Well....

This last week the kids and I really wished we could of been to the Box Elder County Fair! :( We were pretty bummed, first time we have ever missed it! We will be there next year for sure!

Friday night Mads went to a "spa" night at Cali's and James, Kobe and I went to the monster derby with the Belew's. It was pretty redneck but we had a good time.

We also found out this week that P got cut from the football team, we were pretty bummed! P said he really didn't wanna play football here.... I'm guessing that's part of the reason he got cut. He said the coach told him they just had too many kids.... It is what it is and life goes on!

Me and Mads have been trying to jog/run again and we are forcing Kobe to do it with us. We struggle and kinda go in spurts. I hope one day to master it! James joins us when he can.

The kids seem to be adjusting and the newness is slowly wearing off and things seem to be going pretty well for both James and I. I'm still not 100% sure about my job but it's growing on me and I'm learning lots of new things. 

That's about all! 

We hope all our Utah friends and family have a good 1st day of school! :) love you all!

Soccer Saturday

Well yesterday was Maddi's 1st soccer game, they won 3 to 1. Mads did pretty dang good! And she seems to really be liking it...

Oatman, AZ

We took grandpa, grandma, uncle Brad and the Young's to Oatman! It's a fun lil town with wild donkeys roaming the streets. We had a pretty fun day and ended it with an amazing dinner with a few of our family favorites... Dutch oven potatoes and aunt Roxie's frog eye salad. YuM! 

We loved having everyone here! I think over all it was a successful weekend...

Route 66 Festival

This weekend was the Route 66 Festival. We thought it was going to be some big crazy event, kind of like the B.E.C. fair.... But it wasn't anything to write home about. James' family was here so they got to enjoy it with us. :) They did have a pretty cool car show...

Vegas Baby!

Last weekend we took a lil trip to Vegas. Some of Maddi's Utah friends were in Vegas for the weekend so she wanted to meet up with them. And I thought it was prefect excuse for an over nighter.

Her friends (the Allen's) picked her up at our hotel Saturday morning and then James and I took P to a few fun places....

After we played all day we all meet up for dinner. It was super fun and the food was amazing! The Allen's took us to an amazing Italian place, it was to die for!  We had a super fun weekend and Mads had the best day ever! 

1st day of school...

The kids started school Thursday August 7th. I'm always kind of sad to see summer break come to an end but I do like having more of a set schedule.

This year it was extremely hard to send them to school.... Maddi got a ride with a friend and I took P and after he got out I just cried my whole way to work. I prayed they would be able to find there way around and most of all be able to find and make friends. They both have had a few rough days but things are coming together. 

P started 7th grade at White Cliffs Middle School. His school is about 6 years old and seems pretty nice. He also started football right after school on the 1st day. He practices every day after school til 5:30. So far it's going pretty good for him. He loves being here in AZ with his dad. And is loving passing the sacrament and being in young men's.

Maddi started 9th grade at Lee Williams High School. She has been lucky to all ready have made a few friends before school started. She is enrolled in the Cambridge program, which is a lil more challenging as far as school work goes. The program is designed to help kids prepare better for college. You have to apply and have good grades to be in the program. So far it's not bad, but some days we wonder if we are in a lil over our/her heads. Her school is only 3 years old and is super nice! So far we are way impressed with the school system here. Maddi also started city league soccer this last week, she is on a co-ed team. She seems to really be liking it and is doing very well.

WoWzers...

So we have been kinda busy the last few weeks... We have done a lil school shopping and got the kids all registered for school, signed up Mads to play city league soccer, went to the Nucor summer party at Wet n Wild in Las a Vegas, done a lil yard work and fed the missionaries again!

My work as "offered" if that's what you'd like to call it..... For me to work full time. There really isn't a reason why I can't work full time, I just didn't really want too. I was pretty sad about it and totally bummed! I wasn't really loving the job in the first place. So I kinda looked around for other jobs but there really isn't anything, so I kept saying my prayers to understand why and also what I should do and my prayers were answered. Things started getting better at work and I have figured out the job a lil better, they agreed to let me take off any time I need to for family, school, kids games or appointments. They really are great people to work for, it's just a whole different line of work than I'm use to. But after I humbled myself I realized the reason I was given the opportunity to work full time..... Nucor has been a lil slower the last few months, and me being asked to go full time was an answer to my prayers.

I can't even begin to tell you how many prayers have been answered in our/my behalf over the last few months. It's been amazing and a huge testimony builder for me. I truly feel BLESSED! Living away from home is hard, but I don't think we/I would be where we are spiritually if we were still in Utah. We have grown so much in such a short time, it's amazing! Today our sacrament meeting was probably the best fast and testimony meeting I have ever been to. We have a lot of converts in our ward that shared their testimonies today and it was just amazing! We really did live a sheltered life in Utah! It's just amazing to me how different the church and people are outside of Utah. It's amazing and my lil family has been/is so blessed!

I'm so grateful for my mom's example and being faithful with going to church... I'm grateful for Jerian's friendship and example as well.... And I'm truly grateful for the power of prayer. Life is hard and being away from home is hard but through prayer and the comfort it brings we are able to do hard things.

There use to be a time in my life that I rarely went to church and I NEVER  prayed cause I felt like my prayers were never answered and things never went right for me or the harder I tried to do good and right the worse things got.... A few years ago I gave myself a challenge to try a lil harder and to pray every day and my/our life has forever changed since doing so!

I challenge you to try a lil harder and to be faithful in your prayers!

Any how... Getting the kids ready for school was SUPER CHEAP! ZERO fees for P-dawg and only $20 for Mads, the kids have to wear uniform shirts that were only $3.99 each! I'm still in shock.... We sign up P for football this  week and it's only $1.00 that's right ONE FREAKING DOLLAR! That's a DEAL!

The Nucor summer party was AMAZING! It was right up my alley @ Wet n Wild! We had lots of FUN!

We got Mads signed up for soccer and we are excited! I think things are getting a lil easier for her. But she is still missing all things UTAH!

P seems to be doing just fine, he does miss his Aunt B. and Car and really misses his gma Lorise and gpa Kennard.

We fed the missionaries this past Friday and we just found out today that Sister Arnold is transferring to Lake Havasu, we are totally bummed! We love her, and wish her the best!


That's about all... Love you all!

Oh and about the yard work... A few weeks ago I posted about the monsoons well with those we have lots of thunder and lighting. One of the bushes in our front yard got hit by lighting and it fried it! So yesterday we dug it out and trimmed up all the trees and bushes in our front yard. I enjoyed the day working with my family.