What we've been up to:

-I had my sister bring Alexis home from one of the OCMCO concerts and she came running in at 10pm at night screaming, "MOM! MOM! Guess what? Collin Raye KISSED ME!" He came and sang with them for the 4th of July concert and Alexis was more than thrilled to have him twirl her and her cousin, Chelsea, around and kiss them. The sight of my daughter jumping on him is frightening. I'm glad I didn't witness it. Mindy said there was no stopping them. I loved listening to him sing "One boy, one girl." It was on our wedding video and I could listen to that song over and over.

-swim team

-still un-packing (Sounds pathetic, I know. But we have a lot of things going on.)

-taking wallpaper off my parents downstairs bedroom so we can turn it into a playroom. It was necessary. Dark green and maroon wallpaper made it so dark in there. We needed to lighten it up so we don't have to turn the lights on in the middle of the day. However, once we finally got it all off...it unveiled unsightly dry wall. Not just a remove and paint. It was and still is a HUGE undertaking.

-patching up holes in the garage so we can paint it too. (We got our parents permission for all of this in case you were wondering.)

-trying to get Owen to sleep through the night...2 nights he did ok...but then returned to his normal 3 hour wake cycle. I'm not easy either...that kid can scream at the top of his lungs for 2 hours straight. He wears me out.

-completely enjoying this house. The breeze that comes through here is so refreshing. And the pool...even more refreshing. The kids have been swimming every day. Alexis' hair is already a shade of green. At night when I've tucked the kids in bed and it's quiet...I sit in a chair to feed Owen and just look at the beautiful yard and a huge rush of emotion comes over me. I feel blessed and SO grateful to my parents for their sacrifice to serve and even more so to let us move in and take over their home. The kids ride their bikes in the circle and it feels so safe. I have a washer and dryer IN MY HOME. Enough said right there! But really, it doesn't take quarters and no one moves my underwear or cuts in front of me to use the dryer. It's fantastic. My dishwasher is built in. There's tons of cupboard space. And Chad has his man cave. But it's not really a cave. It a ginormous room that he utilizes as an office during the day and a Xbox playing lounge room at night. Man...we feel spoiled. I don't say this to brag...because I definitely know what it feels like to go without...and on some/most days it was REALLY hard. I just feel REALLY REALLY grateful for this opportunity to live here. Almost indebted to my parents...because a HUGE stress lifted from me.

-We got new callings. Just when I thought I had no more meetings on Sunday...boom...like that I have them again and Chad does too! Chad is a ward missionary. He's super excited. A little less time consuming than his last calling. An hour meeting on Sunday and visits one night a week. But the poor guy is dragged into my calling too. Have I mentioned this ward we moved into is a lot bigger than our last ward and a ton more active too. Let's just say that triathlon they put on every Memorial Day...is now in the community magazine and considered more of a community event hosted by the FV 3rd ward. So can you guess? Activity Committee Chair. What?!? I understand they feel this is up my ally but a committee consisting of my husband and one other girl just doesn't seem like it will do. They use their auxiliaries to divide the work of each activity. So, we'll see how that pans out. Oh, and their ward council on Sunday isn't 1 hour like my last ward...it's 2 hours! I am excited. The ideas are taking over my brain...almost in a not so healthy way.

-We leave in a few days for a trip to the river with some friends. Can't wait!

ONE MORE THING: I'd appreciate being able to read the comments. English comments ONLY or else I'm going to have block you or all comments. They may be nice comments...but I have no clue because I can't read anything but English.

Good Things To Come

I stumbled across this video with quotes from my long time absolute FAVORITE talk. TEARS came streaming down my face.

I am not tired, sad, depressed or hungry.

They are happy tears.

Happy tears because I whole-heartedly believe every single word spoken in this video. When I've had hard days I've thought of this talk and the advice given and it literally helps me pull myself together and keep going.