Congrappy Mothulation Day

Warning! There are no pictures, I need to get them from my Mother-in-law, but hopefully they'll be coming soon so check back.

Mother's Day weekend was a very busy weekend for us. My brother-in-law Michael graduated from ISU on Saturday and they were getting together with my in-laws for dinner that night. We were planning on going to Pocatello to join them for dinner, but got the brilliant idea to have them come to our house for a dinner. Michael and his family are moving in a week so their house is not in the best condition to host a number of people and we figured the kids would enjoy themselves more at someones house rather than at a resturaunt. So the night before his graduation Kenny called Sarah (Michael's wife) and asked if they wanted to come to our house instead. She called back late that night and said it sounded great if we didn't mind. So instead of cleaning my house the rest of Friday night, I watched some TV and went to bed. I'm such a procrastinator.

Because of my procrastinating ways we were VERY busy on Saturday. Luckily the weather was nice so Kenny went to the church to borrow some tables and chairs to put out on the lawn and I cleaned the house. We found out halfway through the day that Kenny's sister Karen, her husband, and their 5 girls were going to be able to make it after all. We were so excited to be having family over we didn't mind the added work it made for us. After getting the tables and chairs Kenny went to the store to get some food while I continued cleaning and started cooking.

The next few hours were all a blur. We cooked too much food and tried to make the kids keep the house clean while we waited for everyone to arrive. Sarah came with her 2 boys around 4:00 and then Michael and my in-laws made it about 15 minutes later. About 20 minutes after their arrival Karen and her family arrived. Kenny and I finished cooking and he set up the tables while everyone visited and pitched in a little when they could. The kids really enjoyed playing together outside which made the evening so much more enjoyable for them than a restaurant would have been. We finished cooking around 6:00 (only a half an hour later than we wanted) and sat down to a delicious (if I do say so myself) and large meal.

The rest of the evening was full of kids playing and adults visiting. It was so nice to have family over and to watch the kids play. We've really wanted people to come to our house for a gathering and this was just what we were looking for. Being that the next day was Mother's Day we decided to combine Michael's graduation party with a early Mother's Day celebration. Kenny bought a rose and some Pepperidge Farm cookies for each of the Mom's and bought the only cake he could find (an army cake complete with hummers and a helicopter) and had them write on it a combined graduation/Mother's Day message, 'Congrappy Mothulation Day.' That way everyone was covered. Don't I have the most creative husband? Everyone got a kick out of the cake and the labeling.

When it got to cold to play outside the kids came in and played downstairs with all the toys. They put on a show with all the creative outfits they could come up with out of our dress-up bin and just simply enjoyed playing together. Around 9:00 everyone headed out and even though we still had some cleaning up to do it was nice to know we didn't have to drive home. We had a wonderful day and hope Michael enjoyed his graduation party.

A 'Wicked' Weekend

I'm way behind on my blogging again so I'm going to try and do a little catch up over the next few days. The first weekend in May my mom got tickets to 'Wicked.' She had called me a few months ago and asked if I wanted to go and, only hearing good things about the play, I told her sure. It was a Sunday matinee, I didn't really want to miss church, but didn't want to skip out on the play either. So Sunday morning came and I got the kids up and dressed for church then I dropped Kenny and the kids off about 15 minutes early for 9:00 church (we only have one vehicle) and headed to Salt Lake. It was a long drive and I hit a few wet, rainy spots, but when I made to to Salt Lake the skies were clearing and it was turning into a beautiful day. I met my mom, her cousins Vicki, Michelle, Alison, and Aunt Linda at a Village Inn parking lot in Ogden. Everyone loaded in my van and we headed the rest of the way to Salt Lake. We arrived early and sat outside the theater for awhile enjoying the beautiful sunshine. We finally headed in and sat down just before the play started.

The play was amazing. I was really impressed and it's something I would definitely go see again. I haven't seen many plays, but it reminded me of 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Les Miserables' just simply because of it's quality. The songs were great and the story was great. True to what everyone has said, it does make you think differently about the wicked witch of the west. I give it 2 thumbs up and would recommend it to anyone.

While I was gone Kenny suffered through 3 hours of church with the kids by himself. He said they did well and he even got to leave Gracie in nursery by herself for awhile and attend some of Priesthood session. With help from some neighbors he got the kids home, but was greeted by a completely locked up house (I didn't unlock the front door before leaving and I closed the garage when I left. With no keys, he was locked out.) Luckily our neighbors are also our landlords and they had an extra key. That evening he went to a friends house for dessert. It was nice of so many people to help take care of my family while I was gone.

After the play we headed to lunch/dinner at the Red Rock in Salt Lake. It's been a long while since I've been to a restaurant that's not fast food or IHOP and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes it's just nice to be an adult. Though I was the youngest (by at least 10 years) the company was nice as well. I enjoyed seeing and visiting with my family most of which I hadn't seen since the family reunion almost a year ago. Without the kids we were able to talk and relax, not a bad day.

