Our new home!!!!

Here is our new home!!! We are so very happy to have the blessing to live here now!!!

This is the front of our house...


Here is the nice big backyard...


Here is the back of the house...


Here is the living room...


Here is the awesome kitchen with tons of cabinet space...


Here is Julia's room...


Here is Ethan's room...


The rest of the house I don't have photos for yet, we still have boxes and things not put away in them. :) We also have a nice big dining room, that is rather bright rust orange, that we will repaint at some later date. The master bedroom is nice and large with sun blocking shades on the windows and a whirlpool tub and huge walk in closet! There is tons of storage space and our 2 car garage has cabinets and shelving installed all over the place with a air-conditioner/heater unit in the wall. It is the perfect workshop/studio for us!

We are so tickled pink to be living here, in such a comfortable home. We would love everyone to come and visit us anytime, just send us a note or give us a call! Come to Arkansas, it is wonderful!!

Julia's dance recital

Princess Julia at her dance recital. She did a great job and loved having her costume with the sparklies and fluff!


Julia and Halley performing.

Family Road Trip to Kansas City and LDS Church sites

A fun family picture at where we believe that the Garden of Eden once was on the earth.


The beautiful view of where the Garden of Eden once was


This a monument marking the site of a future LDS temple that was planned for in the 1840's and the cornerstones are in place. The apostles and prophet of our church at the time risked their lives to set the cornerstones. This is in Far West, MO.



This is a depiction of what it was like for 5 men, including our prophet Joseph Smith, to be put in jail for 4 months in terrible cold conditions. They were treated as if they had done the worst possible crimes and were in fact innocent and were finally allowed to escape.


Julia and Ethan posing in front of the outside of the Liberty Jail, in Liberty, MO where the above photo was taken.

We had such a wonderful time learning about our church's history and seeing the beautiful area. Ethan was really touched by what he saw in Liberty and Julia loved being at the Garden of Eden. Chris and I had so much fun just being with them and together. It was fun to create memories.

More Easter pics

Julia and Ethan had fun hunting for eggs a few days after Easter when it stopped raining.

Gravel!!

We just got our final load of gravel and I can't tell you how excited I am to have that!!! We are expecting to get a big rain storm tonight, so the gravel came at just the right time, so hopefully we won't have a huge lake in the driveway, just the yard! :)

We are making major progress on getting ready to sell the house, Chris has been great in packing up stuff and taking it out the back storage building, it is getting really full, and it makes such a difference in the house. We just have to clean up the kitchen and paint the cabinets, and tile the counter-top! I think it will make all the difference in the kitchen to have a new counter.

We are busy busy busy, but it is fun to feel like we are making a difference and have a goal to work towards! We keep praying that someone will fall in love with our old farm house and buy it quick!

We found the perfect spot for the rose garden, it gets lots of sun and it was already clear of grass!! We still have work to do on it, but if we sell right away, I will just take them with us and replant them at our new home! :)

Beth was given money to purchase rose bushes for her rose garden this year!! It was so wonderful to go and buy just the ones she wanted!! Here they are planted and ready!! We can't wait to see them grow and bloom!

Spring!!

We have been so blessed this spring!!! It has been wonderful to watch things start to grow and see all the beautiful flowers we have on our property. Chris has loved mowing the yard already.

We have spent as much time outside as possible! We planted a small strawberry patch and a small pea patch. Everything is growing and coming up so well! We are excited to taste those first few berries! The cats are doing their job at keeping the rabbits away! Julia and Ethan are loving exploring and finding new flowers and games to play outside. They both have mastered swinging themselves on the swingset and love to play on the slide by making it wet and creating a waterslide. They ask constantly when are we going to get a swimming pool!

We were very blessed to be able to sell Chris' Pontiac Vibe in 1 day!!! That was wonderful and the college kid that bought it, is just the right kind of person to buy it! He will enjoy it! We have continued to work on the house and yard. We finally were able to clean up the last of the debris from the ice storm!!! What a great day it was to burn up the last of those branches!!! I am still working on the forsythia in the front, but only have about 30 ft left to prune!!! That feels good too!

