Posts Galore!

Just catching up! Make sure you read all of them or at least look at the pictures. We are enjoying the nice weather and hope it lasts a little longer. Well except for Jarom. He's been wishing for snow for a few weeks now. We're still busy trying to finish the remodel. Jarom has worked so hard, and I'm so grateful for him doing this for us. I will get pictures of the house up soon.

I Love Fall!!!

And having a backyard too. The only downside I'm seeing with the backyard right now is all of the leaves. We have not 2, not 3, but 5 cottonwoods that are huge. This means raking, raking, raking or not.

My Fab Fam & Random Cuteness

I am so blessed. I have the sweetest, most generous man as my husband. And I have the sweetest, funniest, funnest toddler as my son. They sure keep me laughing, entertained, and on my toes. BTW-the giraffe is Jacob's new best friend. He goes everywhere with us. And everyday since we brought him home, Jacob has asked to go back to the store and "buy baby elephant." It seriously takes all my willpower to not buy every animal in the store. They make him so happy! But if I did that then what would Santa have left to bring to him??

Family Night

I decided we would paint pumpkins this year rather than carve them so that Jacob could do his own. When I told him we were getting ready to paint them he said, "Ganma & papa coming?" (aka Grandma & Grandpa). I said no. A few minutes later in a really loud sing song like voice, "Ganma, papa, Liz come over my house!" He cracks me up!!!!

A Visit to Wheeler Farm

Jacob LOVES animals! Any kind--farm, safari, sea, you name it. So a trip to the farm is the perfect place for him. And the best part is that IT'S FREE!!!! His list for Santa this year includes new animals, please. And maybe a dog for the backyard. Ooh! I'm so tempted, but I'm not quite ready.

Free Time...

So last night I had the rare opportunity of a couple of hours to myself. I had put Jacob to bed at 8:30 and Jarom was so exhausted from this week that he was out at 9:00. That never happens!!!!! I have been suffering from insomnia lately so even though I was tired at 9 too I couldn't bring myself to go to bed that early because I knew I would be up at 3 am and not be able to get back to sleep. My favorite thing to do when I get that kind of time is to read, but I had finished my book a couple days ago so I thought I would find something on TV to watch. The Disney channel was showing High School Musical 2 so I tuned in. I have been curious about these shows for awhile so it was the perfect time to watch. It was silly to say the least, but I can certainly understand why young preteens and teens especially girls love these movies. I'm sure I would have had a crush on Troy in my younger days much like the crush I had on Zach in "Saved by the Bell." I'm also certain I would have begged my mom to buy the soundtrack so I could learn all of the songs. I'm sure my friends and I would have watched these movies til all hours of the morning at our sleepovers. Oh, to be young again!!!!
P.S. I've yet to watch Hannah Montana. I just can't do it.

Finding Hope....

I don't usually like to get really personal on my blog because it is cyberspace and you never know who is lurking. But it is an opportunity to share my beliefs, and if it touches someone then it's worth it. The past couple of months have been trying for me. We moved into a home that is costing us more than we'd planned on and not just in terms of money. I have sometimes wondered why we were drawn here if we have to go through so many different trials with it. Then the economy headed downhill FAST, and I am such a worrywart. I was literally making myself sick wondering if my family would be ok if things get worse. My greatest trial has been trying to get pregnant. We went off birth control in February, and here we are 8 months later and still no baby. I got pregnant with Jacob in 2 months so this has been hard. I made a really bad birth control choice and now am paying the price. It's hard because I asked my doctor more than once if the shots would affect my fertility. She reassured me that they wouldn't. I didn't do any research until now, and I am finding out all kinds of horrible things that would have changed my decision if I'd known more back then. I keep putting off a visit to the doctor in hopes that it's just taking longer this time. So with all of these things weighing heavily on my mind, we got a call from our bishopric a couple of weeks ago wondering if we would speak in sacrament meeting. Our assignment was to pick a talk from General Conference and base our thoughts on that. As I started reading through the talks again, I came to President Uchtdorf's message on the Infinite Power of Hope. And the tears started to come. I cried and kept thinking this was written for me. My whole outlook and perspective changed in that moment, and I have felt so much peace since. We still have hills to climb in getting our house done, but I know this is where we are supposed to be and financially it is a good investment. As for money worries, I am reassured that I am supposed to be home with my children and if we are prepared we'll be fine. As for growing our family, just a little more patience and faith is what I need right now. I'm grateful for the change I've felt in me, and I'm really not worried anymore. YEA!!!!

Kitchen

Since this is where we have spent the most time and money I thought I would post a before and after picture of my kitchen. It's still not 100% done but we have come a long way. These really don't do it justice especially the before ones. There you go, Aly. I will post more when it's all finished!!!

That's What Life is All About....

...baking cookies with your two year old "cookie monster." I don't bake. I could probably count on 2 hands the number of times I have made a dessert from scratch in my entire life. I'm not good at it, and I don't enjoy it. So, you might be wondering why on earth if I don't like to bake would I do it with a two year old? It's the only way I could think of to say Thank You to our new friends down the street who invited us to dinner on Sunday and to our Elder's Quorum president who showed up at our house yesterday with his chainsaw and went to work on my gigantic, out of control pine trees. Jacob had so much fun "helping" me that I just might have to do it again :). And Jarom loved them too!!!!!

Did you know?? (for all of you Cougar fans)

That if the college football season ended today, Utah would get a BCS invite and BYU would NOT. I was informed by my sweet hubby last night (who listens to sports radio all the time) that based on their strength of schedule Utah would get the shout out. Hmmmm.......does this mean the Cougars are overrated? We shall see....