NieNie

Do you read NieNie? If you don't, you should! If you ever feel sorry for yourself or like you can't handle what is on your plate? Read NieNie and you will appreciate your trials and welcome all that is thrown your way. So, when you have a little time and you would like to be uplifted read NieNie;) Make sure you go back and read from early on.... http://nieniedialogues.com/

I should have been re-reading NieNie when I was in the middle

of my move;)

It is Stat Time Again

Just took all my kids in for physicals and here are the stats:

Logan~17 years 1 month

Height~ 6'1"~~ 92nd percentile

Weight ~141lbs.~~ 46th percentile

Laton~ 14 years 4 months

Height~ 5'7 1/2"~~ 73rd percentile

Weight~ 106lbs. 30th percentile

Meghan~ 9 years 11 months

Height~ 4'8 1/2"~~ 80th percentile

Weight~ 74lbs.~~ 55th percentile

Jaidyn~ 3years

Height~ 37"~~ 52nd percentile

Weight ~26.5 lbs.~~ 10th percentile

I know you all probably want to hear Barry and I's stats as well~

but that will have to wait for another day~ I am feeling a little bloated;)

Logan Turns 17!!!!

I can't believe Logan is 17! How time flies. I remember the day he was born, I didn't know what I was having and when the doctor told me I had a boy, I was thrilled!!! He was such a sweet baby~ slept all night~ hardly ever cried. He was truly  a blessing to our family. In a little over a year he will be heading to college, I do not look forward to that day.

Things we love about Logan:

His stellar ability to kill anything in site! Seriously he is a great shot!

He uses good language~ I have been told by many of his friends that he never cusses.

He is a good friend

He never talks bad about others

He treats girls with respect

He is athletic

                                                 He develops his talents

He is smart

He is Handsome;)

We are blessed to have Logan in our family!

This~N~That

Darn~ I have been desperatly neglecting my blog lately! I have been oh, so busy trying to get my feet planted on the ground. It seems like every day I find 10 things that need to be done, do those and find 10 more! I must catch up at some point ~right? Well, at least I'm trying;) So, this morning I was thinking about people that inspire me, all in different ways. Decided I wanted to do a shout~out to all those that do inspire me, I remember different people for different things at different times in my life. Don't think you don't inspire me if your name isn't mentioned, all my friends and family inspire me in some way~ or you wouldn't be in my life;)

So, here it goes.....

Kara Veater~ you inspire me to be a better mom~ kinder and with more patience

Nancy Tilby~ you inspire me to look for the best in every situation, and realize I CAN do it and with a good attitude

Heather Nelson~ you inspire me to do whatever it takes to be a better mom, even though it might make things harder at the time

Kristy Falke~ you inspire me to try to be kind to everyone! That sweet, gooey kind of niceness that makes everyone feel loved and important

Katy Gardner~ you inspire me to create and to use my talent as you do~ also to reach outside my comfort zone, and you know.....

Sunny Bass~ you inspire me to be truly Christlike in all I do

Marie Hyer~ you inspire me to see the beauty in all things

Jill Gauthier~ you inspire me to always look for ways to help other people and do something, even small, to lighten someones load

Heather Neimi~ you inspire me to follow what I know is right

Cindy McFarland~ you inspire me to look for and make new friends~ everyone needs a friend like you;)

Marilyn Mortenson~ you inspire me to never judge and love everyone

Cynthia McCurdy~ you inspire me to always be looking for ways to help others

Cynthia Brackett~ you inspire me to always be who I am~ even if someone doesn't like that;)

Kelly Day~ you inspire me to always wear a smile:)

Pat Hansen~ you inspire me to be a fabulous grandma (when the time comes)*

Lisa Graham~ you inspire me to have fun~ and laugh!

Hillary Rowe~ you inspire me to remember how important family is and staying in touch

Janine Stafford~ you inspire me to make everyone feel welcome and loved around me

Sarah Ternus~ you inspire me to be FUN!

Deonne Culala~ you inspire me to stay in shape

Jenny Dayley~ you inspire me to never give up and always realize those around me~ true potential

Kaye Jones~ you inspire me to be loyal~ to family and friends!

