Family Time!!!

We've been having a great time with all of our family here. I haven't been all that great about taking pictures but I'm getting on it today! We have been making Christmas candy and the girls are all going shopping together tomorrow. We are making gingerbread houses with the kids later and I will try to post pictures of it. Everyone is going bowling on Wednesday so that should be a BLAST!! OH, and TYLER is here!!! He surprised us on Saturday and it is making the Holidays so much more fun!!! Well, I had better get back to my baking!! I promise to post pictures soon!!

Quilt giveaway!!

If you go over to this site http://mariemadelinestudio.typepad.com/mariemadeline_studio/2009/11/the-happy-scrappy-quilt-giveaway-again.html You can win a free scrappy quilt...they are sooo cute. If you facebook and blog it you get more entries!! So here I am !! I never win anything but I figured it couldn't hurt!!!

Company!!

Well, so far it's been great having Heather and Alisa here. Alisa is such a doll and so cute and sweet!! I have been having such a good time with her. We are enjoying our holidays and working on getting all of our work done. I am working on making Christmas presents and need to go do some sewing today. I hope I can get some stuff done. Anyways, not much else going on. I may go on a ridealong next week with Phil again and we will be at the Christmas party that night too. I need to find a babysitter. I'll try to post some more pictures soon!! Talk at ya later!!

Thanksgiving Pics!!!

Phil getting the turkey ready!!

Jonny and McKinley

Jesse and Uncle Josh!

Allen

Allen and Phil with the Done turkey!

Looking yummy!! The turkey I mean!

These guys are crazy!! and cute!!

The kids table with their turkeys they made!

The adult table with Natasha's centerpieces!

Josh and Jonny hangin' out!

Allen and Natasha!! What a cute couple!

Everybody gettin' skin off the turkey!

Josh and Phil carving the turkey!

Yes, amazingly enough I have them and it's the VERY next day!!! Imagine that!!

Sugar Doll Award.....who knew it?

So Tori tagged me and here I am...I didn't know how to get the cute little award posted so oh well!! Here's my ten things about me!!

1) I have the most amazing husband in the world....he sometimes likes to purposely drive me crazy but he is so very strong in the Lord and has helped me grow soooo much in my own Christian life!!

2) I am VERY blessed with four little boys who fill my life with joy and happiness....they are sometimes EXTREMELY difficult to keep up with.

3) I am not very good at keeping in touch or taking pictures.

4) I am a workout junkie.....when i'm consistent enough to do it!!

5) I hate arguing or fighting.....I am more of a non-confrontational kinda girl.

6) I love my friends that uplift me and help me to do the right things!!

7) One of my favorite things to do is quilt although I don't get to do it that often!

8) I am a Very happy morning person....probably to most people's disgust!!

9) I am NOT good at talking about myself....this is difficult coming up with ten things!!!!!

10) Hope this satisfies Tori!! Love you girl!!!

Closing....

So, we found out today we sign the papers at 12:00 Friday afternoon and will be officially moving in this weekend!!! YAY!! I'm so excited that it's all working out better than it would have had we signed papers yesterday. Phil will be able to move alot better those days in conjunction with his schedule this week. Just thought I'd let you all know!! YAY!!!

De-railed...

Well, first let me say that I am a goal oriented person....I know this but my sweet husband was oh so willing to remind me once again today. Our realtor's secretary called and said the bank lost a piece of paper.....not an important one....but important enough to start whatever they were working on over again!! YES!!! Can you believe that. I have no idea when we will sign on the house or close now. I get extremely upset and frustrated when things like this happen. Apparently, it's because I am a control freak......my sweet husband was on a roll today. Anyways, I am and know it...it's just hard to swallow sometimes since I know it's not a character trait I want to keep. The LORD just always finds a way to let me know I'm SO NOT in control. Anyways, a discouragement but one that I can learn from. Anyways, I sure wish I could handle it better!! Just pray that it will all come together soon so that nothing even worse happens. Like the people back out or something!! Thank you!!

On my way...

