New Van

Jeff has been driving our truck to work for 3 years now. While it is sound mechanically, it has no air conditioning. It averages about 95 degrees here in the summer so it is pretty miserable for Jeff to drive to work and back in that heat. Especially since in the summer he is outside in the heat for several hours and then to get in and drive with no relief! When it is hot it makes you sleepy too, so it wasn't the safest for him to be driving over an hour a day without a/c.

Financially it would have been nice to wait one or two more years to buy a different vehicle, but we decided it was time for Jeff to not have to drive without a/c anymore. Even though we don't have a 3rd child yet, we hate buying cars so we decided it would be best to just get a van since we would probably be having another child in the next few years. We have heard people say they could get 300000 to 500000 miles out of their hondas so that would be great if we could get at least 10 years out of it, if more than great!

We have been looking for several months. The first few months we started looking at cars, but then we decided that a van would be more practical for us. We kept finding cars or vans we would like, but then they would either sell and be gone, or we would go look at them and they would have problems. We found this one for a great deal. It was the least expensive van we could find with this low of miles in any brand. The fact that it was a Honda was a big bonus. It is a 2008 with only 23,000 miles on it. We had it checked out by a mechanic for 3-4 hours which cost like $100 but it was worth it for us since we have bought vehicles before that turned out to not be as great as we thought. We also had it looked at by a body shop and they both reported that it is a safe vehicle with no major problems that we should be concerned about. It was in a minor accident where the right side was damaged, so the window makes a little sound when you go over 60 miles an hour, but we are actually kind of glad about that because that helped us get it for a great price.

I seriously HATE car shopping more than anything and I always feel sick to my stomach when going through the process and after we buy it I always am so worried that it will be a good decision. We are just praying that we made the right choice and that this will be a good vehicle for our growing family. I love driving it, I feel so much safer than in the car. The girls love all the space too. It doesn't have a dvd player, but we will probably eventually just get ones that strap to the back of the seat or make em tough it out like the good old days:)

It feels great to have two reliable cars, with air conditioning, that fit our entire family!

Say a prayer for us that it will last us a long long time!

Grandma Connie

The following was narrated by Jeff:

Here is a special Mother's Day post about my mom. I have great memories of her from when I was younger.  I am thankful that she worked so hard to always have a clean house and delicious home cooked meals. I am the youngest of three sisters and one brother, so that was definitely not an easy thing to do. She went back to work as the duty at my elementary school while I was there, which I am sure brought her some embarrassment when I was sent to the principal's office a couple of times! My mom taught me it was important to be humble. My 9th grade year in a JV game, I scored a touchdown and I high stepped into the end zone off a punt return. I came home feeling pretty good about myself and my mom was right there to let me know that was so embarrassing and that I should never draw attention to myself like that. She was at probably every game, away or home, every sport, supporting me every step of the way. She made me feel loved after every game, win or lose. She loves all of her children equally and never makes one feel less important than another. She loves to have fun and I have great memories of camping trips and ski trips as a family. She is gifted musically and has been the ward organist for a long time. Every Sunday morning she would play church hymns on the piano, inviting the spirit into our home. I love you Mom, I couldn't have asked for a better life growing up, thanks for being the best mom ever and Grandmother to Cheyenne and Berkeley.

This is now Stacey, and I wanted to add that I love having Connie as a mother-in-law. She is very selfless and is always worried about what is best for her children before herself. We love to have her come visit and love that she visits often. I never expect her to, but she always works so hard and helps cook or clean or help with the kids or anything else I need. She taught seminary for several years and is such a great example of someone who is always trying to learn and grow in the gospel. She is a wonderful grandmother and makes each child feel so special. I can tell that she loves each of her children so much and I am blessed to have her in my life. Thanks for being you Connie!

Happy Mother's Day!







btw... I am not leaving my mom out, but she never reads this blog, so I put hers on facebook, but she is awesome and I love her more than anything too!

Cheyenne's Talk

Cheyenne gave her first talk in primary on Sunday and I was really excited. She had already done an Article of Faith and I was surprised she wasn't even scared to talk at the microphone and the next Sunday she was disappointed she didn't get to talk at the microphone again. I knew she would be excited to do a talk, but I was nervous, because with a three year old you never know when they will change their mind and decide they don't want to do something. The theme for the month was about I choose the right when I am baptized or something like that. I held up a picture of Jesus and then John the Baptist baptizing Jesus while she was saying her talk:

Here is what she said (I obviously wrote it for her, but she did a great job delivering!):

"Jesus is my older brother and I love him. He loves me and all of you.

I am trying to be like Jesus. I want to choose the right so I can be like him.

Jesus was baptized by John the baptist.

I am 3 years old. When I turn 8, I want to be baptized just like Jesus and just like my cousins Audrey and Sarah.

