More home

Will put this slide show together of the house. I wish I could do all those cool things on my computer. His Mac rocks! The pictures of the pool and park are the community facilities. I wish the play equipment was in our back yard. But it is in walking distance, so I can't complain too much.

I don't know why it has a single picture of the first pic of the slide show...I can't get rid of it either. I also said I'd have pics of the commons/loft area so you could see how we managed to not have any hallways. So I finally took some.

Now we have Logan and Gramma hangin' out before we moved. We stayed with them from the 2nd of July until moving day, the 7th of July. Derek jumped in there for some of the action, too.


On one of my near future posts I'm going to put pictures up of the rewards and rules we have hanging in the commons area (you can see them in small form on the pics I put up today). We find they work very well, and we've changed the feel of our rules to be much more positive then they were before.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

I had a friend ask me if I felt like I was getting old since Kaleb was turning 9. I simply looked at her and said, "No, because I'm not getting any older, only my kids are, right?"

WOW! Kaleb turned 9 years old on Monday. I wonder if I will ever get over my amazement at how old the children keep getting. It feels like it's happening just right, but then I start to think about how quickly he is going to be teenager and I wonder if he's still going to want to give me hugs and zerberts much longer. It will be a sad day when he's done with the zerberts!

We had a great time for his birthday! We had great friends come over to help it feel like a real family birthday party. After leaving so much family we were so used to celebrating everything with it's nice to have loved ones here we feel so comfortable calling family. Here's a few pictures from the events of the evening.














Kaleb definately was excited about his presents!











Make a wish! That's a face most of you in SLO will recognize!











It was a house full of fun, laughter, and family!!




We even managed to keep it a BBQ in the midst of a crazy downpoor. This is how we were able to manage BBQing on the back porch without it having a cover. Thanks babe, for being willing to get soaked to the bone and sacrafice for all of us! We all appreciated what you did! Our tummies were happy, too!

Here's 9 things that amaze me about Kaleb:

9. How he can find joy in anything he does.
8. How easily he makes friends.
7. How everyone immediately becomes his "best friend".
6. The ways he takes after his dad...he's a techie!
5. The determination he shows in doing his best.
4. What a great big brother he is.
3. The way he understands Math so well.
2. How amazing he is doing in 3rd grade! He's blowing my mind away at his accomplishments so far. Thanks Ms. Eagan for being the teacher he needed you to be!
1. How much he knows about Jesus Christ and His gospel.

Final Guilt Trip

Ok, it's time to finish this saga. I'm sorry if I've bored some of my most avid readers, but this is my only means of scrapbooking right now (not very motivated in paper crafts with all this extra time I have on my hands).

So we finished our vacation in Utah with a trip to Cascade Springs with KC and Sarah. I'd actually never been in all the years we lived there. It was so beautiful and I certainly got my exercise! Tyler ended up with a nose bleed a ways before the end so the momma instincts kicked in and I booked it to the beginning of the trail (where the bathroom was) to get some TP for him. Kaleb followed me and was so kind to take it back to Tyler when I couldn't breathe after I reached the end...I thought it was my end for a little while. Ya know, those instincts apparently can kill a parent in some instances. I hadn't thought about the altitude difference between SLO (150 ft) and the Rocky Mountains in Utah (8000 ft or so). YIKES! I really lost my breath. I think it was the closest I'll ever come to feeling like I have asthma, at least it better be the closest I ever get to it! Tyler ended up bleeding all over his shirt, some on his pants, and all over his hand and face. I think he forgot to plug off his nose since he didn't have the Tissue. UGH. I washed off what I could, didn't let him put his shirt back on, so he wore a zip up jacket the rest of the day, and it was a hot day, poor little man!

Off we went down the mountain into the valley of Heber where we ate dinner at the Dairy Keen where Uncle KC and Aunt Sarah spoiled everyone with ice cream after their food was eaten. It was a beautiful day (this was Wednesday after we played at Kangaroo Zoo).

Thursday was our last day in Utah, so we enjoyed the sun with some fun at the Veterans Pool in Provo. Tammy and I went together with all the kids (no husbands mind you). Tammy had an extra child whom she was watching for the day and her Nephew who turned out to be a huge help (he's 16). None of my kids really knew how to swim and Logan wouldn't stop freaking out any time he was one foot away from me. But it was fun. We were able to go down the water slides with all the kids at least once. Then they closed the pool for an every 2 hour check where you had to stay out of the water for 15 minutes. We decided we were done and left. Tammy went home and we headed to KC and Sarah's for our final night together. We hung out and had a great time. I was able to catch a few Z's while the kids all played Mario Kart Wii together. They had a blast. We ate, talked, and had a very hard time saying good bye. KC and Sarah had gathered little mementoes from all the places we were able to go together and shared them with us before we left. It was so thoughtful and such a great way to remember all the fun things we experienced together. I will cherish all the time we were able to spend together especially now we are so far away. We drove back to the Knighton's for the late evening and enjoyed celebrating Devin and Tammy's birthdays with them. It was great to be there for those two very special friends (they're all special but they were the special one's with the birthdays). :) Thanks guys for thinking of us and celebrating a bit early so we could be there!