Beth finished her first job for Cutting Edge Glass, Inc. That was fun!! Hopefully she will get some more work soon!

Beth's Aunt and Uncle came for a visit and we loved chatting and sharing with them. Then Beth and the kids went up to Springfield for a day to visit with her family. We loved visiting with everyone! Ethan especially loved playing the Wii with Julie.

Beth, Julia and Ethan had fun going to visit Beth's family in Springfield for a day.
We had a wonderful Easter with the Easter bunny coming!






We went to church and then had a nice dinner with Grandma Candy where the Easter bunny magically came to her house too! :) The kids loved playing with the bubbles.

We have spent the last week discussing our house and it's situation and problems and have decided that we are going to get it ready to sell. We hope to have it on the market by the beginning of May. We have several projects to finish and pray for no more rain so that we can get trucks and machinery where they need to be and not sink into the ground. Please pray that we will be one of the blessed families that get to sell their house in this market.

We are sad to leave this little piece of heaven, we sure love the peace and quiet that is here and the way our yard feels like a park. We are sure that there is another home for us that will feel just as nice and will be more structurally sound plus a little bit bigger!!

Chris was given a promotion at work!!!! He is now an Engineer Level 2. This is a huge blessing for us and we are so grateful!! He deserves it!! He is such a hard worker and gives his all. It is nice to see that he is being recognized for that!!

We are busy, busy, busy! We have so much to do and so little time to do it! Beth is working on the yard and packing up the non-essentials to go out to storage so that the house looks as nice as possible. Chris is working on getting gravel, top soil and the pond drained. Then we will work on the kitchen counters and take out the wood burning stove and level the floor in the living room. We are praying that it all comes together quickly!!

Nicer weather

Well, the nicer weather is getting closer.....I hope. We have had a few nice days and been able to get out and work in the yard and Beth and I have been bitten by the outside bug. It is so nice to have a wife that likes to work outside. Last year she did so much outside while I was at work. All those who come by the house will see how much she has done! I look forward to yard work now. On my birthday last year we purchased an Everride Hornet mower which has reduced my mowing time went from over 6hrs a week to less than 2. Now, I can do it in one afternoon (even after work) instead of several afternoons. During the winter we have been using the wood burning stove a lot more. It is amazing how much less the furnace runs. After our recent ice storm we discovered how much we needed a new chain saw, so we upgraded mine. These tools and others along with Beth make working outside so much nicer. I hope our mosquito trap keeps working. :) Anyway, it is amazing how looking at our place and how the thought of making it really nice is so much closer to happening. The kids really enjoy playing on their swing set and sand box (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa) which helps to be able to be outside and work while the kids play. There is a lot of work to do but with Beth's help and our arsenal of yard tools the yard, from the grass to the trees, better watch out.........because it's on! :)

Life after the Ice Storm

I can now say that I am caught up from the ice storm finally. I guess I really was last week, but it sure felt like a long time. Chris and I have been working hard outside to clean up our trees from the storm. Talk about having tons of branches to burn. Of course I was just about done cleaning up the branches from all the tree trimming we had done last year. We have a burn pile about the size of half a football field!
I had a nice birthday and was grateful to have the electricity back on for that! Valentine's day was nice too! I love February!
Today it is sunny outside and I am looking forward to getting our strawberry bed ready to plant our plants in! I can't wait to have a strawberry patch. The kids are excited too. I have caught spring cleaning fever as much as I ever do and cleaned a little. I really look forward to being outside next month! I love living here where spring is so much longer than I am used to!
Julia lost her first tooth last week! She is only 5! It was fun for her to "grow" up and be a big girl who lost a tooth.
Ethan is getting taller and taller. He is such a sweet fun boy with an amazing zest for life!
Chris is doing well, he works hard and continues to succeed at work. I am trying to figure out what I am doing between housework, yardwork, glasswork, wifework and kidwork. :)

We are grateful to God because He is so good to us!

