Summa Summa Time

Chasing Seagulls at the park

Climbing up the slide

T-ball

Cousin's wedding

Snoqualmie Falls

Playing with sidewalk chalk

Kitchen remodel.  New sink, counter tops, faucet, cabinet hardware and pantry door.

It's been a busy summer already and it's not quite the middle of July yet!  Can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store.  We just wish Jacob could be here to enjoy it with us.  He's working up in Canada again.

Grateful

We have been flooded with blessings lately and my heart is so full!  This whole year Jacob's work has been super slow.  Money has been tight but we are making it through.  The blessings that come from paying tithing truly are there.  Not once have we had to dip into savings and to me that is a huge miracle.  Jacob and I have become so much closer through this.  We have continued to go on dates but with the lack of money we have swapped babysitting with some friends and then gone on bike rides together or hikes.  It has done wonders for our relationship.  Before we were going to dinner and a movie which is good to do too but for us I've learned that we connect more when we do active things together.  We both love being outside so it works out perfectly. 

I have been going through a big transformation since the beginning of the year too.  With every pound I lose I feel like I'm gaining my life back.  I told Jacob tonight on our date that it feels like I've been asleep for the last 4-5 years and I am starting to wake up.  A lot has happened in my life up until this point.  A lot of it I'm not comfortable talking about but it has all shaped me into a new and improved person.  The trials that have come my way have been very challenging and I'm not out of the woods yet with some of them but I am seeing the Lord's hand in them more and more and am so thankful for this learning experience I have been given.

My brother and best friend has just asked his amazing girlfriend to marry him and I am so excited for them!  I love my brother dearly and am so grateful to see him so happy.  I look up to him and love the relationship that we have with each other.  We fought like cats and dogs as kids but now we are the best of friends.  I just really love him. :)

Jacob is going to be leaving for Canada in a couple weeks for a couple weeks.  Then he will be back for about a week and then gone for 6 more weeks.  During this time we've learned that we will have almost zero contact.  It's going to be hard but I believe that is why we have grown so close together lately is to help us both through this time. It is going to be a great experience for him and I am so thankful for that.

Life right now is so unpredictible and crazy but somehow I am at complete peace. I am grateful for the area we live in and for the people we have met and have welcomed us into their lives. I'm grateful for such a wonderful and amazing husband.  He is my best friend and my biggest fan.  And I really love my mom and dad and am so thankful for their love and support too.  They all help me get through the rough patches in life. 

My life Today

Today was an interesting day. Linnea was able to have her buddy Rowan over today while their big sisters were in Pre-School together. I loved watching them play and giggle together. They are such great friends. You can tell that they both have an older sibling because they share their toys and I think they act different than their older sisters did at this age. (It's crazy to think we've been here long enough that Linnea and Rowan are the same age as Emma and Niev were when we both moved here).

Then Emma got home from preschool and started playing with Linnea. They are just the best of friends and for the most part play very well together. They ate lunch together and played some more before Linnea went down for a nap. After the nap was when the day took a turn. There was fighting and pushing and screaming. I almost went crazy. It's funny to me how quickly moods can change. Most days are like today, although I do have a lot of what I like to call "Perfect Play Days" where the girls are just angels. But today was one of those days where I was gushing over how adorable my girls were and their friends and then longing to be back in the newlywed without kids phase the next moment. Motherhood is such a roller coaster ride.

Some good news that I discovered today: I already have a pair of size 4 black church shoes for Linnea so I can take the other ones back that I bought last week! And I can use that money to go and buy Emma a Halloween costume!

And Jacob's co-worker came by today and dropped off the work truck because he is going out into the field tomorrow for a couple weeks. He's been in the office for almost 3 months now and work was really starting to look scarce. I'm not untightening my belt just yet, but I'm grateful to know that we will go another pay check where all of our bills will be met without dipping into savings. (Things aren't REALLY bad for Jacob's work, just a bit slower than we like). I know the Lord is watching over us. He's just making us sweat a little bit and I'm okay with that.

And Emma learned how to hold scissors and cut with them today. She was way excited.

