye to apartment living and got a house to rent in Twin Falls. It's a bit older, but it has so much space than in any place we have ever lived. I even get to have my own crafting room (it is the only finished room in the unfinished basement). When we get it all set up, I will make sure to post pictures of it. I should have a lot of time to blog once I don't have to go to work anymore. We decided that I needed to continue working after we moved to Twin to save up more money, so I have been living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks and I am SO ready to be done with that.  Now that the kids have been in the house they really like it, and they are curious why we keep living with grandma and grandpa when we have a big house to play in. I will forever be grateful to my parents for putting up with us for a month in their house that's big enough for 2 but barely big enough for 6. Uriah started first grade and has been doing excellent, but he will be going to a new school in a week and I'm not sure how he will handle. He is very good at making friends, so I'm sure his adjustment time will be short.

I'm not really sure where to go from here. The last few months have brought a line of firsts that I am going to have to get comfortable with and accept. However, having emerged from the refiner's fire of the last year, I know, with the Lord's guidance, I can weather any storm.