Well, I got up at six thirty today and it was pretty easy. I've been working on getting up early and I was glad that I did it today. Tomorrow is the four a.m.....we'll see how that goes. I got up got the kids ready, threw them in the van, picked up Grammy and off to town we went. It was a huge blessing having her with me. We had a lot of fun. I got home and we ate lunch, I chatted with Kim for awhile and then took her home, I got home and got some laundry done, got my workout in, made dinner while Phil talked to Ty and Jonny got to talk, then we had our bible reading and singing. It was a very busy but fulfilling day. Anyways, i'm off to watch my show and eat my sugar free fat free pudding. YAY!!! Goodbye for now!

Today...

I got up late again!! ARG!!! I am working so hard at getting up early. I have a new plan and if you plan on commenting it had better be positive! Joking! Anyways, I am going to try a new plan this next week....here goes.....4:00 a.m. get up...this is when Phil gets home. I am wanting to do more blogging and get my computer stuff done in the morning before everyone is up. I am going to workout and shower and do my devotions from four to seven. Then I am going to get the kids up and get them breakfast and get our school done. They do their chores when they are done and then we have lunch and nap time for the littlest boys. I know it sounds crazy to get up that early but it will give me more time to do the things I never seem to have time for during the day. I will be able to get to bed earlier too. I am going to hit the hay about an hour after the boys go to bed. That will put me to bed earlier and I will still be able to do my sewing in the evening after they are asleep. Like I said...I may have to tweak my schedule some after trying this. We'll see how it goes. I am working on a new plan for menu's too!

Have you ever heard of Once a Month Cooking. It's where you spend one day for about 8-10 hours in the kitchen cooking all of your meals for the next month. I am working on a plan to start for the New Year. I was wondering if any of you Mom's were interested. From what I have researched it cuts your grocery bill in almost half and saves you tons of time throughout the month. If you are interested let me know! Leave a comment and we'll try to coordinate. I will probably hold a cooking day at my apartment in January for those who are interested to do it with me. Anyways, have a great weekend. Gotta run for our daily game of UNO!!!

New Look!!

Well, as you can see I have revamped and retitled my blog. I thought there ought to be a purpose to blogging and I think i've found my calling. Well, at least I can post about my calling. I am going to be more proactive on here so that each one can see a little piece of our journey. The Lord has blessed us tremendously these past few months. Badger Road Baptist Church took us as members, our house sold, we found a Perfect piece of land and we are saving money to build our house out of pocket. So far....we're doing pretty good. My family is healthy for the moment and we're soooo excited about following God's will for our lives. He has blessed us so tremendously. I also opened my blog to whoever would like to read it. That is a huge step of faith for me that I won't get any perverted comments from people. If I don't like your comment I WILL delete it. Please only post appropriate comments. I may open another blog eventually just for pictures of the kids....we'll see!! Anyways, I thought I would post a little update of our life. My verse for today........

Proverbs 4:11
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

Widget

Almost finished!!

I can't believe it is almost done!!! We got the boiler tuned today and all went well and didn't cost us as much as we thought it would. Phil called the realtor and we're waiting to hear back from her. We should know the closing date today or tomorrow. I can't wait. I am soooo excited about getting everything moved and the house cleaned. The garage is practically empty and all we have left is the house which is a blessing since it's been snowing for two days. We are taking a check by the realtors tomorrow to put our earnest money down on the land!! I am just so thankful everything is going so smoothly....so far that is! I plan on keeping you all updated but may not get to as often as I want since we will be moving and having to rehook up our internet and home phone. So if you need me call my cell!! Love you all!

Boxes...Boxes...Everywhere!!

Actually...not so much! I just can never think of anything for a title. Anyways, the appraisal is done and all we have left is to sign papers and the boiler is getting tuned tomorrow morning. We are gonna go into town this afternoon to sign the papers to buy the land!! That is really exciting. The kids are finishing up school and I have some chores to finish up. The people buying the house are coming by this afternoon and Josh is coming over in about an hour to help Phil move some stuff to the apartment. We are gonna do some grocery shopping this afternoon too I think. I hope there's enough time in the day to get it all done. Oh, and Phil is taking me to a M.A.D.D. luncheon on Saturday. I think they may be giving him an award or something for all his D.U.I's. I'll let you know then if they did. Anyways, busy busy around here. I hope ya'll are doin' good. Behave yourselves girls!!