Rant and Rave

I just have to say that I feel like I am going stark raving mad! I really shouldn't say that, it is just so hard to wait for our electricity to come back on. We now know why we don't have power, there are two poles and a whole bunch of power lines on the road about 2 miles west of us, which is why we are guessing we don't have power. The problem is that no one is even working on them yet. It is obvious that it will take a long time to get the new poles in and the new wires up, so even when they start working on it it will still be awhile. The latest that we have heard is that there are 3000 poles down with 7000 miles of cable that need to be replaced! They are saying that they should have 5% of the remaining 10% of people that are without power back up by Wednesday, we are praying that we are in the first 5%, but I am skeptical! I have nothing to complain about, we have heat, hot water, food, and now a generator, I know we are better off than a lot of other people, it is just so hard to not feel like we can just get back to our lives yet. All we have at night is candle light, which is really fun and pretty for two nights, after that it is just frustrating to try and read by, plus it gets dark by 5:30 so I have to cook dinner before dark, and try to get the dishes done, or otherwise just wait until the morning to do them, I hate waking up to a full sink of dirty dishes. I hate not being able to really see what I am cooking and whether it is still raw or burnt. Cooking by candle light isn't what it is cracked up to be, not that I have ever heard it cracked up, but you get my point. Baking is a therapeutic event for me and since we don't have our oven working because of the safety feature I can't bake and that is driving me crazy too. I also want to cook with my crockpot and can't do that either. Anyway, I just have to say that going for 8 nights without power is really really hard and there is no soon end in sight. It would help to know how long we will have to wait, but the power company isn't saying anything to anyone. As far as I know there are still full towns without power and we are just one street. Chris and I take turns being frustrated with all of this. The hardest part is seeing how the kids hate this. They love watching TV and while I don't let them watch tons, they have their favorite shows that they miss, plus there isn't light to play with their toys after dinner so they are bored. I am really really trying to be patient, it is just plain hard! Chris has been able to use the generator to power our washing machine, so we are running that to wash the load I started when the power went out. I hope that the clothes are okay, not mildewy or bleached by the soap sitting in them for days on end.
Okay, I guess I am done ranting! I hate this and look very much forward to this being over soon!

Ice Storm 2009

We are in the middle of an ice storm. I went out in the rain that is freezing on the ice and took a few pictures. You can hear a branch breaking every 3 minutes. We have lost one of my favorite trees right off the back door. That is the second picture. God has blessed us significantly that when the branches went down they went on either side of our boat and grill, we haven't suffered any damage and are so grateful for His protection! We are starting to have our yard flood in the usual flooding places as well. We are doing fine and have stocked up on everything so we are prepared to wait out the storm. Any prayers are always appreciated!


Front yard!


Back yard

January 23, 2009

It has been a busy week. I have loved working in my studio. I am working on several suncatcher projects which are quick and easy. I am also watching my business cards and fliers come together and that is fun. I have been blessed with friends that have helped me get discounts and free help. The weather has been nicer too and we were able to play outside yesterday and I was able to clean up some more of my yard. That felt great! I still have so much work to do out there. I am grateful for what I have gotten done. I am excited for spring to watch things come up and start growing and blooming. Because things were so overgrown I have done some severe pruning and I am very curious to see if I have killed things or if they will come back even better than before.
Chris and I are so very excited to see what things will come in our future. We have so many dreams and it is fun to talk and share with each other. We are patiently waiting to see what and which dreams will come true and which won't and what God has in store for us. We know His plan is the best and we will take the blessings we get gladly!