Other not so good news today: Linnea crapped on our carpet. There is only one room in the whole house with carpet (the toy room) and she crapped in it. She had pooped in the tub a bit so Jacob took her out and she ran into the toy room and did the rest of her business. I was preoccupied with other things and I assumed Jacob had her and he assumed that I had her. Whoops!

Holy Crap!

So remember not too long ago when I blogged about how everything was going smoothly? And how usually that means there is something coming up in the future? Well the future is here. Last night when Emma was using the bathroom she yelled at me to come in because there was black stuff in the tub". We have a big tree in our front yard and the roots like to grow into our pipe because we have old clay pipes. It's happened once since we've lived here and now it has happened again. Luckily we caught it before it got too bad like last time (toilet and tub overflow and poop all over the walls). And then we got a statement in the mail from the hospital saying that we owe almost $1400 in medical bills from the nursery when we had Linnea 15 months ago. Not cool. So I called the insurance company to chew them out but they couldn't do anything for me and told me it was the hospital's deal. So I've called and left a message for them. I. Am. Pissed. But hopefully we can get the charges dropped at least in half if not more. I mean come on! 15 months later!? Ugh. What else will happen? Any bets?

Vacation!!

These first few are out of order. This is Lincoln, my friend Serena's little boy with Emma. He's such a cutie! And now a big brother. His sister was only 2 weeks old when we visited.

Linnea with Jacob's old co-worker Peter. She fell asleep on him while he walked with her outside and discussed the geology of the area to her. I probably would've fallen asleep too!

At a park in Grand Junction that we played at often when Emma was a baby. She LOVED this slide as a baby and Linnea loved it too despite what the photo may show.

Almost back home!

"Grandpa" Richard and Emma in Grand Junction. He and his late wife were our neighbors and we would go up and visit with them every day. Jacob would go running upstairs when Betty would fall and help Richard pick her up.

Wyatt and Emma. They used to play together as little little kids.

Emma and Linnea playing on the swings at a park in Grand Junction that we frequented with Emma when she was a baby.

Emma and Linnea with Emma's favorite babysitter and her little sister. We miss you guys!

Emma playing with Kolby and Emily. Old friends. We used to get together and play with them often.

Stephanie with her nephew and Linnea.

Jacob with his signature lost look. I get this look a lot... :)

My sister in law's van. We loaded up the paddle boat and canoe and went to the reservoir and went boating with the dead fish. The canoe capsized when I was in it with Jacob and his cousin AJ and I ended up getting wet. The boys... not so much.

Emma and her cousin Genevieve. They are only 7 months apart.

Linnea sitting on the swing in front of Jacob's family cabin.

Emma and her Aunt Jessica. She loves her aunt!

Great Grandpa Willey with 2 of 12 great grandchildren.

My good little traveler. Linnea is a pro at road trips!

My other good little traveler. Emma is also a pro at road trips.

Life

I found my old journal from when I was a senior in high school up until after my brother left on his mission. I read about how I couldn't imagine being a mom and how scared I was. I read about how frustrated with myself I was with my spirituality. And about all the money troubles and woes. Then I thought about my life right now and how different it is. I can't imagine life NOT being a mom now. I love it. It's the most challenging task I have been given and the most rewarding. My daughters have helped push me to be the person my father in heaven knows I can be. I'm now happy with who I have become in a spiritual sense. Of course there is always room for improvement but I know my Heavenly Father is pleased with who I have become. Money troubles no longer exist on the scale that they once did which is a huge load off.

Our student loans will be completely paid off by the end of next year! Then it's on to building up our savings account so we will have 6 months of expenses saved up and then onto saving up for a new car and then working on our mortgage. I've learned that slow and steady wins the race. We started off with practically nothing as newlyweds and now have two vehicles that we own (not very nice ones, but we own them), 3 months of expenses saved up, a modest home/mortgage and two beautiful girls. Even with all the crap going on in the world our life is wonderful. There are still issues that Jacob and I are working through together but someday hopefully very soon those will be gone forever and then we will have something else to make our lives interesting.

I hope that life continues to go smoothly for us for at least a while longer. It's always kind of scary when things are going so well. Doesn't that usually mean there is something on the horizon??

Visiting with friends

Well our vacation has started off with a bang. We stayed at a hotel in Boise and my friend Ashley and her little family came over to our hotel and we went swimming! It was a blast! Her son is a week younger than Emma and her daughter is almost a year younger than Linnea. Next stop... Utah!