Lynette Williams~ you inspire me to be Christlike and the nicest person on earth~ which I think you are!

Taylor Ann~ you inspire me to be loveable~ so loveable that you want to be my daughter in law someday~ heheheh

Jessica/ Taylor Veater~ you inspire me to get my camera out more and capture the beauty in all things

Jenni Workman~ you inspire me to always be a missionary

Mom, Dad, Eric, Aimee, Kyle, Jared and TJ~ you inspire me in many great ways! I am the person I am today because of the great influence you have been in my life. I realize all your strengths and want to be able to be more like you in those ways.

So, don't be offended if I didn't mention you,

I only have a short time to myself to journal this;)

The kids are trying to cook bacon and I don't want the house

to burn down!

Please know that I love all my friends and family and

admire you for your talents and strengths!

Checking Back Into Reality!

Finally~ I am back

not quite sure how back I am~ but none the less~ I'm back

So- the title on the picture of my blog~

well begining the middle of June~ should have read a little something like~

Right in the middle of what you THINK is an ordinary, hectic, trying to get too many things done and accomplishing little~ life

Someone~somewhere~ Yes I mean you up there ;) thinks you have

lessons to learn~ and decides now is the best time to

shower trials upon you!

Yep~ that about summarizes my June/July!!!!

I have been told I should write a book~

I probably should, but it would be much too depressing!

So~ to summarize our crazy, so glad I don't have to relive, June and July

here I go.

moving truck picked up June 10th 9 am

get a call at noon stating home we thought we were unloading our

property into on the 12th was not going to be available~

owners decided to sell instead of lease :(

2pm after many tears decide we are going to continue packing~ although not sure

what I was packing for~

6pm decide we will live in our 5th wheel while we found a place to live~

YEA~ WHAT was I thinking????

Maybe that I could get a prescription of one of those pills you take if you can't

handle life?

Anyways~

Saturday/ June 11th

Still crying everytime I think of my situation~

Looking on Craigs List every 10 minutes to see if something happens to show up~

Calling all property managment companies to beg them to find me a home~

NOTHING!

Pack, Pack, yell at my kids, pack some more~

clean until 2 am

Realize at 2 am that I can't change the situation and that I will NOT cry

over something I cannot change~

I will have faith that Heavenly Father knows what is best for our family

and trust in him!

Sunday 5 am get up because I can't sleep~

look on CraigsList at least 25 times this day

Aaron Bean shows up to help load the final heavy stuff~

pack, clean, pack some more, clean carpets, try not to yell at the kids

but I still do, pack, try to comfort my kids that this is what we are

suppossed to be doing and kindly remind them they played a part in this

decision.

9am Gardners stop by to say good-bye~darn friends make it hard to leave;)

1 pm we are ready to leave~ decide to are going to drive to Salt Lake and spend the night with a friend.

Salt Lake arrival time 11:30 pm (lots of potty stops)

Wake up 6 Monday morning~ shower

back on the road~ Casper bound~ yea~ I think?

Call Stake President for Casper and explain my situation~

fingers crossed~

within 10 minutes ~and I'm not kidding~

a realtor from Casper calls to tell me she has a home available~

Oh my goodness! Cloud 25 is what I'm on!!!

Set appt. to see home at 3~

Get calls from 2 other property management companies telling me they

have homes to show me~ Are you kidding???? I am stoked!!!

Get to Casper around 2:40~ kick Barry and the kids out of the car at the store

so they can unload some items and I can go find the house we are going to reside in;)

Get to the first house at 3 on the dot~ are you kidding me??? someone would actually

consider living in this house??? I even asked the manager this question and if I

remember correctly they were asking like 1800 a month rent! It smelt like

animal urine something horrid!

 So, onto house #2~ not the least bit discouraged because I have 2 more houses to see;)

House #2 WOW!!! one of the garage doors hasn't opened for like 20 years and the other garage door has been replaced so it brand spanking new! Total mismatch!