A fun day

I had such a fun day, I decided to take Julia and Ethan to go up to Springfield, where my parents live, 3 hour drive one way to see one of my best friends and my family for a few hours and then turned around and drove home. It was long of course, but for some reason I don't mind the drive, I enjoy the countryside and feel very much at home the whole time I drive it. We got there and I dropped Ethan off at my parents and let him play with his cousin, Julie, they have so much fun together. I took Julia over to Roxanne's house with me, she got to play dress up with her daughter and had a great time. I loved chatting and hanging out with Roxanne and got all my girl talk done for a little while! ;) Then I got to go back to my parents and visit with everyone there plus get to see my newest niece and hold her for a little bit. It was fun to hold a little tiny baby again. Then we piled back in the suburban, my favorite car, and go home. We met Chris for dinner at Chick-fila which has a playplace and the kids had fun playing after being in the car forever and Chris and I had a nice time just being together and feeling grateful for the safe drive I had. It was a wonderful day and I am so grateful to be able to go and do things like that!

Company Logo!!!

This is the logo for my new business! My cousin Brenda did an awesome job and I am so excited.

A "little" background!

I am excited to start a blog for our family and share our photos!

Our story starts December of 2007.

We met on an online website for LDS singles to meet and date. Chris found me and sent me a smile. I responded with a thanks and we started talking via email and within a few days started talking on the phone. We then set a date to meet in person for December 15, 2007. Our first date was great. The weather was terrible, icy, windy, 25 degrees with sleet and freezing rain. Chris drove to Springfield, MO where I was living at the time from Lincoln, AR where he lives in the bad weather. On a nice day it is a 3 hour drive. He arrived safely and stayed at the Econolodge in Springfield. We met there outside the lobby and then went to a store called Bass Pro, they sell outdoor equipment and other gear and have a huge store in Springfield with all kinds of things to look at. They also have a nice restaurant in the top of the store, so after walking around for a while we decided to get dinner. We hit it off right away and were both so happy that we both seemed to be who we said we were on the phone. We had a nice dinner and the plan was to attend a LDS dance later in the evening and I decided that I really didn't want to dance and that I would rather spend the time getting to know each other better. We talked and walked through the store some more and then decided to watch the movie The Transformers in Chris' room at the Econolodge. We now joke about it that our first date was at the Econolodge!

The next day was Sunday, we had had such a wonderful evening the night before I begged my mother to watch the kids so I could take Chris some breakfast before he drove back down to AR. She agreed and so we had our second date at the Econolodge too! We have talked on the phone or in person everyday since December 7, 2007!
This is our first photo together


Chris came up to Arkansas to date me every weekend after that first weekend and I was able to go to Arkansas occasionally as well. It was wonderful and we fell deeper and deeper in love with each day. In February I needed to go to Chicago to place my macaw with a new family and Chris volunteered to drive with me. It is an 8 hour drive from Springfield. We went and ended up in Chicago on Valentine's day. If you don't know Valentine's Day has always been my favorite holiday. Chris got tickets to go up to the top of the Sear's Tower so after we took care of my bird we went to the tower. It was amazing! While were on top of the world Chris proposed to me and I said yes! It was very sweet and romantic! I couldn't have had a more wonderful holiday! This is the view from the tower that he proposed to me!


This is one of our engagement pictures!

While we were engaged Chris brought his boat up for Memorial Day to take us boating! It was a rainy, gray, cold day, but we went out anyway! It was fun!


Our engagement was fun, stressful, crazy and great all at once. We finally decided on July 12, 2008 and started the process to have my first LDS marriage cancelled in the eyes of our church so that I could be remarried in an LDS temple. Having a LDS temple marriage for us is one of our core values. To be married in the temple means that we are married for eternity, not just until we die. We believe that our church has the authority to seal on earth and in heaven and that our church leaders can seal a marriage for eternity. Chris and I want to be together forever not just until we die. I was granted the cancellation 12 days before the wedding. We felt so very blessed to have that opportunity. We arrived in St Louis the day before and went up to the top of the Arch with my mom! It was a fun way to spend the last day of singlehood!




