Kendal is Two!

It's been awhile. Life has been busy. I don't think I've ever had so little time in all my life, which is why I'm doing this post at the horrible hour of 12:48 am.

December started with Kendal's 2nd Birthday. We celebrated it by doing a Princess and the Frog party. We went to the Princess and the Frog movie, had a Princess Tiana cake and theme colored balloons. She got a Princess Tiana Barbie along with many other gifts. Grandma spoiled her and got her a princess necklace, a Madame Alexander Doll (that looks just like Kendal) some dress-up clothes and a plush tinkerbell doll to sleep with. Talen got her a little people fairy play set, that goes perfectly with the little people tree house that Grandma and Grandpa Davis got her, and mommy and daddy got her a new tea set to play with. She got a new dress and wore it all day long. We curled her hair and took tons of pictures. I was going to post them in cute scrapbook pages for everyone to ooh and ahh over, but our chord to our computer fryed itself so we are now computerless (all the birthday photos are on that now unaccess-able computer)But I must tell you they were adorable. She had a fabulous Birthday.

I did take some 2 year photos of her the other day in her tutu (the 1st one I've ever made) and I'm just so excited about them that I had to post them. Following this post I'll catch everyone up on the job search, my job and Christmas...so stay tuned. I also need to change my blog theme and playlist. One thing at a time I guess.

My favorite one

Laughing at her Daddy

This girl seriously hates the snow and I just love this photo

To cheer her up we gave her a lollipop

It worked

I am so so grateful for my beautiful Kendal, for the way she makes me smile everyday, the way she teaches me to be better, for her innocence, and her brilliance. When I look at her my life becomes simple for a moment and I remember what is really important. She is truly a very very special little girl and I just wish she would stop growing so that I can catch my breath and hold onto her a little longer as my baby. Time just goes by way too fast.
Happy Birthday little lady!

Happy Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving that started with the Thanksgiving Parade on tv, followed by some relaxation, followed by a huge and flavorful Thanksgiving Meal,followed by scrubbing cranberries out of the carpet, followed by more relaxation, followed by a second Thanksgiving meal for the kids, which after begging for did not eat, followed by movie watching, football, and more relaxation.

I am thankful for my beautiful children who teach me humility, love, and patience everday, I'm thankful for my sweet husband, my friends who have taken care of us on so many occasions, the health of my family, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, my savior Jesus Christ, my job, Cameron, Bethany, Cory, Tanja, my parents, Cindy, Harry, Kelley, Tami, Brian, and all my nieces and nephews, freedom, the government for taking care of my little family in these hard times, my reliable mini van, and my dog - Layla. There are plenty more things to be grateful for, but these are a few.

I hope we can always count the blessing that we do have, instead of waiting for the day when we'll have enough blessings to be happy. (something I'm still learning)

Little Golfer

My Dad loves to Golf and has already taken Talen twice since we've been here. Talen lahuves to go with Grandpa and eat treats, ride on the golf cart, and practice his putting skills.

Disney Princesses on ice

The day after we arrived in Utah My mom took Kendal and I to see Disney Princesses on Ice. I had this brilliant idea to dress Kendal in her Tinkerbell costume, thinking that she would be so unique, upon arriving at the Delta Center, I was amazed to see that every single girl that was there was dressed in a princess costume as well. It was so fun to see all these girls dressed up. Kendal had great time, she loved seeing Tinkerbell, eating popcorn, and hearing all the pretty music. Thanks mom for a great date!

Here's just a cute video of her talking about the show.

From Stay at Home mom to 10th grade Biology Teacher

Yup you read right. 4 days after arriving in Utah, I became a long term substitute for 3 10th grade Biology Classes and 1 7th grade science class at a school here in Utah called American Leadership Academy. Life has been insane because of it. I took 10th grade Biology and I took Biology 100 at BYU, and that's the extent of my Biology "knowledge" (and I don't really remember anything from those courses). I replaced a teacher that went on pregnancy leave. I guess the school was desperate because they couldn't find anyone to fill her shoes. It's been a little overwhelming because the teacher I replaced took all of her resources home, all of her lesson plans, worksheets, and she even took all the posters off the wall, basically leaving me with one lesson plan for one day and the teachers editions to the books.

So I've been putting in about 10 hours a day in total with being at school, studying the subject, writing lesson plans, finding worksheets and activities to do, making copies, etc. I only get paid once a month on the last day of the month which is a total bummer because the check I receive for November will cover Novembers bills, and the check I get for Decmeber, will be after Christmas, after Kendal's Birthday and after all of our December bills are already due. Jared has yet to find part time employment, so even after receiving the blessing of full time work, we're still in a pickle - frustrating.

I might even be back in January and work until the end of the year, if nothing happens with Jared.

Some good news, is he had a phone interview with a company in New Orleans yesterday who were very interested in him, and who were looking to hire quickly. He's made the "short list" (which we've heard before time and time and time again). But at least it's a boost for the morale.