Walk inside~ yep~ cats had torn at the carpet all along the edges and "marked" the walls~ I almost barfed~ I am not even exaggerating! I walk 10 feet into the house before I turn

to the manager and said~"look, this is NOT going to work for me and my family~ I wouldn't even rent either of these homes for my dogs to live in (all the time I am thinking that he is just the manager) then I proceed to tell him my less than

ideal situation and ask him if he has any other homes available that might meet my

needs~ he tell me he doesn't ~ I was persistant and said~ well how often do you get calls from homeowners asking you to manage their properties? could you like

get calls this week about new homes~

Here is the kicker!!!! He looks me in the eye and said ~No, I own all of the houses I manage!!!! Oh, dear, he owns a lot of crap~ sorry, but true!

I smiled and told him to have a lovely day~ as he shot daggars my way!

House number 2~ no THANKS!

Pull up to house #3

Nice! Cute street, Large garage, older home~ but thats ok!

Can hardly wait for realtor to get here so I can see inside!

Upon entrance~ small, but cute, clean kitchen, doable,

downstairs, well~ Barry couldn't come down here very often because he would

hit his head~ in one of the bedrooms downstairs the closet was housing

the hot water heater and some other contraption~

next bedroom~ odd smell~ look behind the door~ evidence-mold! on the wall!

Walk outside~ back yard is chain link and 2 pit bulls are on one side that growled and jumped at us the entire time! No thanks! Jaidyn wouldn't last a day!

Get a call from Barry that his parents were in town with our fifth wheel~

Bless their hearts!!! They drove our fifth wheel from Idaho to Casper so we would have a place to live~ you do need to know that we didn't have any other choice~

the rodeo finals were in town that week and their wasn't a room to be found

within 100 miles!

I drive to RV park to meet his parents and get the RV set up.

When Dad and Kaye pulled up I broke down!

I will tell you that is the first time I had cried since I had told myself

I wouldn't! I think I just felt defeated and in a sense lost!

Like maybe I hadn't done enough, prayed enough, fasted enough, called enough realtors (even though we were all on a first name basis) like I had failed my family! It was humbling to have to ask for help~ We were blessed they were so willing to help!

After the tears were dried we got our new home set up!

We got cleaned up and found another house in the paper~

seriously I think I got my hopes up every time I found out their might be a house

we could live in! Not only were we living in our fifth wheel~ so basically homeless!

but we were in the middle of trying to finalize everything for our store so that we could open!

Kaye and I went to look at the house I had heard was available~ really it wasn't too bad

it was cleanable, needed some TLC, but the kicker was~~~ the only way to get to the back yard was to go out the door on the second story of the house, but the deck was only attached to the house on one side! It was about 15 feet off the ground and when you stood on it, it swayed!!! I asked the realtor what had been planned to fix this problem and she said

they had no plans on fixing, it was ready for move in! Are you kidding me~ Jaidyn would last about 1 day~ Barry and the boys 20 minutes and that

porch would be history!

Back "home" to scour the newspaper want ads and call all property management places again~ nothing!

Go to laundry mat to clean some clothes~

decide to call every Real Estate Company in Casper and see if they have

any clients that would be willing to let us do a lease option on a home~

after calling about 15~ one tells me yes!!!

I get the address~ google it~ it is beautiful!!! More than I could imagine it being! I found a

video of the home online~ it had sold last year and the video was still up

I'm watching the video and am starting to get giddy inside. All the sudden the camera man walks out on the porch of the house and you can see the river! The house was not even 20 feet from the Platt River~ heart sinks! Jaidyn would last maybe 2 minutes at this house!

 We decide to go look at the house, thinking we could fence part of the property to keep Jaidyn from the river. We looked for over an hour with no luck!!! We asked construction workers, drove up to homes and knocked on the door trying to find this house~
Nothing!!!
Back to "camp" to let the kids swim and get ready for bed~
Kaye and Meghan decide to go shower first~
20 minutes later they are back and Kaye is looking frazzled!
She got into the shower and a huge moth starting flying around her~ she ran around trying to swat and kill the moth before it ate her;)
only to find out after she finally got showered~ she had forgotten her towel!!
She had to use those brown paper towels to dry off~ so she had little brown balls of paper
towel all over her body;) This was cause for a good laugh~ finally!

Next morning I called the realtor to tell him I couldn't find the house, come to find out we were on the wrong leg of the road.