Friday morning we woke up early (9 or so) to try to get an early start for California. Julie was able to come to Tammy's so we could catch up a bit before we took off. We'd tried to get together but it hadn't worked until that morning, thanks to her being willing to drive out to see us. After our short visit we tearfully said good bye to the Iverson's and the Knighton's. We were on our way to Julie's home town, Redding, CA to see my sister, Carrie, and her family.

Oh my goodness! What a drive it ended up being. I took a wrong route and ended up going through the depths of the forest at 11:00 pm. Darkness, eyes that don't see well in the darkness, tired from an already 10 hour trip, and tons of deer were not a good combination (don't forget I'm traveling without another adult with 4 children). I just kept praying over and over again that I could make it safely. I think I went 35-40 mph most of the way. I have never seen so many deer at one time in my life. They were at the side of the road usually when it was a flat area. The whole while I kept thinking, "Please don't jump in front of me little deer!" I was lucky enough to notice the solid yellow line had a black spot in it and started to really slow down. Low and behold there was a deer standing in the middle of the road. I stopped, it took its sweet time moving to the side of the road. Definitely beautiful, but the stress won out that night. Once Carrie realized where I was she started following the map and timing how long it was from the last time we talked. She called and said many times, "So, have you now passed (such and such) a place." And she was right on to where I was. We finally made it safely and boy I was extremely exhausted.

After a great night's sleep, I awoke to my children being fed and on their way outside to play on the trampoline. It was so much fun to be able to just hang out with more family! While Carrie and I were talking she said that I needed to call this vacation my "Guilt Trip" since it was right before we were moving to Tennessee and I felt guilty (more sad) that we were going to be so far away from all of my family. :) That's when it was thus dubbed "The Guilt Trip".

The Saturday we spent in Redding was a very strange Saturday. We woke up to dark clouds that got darker. Lightning and thunder thus arose, a bit of light rain, a smidge of heavy rain, very large drops of hail, and then it cleared up and we went to the park and later swam in their back yard pool. That storm came after the hottest day ever in SLO (113 degrees) and the storm had tons of lightning strikes that started tons of fires. It was weird, but a very enjoyable day for us there in Redding.

We went to church together Sunday morning. What a pleasant time we had with our cousins we rarely saw and my sis and bro-in-law I enjoy being around so much. We needed to head out after Sacrament, as much as we would have loved to spend more time with them, so we could get back to SLO at a decent hour. We rolled in around 7 pm, piled out of the van, and crashed into our beds for a long summers nap. NOT! I then immediately had to start more house packing for our move to Tennessee, packing on Monday that is.

We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation to see family (and friends) in Utah and Northern California. It was a great way to spend time with so many of our loved ones before we had to leave them so far behind in our move to the other side of the US. :) But now, we have a great blessing…we are only 10 hours away from Will’s family…a post will come shortly about our visit to Maryland we took at the end of July. I’ll be sharing some fun pictures between cousins that hadn’t ever met and some they hadn’t seen in over 5 years, brothers and sisters reunited, and a new beautiful baby girl amongst us all.

Some of the fun things...AKA "Guilt Trip"

Some of the fun things we did this summer...

The kids and I took off for Utah after the last day of school (yes I am crazy). We stopped in Primm that night and made it to Provo the next day. We were able to visit Uncle K.C. and Aunt Sarah a lot while we were there. Sarah was on the tail end of recooperation from her Leukemia, so we wheeled her around in a wheelchair and the kids loved every minute of it. The day we arrived in Provo, Will flew into SLC airport (surprising all family but me). I kept the news from the boys and K.C. and Sarah. It was great seeing their reaction when Will showed up at the park we took the kids to play before we parted ways that evening. :)



The day after we arrived we went to the Natural History Museum in Lehi, Utah. We had fun looking at all the artifacts and learning so much about so many things. The dinosaurs were a big hit!


Sunday took us to the Knighton's home since it was one of the few days Will would be there and we wanted to make sure we could all be together for at least a little while. We had a blast playing, talking, and especially singing! We had a battle between the men and the women. The women won with a huge lead! :) It was a great way to spend Father's Day!
Monday we went to Hogle Zoo. Will had never been and the kids hadn't gone in a long time, so it was the perfect time to go. K.C. and Sarah joined us on this outing, too, thank heavens. Sarah was a great tour guide! It was great being able to spend so much time with them. We were able to see the White Crocodile. Not to be confused with an Albino Crocodile...this one had a genetic defect that caused it to not have any pigment.








Tuesday we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It worked out to have the Knighton's join us there, but K.C. and Sarah weren't able to make it...Sarah had to get a blood transfusion to help her "numbers" go up. They were missed. :( Tammy has all the pictures from that day, so hopefully I'll have some soon.
Will took off, back to Tennessee, after our visit to Temple Square. He was greatly missed the rest of the vacation, but we didn't stop partying. More vacation and summer fun to come soon...maybe tomorrow.

