One Crazy Year!

 As the year draws to an end I realized that I am ending the year in the same way that I started my year.....sick, in Flagstaff, in the middle of the winter!  Circumstances are a little different now though, for the better.  We have all been sick for the past few weeks.  Poor kids have done two rounds of the yuckies.  Mark has been the only lucky one and has escaped the sickies.  Either from my fervent prayers or from the flu shot he was required to get at the hospital.  I am just grateful he hasn't gotten sick!
My life in the past couple of months, went from doing nothing to being a crazy busy person.  I think the baby keeps me pretty busy but I have also started coaching club volleyball, playing coed rec volleyball, going out with friends and getting a new calling-cub scouts. 
When I think of where we started the year and what we have done this year, it blows my mind.  We moved five times!!!  Five times in one year.  I counted how many hours we spent in the car and it has been over sixty hours.  I flew one time in an airplane from Salt Lake to Phoenix.  I delivered a baby four days before one of those moves.  Mark graduated from his Masters program and started a new job.  Jordann attended two different schools and James attended four different schools in one year!  We attended five different wards and we lived with both sets of parents. 
When I think of all the difficult scenarios we went through, it still almost brings tears to my eyes.  Those last few months of school and having a baby and postpartum and hoping and praying that Mark would pass his test were definitely the hardest of my life.  But we passed the trial of our faith and the blessings are divine!  I can't believe I went from such misery to such happiness.  I don't think I can explain what a wonderful transition this last one has been.  We are all so happy here.  Mark loves his job.  He comes home from work happy.  The kids come home from school begging to go play with all the neighborhood kids and I text Mark about every other week telling him how much I love it here and how I never want to move again...ever! 
I know we would not have made it through everything without the help of those amazing and wonderful friends and family.  How can we ever repay your thoughts and prayers?  Your fasting in our behalf?  Your support, whether monetary or putting a home over our heads or your constant love or your babysitting, were all felt and we hope to pass that along in the future to others in need.  We made it and it was hard, but worth it.  Thank you.
Here are some recent pictures!  We snuck in a quick hike in Sedona before it got too cold!  It was still pretty cold.  How come even with digital cameras I still cannot get one cute picture of all three kids?!

Jordann lost her first tooth!

 James in Sedona.  It was still very pretty but Sedona is much prettier in the  summer.

 Brin being held by Grandpa Jim!  They came to visit us in a snow storm!

 Brin in Jordy's cute little santa outfit.  I love this picture of her.  Yes the stinker is sitting up by herself.

 Jordann's favorite Christmas present ever!!  Her "dreams came true," as she put it! 

 Brin really loves her Christmas present too.  And Jordy still really loves Brin!

 Ahhh....cute kiddos!

Hopefully we will all feel better in the new year!  Anybody who wants to come and visit is welcome!  Looking forward to our first summer out of school.  Crook Reunion here we come!! I hope you are ready for us!

Back to Real Life!

I finally get to say that I am kind of bored!!  Just KIND OF bored.  Not too bored.  My kids are at school all day, Mark went to his first day of work and Brin still sleeps quite a bit during the day.  Plus we still only have one car that Mark takes to work.  After all the craziness and stress, I finally feel like I get to relax and calm down and enjoy life a little bit.

We have been in Flagstaff for a few weeks now and I love it here.  I love our house and our neighborhood.  The kids love their school.  We are only 3 minutes to the Olive Garden and 5 to Target!  What more can you ask for?  It is so beautiful here too.  Last time we were here it was winter and I was so sick in my first trimester with Brin, plus we only had one car that Mark took to work every day.  I couldn't wait to get out of here!

I just can't believe we finally made it!  It seems to good to be true.  I felt like it was never going to end.  It was definitely a long hard road but one I can look back on in respect.  I feel we grew so close as a family and that my marriage is way stronger too.  I realized how much I need Mark in my everyday life, even if it is just to see him for a few minutes a day.  I also love not being a single parent anymore!  Mark helps with homework and dinner and the baby!  It's so amazing!

Well I put my pictures in backwards so we will start with the most recent ones first.

My camera died after I dropped it in the river so I got to buy a new/used one for my birthday from my sis in law.  I am in love with it.  Here is a shot I got of Brin when I was practicing with it!

 

 My sis in law took this picture of Brin when she was about one month!  How fun!  I hope she loves volleyball as much as me and Jordann!