Phil's B-day!!

These pictures were from Phil's B-day Party...if you can call it that. We had church all day that Sunday and he had training. We didn't get home until almost nine and the kids didn't even stay up for apple pie. His favorite.....of course it has to have the crumbly top not the pie crust top. Tasha decorated with spiders since she knows he doesn't like them and surprisingly it was really cute. Phil even liked it. Anyways, here's the pictures we got.
Phil opening his one present! that was wrapped. He got peanut butter cups and spice drops from allen and natasha and he got a gift card to prospector from mom and dad.

I don't know if you can see but Jesse blew out his candle for him!

Jesse was singing happy birthday to daddy and jesse!

Phil's apple pie...one of them.

Well, that's all...hope you guys enjoyed it. I thought I would start updating more often. Love ya'll.

Selling of the house...selling of the house....

So,, the septic passed with flying colors....the appraisal took maybe five minutes.....and we're closing as soon as the bank says we can....that should be in about ten days. I am working hard at getting things cleaned up and packed. We don't have too terribly much but as you can imagine with six people things tend to stack up. We have been moving as much as we can over to Jim and Kim's as time allows. I am hoping that soon it will all be done. Well, it will have to be!! :o)

The boys and I all have a cold and Phil's schedule is so messed up he probably will get it soon. His back has been bothering him a lot from different things and I am sure moving doesn't help. He says he's fine but I sure hope it doesn't get as bad as my dad's....which it shouldn't if he's good. Anyways, I thought a little update would be nice. We are VERY excited....OH!!!! Which reminds me....we found a piece of land that we put an offer in on. It is down the road from Travis and Laurel and right next to Brian. I will take pictures and post them if we end up getting it. It already has a driveway and hole big enough for the house we want to build. We are really excited about that! It is just under two acres. Anyways,,,,,hope you guys like hearing about all this stuff cause that's probably what we'll be talking about for awhile!!!

Hey Ya'll.....

Well, the inspection went very well. We are waiting to hear back from the realtor. We are expecting to close on Nov. 16th. but we are hoping that we can do it sooner. We are supposed to have the well and septic test done this week but it is Wednesday and we haven't heard anything. Everything is moving along nicely though. I am working on packing everything that I won't need for the next year into boxes and we have started looking at land. We are hoping to purchase a piece before winter. We will clear it during the winter if we need to. Phil is already making house plans and super excited about it. He is planning on doing a lot of the work himself. He really likes these kinds of things. I am just hoping it goes good. Well, just thought I would update.

Houses....

Well, the inspector was here on Friday and everything went really well. We have a few little things to fix but nothing major. We have the septic and well test this next week and then the appraisal. Apparently we could be moving within two weeks. As soon as the appraisal is done we will close. It will be about ten days. I am excited and a little nervous but know that I can get everything done that I need to. I just may let the kids off of school for a few days. They will love that. There isn't too much other than packing....the cleaning won't be that hard. Thankfully I'm able to keep up with it enough that nothing is too terribly nasty. I will keep everyone updated on what's happening. I am REALLY excited though!!!

BBQ's and B-day's!!!

So, here's the pictures from our BBQ on Saturday and Jesse and David's party on Monday. They are actually in order this time. We had a great time at the BBQ and quite a good time at the B-Day Party. It was an exhauting weekend to say the least. We always have such a good time with people. We're socialites....what can I say! Here's Phil getting the ribs ready!

The Ribs!

Davy being a monster...go figure

Jesse's cheesy pose these days

What.......cake on Monday?

McKinley...so sweet!

I like this pictures and they were soooo yummy!

All of the kebobs

The goofballs

It can only get worse!

Cheese!!!

Such a cutie!!

Always terrible........what can I say....i'm not photogenic?

The cake...they were supposed to be ships....i'm not good at cake decorating

The pizzas being shown off.

I love this picture.....click on it and Davy's eyes are crossed...the scary part.....it looks natural.

And Another.

Darth Jesse Talon

Josh and Ang

The Brandts















This was hilarious!!!

Craziness!!