10 Years!

WOW! We've made it 10 years so far. After all the years of happiness, tears, joy, stress, love, and eternal bliss it feels good to say we've made it this far. I love being married to William!! I wouldn't trade it for anything. He is the only one for me!!! I look forward to the rest of our years with joyful anticipation and excitement. It's good to feel safe and secure with the one I love. Thanks babe for all the years so far and for all the years to come! I love you with every beat of my heart!

(don't miss the previous posts, there's pictures of our home)

Our House Part Deux

Here's some more of the pictures I've taken since arriving.


Here's the boys at our Island and a tiny taste of all the trees

Trees are everywhere! The picture with the trampoline is our back yard (the trampoline is the neighbors').

Kaleb lounging in the commons and Tyler in the Media room.

I never thought I'd have this much closet space. Will's side is on the left and my side is on the right (I think he has more clothes than I do). :)

There's 4 bedrooms, one we use as an office, since Will is working from home. All the "Bedrooms" are upstairs. I'll get a picture of the commons area facing all the doors to the bedrooms and bathrooms to show how we've avoided any hallways (my biggest dislike in a home). We are loving all the space. I have my mostly clean sanctuary downstairs and the mess can be upstairs. And, yes, the boys try to get away with all kinds of shinanigans on the stairs, but we try to keep it at a minimum so no one gets hurt on them. Yes, we like to spoil all the fun. Haha. The next post is going to have some of the things we were able to do during the summer...so stay tuned.

Our House

The long awaited pictures. 

The front of the house (picture taken while in motion from passenger seat) and Entry.  

Mater on the stairwell to upstairs and the Living Room downstairs.

Our Heaven sent Soaking Tub and the Master Bath with Logan going potty.

We love it here! It's so beautiful.  The trees are so lush and the hills are green.  I never imagined Tennessee to be as beautiful as it is.  I thought it would be more like the flat lands of the US.  But it's like the East Coast.  LOVE IT!!  We also miss all our family and friends we had to leave.  If we could have this home with all our loved ones with us life would be perfect!  So I guess we're only mediocre for now. :)

Check out this shot!

That's Clayton Osborn...he was just as surprised as everyone else.  It was made during one of his games at Lipscomb University.  I never thought that white boy was that good! :)

I know you are all anxiously awaiting photos of the house...I don't know how to get them from Will's Mac to my laptop...I'm working on it. :) A more pressing matter is at hand though, and I felt that what Becky and Garrett put on their blog was worth copying and pasting onto a post in my blog. I may even put it on my facebook page. Here's the pressing matter:

"We call upon responsible citizens everywhere..."

Those from or living in California right now are probably very familiar with Proposition 8. There's a good chance that others not from the Golden State have too heard about this proposed amendment that is being voted on in the November election. To give a brief history behind this all, here are a few bullet points to know:

In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 saying that marriage is between a man and a women.

Earlier this year in 2008, 4 supreme court judges in San Francisco over turned the people's vote back in 2000 (that was passed by more than 60% of the people), and legalized same-sex marriage.... simultaneously redefining marriage for the state of California.

Proposition 8 is going to be on this November election's ballet. By voting yes to Proposition 8, the definition of marriage will be restored back to how it was orginially stated in 2000 and will add a new section to the California constitution that will read:

"Only marriage between a man and woman will be recognized in the state of California"

As a member of the LDS church and having a firm testimony that marriage indeed between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and that the family is central to His plan, I fully support Proposition 8. I pray and hope that the people of California too will gain this knowledge for themselves, and have the courage to stand up for truth and righteousness to uphold the sacredness of the family unit.
As our beloved prophet President Gordon B. Hinckley and his counselors proclaimed in 1995, as a watchman from a tower giving warning to the Lord's people, they prophetically said:

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

My hope and prayer is that we will do just that. (Garrett and Becky Giles)

I copy and paste this because my beliefs and testimony are just as strong and my conviction the same as these dear friends.

Now we know why we moved here!

Well, we've made a very long treck and made it to Tennessee. If I never see another box I'll be the happiest woman in the world. Packing nearly killed me, or at least my back. It's so beautiful here and we're only 10 hours away from Will's family. We actually just got back last night from visiting them all in Maryland. Mom Whited is in the hospital trying to get better, but having a difficult time making it home. It sounds like our visit came just at the right time. She was supposed to go home on the 28th of August, but complications in her recovery caused a delay with no date set to go home at this point. She was feeling very down about the whole thing. I think it really helped when we surprised her the day before her birthday. She didn't know we were coming and we had the boys poke their heads into her hospital room. Her eyes grew as big as quarters. It was wonderful seeing her and all the rest of the family. I'm excited for our boys to finally get to know all their other cousins. This move came with a huge purpose...for us to be near Will's side of the family! As much as we miss my side of the family...it's worth the change.