Savannah's Baby Blessing

My little Savannah was blessed October 2011.  She was so sweet and absolutely silent during the whole blessing.  I couldn't stop crying pretty much the entire sacrament meeting.  I couldn't help it, it was just wonderful having my whole family there, watching Kimball bless our baby, and I could feel the spirit so strongly.  Add all that up together and you get waterworks.

It really was great.

Afterwards everyone gathered at my parents house for a late breakfast.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come.  Love you guys!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2011 was a really fun one for our family.  Kaden had his heart set on being a mummy for some reason so I decided we should all dress up as classic spooky Halloween monsters.  Kaden was of course a mummy.  His costume was pretty easy.  I just tore up an old sheet and hot glued strips onto some old clothes.   He loved it!  Especially when I brought out the spooky makeup.

Jocilyn was a princess-witch.  That was the best compromise I could get out of her.  She really wanted to be a princess, but of course that didn't go with my spooky monster idea so Aunt Mo convinced her that being a princess-witch would be even better because she could have a magic wand.  It worked out in the end.  All she really wanted was to wear pretty sparkly makeup.  And she wore a witch hat for our pictures so I was happy too.

Kimball and I were going to be Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein, but I wasn't sure if Kimball would be back from his course in time to go out so I never put his costume together.  Luckily about an hour before trick-or-treating began Kimball walked through the door and I immediately plastered him with makeup, so he could go as a spooky something or other.  I was lucky enough to find an old formal at a clothing swap so I had my Bride of Frankenstein ready to go minus one Frankenstein of course.

Savannah stayed inside with grandma and grandpa not being spooky at all, but was still very cute.

Next year I'll try to get Kimball's getup pulled together so that we can really be The Frankensteins.  I don't think it turned out bad for a first attempt though.

The kids had a great time.  We borrowed my dad's four wheeler and drove through the neighborhood all night collecting candy.  Overall, a very fun Halloween night!

Happy Birthday Kaden!!

Actually Kaden's Birthday was way back in October, but as you all know I'm playing catch-up.  The point is still the same.  My sweet little boy is now 6 years old and in Kindergarten!  I'm so glad we were back in Draper when school started.  Having lived here off and on through the years Kaden has a few little buddies he's gotten to know pretty well.  I don't know if he was more excited to start school or ride the bus, but he was one happy kid when he got home that day.

Kindergarten has brought its own new challenges to our family.  Just getting to the bus stop in time has given me more stress than I expected.  On top of that I am constantly on the look out for bullies.  He had a little problem with an older boy on the bus, but from what I could tell that boy was mean to everyone, so at least Kaden wasn't being singled out.  A great relief has been Mikey.  He's the older brother of one of Kaden's friends, and rides the bus home with Kaden in the afternoon.  Mikey is a very kind and cool kid, the best part... he's in the sixth grade and is very tall for his age.  No one messes with Mikey or his friends.  :)  I'm thankful his big brother protection extends to Kaden as well.  I don't know why I worry so much about Kaden being bullied.  He's a really nice kid and makes friends easily.  I guess I just don't want him to go through any of that and me not even know.  Either way, knowing Kaden has people to look over him when I can't makes me feel better.

Now on to the Birthday.  Because this was the first year Kaden had some real friends in addition to family he was really excited to have a fun party with everyone.  I was pretty excited too, and will be the first to admit I probably went a little overboard.  But it was so much fun!

We had a Super Hero themed party and thanks to Pinterest I found some really cute ways to make it really fun.  So if you want more details on decorations just go to my birthday file there.

All the kids were told to come as their favorite super hero or make-up a new one.  We had an obstacle course set up outside, water balloon target practice, and silly string the bad guy to keep the kids busy.  I also made a back drop out of an old tablecloth of a city skyline to take the kids pictures in front of.  At the end of the party we gave them the photo in a super hero frame I made as a party favor.  I thought that would be pretty fun, but I still had a couple kids ask me if they were going to get candy to take home too.  Well, at least the parents probably liked the pictures.

It was a really fun party.  Kaden loved it.  And other than all my planned activities being over an hour before the party ended everything went smoothly.

Kaden was also very excited to open his presents from Aunt Mo and Uncle Scotty.  Mo gave him tickets to a Real Soccer game complete with cotton candy.  Thanks Mo!  And Scotty gave Kaden his first piggy bank.  He was so excited.  I'm glad Kaden had such a special day.  He's a very good, sweet kid it was fun to give him all the attention for a day.

The only downside is that now Jocilyn's expecting a big beautiful princess party.  I may have to give it to her.  How can I give one child a big fun party and not the other one?  Next year though they both better be expecting cake and ice cream at home with mom, dad, and Savannah because there's no way I can do this every year!

On to Arizona...Psych!

After living in Arizona last year Kimball and I fell in love with Sierra Vista.  So Kimball made arrangements to work as a lawyer there at the base after he passed the bar.  Our plan was to move down after Savannah was born and Kimball would be a banker with Chase again while we were waiting for the bar results.

Just before we were ready to move to Arizona Kimball was offered a position with the Guard for a few weeks.  We decided this was a better option than the banker job and opted to stay in Utah for a little while longer.  My family was more than happy to have a little extra time with Savannah and the kiddos before we left.

During that time Kimball applied to a couple of other positions with the Guard in case the bar surprised us and he didn't pass.  Well, its a good thing he did because he ended up not passing again.  I wouldn't be surprised if Kimball takes another go sometime in the future, but right now we need a paycheck to replenish our savings.  I'm very grateful to say Kimball was accepted into a training course with the Guard.  Of all the things he tried to line up with the guard he was most excited about this one.  It began in October and just ended a week or two ago.  It was a very demanding course: 6 days a week and averaging about 12 hours a day.  But he loved almost every minute.  He couldn't tell me everything, but from what he could say it sounded pretty cool.

We've been loving being back in Utah again.  We found a great apartment that is my favorite place of anywhere we've lived.  I got to spend both Thanksgiving AND Christmas with my family.  And Kaden was able to go to Draper elementary to start kindergarten with a bunch of friends he has here.  We should have a better idea what's happening next by the end of this week, but I'm finally learning to expect things to not go as planned.  I don't think that's a bad thing though.  Our family has been having a great adventure that we never expected.  Some days I wish we knew where we were meant to end up so that I could get a home that really belongs to me and Kimball, but I'm trying to be patient for that.  I know Heavenly Father is guiding us through all of this.  There have been so many times everything we've been planning has folded in on itself, but I believe its because we've had the wrong plans.  My husband believes in the work he is doing and I am very proud of him for it.  When we first married never in a million years could I have told you this was what our future held, but I am grateful to have it.