Utah or Bust~

We are so excited to be in Utah in one week!! That's right all my Northern friends and family, we will be there Thursday night until Wednesday afternoon, actually I will be there that long, Tim will be home on Monday, sad. We are looking forward to Wingers (hoping for all you can eat wings!), Smoking Apple, Zupas, conference, oh and spending lots of time with family. Hudson and I made a count-down chain to celebrate our excitement everyday! Although he keeps saying he can't wait to go to Hawaii to see Juju and Chamberlain. I correct him every time, but I guess Utah is paradise to him, Who knew?! Everyday we talk about what we will do there and who he will play with. Today while skypeing Ash and Chamberlain, he said in a very sincere voice, "I miss you Chamberlain." Chamberlain said he will get his room ready for a sleepover. That is if Juju will let him go!

Tonight while saying prayers, Hudson said "Please bless that I can go to Bailey's house when I'm at Juju's". Listening to Hudson say prayers at bedtime is the best way to end our night. He still thinks he needs help but will add the cutest things. In some of his recent prayers he has said "Thank you for all the super hero's and thank you not for the bad guys", "please bless that Jesus wont die again", "Thank you for my toys", and while saying "Thank you for Jesse" he gets a big smile on his face and shakes his body full of joy. I can imagine him thinking of all the fun things they do together while saying Thank you. He is consistent in praying for Uncle Jonny on his mission and President Monson, but he says it so fast that you can hardly understand it until he says Amen! He will also whisper to us what to say while we pray! Love that kid. As a mother it is rewarding to hear him say and speak sweet things to our Father in Heaven. It makes me feel that I am doing my job right! Most days I feel like nothing I am trying to teach him or show him is sinking in, like I'm a horrible mother, but not when he prays it comforts all my worries.

Utah, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Notice our picture of Utah has all the Counties? I quized Ash on her County skills and she did quiet well. I thank my dad for taking such interest in knowing such random facts, like your County seats! Jennie, jog any memories for you?

Lex is excited too!

Happy~

Today is the best day ever!! Tim's birthday always makes me so happy!! Happy that he was born into this world to amazing parents. Happy that he has wonderful life experiences to share with me. Happy that he chose to serve a mission. Happy that he finished college. Happy that he is so patient, humble, kind, thoughtful, strong, helpful, healthy, friendly, faithful, hardworking, and smart! Happy that he is all these things and more to me. Happy that he is such a great devoted father to our boys. Happy that he has a job which he finds rewarding. Happy that he is mine forever!

Happy Birthday Babe!

I LOVE YOU~

The boys love Tim so much! Lex kept kissing him over and over this morning. I think he knows how special his dad is today! I woke Hudson up so we could open presents and serve breakfast to dad before work. He was not in the best mood for pictures until dad made him laugh. Like I said before Tim is such a great and fun dad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!

Amigos~

We have the best neighbors! They live down stairs from us and happen to have a little boy that is Hudson's age. Marc Anthony, or Jesse for short. We didn't discover our new friend until almost 3 months of living here and we have played with him ever since. These boys spend hours outside riding their bikes, rolling down the grassy hill, throwing rocks (big no-no), coloring with chalk, playing in the mud, having races on bikes or running, eating snacks, playing tag, finding worms (ew), chasing the neighbors cats, all the while screaming, laughing and just being silly boys. Lex loves to watch them play. He will crack up at them rolling down the hill. If he is not outside with them he will usually watch them from the window and laugh.

Jesse has been so kind to teach Hudson phrases like "you're cheating", "that's not fair", and "You're not my friend anymore". I've gotten that last one a few times but my favorite is "You're cheating!!" I know he has no clue what that means but will say it anyway. Jesse has an older sister Francesca and an Aunt Lucy, who he calls his sister since she is only 8. Vee, is Jesse's mother and is the sweetest lady. She will make me these wonderful Mexican dishes, they always look amazing! To be honest I have never tried them, not a huge fan of shrimp pasta, Chili relleno, or Flan to name a few (is that bad?). I want to always remember this family. Today while the kids played I took some pictures of the fun they have.

Lex wants to be a big boy so bad!

Bike races. Jesse in front, Lucy on the wiggle car and Hudson at the tail end.

Hudson flashed me this smile as he rode past! Love it! He needs a haircut.

Francesca is holding Lex, Lucy is in the red. Lucy cracks me up. She rocked her pj's all day with killer black knee high boots.

When I told the boys to get together for a picture Jesse pulled this move. Too cute. Also wearing the pj's!

Francesca is 11, usually she doesn't play with the kids but today she was very sweet to ride with Lex down the hill.