 Here is Brin just over a week old.  My awesome sis in law took these ones too.  They are so beautiful I almost cried looking at them.

 Here is Brin when she was a week old. My mom got me this awesome photo session for a present.  This one was my favorite shot.

 Blessing day.  Jordann loves her baby sister and is the best helper in the world.

 Mark's mom made her blessing dress.  It was really pretty.

 Graduation for Mark.  These are his really good friends he made while in school.  Friends for life, Johnny and Jed.  Wish we lived closer to these guys.  Let me just say how proud of Mark I am.  I have never seen anyone work so hard for something in my life. He deserved this day and so much more.

 Brin and Jordann in the hospital.  It was love at first sight for Jordann.  Thanks to Trent and Karen for taking care of our kids while we were in the hospital.  It couldn't have worked out better. 

 Here is Brin in the hospital with the owl hat Traci made her.  Looks so cute!

So now we get to live life again.  Camping and Crook reunions, coaching volleyball and trips to Disneyland, I'm so excited.  Just the little things have made me so excited I could cry.  We hung up a clock and it was like Christmas to me I was so excited!  When I got to buy a normal size of Joy dish detergent and big bottle of mustard and mayo and not have to worry about throwing it out in three months.  My kids have their own rooms with their own closets.  We get to buy a big Christmas tree this year.  Having my bunt pan back....I missed that thing more than I thought I would!  My bed!  I was the most excited to have my bed back.  The list goes on and on!  I hope I can remember to appreciate these little things in life next year and again in ten years.  I think we often forget how much we have and how blessed we truly are...I just don't want to forget.

One month left

So two exciting things happened to me on Friday.  The first thing didn't start out too well when our awesome air mattress got a hole in it!  Pretty frustrating but some good came out of it.  Refer to the picture below..... we decided to rent a REAL bed!  And we now get to sleep on a real bed for the next month! 

The other exciting thing that happened was when we figured out how to keep our house cool in the 104 degree weather we have been having.  We moved our bed into the living room next to the swamp cooler and card table and closed off our bedroom door.  Before that we were sweating like crazy every night and taking cold showers trying to stay cool.   These two things have put a brighter aspect on life. 

Not a whole lot has been happening around here.  Not much to report other than Mark goes to work every day and then comes home to study for the big test coming up in a month.   The kids play all day together cuz they are best friends and I try not to go crazy by reading a million books and growing larger by the day. 

Here is Jordann on the 4th of July.  They had a little celebration at the park near our house.

 Here we are at the water park in the area.  It's a really cute little place to go swimming and the kids have loved going down the slides and playing in the wave pool and lazy river. 

 We did take a trip to Seattle to see my long lost sister who I haven't seen in about two years.  Okay so maybe I am the long lost sister right now. 

 This is the nasty yet cool gum wall!

We are just in a waiting game right now.  Counting down the days till the baby comes and Mark's last day of clinicals.  Counting down to graduation and when we get to start real life again.  You know with a job and an income and a house bigger than 800 square feet that we will live in for longer than three months.  Plus maybe a dishwasher and more than four cereal bowls!!!  Can't wait!

One Left!

We only have one more rotation left!!!!  Can you believe that we have made it this far!  I know for the rest of the world it has gone pretty fast but for those of us who have had to endure fifty million moves and the uncertainty of where we are going to be in six months, it has been a long, never ending road.  I just have to think about how little my kids were when we started this journey to remember how long it has been.  But we are almost there! 
On our route up to Lewiston we went through Lolo pass.  It was so beautiful!  I had to keep reminding myself that we were still in Idaho.  By far some of the most amazing scenery we have seen throughout our travels across the nation.  Mark even let us stop and get out of the car once!  We even got to take a picture! 

So we got to our new place.  How about the ONLY place that would rent to us for three months.  Lets just say it was pretty gross and had to be completely cleaned.  We are talking about a lot of air fresheners and a Rug Dr and several hours later.  But it is now a lot more comfortable and sanitized.  I still won't walk without my shoes on but the rest of the family doesn't seem to mind.  I thought I would share some of the pictures of the luxury we are living in.  The best part is knowing that in a little while we will be laughing at how we survived.
Here is the master bedroom.  I would love to say that this air mattress is the best that money could buy but that would be a lie.  There was one at Bed Bath and Beyond for $300!! I didn't know air mattress could get so expensive!  Needless to say we bought the $80 one from Sportmans.  I love the fact that I am 31 weeks prego and sleeping on an air mattress but I must say this thing isn't too bad.  I have slept on worse beds for sure!