After speaking with the realtor about our thoughts of fencing he tells me that he would never recommend any children, no matter the age, to live in that house, it is just too

dangerous, even for teens, the temptations to get too close to the water would always be there. So, I asked if he would please talk to the other realtors in the office

and find out if they had any homes that might be available~
He calls me back after about 20 minutes and tells me that one of the other realtors had a home just come available and gives me the address. He tells me to drive by and see if I am even interested before he has the realtor call me.
The drive to the house was beautiful to say the least~ It sat at the
base of the mountain among beautiful homes, we weren't quite sure if we were at the right house, so I told Barry to go and look on the porch to see if he could see and address,
he looked in the windows and noticed it was open, tried to open the front door and it wasn't locked~ he waved for us to come up~ we were up there before he could blink~
the kids were instantly in love, it sat on 6 acres, has a cabin feel, the carpet was pretty new, it had a small kitchen, downstairs it had a family room, a small bedroom and WOW a four car garage, it looked like a 2 car from the outside but it had a tandem garage, overall pretty clean and it hadn't been touched by the cleaning crew.
I called the realtor and said we were interested!!!!
I didn't dare tell him we had all ready seen the inside, he told me he was
busy that day, but could show me the house the next morning,
we were there with bells on, walked in, looked around, acted curious, asked a few questions, and then asked when we could move in~ he said he didn't know, but
that it would probably be about a week~ are you kidding~ we have all ready lived in our 5th wheel for 5 days and were ready to choke our kids!!! It is hard to tell your kids to go to their room when it is right beside where you are sitting!
 He gave us the name of the realtor for that house and an application~ we called the realtor when we were less than a mile from the house, pulled over on the side of the street
and filled out the application and asked if we could bring it in, he told us that would be fine and that the home could possibly be ready for move in, in about 7 days. I
gave him my sob story and told him we needed to unload our moving truck the next day,
I asked if he would just let me clean the house and the carpets so we could go ahead and move our stuff into the garage~ he said that would probably be fine and to come on down~
we went in, the realtor walks in and is a COWBOY!!!! Oh yea, Barry being a cowboy is good for something;)
They hit it off and the realtor said, I know the owner and she trusts my word, I will get ahold of her and let you know.
 We paced, paced, and paced some more!!!
Prayed, prayed and prayed some more!
He called the  next day at noon and told us we could pick up the keys!!!!!
We ran to that office~none too soon and grabbed the keys~ unloaded our stuff into the garage~ cleaned the house~ cleaned the carpets~ moved in our beds~ moved in the basics~ went to the store and cleaned and cleaned and worked from dawn til dusk and then some trying to get our store open~ Spent the first night in our home on June 26th~ the next morning Griz (our Yorkie) goes out to do his business in the morning and comes in acting strange~ I start petting him and notice blood on my finger and grabbed a flashlight and looked closer above his eye and the skin was black! I called Barry who was busy trying to open the store the next day, he tells me to get him to a vet that he has been bitten by a snake! Drive 70 miles an hour to the vets office, they have to hold him down and shave the
area to see the puncture wounds, Griz screamed louder than I have ever heard even a human scream~ sure enough~ rattlesnake bite~ they don't have anti venom~ their was a shortage last year, they called around and noone has any!!!! She tells me we can try to treat with steroids and a few other medications, plan set, I leave Griz at the vets office to go and tell my kids what has happened, Meghan and Logan are clearly upset, Jaidyn is crying~ telling me to go get her dog, Laton is just quiet, this irritates Meghan and she
tells Laton he just doesn't care about Griz! he replies, no I care~ it is just that I know he will
be o.k. I said a prayer and I know he will be fine! Wow, I walk upstairs and beg Heavenly Father to make Latons statement come true! He is at a vulnerable age and I don't want his faith shaken~ Vet calls around 4 that day and tells us that Griz has stabilized and she
thinks it would be fine for us to bring him home to look after him~ Yea! She did tell us
he would not be out of the woods for around a week and gave me
a pharmacy full of medication to administer! (Griz survived and is back to normal)
Finding this home, and moving in was kind of like a marriage~
I moved in with rose colored glasses on;)
when those glasses came off~ whoa!
Over the last few weeks I have noticed things that aren't ideal.
The guest bath is all ready under full reconstruction~
no gas to hook up my dryer~ bummer!
No A/C~ seriously are you kidding me???? I turned the
thermostat on cool the first warm day and nothing happened!!!
Barrys first day off~ bless him~ he installed a window unit to keep the house cool!
We have met and learned to "relocate" many different bugs and spiders!
Jaidyn loves to catch and play with the moths~
I was told the wind would bother me~ I welcome the wind~ it keeps the house nice and cool;) Blow all you want you Wyoming Wind!
The boys are in heaven with all the wild life~ we have
antelope and deer in our yard daily!
They practice shooting their bows at least 3 days a week~ and
are getting darn good! Laton has been paintballing and loves it!
Every time I think back on these events that brought us to where we are I get teary eyed~
it was probably one of the most trying times of my life~
but I do look back now and thank my Heavenly Father for
these trials~ because they helped me grow and got me to where we are today!
We are settling in here~ and I WILL make Casper our home~
yes, I miss my friends~
but they will always be our friends~
and we will all make new ones!
so~ our new address is:
7248 S. Ridgecrest Drive
Casper, Wy 82601
307-265-0719
I will post pics of our view~ it is breath taking!