I'm actually not minding my new job now that I've done it for a few days, the students are all really good kids, and it's getting easier to plan my days. The hardest part is not being home with my kids until 4:00 everyday. I feel like I'm letting them down by not being home and that's hard to come to terms with. Jared is now the stay at home "mommy" and lets just say he would prefer to be in my shoes.

The highlight of my week: Seeing New Moon - I have to say that I loved every single minute of it and I wouldn't mind seeing it about oh a million more times. Jacob Black.... Smokin Hot.

Moving On

So I thought I would mention the news to everyone... we have decided, after many discussions, prayer, and careful thought, that we're moving to Utah next week, and if you can't tell from the cartoon, moving in with my parents.

Life is just not going how we expected and continues to challenge us and test our faith. We've been with my brother far far too long and we have definitely worn out our welcome. They've been gracious enough to keep us and put up with us this long, and I have to say we have had an amazing time here. It's been so much fun getting to know these guys better, to see the kids play and get to know each other better, and do some fun family activities together. None of us were expecting our family to be here this long (going on 3 months), and well it's just time to pass our burden to someone else. We are so so grateful that they allowed and invited us to stay here. We know it was a burden having so many bodies in such a small space, and we just can't thank them enough for their patience and service. It has been a huge huge blessing for our family.


I have to say I'm having a pretty hard time counting my blessings and being content with the state of my life, even though I know we are so blessed. I don't usually write things in this blog that are very personal but I feel the need to share a few things. A lot of times I put on a smiling face and try to ignore the trials that I go through or hide them so as to not burden others with them, and I've learned that sharing feelings and trials with others can help you because it provides a support system for you and Heavenly Father blesses us through others. It's hard not wishing that our life were different and wondering where we went wrong. I never thought that we wouldn't be able to provide for the needs of our family, and I have always hated relying on other people to help me. I've always been very independant, I've always mapped my life out, and we have been self-reliant the majority of our marriage, even while being in school. And so far my map for my life has taken a complete 180, and that's hard to deal with, at least for me. I don't like burdening people with my problems and my bad habits. I feel irresponsible and inadequate and I often wonder why this is happening to me, instead of embracing it and relying on Heavenly Father to help me through it.

This experience so far has taught me compassion for those who are stuck in financial messes, it has taught me that it's okay to rely on people for help because that's why we're on this earth, not only do we have to serve, but we have to allow people to serve us. It has also taught me that I cannot blame God for my trials, and that instead of asking "why" I need to rely on God and allow him to comfort me and to teach me and mold me through my trials, and to live worthy of the spirit's presence so I can be guided to make the decisions that are right for my family. It's been very humbling and overwhelming to experience these financial problems. I know that someday this will pass, but right now I'm going to be honest and say that life is hard right now, it just is.

Anyway, once we get to Utah we'll both be getting part-full time jobs out there, probably having opposite schedules so one of us can always be home with the kidlets, and.... as Dori from Finding Nemo would say, "Just keep Swimming, Just keep Swimming."

Happy Halloween!

We had a spooktacular Halloween! I got the brilliant idea from Jami Black's website to have the kids paint their pumpkins instead of carve them (for obvious reasons) so we had a painting pumpkin party and the kids loved it. So thanks Jami for posting that lovely idea. We also had a great time trick or treating. We went as Peter Pan characters, inspired by Kendal's obsession with Tinkerbell. I hope everyone had a great Halloween.

Kashton, Kendal, Macy, Talen, and Heaven

What would happen if He-Man and Rainbow Bright had a baby?
They would have a smurf, duh.

Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and their pet Zebra

Everyone thought that Talen was Robin Hood, so I guess I should have put him in tights or something.

Think of a wonderful thought

Any merry little thought
Think of Christmas, think of snow
Think of sleigh bells
Off you go like reindeer in the sky

You can fly! You can fly!
You can fly!

Think of the happiest things
It's the same as having wings
Take the path that moonbeams make
If the moon is still awake
You'll see him wink his eye
You can fly, you can fly!
You can fly!

Up you go with a heigh and ho
To the stars beyond the blue
There's a Never Land waiting for you
Where all your happy dreams come true
Every dream that you dream will come true

When there's a smile in your heart
There's no better time to start
Think of all the joy you'll find
When you leave the world behind
And bid your cares goodbye
You can fly, you can fly!
You can fly, you can fly!
You can fly!

Dogwood Canyon

We all wanted to go take some fall pictures and have a picnic so Cameron and Bethany took us to a place called Dogwood Canyon. We had a great morning and we were able to take some very colorful and fun fall pictures. The kids had a great time kicking through the leaves, feeding the fish, running across bridges, and enjoying the first sunny and blue skied day in a long long time. October has been an all rain month, so to have the sun shining on this day was a huge breath of fresh air.