This was actually Hudson's second time riding the wiggle car down the hill. He is not the most adventurous kid. He usually would stand at the top and run down with everyone but today he faced his fears. His facial expression says it all!

In the summertime when Hudson is at his darkest, these two can pass as cousins.

Fun Times~

Mission Field~

Another great thing about living in Arizona is that we get to actually see, feed, and help out the missionaries around here! It has been so fun to get to know them and see them grow in the gospel. I think our area is good soil for training because we always have greenies. Which we love! Hudson thinks they are the coolest. Every Sunday after sacrament meeting he has to go shake their hands (sometimes a hug) and tell them about a dinosaur or car or whatever is on his mind that is so important that he has to tell the missionaries. We have started a little tradition, well we've done it twice now, when an Elder is

transfered we take them out to our favorite frozen yogurt shop, Orange

Leaf. Our friends in the ward introduced this delightfully delicious place to us a few months ago and we've gone every week since! No joke, all who have visited know what we are talking about. It's self serve, with about 14 or so different flavors, and

the best part is the toppings! Any thing you can think of they have. So when you see me this will explain why I haven't lost the rest of my baby weight. Every time we pass it Hudson will call out for it! So yummy!

Tuesday night we had to say goodbye to one of our favorite missionaries. Elder Evans, a greenie. He reminds me so much of Jonny, Tim's brother who is serving a mission in Bolivia, whom I miss dearly. One big difference though is he has a "girlfriend". Big time Lame! We tried to convince him of writing her off but no such luck. His companions were on board with us. Still too fresh but I know he will be a great missionary.

I only wish we could see these Elders when they are done serving. Seeing the change that a

mission has on these young men and women is so amazing to me. I love it,

I love the gospel! I love that we can move 10 hours away and still have the same connections with other people. I love that we can see a boy wearing a Jimmer shirt in the mall and know that he is "one of Us", as my dad would put it. Oh, how I love the work these missionaries do!

Here is Elder Lee and Elder Evans with our future missionary Elder Hudson! Love their coordinating ties!

Orange Leaf, located on the corner of Ray and Coronado Street. Did I mention it is less then a 1/2 mile from my house! Walking distance. Killer! Sweet Elder Lee, he will be training this transfer!Elder Evans, Can you see why he reminds me of Jonny? Look at that nasty 80's jacket?!

To my Uncle Mike~

I have this amazing Uncle who has developed his talents and shares them quite well. One of my biggest excitements of moving here to Arizona was to be around my mother's side of the family. Before we moved to Kanab when I was young, we were all so close. We went over to my grandma's house to swim everyday, at least it felt that way, had Sunday dinners, dad took us (my siblings plus my cousins) to the park around the corner from my grandparent's on weekends. Uncle Mike lived just down the street from them, so we would ride our big wheels to and from his house. My mother, Aunts and Uncle would gather around the piano after dinner sometimes and sing away while my ever so sweet Aunt Sharon (Mike's wife) played for them. I loved it when they sang. All of their voices sounded like angels to me. I remember thinking when I grow up I want to sing with them!

My Uncle Mike's voice is so beautiful, I would describe it like butter! Very smooth, like the kind of voice you want to do the back stroke in when you hear it! He joined the East Valley Mormon Choir a few years ago that has brought so much joy into his life. I say that there is no greater joy then when you are using your talents the Lord has blessed you with.

This Choir is amazing and tonight we were able to hear and feel the power of scriptures through music. The production was called Bring the World His Truth featuring the Arizona premiere of Messiah in America. Amazing! I am in awe over the conductors who wrote this beautiful music but more over my dear Uncle Mike! We love

you so much and thank you for letting us share this special night with you!

I'm also quite fond of these concerts because I get to be out with just my hubby!

My Uncle Mike after the concert! He is always beaming when we see him. Isn't he so handsome?!

Memory Remains~

The other day I cleaned out and organized our closet. You know, got rid of all those clothes that are never worn but seem to sit in your closet for years. Well there was a few shirts of Tim's that need to go to a good home so I put them in the Good Will pile. When Tim saw this certain shirt he asked why I would put it in there. My response was, "You never wear it!" He so kindly reminded me how special this shirt is. See this was the shirt he wore on our first date many years ago. How could I let it go?

Our First date is one that always puts a big smile on my face. Tim picked me up in his Nissan Sentra, drove me to his parents house where we made cookies for our roommates and wrote little Thank you notes to them. Cheesy but totally up my alley! I met his ever so sweet Mom that night. She had to help us make the cookies since we tried twice before but totally ruined the dough. Hey sugar cookies are tough to make!(Especially when you are trying to impress a future love!) That night seems like a dream these days but I am so glad it happened and that he wore this shirt!