Long Drive...Nice Wedding

Just got back in town from Greg's wedding in Portland. Had a nice 9 hour drive all the way home today. Nothing that 2 movies, The Friend, The Ensign, a nap and a few stops can't get you through. Pictures of our trip to come.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday: I saw two BOYS (yes boys) making out in the Picketts Bambino parking lot. Talk about a double take. And I'm positive in what I saw- they looked at me as if I had just "outed" them.

Today: I still have dishes in my sink from Sunday's dinner. (Just in case any of you questioned my "perfection" Ha, ha)

Tomorrow: I wonder what will come my way.

Sometimes life is unexpected. You'd never guess I'd see such a thing in Rigby, ID. My, my how times have changed. You'd never think the dishes would have piled up- I had a nearly spotless house this weekend. So tomorrow...we'll just take it as it comes I guess.

The Constancy Of Change

If there is one thing you can count on....it's change. Change is certainly inevitable, although sometimes change comes in bigger doses than at other times. Growing up I experienced relatively few changes in my life. I lived in the same house, same town, had basically the same friends from grade school on and never went through any major transitions. I find that life in general changes much more now that I'm an adult.

It all started this summer. First, a couple of my friends announce that they are moving. What? Alish all the way off to a place we've never even heard of- Sierra Vista, AZ. And then Kenzi drops the bombs that they'll be moving to Twin Falls. This one was a little tough cuz she has totally sustained me since we've moved back to Idaho. She's been my friend since 2nd grade & it was so nice to move home to a friend- we worked out together, our kids went to playgroup together and she taught me how to text! Needless to say, she made my move back to Idaho easier to cope with. And now she's left me here all alone! And I haven't worked out once since she left! I miss her.

Then, one of the biggest surprises hit me. I found out I'm expecting baby #3! (This is my official announcement for those of you who don't already know.) And changes kicked in immediately- morning sickness, exhaustion, nausea, body changes, etc. This was not expected either, so trying to figure out how I'm going to manage 3 kids ages 4 and under (especially since Rylee will still be under 2) has been a change in and of itself. And did I mention I'm due Feb. 23, which will be our second "tax season" child and a C-Section recovery. So..we've started shopping for a bigger car, thinking through how to do room arrangements and so forth.

A few months ago, our enormous ward of 700 finally split and we are now in a newly formed ward. With this brought leaving friends, a new building, new ward leadership and a new calling. I am now the Enrichment Leader and have been switching gears- trying to get Super Saturday organized for next month. However, we're still dealing with the big ward thing- we still have close to 400 members, 5 nurseries, 3 sunbeam classes and a Sunday school that fills the whole chaple. The church is true in Rexburg in case you haven't heard!

Next, the baby of our family, Allison, got married this August. She was the final wedding for our family & it just made me think about how much our family has changed over the years with each new addition. My parents now have 19 grandchildren and our little family of 9 has now exploded into like 35 members. (Go to http://studiockchantrikeelephotography.blogspot.com/ under Aug. 13 to view photos of the wedding.) It was a very special occasion to have all of my siblings & spouses in the temple for the wedding. It makes me so proud of our good parents- I'm sure it wasn't easy for them to raise all of us, but what a sweet reward that must have been for them. I really do have a great family! And more changes are ahead for our family too. My parents are planning on going on a mission at the first of next year, which will be really different to have them gone. They are finally back to their own life now that all of us are finally on our own.

And finally, I am all but weeping right now. Jace just left with our car pool for his first day of preschool. I'm just not sure if the weeping is out of sadness or joy to tell you the truth. As my little cling-on, it makes me very happy to see him gain his confidence and go have something of his own. He was so excited this morning. On the other hand, it's just another reminder of how quickly they grow and how fast things change. Luckily Rylee's nap is at the same time that Jace is at school, so I'm basically having my first taste of freedom in about 4 years, wondering what to do with myself. Now that's a change! And of course, I choose to blog- go figure.

Like I said, change is inevitable! It can be good sometimes, it can be challenging sometimes, but it's always constant. And if not, life would be boring. Just trying to embrace this season of change and prepare myself for the next- like Rylee entering nursery next month (yay!), Jus entering tax season and me getting used to being completely outnumbered with the arrival of the new baby.

Jace's Bowling Birthday Bash

Jace's birthday was a hit! Although he wanted to have a neighborhood friends party, I decided that since it was over Labor Day weekend and we'd have a lot of family in town, that we'd do a family celebration instead. Here's a look at our fun day!

Decorations: Little things like this are not overlooked by Jace. I put together a picture collage, happy birthday signs and featured him in our kitchen tray. He was pleasantly surprised when he woke up- wondering who had done all this. (since I was still asleep). He gets so proud about stuff like this & loves to show it off.

The Party: We decided on bowling for the party since we have such big families and wanted something that all ages would enjoy. Teton Lanes does such a good job for b-day parties. They give you free shoe rentals and then they set up a table with balloons, table settings for the cake etc. Then they put a Happy Birthday Jace up on the bowling screen, played Happy B-day song over the loud speakers and gave him the classic bowling pin. Now we have two since we also did this for Justin's b-day this year.

Jace with his pin.

A Special Day: Jace was so happy that so many of his cousins could come and celebrate with him. He really loves his cousins & has a lot of fun with them.

1st pic: Jace & Josh(2 years apart, but Jace loves playing with Josh), 2nd pic: Jace with Payton-nice shoes!, 3rd pic: The bowling crew

What a Celebration: Blowing out his 4 candles, showing off his many nice gifts. We're so glad for all who came & shared in his special day.

Hard to believe that its already been 4 years. Where does the time go?