I needed to head out right after eating so I drove everyone back to their cars and started the long drive back to Idaho Falls. I hit some nasty weather with thunder, lightening, wind, and a lot of rain, near Tremonton, but I made it through safely (I hate driving our van in wet, windy weather. It doesn't handle very well.) The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. I made it home just after 9:00, just before the sun went completely down. It was a long, but wonderful 12 hours.

Enjoy the Little Things, . . .

As many of you may know, life has not gone the smoothest for us lately. This is a very hard post for me to write, but being that this is a history of our family I feel it's important to focus on what's happening in our life. We're now in our 8th month of unemployment with no real signs of anything getting better and things are really starting to get hard. I'll be honest, it's starting to take it's toll on me, and Kenny for that matter, and most days its hard to find the drive to get things done or even smile. I'm sure for me the fact that I'm 32 weeks pregnant doesn't help my emotional state, due to all the hormones running mad in my body, but up until now I've managed to keep that hope alive and focus on the feelings that everything will be OK. Notice I said 'up till now.' The past week or so it's been really hard and no matter how much I pray or try to be upbeat, I just can't erase the numbing fear. Not that I'm afraid we won't be OK, it's just been so long of wondering how and when that I'm running out of the ability to focus on that hope. However, in the midst of all the darkness, Heavenly Father has continually shown me the blessings I do have and the importance of living my life, even in this hard time.

Last weekend was the kite festival here in Idaho Falls. We've become big fans of kites since moving here and wanted to go see all the different kites and what the festival is all about. We weren't able to go due to our unexpected trip to Grace that weekend, but the Wednesday before the festival we took a drive to the kite store to get more information on the festival. While there I noticed a picture of kites on the wall with a beautiful saying underneath it. I had never heard the saying before, but it really touched me. It said, 'Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.' Such a simple quote, but so true at the same time. Things were just starting to look really bad at that point and that quote has really stuck with me. Since then I've tried to focus on the little things of life that make days complete; for those truly are the things that will probably matter most to me when I'm older and those haven't gone away.

Some of the little things:

Flying kites that night with the kids and our neighbor boy followed by a trip to the playground.

Ben flying the trick kite with Daddy.

Sarah's turn to fly kites with Daddy.

Ben, our neighbor Porter, Hannah, and Gracie looking through the fence at the ball they'd throw over.

Watching my kids enjoy the simple things.

Hannah watching her gerbils in the new shelf Daddy made her.

Getting to witness daily the love my kids have for each other.

Hannah and Gracie playing together with toys in their room.

Sarah and Ben discovering that the jets in Mom and Dad's bathtub make a bubble bath that much more bubbly.

Our newest game, sliding down the stairs on a camping pad.

Notice Gracie saying blastoff right before the last slide. This is her new word and she says it all the time.

There have been other signs that I am truly blessed in this time of major stress. This morning I awoke to the news of the passing of a friend in Virginia. She was our primary president when we lived there, and an exceptional person. I'm not sure the details of her passing, but I do know it was very unexpected. She was 35 years old and leaves behind a loving husband and 3 wonderful boys. The news shook me to my core and I've been left feeling very sad, but very grateful for my family and the blessing it is to have them all here with me. I can't imagine what her family is going through and though my life is so stressful right now I would rather be penniless with my family than be without them.

I don't know when life will get better or how it will get better, but I am eternally grateful for the blessing that I do have. I'm so grateful for a loving husband who, in the midst of all this, keeps trying to find work and who cares so deeply about his current inability to provide financially for us. It kills me to watch him struggle with it, but I'm grateful he cares enough about his family to struggle. I'm grateful for my kids. They've put up with a lot from me lately and though my moodiness is starting to rub off on them, they have helped give me the strength I need to get up and go throughout the day. They are the most amazing blessings in my life and I can't imagine my life without them. I'm even grateful for this little guy in my stomach. Though I'm consistently uncomfortable and tired and getting rather large, I'm grateful to feel my little guy moving inside me and knowing that he's growing like he needs to be. I'm grateful for all those who have given us support. For Sarah and all her long talks with me. I don't like to talk about my problems, I don't like to burden other people, but I really appreciate those who have shown their love and support in big and small ways. I really do have a lot to be thankful for and Heavenly Father has given me many blessings. For now I'm trying to focus on those things and the little things that make my days special and hopefully soon life will work out for us in the job department.

My Handy (and Crafty) Husband

Kenny has been quite the handy man lately. Despite his lack of tools he's managed to build some nice furniture and other things for our home. When we lived in Virginia we wanted to make shelves for the kids that would hold bins for their toys and also house a fish tank. We never got around to it, but after moving here we revised Kenny's original plan and designed a shelf to hold toys and their gerbil tank. Over the past few months Kenny's been building a shelving unit for the little girls room and the big kids room. They are just about done (as done as they're going to get on our limited/no existent budget) and will later get some edging and a nice stain. I for one, am way impressed with his handy work and the kids love them too. I'm glad we waited and made them here so we could change them a little to work better for the kids. It's nice being married to someone who can build nice things so we don't have to spend so much to buy cheap things.