Our wedding was wonderful. Everything went smoothly and it was beautiful inside and outside. We were sad that not all of our family could be there and were so grateful for the family and friends that were there! We know it was a sacrifice for them and we are so appreciative. I was able to get my hair and nails done just the way I wanted them! I had the most beautiful dress and I felt the most beautiful I have ever been. It truly was a princess dream come true!
After the wedding we went on a short honeymoon to Branson, MO. We didn't like Branson too much, but loved being together all the time instead of just on the weekends. Of course the fringe benefits of being married now were great! Our church believes in abstinence before marriage and no one is allowed to be married in the temple if they engage in sexual relations before the wedding. It was really really really hard to wait, but it was worth it! ;)
After our stay in Branson we went back to Springfield, we had a small fun open house to celebrate our wedding and packed up my and the children's things to move to Lincoln, AR into Chris' house.

The house is a large 2 bedroom house. Before we moved in it was nicely spaced out and open, after we moved in it wasn't anymore! :) Three children sharing a room was a challenge, however we were blessed by what I call the Europe miracle and it worked out. (The Europe miracle is as follows: When my sister, Bernadine, got married she married a Frenchman in France. I got to go with my family members to France for 5 days. We had rented a car that were were assured would be a very big car for France, everything is smaller in Europe. Well, there were 5 of us with my sister's electric wheelchair and luggage. Fortunately there wasn't a lot of luggage, but there was enough. Well when we got the car it was anything but large. It was about the size of a Geo Metro. What is considered a compact car. The way things were we couldn't get back through security to the car rental place and couldn't speak french anyway. So we tried to cram everything in. We ended up sitting on things and each other. The amazing thing was that it worked. I know that there was no way humanly possible to do what we did, but God can do anything and He certainly made that car much bigger on the inside than on the outside. We truly looked like a comedy routine when we all got out of the car each time. We just kept coming and coming out! When we finally left France and returned the car we were told that there had been a mistake and they were sorry. We saved money in the deal, but none of us ever want to do that again!) I have seen God work miracles and making everything that we needed to have fit into our house was a miracle and has been wonderful.

The children came home a week later and started to adjust to a new life. We had a reception here that was wonderful. They had been to Arkansas with me several times and knew the house and were comfortable quickly. Having access to cartoons on cable helped a lot in the begining too! :) We got settled and into a routine. We found out that there had been garbage buried in the backyard by a previous owner and uncovered a car door, in fact there were two doors as well as other various metal objects. We called the sherrif's office because we were concerned that there might be something unpleasant, it turns out it was just junk! Garry and Tina and their girls helped us uncover the door!


We went out to the huntin' land almost every weekend and loved it. Here are just a few pics. I love the setting!



The last six months have been spent adjusting and adapting into all the changes that occur when you combine two families that have been independent into a cohesive unit and I would like to think that we have done fabulously given our circumstances.
My oldest son, JC was having a lot of problems living here for his own reasons and after a lot of prayer and thought and deliberation, I asked his father to have JC live with him in Utah. It was a heartbreaking and impossible decision that a mother shouldn't have to endure or ever make and yet I knew it was for the best and what needed to happen. JC moved in the beginning of November. I miss him terribly!

We had such a wonderful Christmas with Julia and Ethan completely caught up in the magic of the season. I loved watching them be so excited and amazed at all the lights and joys of Christmas. We decorated gingerbread houses with them and the King family.