Here is the kids bed!  Notice the "dressers" on the sides.  Those would actually be their boxes of clothes.

This is the formal dining room.  Thankfully my mom let us borrow a lot when we came up here.  But unfortunately one of the folding chairs has already broke (sorry mom) and I'm not quite sure if the table is going to last! 

The camping chair is also going to be my nursing chair.  Don't worry I have only had one major mental breakdown since we have been here.  But that could be due to all the extra hormones in my body.

Here is Mark's newest acquisition.  This is his study desk that he found at a local thrift store.  He cracks me up.

So far Mark has really liked the work up here and has been trying to convince me that we need to stay up here because it is so laid back at the hospital.  I just thank my lucky stars that he has already accepted a position in Flagstaff because there is no way I could live in a town without a Target or an Olive Garden! 
Two more moves left.  We are going to make it.

It's a.......?

Major updating!!! The kids and I ended up moving to Idaho to live with the fam while Mark went to live with our friends in Texas. Our housing fell through less than a week before we were supposed to move and we could find no other housing for our little family in such a short amount of time. It has been a struggle to be apart for sure, but we are half way through and are counting down the days till we get to see him again.

James had a birthday after we got up here. Can you say legos?

He sat on the table and put his legos together for days!

We were so bored one day on spring break we hit up the Idaho Museum to see the dinos.

Playing dress up at the museum.Grandma got their faces painted one night when we went to the Texas Roadhouse.Iona egg hunt. James loaded up and landed tons of eggs and prizes but Jord only found a few eggs and was pretty bummed! Poor thing!Easter morning! Eating their chocolate bunnies.Jordann wearing her easter skirt that me and my mom made for her. The Easter Bunny brought them little Book of Mormoms!Sadly enough that's about all we have done around here. The weather has stunk for the most part but we are hoping for good weather this week.

On other news, I went to my ultrasound and the Dr had kind of a hard time finding the sex of the baby but really thinks it is a girl. Which makes me laugh because the first ultrasound at 12 weeks really, really looked like a boy! The Dr said he would look again on my next appointment. So hopefully we will know for sure by then!

Enduring February!

So does anybody think that February is the hardest month of the year? I decided it is the worst month ever, especially when you live somewhere cold! So I thought I would post something fun, to give me something to do and make me think of warmer, more exciting days!
The kids making sand angels! I have pictures of them making snow angels in Flagstaff to show the climate change we experienced but I can't find them on my computer. Oh well.

Didn't I tell you we went to Italy? Okay so we just went to Italy in Epcot but it's kind of the same right?We had our first gelato experience. I have wanted to try gelato for forever because I have heard how good it is. And I must say it was pretty good.Back in September (the month I didn't post about yet) Mark's parents came over to Florida to visit. We took them to the best BBQ ever. It's this total hole in the wall but we have yet to find any BBQ to match!Mark's dad grew up in Sarasota, FL and wanted to go down to the Ringling brothers Museum where he used to visit all the time when he was a kid. It was pretty amazing and so beautiful.So there is my happy post. Less than three weeks left in coldville and then on to Texas! So excited to be moving to a warm place!

Christmas 2011 and Last Rotation

So ever since I left Florida I guess I have forgotten how to use my camera cuz I hardly ever use it. Not really much to take pictures of anymore. Lame.
Here is James decorating the tree.
Yes that was our tree this year. We went up to Grandma Noorlanders this year for Christmas. Here are the kiddos in their Christmas jammies on Christmas eve.Christmas day-James got a nintendo ds from santa. I think santa knew it would be good for all the car trips we will be taking.Jordann got a LaLaLoopsy doll. She was very excited. Jordann was Mary in the little Christmas pageant she did with her cousins. So cheesy, but cute.

We also went to see the temple lights in Salt Lake with the Nelsons. I was excited to take some pictures but my camera battery died! Darn.

We found out Mark's last rotation. It is in Washington, only 25 min from my bro's house. We are very excited to be next to family, not excited for the drive. It's a longer drive from the bottom of Texas to Washington than it is from Glendale to Tampa! Ugh! But it's his last rotation! Then we are done, done, done! Just trying to hang in there and make it seven more months!