I want to follow Jesus' example. I want to be a good example for my friends, and for my little sister, Berkeley. When I am baptized I am choosing the right. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I am grateful for Cheyenne and her desire to choose the right:)

Mother's Day

Last night I went to a friends house to have a girls night. We painted our nails, watched a movie and ate junk food. It was fun and I needed the break, because we had just spent all day looking for cars in Atlanta. I left and the house was a disaster. I came home and the house was so clean, even scented oil was lit so it smelled good! This little arrangement was on the table:

 Jeff even made the chocolate covered strawberries himself and they were SOOO good! They totally hit the spot last night, this morning and still today! I love the flowers, but I will be honest, my favorite part was this card from Cheyenne and Berkeley:

 "Happy Mother's Day"

"Mommy I Love You"

Cheyenne

Berkeley (with her hand traced)

I thought it was so cute that Jeff thought to trace Berkeley's hand since she can't write yet. I am also so proud of my little almost 3 and a half year old that she is starting to be able to write her letters so well. Also, she barely ever writes from left to right and in a line (note front of the card). But the inside was so good that it was all written in order! It made me so happy to see this card and made me feel good about myself as a mother, because we practice her letters all the time.

This morning Jeff got up with the girls and then made pancakes for breakfast. I curled Cheyenne's hair and painted the girl's nails because Cheyenne gave her first talk today in primary (more on that later). She and Jeff also sang in sacrament meeting. It was so cute because the primary and all the men sang Love at Home together and it was SO GOOD! It was kind of funny because there were more people up on stage then in the congregation, but it was so cute. Cheyenne did pretty good, she didn't know the song very well, but she sang the parts she did know. I had tried to practice with her as much as I could Sunday, but she wasn't too excited about it after the 3rd time through it:)

We got chocolate bars in sacrament from the Young Women and they were really cute and delicious. We came home and chilled for a bit. Jeff made a delicious steak dinner later and then we skyped with Grandma Connie and now Jeff is putting the girls to bed. It was a wonderful mothers day. I am so blessed to have my beautiful children and so blessed to have a husband that is so thoughtful and never forgets to make each holiday special and is so selfless so much of the time. He works so hard and always tries to help make my job easier. I really am blessed to be a mother.

Cowboy Boots

I found these cowboy boots on Berkeley at a garage sale the other day. Cheyenne LOVES that they can both wear boots, because she loves her cowboy boots. The girls are just looking so so big! Seriously, my babies left and now all I have is little girls! It makes me want another one... if only it could come to me at 18 months! Babies are too much work!

Cheyish

Berkeley calls Cheyenne "sissy" or "Cheyish" it is so cute. Every morning if I come to get her and Cheyenne isn't with me, she looks past me and says, "Cheyish, Daddy, whe ahhh ooooo???" Love it.

This shirt I got for Cheyenne at TJ Maxx at a great deal. I LOVE it!

 She wanted to have pointed toes:)

 Cheyenne wanted to build the house on the cover of the blocks box:

 Then she built her own little house and we built a garage and a backyard and had all her little people play soccer in the backyard.

She is so much fun!

Sunday before church

 A couple weekends ago, I stayed in Atlanta to coach a volleyball tournament. Jeff and Berkeley were in Washington so a couple of friends were so sweet to watch Cheyenne while I was gone. We had a few hours down time, so my assistant coach (& friend), Lizzie, and I went shopping at TJ Maxx and Ross. I love Maxi dresses and I thought this one would be perfect since I am in Nursery now and shorter dresses are harder to work with the little kids in. I had already bought Cheyenne a different dress and then I found this one and I fell in love with it. I returned the other one I bought for her and stuck with this one. Isn't it adorable? Oh and Berkeley was wearing one of my favorite dresses from when Cheyenne was littler for the first time. And Jeff just looked hot as usual. It was a beautiful day to try to take a picture. We had a hard time with the family picture, but we at least got one to remember our new Sunday outfits.

first try, still zoomed in, oops!

 there we go:

 our little thumb sucker:

Creepy Carnival

While Jeff and Berkeley were in Washington, Cheyenne and I went to one of those creepy carnivals out by the mall. We invited our friends Layla and Heidy.  The girls had SO much fun and never wanted to leave. We stayed for like 3 hours I think. The best ride was this little car one that whipped them around in a circle. It was so fast and Heidy and I freaked out a little when we saw how fast it was (after the girls were already on it). We expected them to panic and be upset, but in fact their eyes were huge and they were squealing with delight! They loved it and probably rode it 5 more times after. It brought back great memories of going to the carnival that came to Bellingham when I was in Elementary School. Sometimes my Grandma Blum would take me and sometimes I would save up my money and go with my friends. It was so much fun:) A little more creepy as an adult, but still fun.

Thanks, Mom, for the flower clips from Hawaii! 

Cheyenne asks to wear them all the time:)

The weather has been beautiful so we have been doing a lot of this lately:

These are the times when I am so grateful that I am a stay at home mom. I hate the days when I worked inside and it would be so beautiful outside and I would feel so trapped. It is such a blessing to be able to take the girls and enjoy the beautiful weather together!

Cheyenne and Daddy built a fort together one day. Cheyenne loved it and I wasn't allowed to take it down. Finally after a couple of days I took it down while she was sleeping and she has thankfully since forgotten about it. I am sure there will be many forts in our future, though.