This last month

We went to Portland to visit our friends Scott and Lauren. While there we went to the Voodoo Doughnut shop. We waited in line for 55 minutes to get doughnuts. Are we crazy you might ask? Probably but they were some dang good doughnuts! Then on our way back home from Portland the girls were getting restless so we stopped at this cool museum on the way home and gave the girls a break. They had a blast!

Linnea got a little piano from my in laws for her birthday and she loves to play on it. She has also learned how to climb and I recently found her on top of the coffee table walking around. And Emma, Emma is just a silly girl. Her hair is bleach blond now from all the sun we've had and it looks so pretty. I have some beautiful girls!

This weekend

We went and played at the park with our friends. Why I didn't get a picture of Emma playing with her friend Niev I don't know, but I got a picture of my girls. Linnea landed a spot on the 5:00 news as well. She looked so cute but I couldn't get my stupid DVR to work so we don't have evidence of it. I'm going to contact the news station and see if they will give us a copy. Then Jacob and Emma went camping with some guys from our ward on the father's and sons camp out. Apparently when they showed up the Bishop's son who is a couple years older than Emma said "Look dad! There's a GIRL here!". I didn't realize that it was pretty common for father's to bring their daughters to it as well. Either way, they had a blast.
While they were gone I watched my friend's baby Ashlyn for her while she went and did some shopping. Ashlyn and Linnea are 5 months apart and I think they are about the same size. Ashlyn being younger. They played so well together! I'm sure they will be great friends. Then Linnea and I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and I bought some local honey, some yummy bread and some fantastic strawberry lemonade. I also learned that Linnea knows how to drink from a straw. I discovered this when she grabbed my drink out of my hands and proceeded to suck down the lemonade. We've never taught her how to do that. It was kind of weird. And today we get to go and enjoy a beautiful Sabbath Day at church. The weather here has been so beautiful! Hopefully it's here to stay for a few months.

Yesterday was...

An emotional day. Jacob went running with me in the morning and I was doing really well the first half of the run(averaging a 12 minute mile) and then couldn't pull out for the second half. The workout was run 10 minutes, walk 3 minutes and run 10 minutes. I cramped up really bad when I started out on my second run. Jacob offered to push the stroller so I could run by myself to see if that was the problem. It wasn't and it felt funny running without the stroller. I felt like my body was going all over the place and that I was off balance. I broke down and started to cry but I couldn't really cry because I was out of breath. I was so mad at myself. I had run 20 minutes straight last Friday but I couldn't pull out this interval run. And I was frustrated that I was struggling to keep pace and Jacob was just fine. After we got home Jacob and I decided that he wouldn't go running with me anymore until I built myself up to a faster time. He also told me that I was way too hard on my self and way too competitive. (Which is hilarious because you should see him. HE'S the competitive one).
I was pissed the whole rest of the morning. I didn't feel like I had accomplished anything fitness wise and was feeling down about the whole thing. So I mentioned to Jacob that I would like to go hiking. There is this ugly mountain about 15 minutes away with No tree cover and tons of sage brush that is a popular hike for the locals. The last time I hiked it was right after Thanksgiving with my in laws and I almost died. I was exhausted after the first hill and barely made it up to the top. I needed some proof that what I was doing with my running and cross training on my elliptical was getting me somewhere.
So we set off to go hike. I was amazing! Emma hiked all the way up and most of the way down by herself and I made it up and didn't feel out of breath or tired at all at the top. I was elated! I was proud of myself and amazed at my little 3 year old for hiking a mile and a half up a pretty freaking steep mountain. She kept pace with us and complained a few times but all Jacob had to ask was if she wanted a blue slush from Sonic and she barreled up that mountain. Of course we had to stop a few times for her but she did it! I even ran up the last part of the trail to the top. It felt amazing! Now I know that I have improved my health. I still don't look great but I am able to be active.
After the hike the girls played at the playground. Linnea loved the swing(and the hike). She laughed the whole time. I am so excited for the warmer weather so we can do more hiking. My run tomorrow is 25 minutes of non-stop running and I now have a new found drive to keep with it.