Well, the last couple of days have been nuts!! I went to town Monday with Phil and got all our stuff for our Fall BBQ on Saturday. We are pretty excited about it since it's David's B-day too. He's REALLY excited! Jonny and I went to town yesterday because he had a dentist appointment and we went B-Day shopping. It was a lot of fun and I will post pictures after they get their gifts. We are doing a dual party on Monday which is Jesse's b-day. We have a showing tomorrow night and one was canceled we were supposed to have today so I guess that one will be rescheduled soon. Phil is on a different schedule this week so that he can have Saturday off. We have school everyday and a new chores schedule for everyone which is working out nicely and the house stays pretty clean this way. Also, we are hoping that the house sells so we can find a piece of land and get it cleared. It was snowing today!!!...so who knows if that will happen. Well, gotta get going so I can workout. Love you all!!!

I love technology....

Well, Josh and Ang are on my AT&T plan now and Josh got me a new phone yesterday. I am officially texting. I love it because I can keep in touch with Heather and Bek for free and I get to send pictures of the boys to them. I have been having a great time with it. Anyways, I thought I would post since I was excited. On a bad note, Jonny was throwing up all last night and it looks as though Davy will be next. We'll see. Oh well, just keep plugging along the best we can. Other than that we are all doing great. Have a nice week everyone!!

Life....or something like it!

Well, we've been REALLY busy lately. Things seem to be spiraling out of control this month. I was pleasantly surprised that we are handling it so well. I plan on taking some pictures and getting them posted. I would love if Phil would let me get a new camera. Our view screen is broken and it is difficult to have the energy to take pictures and download them and then decide if I like them or not. I will do it because I have to but I prefer not to. Anyways, that was my whine for the day. I am headed into town for a few appointments and a little stop here and there and then I will be back. I am only taking Jesse and Reuben. Jonny and Davy are going to Kim's. They are excited about that. Anyways, not very exciting for most people to read about. We are doing school every day and we enjoy our weekends with Phil. Gotta jet!!

Sickness abounds!

My family has been through a month of sickness and it is STILL not gone. The boys are all running fevers now and they aren't small little fevers they're like 103 fevers. We are keeping them doped up and in bed and are hoping that eventually it all passes. It is frustrating since if even one of them is sick I have to miss church on Wednesdays. Not much I can do about it though. I pray that everyone gets better soon. On a better note...THANKS to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday this year. I got beautiful roses from Phil and a sweet card. I also got my pampered chef pasta bowls that I LOVE!!! It was really sweet of everyone to call that wasn't here. I love you guys and thanks so much for thinking of me and loving me despite myself.

Sheep Hunt Success!!!

Our sheep hunt went VERY well....we left on Sunday afternoon and drove until we hit Ferry Trail. We fourwheeled in on a beautiful day and got into camp at around ten that night. By the time we got all set up and ate something it was almost midnight. We slept in the next morning and glassed a little for some sheep. We didn't have much luck that day and on Tuesday we got up at four thirty and glassed but didn't see any legal rams. We did see a group that later had some more and Phil thought we should go up and stalk. We left base camp at around six and by the time we got to the top and figured out there were eight rams and four were legal it was getting close to nine. Phil shot his sheep and then I shot mine. We had a long night ahead of us and to make a long story short we hiked back after boning and skinning the sheep and it was around three thirty Wednesday morning. We got about two hours of sleep and Phil had to hike back up to get the other sheep's meat and horns. We headed out around twelve thirty and made it back to the truck loaded up and left around five. We got home around seven almost eight and started packaging meat. It was very eventful.... Me on the way into the camp site

The caribou just run along side you out there

The base camp tent

It was REALLY cold...it froze every night and snowed some

Did I mention how cold it was...I was FREEZING!!!

Phil crying because we saw backpackers heading up the mountain

Hiking up the mountain

Getting closer

Almost there

Phil checking things out

Glassing for some sheep

Looking awesome as usual

Me glassing

Look at that view

My sheep

He was about eight to twelve years old

It was an awesome hunt and the sun came out just after we shot them

Phil's sheep was better looking

It was getting close to sundown here

Getting ready to start cutting......I hope you all enjoyed our pictures!! It was a very memorable trip. Everyone should try it!