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?

Happy Birthday Jace!

Yay! Jace turns 4 today!

We hope that your day is as great as you are.

We still love you to pieces.

Happy Birthday bud!

Music Makers....Come Join Us!

Okay...so summer is winding down and fall is right around the corner. Although I hate to see summer go, I must say I'm exited for the schedule of fall and looking forward to all of our activities starting back up.

One of these activities is Music Makers. It's a play group that I've been involved in with my kids ever since we moved back to Idaho (so nearly 2 years- yikes doesn't seem that long!) Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about it & also extend an invitation to anyone who is interested in joining us.

We are going to meet every Monday from 10-11 a.m. this year. We meet at the new church right off County Line road- about 2 miles from The Loft. (By the Pepperridge subdivision-I think that's what it's called.)

So what exactly is Music Makers? Well, it's an organized playgroup that incorporates lots of different activities, rhymes, fingerplays, music, etc. There are essentially 6 different rotations- Welcome Time, Singing Time, Circle Time, Marching Time, Movement Time and Story Time. We go from room to room for each station. Once a month we also end with a treat. There are different mom leaders that organize and lead the different stations. Each month there is a new theme, so it's a fun way to introduce your kids to lots of different ideas/themes. September's theme will be all about animals.

It is seriously lots of fun for kids. It's structured well & it's a good way for your kids to get involved, meet new friends and my favorite part- something to do through these dreaded winters!

Anyone is invited! It's completely free. Don't worry if you feel like you can't sing or whatever- you don't need to know how. It's just something fun for you & the kids to do together. It's a very relaxed atmosphere with lots of nice moms. It will start after Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 8 and goes through April. All you need to bring is a puppet for your children for welcome time and any kind of musical instrument for Marching Time (even rattles work great!). Babies, toddlers and pre-school age children all enjoy it- so bring all the kids!

Let me know if you have any questions. I know some of you live close & thought you might be interested in coming. Hope to see you on Sept. 8!

Home again, home again.....

Jiggidy Jig! Okay anyone else feel that summer blogging is way more scarce than otherwise? Geez- I can hardly find a spare minute these days.

So...we've been gone again and now we're back. Which basically means that I'm just more behind than ever. Unpacking, laundry, tolerating my way neglected house and trying to catch back up is the story of my life once again.

We just enjoyed a week of fun at Bear Lake. This is the second year that Justin got to go do an audit there & we get the benefit of going to play around. I guess you could call it one of those work/pleasure trips.

Bear Lake is so pretty- I love all the blue water. Also love it here because it's so low-key. We had a condo pretty much right off the lake and then it has both an indoor and outdoor pool, so you don't have to go far for some fun. Makes it easy travel with the kids.

We spent the week with the Crapo family (one of Jus's co-worker's family). We had a great time! When Jus & Wes were at work, Mandi, I and the kids played all day. It was great because our kids are similar ages, so despite a few melt downs on the trip down and a couple of tiffs between Jace & Kalli, all was well. It was fun to make new friends and have someone to hang out with. This picture of Rylee cracks me up- what a babe!

It was also the Bear Lake County fair last week, so we got to take part in some good 'ol fair fun- such as the Demolition Derby! Jace was scared to death at first- he didn't get all the destruction. Afterwards, however, he couldn't quit talking about it. He made up his mind that he wanted to turn Justin's "noisy" car (as Jace refers to it as, although Jus still insists that it's a pretty nice car- What? An 88 Acura with 200+ thousand miles on it?) into a demo derby car & have him and Jus be race car drivers. He has literally spent the last few days sitting in Justin's car in the garage pretending to be in the derby. He has also made several requests for a speed racer helmet that he saw at Walmart. So all in all the derby was great- other than Fat Albert that sat in front of us on one of those bleacher chairs that pretty much took up his entire seat plus our entire leg room, beside the fact that he had an "odor". The picture doesn't even do justice.

We also went to the parade, which is hands down the biggest candy giving parade I've ever been to. It's so funny too because it goes up the main street on the right hand side, then turns around at the stoplight and comes back down the same parade route, only on the left hand side the second time. Classic. We got some major loot.

I feel like much of our summer has been on the go, but it's been a good one. I can't believe that school is already starting and such. It slips by way too fast.

In other news, Justin has also pretty much completed our yard/landscape project that has kept him occupied all summer. Must say I'm very proud of all his hard work- he has definitely been putting in a lot of "sweat" equity. No kidding that a yard is a ton of work- he did our whole sprinkler system, raked, tilled, welded & pounded metal trim, planted trees, barked all of our beds and we got hydro-seed today! I can't wait for our grass to come up! Can't say how sick of dirt I am around the house. Plus all the dirty shoes, clothes, garage, etc. Oh well, better than snow.

Garage Sale!

I'm having my first-ever garage sale on Saturday, Aug. 9 from 8-3 at my house. My sisters and I are putting it on. Expect furniture, clothes, books, toys, games, home decor, etc., etc.

I live in the Willow Brook subdivision- about 2 miles north of Rexburg Motor Sports off of 12th West. If you're looking for some bargains come on by!