It sure has been a while...

Man, it is amazing how some things go on hold when your world falls apart. When things go bad or difficult I find I pull myself into my own world and close the rest of the world out. This had been the hardest two years of my life! And it isn't the sort of things you can just blurt out in casual conversations. Family, marriage, jobs, money...etc. The Lord must really want me back by asking me to endure and go through these things so that I may prove that I really want to live with Him again. I pray everyday that I can manage it. I've been working so much during the past 10 months that it has left little or no time to myself. But, fortunately I was fired from Ruby Tuesday. I say fortunately because my kids really needed me back home and I feel very blessed to not have to work there anymore. My mom told me that the Lord made the decision for me because I would never quit when I knew my family had a financial need. True. My work here is needed more and I love being home and getting things back in order. I forgot how to be a housewife and am re-learning, thanks to flylady.net.
I am now working for Michael McLean. Yes, THE Michael McLean. Dream come true, I only wish it had to do with music. Beggars can't be choosers right? I am putting all their negative, photos, documents on the computer. This includes Lynne's Father's slides as well. They are such wonderful people. I have had the wonderful benefit of becoming friends with their daughter, Meggan. I just love her to pieces! We have fun talking, beading and letting our kids play together. I also get to see a small percentage of the thank you notes they have received due to Michael's impact his music has had on people. What a blessing.
Jason is also about to get a job working for the Hyatt, next to the Canyons, in Park City...(I hope I haven't jinxed it by saying that) It will bring us out of the poverty level and hopefully on a normal schedule again. Having Jason work the night shift has been hard on us. It will be nice to sleep at the same time once again.
Brayden has also finished his eagle project!!!!! What a wonderful accomplishment. He built a replica of an outhouse for the Provo Pioneer Village. I hope to get some pictures on soon. We are so proud of him.
Logan is back in baseball and loving it as well. CJ and Riker both just ran their first race, a 1.2 mile race. Riker came in 5th in his race and CJ came in 7th in his. Jason stayed up to race with them and cheer them on. It was like 4 in the morning to him. A walking zombie but a great dad!
That is a quick mini update on our family, sorry it has taken so long, but I hope to be more regular with this again and have some pictures to share. Love to you all!

Good News!

My good news for the day is that Brayden found my phone in the car. So I guess Chad really did flush the toy phone down the toilet. I feel much better about that!

My count of books read for the year is now 46. I'm currently reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. My goal for the year was 50, but I'm glad to see I will surpass that and I can raise my goal to 75. I read "Sarah, women of Genesis" by Orson Scott Card. I really love these books. It gives us a great interest and insight to the women of the Bible and what their lives may have been like. It is in novel form, but whatever it is, it does give an insight to these amazing women. I highly recommend them. Another great book is "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin. Very small but very enlightening. It is about a man who colors his skin from white to black and goes to the southern states during the 1960's to really see what it is like to be black in that day. It was a true eye opener! Even though I am obviously not racist, it does help you realize that regardless of skin color outward appearance we all decide what we think this person is like or at least make an educated guess. I always try not to judge people, and this book helps me want to try even harder. I was amazed at how he was treated from one day of being white and the next black, by the same people. First, respect and friendly and the next with contempt and disgust. He changed nothing about the way he talked or dressed or even his name...just his skin color. Read it. And tell me what you think.

The beginning of a ? day

Well, I'm still trying to figure out what kind of a day this will be. Jason got home a 7:30am and I had to get up cuz Chad was up. I fed my boys and settled down on my favorite chair in the living room to read for a while. In the meantime Chad went on a rampage. I heard the toilet flush and had a bad feeling...Chad came in and said,"Mom, I flushed my phone down the toilet." What? I seriously hoped that he meant the Incredibles toy phone. I ran to the toilet only to find that whatever he flushed was long gone. I looked all over for my cell phone and have yet to find any clues as to where it might be except for the ending water rushing noises we hear as the toilet refills. I even called it to see if I could find it. No noises whatsoever. A little later I hear CJ yelling and Riker yelling and I got up and out on the back deck to find that Chad is chasing the chickens with a stick and CJ crying as he tried to save a chicken. I think this chicken is losing his battle and will be the second chicken to succumb to a two year old with serious misunderstanding of live chicken targets and cartoon chicken targets. I hope this day doesn't end with more bloodshed or loss of electronic devices. At least Jason gets to sleep through it.

Jason's race results

Jason did very well. He didn't quite make the time he wanted but out of 150 people he came in 9th and 1st in his age group. He received a medal and was very happy. He has registered for another race for the July 5th which is in Provo along the parade route. He is loving running and feeling so good. I am proud of him. Kudos Jason!!!

Jason's first race

Tomorrow is an exciting day for Jason. He is going to participate in a 5k in Salt Lake City. He has been training for a month now. He's lost 20 pounds and running 3 times a week. He knew he loved cross-country in high school but figured that part of his life was over. But, he is doing so well. I'm excited for him and hope he does well. This is a great thing for Jason since his family is known for heart problems. Having him do this hopefully keeps his heart healthy and with me longer! Good Luck Jason!

We got some new baby chicks this year since last year's crop were either roosters or taken by hawks for food. We plan to keep these girls a little safer than our last ones. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have a dozen little chicken feet walk all over your back? C.J. would be able to tell you!
The chicks were feeling a little scared by the boys playing with them. They know where to go to be safe. Maybe they think Jason is their mommy.
Chad loves playing with them! They are much bigger now and are finally out in the coop which is a mansion compared to the guinea pig cage they had to be in to keep warm until their real feathers grew in to protect them.

One of the year's highlights for me was taking Logan to the Fablehaven kickoff for the last book. It was such a blast to see so many kids and their parents to come celebrate this new book release. Logan now loves reading thanks to this series. What an opportunity for him to be a part of this. ( And me of course!)
This is Brandon Mull's mother. (Brandon Mull is the author) She is dressed up as one of the characters from his story...Muriel the witch who can only be released if you blow on the knots that keep her trapped. Logan is out of his mind blowing on that knot. The world as we know it is now in peril. (Typical boy...putting the world in danger with a single blow)
We brought all our Brandon Mull books to get signed. We had to wait a long time, but it was worth it!
We broke the rules by taking a picture with him, he was supposed to keep signing and not stop for pictures. He claimed as long as he kept writing he wouldn't get in trouble. What a great guy! Thanks Brandon for getting my awesome Logan into reading!!! He has now read the whole Percy Jackson series and plans to read a lot more. We have a list that he wants to read. He even has his own account on goodreads.com. It's where we keep track of the books we've read and want to read and can give reviews of them if we want. We rate each book from 1 to 5 stars. I have done a great "mom" thing with this kid:)