Baseball Playoffs!

Logans baseball team are the League champions next week we will play to see who goes to state! Go Dustdevils!

Happy Birthday Laton

Laton turns 14 today! Wow, the times has flown by~ so here are 14 things we love about Laton~ 1. He is a hard-worker. 2. He loves to tell stories. 3. He loves little kids and is very kind to them. 4. He loves to spend time outdoors. 5. If you ask him to try his hardest~ that is what you will get. 6. He is always smiling. 7. He has a big heart~ he always want to help those in need. 8. He cares about others feelings, and tries to cheer up those that are sad. 9. He fulfills his callings without being reminded 100 times. 10. He loves his family. 11. He is a good friend. 12. He wants to take care of me when I am older;) 13. He helps us teach Jaidyn things she needs to learn. 14. He tries hard to do the right thing, and when he doesn't he isn't afraid to admit his wrongdoings and try harder! We love you Laton!

It's a Give~Away!

Head on over to my Sew Crazy Creating blog for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!

go HERE

test

New Blog

Make sure you check out my new blog: http://www.sewcrazycreating.blogspot.com/



Idaho

I remember Meghan sitting on grandpas lap and writing in his notebook :)

Jaxton loved Barry

Elk Herd in Jackson- I can't believe how large it has gotten- thousands!

Jaidyn entertained herself with uncle Bills duck calls

The site of our new store in Casper- maybe we will trade for donuts :)

Christmas 2010

Jaidyn LOVED Santa! I thought she would be shy, but she jumped right up on his lap and told him what she wanted. She also told him what everyone else wanted as well :)

SOOOO Excited to come out to see the presents!

Jaidyn was our elf this year and handed out all the presents

We had a quiet Christmas at home this year. It was just us. We left the day after Christmas and drove to Idaho. It was nice, but sad to not see my family this year. 

Jaidyn Reciting the 1st Article of Faith

Another Great Hunt at The Vivian!

It has become a tradition for Barry to take the boys to Sacramento to hunt "The Vivian" duck club. Barry is good friends with the owner and he has open the club every year for Barry to hunt since Logan was about 2 or 3. When Logan turned 4 he started going, Barry would take a space heater and Logan learned early he needed to sit quietly for hours if he wanted to be able to go. So, the first few years Logan would sleep, eat and watch as Barry hunted ducks. He could hardly wait until he got his liscense and was able to hunt with dad. I have heard that Logan is a pretty good shot and has been known to outshoot his dad a time or two. This year Logan was able to notice some things that Laton was doing in his shooting that could be perfected on.- so he worked with Laton on the first day of the hunt and Laton got his limit of ducks for the first time! It is very pleasing to see one help the other :) They all look forward to this trip. It is a great place to hunt ducks! They limited out the first day, and managed to get 4 or 5 the second. It is a great bonding time for the boys. Although, Meghan has warned that as soon as she is legal, she will be joining the trip. We have lots of ducks in our freezer and Barry is going to jerky some of them.