They are wonderful friends and their daughter Augusta is one of Julia's best friends. We went to see lights around the cities. There is one house that is a plantation home that is 3 stories and all white with big pillars that has been restored and is absolutely covered in lights at Christmas, it was beautiful and absolutely my favorite. There was also another area where a whole street is all covered in lights, we had such a nice drive doing that and Chris' mom, Candy, joined us too! We decorated the house and the tree as a family and Julia and Ethan helped me wrap presents. Santa was able to find great deals on gifts and saved lots of money which was such a blessing this year. Someone from our church also blessed us and Secret Santa-ed us. It was truly humbling to receive so much from a stranger. They gave us each a gift that was fitting, Julia got a Barbie doll, Ethan got a firetruck, Chris got yummy treats, and I got a beautiful candle, towel and bathset. They also gave us a giftcard to Walmart and enough food for a Christmas dinner including a huge ham! I wept in gratitude as it was such a blessing to our budget this year to have this gift. I will never forget that gift. It was truly what our Savior would have us do unto others. I am so grateful to have been a receiver and hope to be a giver soon. We acted out the birth of our Savior on Christmas Eve. Julia was Mary, Ethan was Joseph. The baby doll was wrapped in swaddling clothes. It was precious and the true meaning of Christmas was in the room. We shared the holiday with Candy and were glad that she was able to join us. Christmas morning was great! Julia and Ethan loved opening all the gifts and playing with all their toys. Chris gave me wonderful, thoughtful gifts. I am continually amazed at what a wonderful husband I have. He thinks of me always and is careful to watch out for me and protect me and the children. He works hard at his job and at home. I am so blessed to have such a humble, helpful, and special man in my life.
We were able to go up to Springfield Christmas night to spend the holiday with my family. We had a nice visit and the kids loved all the presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They went crazy making things for the children. It was wonderful and fun and we appreciate their love.
We are back in Lincoln getting into the routine again now. Chris had to go back to work at the begining of this week. It was so nice to have him home for almost 2 weeks for the holidays. When he is gone we all feel a hole and when he comes home we feel complete.
While he was home over the holidays, we worked to enclose our back porch to become my stained glass studio.

It was hard work and took longer than it should have, don't all construction projects do that? It took just over a week and it looks great. I haven't ever had such nice conditions to work in before. I can't wait to get in and set things up and get them organized and laid out. It has 3 windows and a window in the door so I have lots of natural light. I have been working on getting my portfolio together to show to potential clients and my cousin has been working on a logo for my business which is called Cutting Edge Glass, Inc. I will get business cards and phamplets made right away. I already have a few potential jobs lined up. I have dreamed of having my own studio for over 15 years! I have been so blessed to have so many of my dreams and wishes come true in the last year!
I have loved the people in Arkansas. I love our little town of Lincoln. It has a population of about 3000 and yet it has almost every type of store or service that we need. The only thing we don't have is a Walmart. We live about 50 miles away from Walmart headquarters! Anyway, our town has a small square that has a community center in the middle. We have a local town festival every summer, called the Apple Festival, it is cute and fun with the typical fair stuff. It is so nice though there aren't lines or tons of people, so we can do everything and anything without having to wait or be sold out of stuff. At Christmas they had a parade where Santa came and then he sat with the children. It was wonderful and fun for Julia and Ethan and me too! There is just a sweet peaceful feeling here in the beautiful Ozark mountain area. Our house sits on 2 1/2 acres of woods and lawn. We have tons and tons of flowering bushes, they have been allowed to become overgrown, but are beautiful and I have loved the work of setting things right and pruning and tending plants again. It feels like we live in a park, we have wild rabbits running around our property and a very fat groundhog in the back. He is hibernating right now, and I am going to watch for him on Groundhog day! We have a small stream in the very back of the yard and someday hope to be able to have a cow in pasture back there. We do unfortunately have poison ivy here too. I found a good size bush of it and basically danced with it as I was clearing bushes. I came down with a very severe case, but thankfully for antibiotics and excellent advice from family and friends was able to avoid going to the hospital.
Our church family is wonderful too! I have made friends quickly and feel very much a part of things. The children really like the children's group here. Julia found her other best friend at church, Abigail and they love that they can see each other at church and at playdates. Ethan has another little boy his age named Ethan in his class, I am sure it gets confusing! He loves his class though and can't wait to go each week. Chris is very involved too as he is a teacher on Sunday and is a Cub Scout den leader during the week. I get to teach children every Sunday. I am really enjoying that.
I have so much to be grateful for. I have so much joy and peace in my soul and I am so grateful for that. I know it is because of my faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and in my Heavenly Father. They have blessed Chris, the children and myself abundantly! We are so excited to see what the future holds. It is so wonderful to have Chris as my partner and husband to go forward together.