We've been "trekking".

Checking in.
Chad and his new familys' handcart. Doesn't he look excited?????

That's our new family - hitting the road.

Going thru mud.

The Army came to take the men off to help in the Mormon Battalion.

The women were left to pull the carts themselves.

Crossing the river on a ferry that was set up on a pulley system.

That's me. Don't I look oh so lovely?

Our "family" once we've reached Zion.

Back: Josh, Ashley, Annie, me, D, Jessica, Isaac, Steve. Front: Preston, Jamal and Paige.

D, Chad and I spent the last few days on a pioneer trek with our church youth group. There were about 480 kids, aged 12-18, and 44 sets of "Ma's & Pa's" - that's what me and D were. We got 9 "kids" and created a new family - the best family! :O) We pulled a handcart for about 20 miles, over hill and dale. Camped, crossed rivers, were dressed as pioneers, played pioneer games (just like "reindeer games"!) and finally made it to Zion. It was a great time! It was super HOT - a few people were sent to the ER with heat stroke; super dusty and dirty, a LOT of work, and very hard... but definately a great experience!

Already 16 years!

And the day after Chad's birthday, D and I celebrated our 16th anniversary! My, the time really flies when you're having fun!!! And we still really like each other! D is totally my soulmate, the yin to my yang! He balances me out, is the calm to my storm, and definately my best friend! I love you D! Thanks for the past 16 years, with both the trials and the happiness... I wouldn't change it at all!!!

Happy Birthday Chaddie!

Chad turned 13! Can you believe it? Our baby is now a TEENAGER!!!! Oh my gosh! He's going into 8th grade - last year of middle school! So far... so good (we just gotta convince him he really does need to wear deodorant! Not that he's smelly or anything... just to get into the habit.). A little on the emotional side at times, but overall an awesome kid! We love you Chad and wish only the best for you! Thanks for being such a great son, brother, and friend!!!

A bit on the anal side.

Haley has this habit of leaving her shoes EVERYWHERE! Well, she left some shoes sitting on the kitchen floor, Reed saw them and went and got his and put them in with hers, totally organized, facing the right direction and everything (granted hers were not in the right order.). He's pretty funny that little one.

New rooms.

And while their room was being redone, they had no beds. So for one night, Macy and Haley slept on mattresses on the floor, for another night they slept on an air mattress in a tent in the basement, and then for two more nights they slept in the media room on the pull-out couch. Nice to have options... huh?

While you were out...

We played "While you were out" this weekend. Remember that show? Someone comes in and redoes a room while you're not looking. Well... no one was really out... but we still did it. Macy and Haley share a room. While Macy was at school, we painted their room pink. We then took her bed, which is a white trundle-y type bed, and painted it blue to put in Luke's room. We took Luke's pine bunkbed and painted it white to put in Macy and Haley's room (ok... and when I say "we", I mean D. Well... I helped paint the room... not the beds. Totally D... and a WHOLE LOT of spray paint!). Much better. They now have a pretty, girly room, which they both enjoy, and much more space. And Luke likes his new blue bed!

Tooth Fairy Needed!

It's been a busy time for the Tooth Fairy in our household. Within a few days, Chad lost two teeth, all the kids went for their 6-month dental check-up, and Macy and Luke had to go back to have some work done. Macy had to get one filling - her first, and she's only the second child to have any - Chad has quite a few from when he was a baby... and we would let him go to sleep with a bottle! What bad parents we were! And Luke... well Luke had to have 6 teeth pulled out! Poor Luke! For some reason, his adult teeth don't want to push out his baby teeth. They want to grow alongside his baby teeth... thereby causing him to look like a shark. Pulling out the 6 teeth will hopefully prevent braces... or at least, make his teeth not so bad. Keep your fingers crossed... right? He handled it like a champ... until the novacaine and laughing gas started to wear off and he realized he was in PAIN!!!

I scream, you scream... we all scream for *FREE* ice scream!

FREE Root Beer Floats at Sonic right now! Til midnight! If you've got a Sonic near you, GO! It's a big party. You don't even have to wait in line. Just park your car and walk up to any of the carhop people and they will give you one. Lots of fun for all!

Our newest graduate!

Little Miss Haley graduated PreSchool today! She is now, officially, a KINDERGARTNER!!! Crazy! Next year, we will have two in middle school (8th & 6th), two in elementary (4th and K) and one in PreSchool! Oh my gosh! Time sure does fly!


Look at how big she is getting. Remember last year, when she was totally sporting the "Tinkerbell" haircut due to her own cutting abilities??? Her hair is now about as long as mine and lovely! She is total girl, loves dress-up, princess, whatever, and LOVES to play with friends. She is smart, and loves to write letters to everyone and write down phone numbers. We love our Little Miss Haley and look forward to seeing what she becomes! Watch out world!

Some of our May memories...

Mother's Day cake hand-made for me by Luke. Isn't it lovely? BEST cake ever!!!

Making Smore's on our back deck over our little bunsen burner camping thingy.

Reed, Haley and her friend Christina, playing dress-up. Problem with being a little brother to bigger sisters... they always dress you up in princess clothes and UCLA cheerleader outfits
(see Billy... still getting good use out of it!)

Nothing better than a bunch of friends and some popsicles!
Sophie, Laura, Haley, Reed, April and Macy

5th Grade District-wide track meet

Luke, Reed and some of the kids from Luke's class - notice the matching shirts

Luke and one of his best friends, Emma (she goes to a different school)

Father and Son's Campout put on by our church - Reed is still a bit young to go, but D promised him next year it's his turn!

Cooper's best day.

This afternoon we all headed to a dog park that D and I passed the other day. It was really cool! They have a totally enclosed off-leash HUGE dog area, a really crazy playground area where you have to use all your muscles to play, and then lots and lots of grass and paths. It was great... really wore Cooper out! We had a great time wandering around, playing with all the dogs, and then playing some really strange baseball game the kids made up. Beautiful day and great to be outside. Cooper LOVED it!

June 1st.

New month... time to get back to the goal. A post for every day. Not necessarily daily... but as close to possible. This month has been a rough one for me. Lots of stress. The week before Christmas, Derrick's movie was cancelled, and 70 people were laid off, including him. It's been almost 6 months now that he's been unemployed, and for some reason, this past month just hit me hard. All of the "leads" that he had on jobs just weren't panning out, the money is running out, and it's just crazy. What can you do though? I'm thankful that we had savings that have lasted us this long. It's teaching us to be humble and appreciate all that we have. To realize the difference between "need" and "want"... and not necessarily everything we "want" is a "need". To be able to accept "charity" - our school paying for us to go to movie night, a girlfriend paying for me to go to girls' night (thanks Allison!), Uncle Bob treating us all to "Up!" for Family Night tonight (thanks Uncle Bob and Aunt Susie!). Hard for us to be "takers" and not "givers" - we are more use to being "givers". Realizing that we really do need to be humble, and it's ok to accept charity. We are currently getting Unemployment, WIC (free milk and cheese! - Yippee!), applying for food stamps (oh my gosh!), and having our home loan modified... but we are surviving and it's making us stronger and we know that (HOPEFULLY!!!!) it will end soon! So Heavenly Father... (putting this out to the universe), if you're listening (or you read blogs - whatever!), we're ready for that super new job!!!

Just wanted to share a bit about our lives right now... and ask that all of you keep us in your prayers (and everyone else that's unemployed right now!)! Also know that we TRULY APPRECIATE knowing all of you and having you in our lives.

Happier posts to come.