The shelves in the little girls room. The top lifts up so we can access their gerbils.

The shelves in the big kids room. It still needs a back, but I think Kenny did a great job.

Kenny has also taken to building decorations for the notch in the living room. A couple weeks ago we went to a local craft store to see what kind of decorations we wanted to do for spring. We decided to skip spring this year and just jump right into summer. We didn't really have the money and we knew we could make a nice summer theme for not too much money. We found a cute little bridge that was around $80, but Kenny thought he could make one for cheaper. So we went to Lowe's and for around $10 we got all the material for him to build a little bridge. The bridge took a few hours to build and was the perfect size for our space and the perfect addition to our forest display.

After the bridge was built Kenny decided we needed to add a tent to our forest display. I haven't been feeling very crafty lately so, sadly, I put all the creativeness and craftiness on Kenny for this project. He took his idea and spent the day building and sewing an amazing little tent out of the left over fabric from Ben's Halloween costume. Throughout the day he kept asking me if it was manly to be sewing and we decided that making a bridge and a tent were very manly. He did a fabulous job, despite some issues with the sewing machine, and now our display is almost complete. We're thinking it needs something else, but we haven't figured out what yet. Maybe a geyser like Yellowstone or a little animal walking in the forest. We'll think of something, but for now I think it's great.

A view of the room with our forest display.

A closer look at the display.

We couldn't think of how to show water flowing under the bridge so we used the blue lights from our Christmas/winter display to give the illusion of water. Not bad I think.

A close up of Kenny's bridge and tent.

I'm very impressed with Kenny's handy/craftiness lately. After he got the tent built and put up he started to feel bad because it's suppose to be my job to decorate the house. He doesn't want to be one of the men who take over the decorating. I'm just glad it's done. I think he did very well and it looks exceptional to me. Thanks Kenny for being crafty. Maybe someday I'll feel crafty again.

Weekend With Family

Last weekend we found out Kenny's Grandparents, his Aunt Janet, and cousin Shannon were coming down from Boise. They came to Pocatello for Kenny's Aunt Loni's birthday and then they were going to Grace on Friday night. We saw them briefly at his cousin's wedding in January, but we haven't had a chance to really see them since the family cruise almost a year ago. So we decided (almost last minute, that's how we generally decide things) to go to Grace for the weekend. Kenny's Grandparents were having a gathering with all of his Grandma's siblings at my mother-in-laws house on Friday night so we weren't in a huge hurry to get there.

We arrived after 8:00, said hi to everyone, and quickly put the kids in bed. My sister-in-law, April, and her family were there along with my other niece Savannah, but they had just put the kids to bed so it made for nice timing for our kids. After the kids fell asleep and the visitors left we had a very enjoyable time staying up late and playing games with the family. The game of choice was Pit, which I haven't played in years, and forgot just how fun it is. It was nice to visit, play games, and just catch up with family.

The Grandparents

Aunt Janet and her daughter Shannon

Saturday was a busy day. Kenny and I made breakfast for everyone and then we all enjoyed a little visiting time. It was nice to catch up with Kenny's Grandparents and to watch Grandpa Holderness play with Hannah and Grace. Hannah seemed to really take to Grandpa Holderness and she enjoyed following him around and sitting on his lap. He, of course, ate it up and we enjoyed watching their sweet exchanges. The other kids were fascinated with the story of Grandma Holderness' leg and she was very good at telling it to them many times, and showing them her fake leg. Grandpa Newbry convinced those from Boise to stay a while longer and have his homemade Huckleberry ice cream before they left. It was so nice to catch up with everyone, but around 11:30 it was time for those from Boise to leave.

Grandma Holderness showing Ben and cousin Savannah her fake leg


Hannah and Savannah eating Huckleberry ice cream

After the extended family left we put the kids in the hot tub. They had a lot of fun splashing around while the Daddy's watched and the Mommy's had some quiet time to talk. After hot tubing it was time for naps and then some kite flying with Daddy/Uncle Kenny. The weather was a little chilly, but it didn't stop the kids from going outside to watch the 'rocket' (as my 2 year old nephew Zach called it) fly in the sky.

The Newbry grandkids in Grace over the weekend

While outside Kenny's dad convinced him to stay one more night and he came in and convinced me to stay one more night. We had a wonderful scone dinner prepared by April, let the kids play, and then played Disney Bingo (something we always have to do when we go to Grace.) We put the kids in bed and then the adults went for a soak in the hot tub. It was a great way to wind down the weekend.

The next morning we were up bright and early and on the road. We had to make it home for 9:00 church and I was teaching primary at 10:00. When we left Grace it was dry with no signs of rain and we thought we had plenty of time to make it back for at least primary. Surprisingly, when we made it just north of Pocatello we ran into snow. Not just a little snow, but real snow piling up on the roads. We had to slow down due to the slick roads and just made it in time for church. It was really unexpected, but I guess that's spring in Idaho. :)