First Day Of School

Today was the first day of school and it was pouring down rain so we only got pictures inside. Eliza had her first day of school, and I was worried about how she'd be to say goodbye. And, it seems I worried for nothing. We got her backpack hung up, then her lunch box put in her cubbie, and she hugged me goodbye and then went and played! I was very relieved! She's turning into such a big girl!
Jonas was funny on the way to school, and I quote: "I can't believe I'm already in
2nd grade!"
Me either, Jonas, me either!!
Jonas was also telling Maddie about stuff she'd do in first grade, so that was fun to hear. It's more than he tells me!
As a surprise I'm making them strawberry cupcakes for a snack after school. I hope it was a good day for them!

Its been real.. its been fun...

Its been over a month since my last blog post. Some of you may be wondering why.We went on a primary temple trip on August 8th which was a Saturday and had a really good time. We stayed at my sisters house on Friday night, so the kids had fun seeing their cousins.
Then on Monday night (the 10th) my mother called to tell me my Uncle Wayne (one of my Dad's older brothers)had died. The rest of the week was spent getting ready to leave. So Wyatt and I (Jonas, Maddie and Eliza stayed here with my friend) took a flight back to Salt Lake. It was a bit like Deja Vu since we were just there. I'm glad I got to be there, and say goodbye to my Uncle Wayne. He was a great man, and I loved him greatly. So since then we've just been doing things to keep us busy. Here's a picture of the kids from our trip to the temple.



We start school in 3 days. Jonas will be in 2nd, Maddie in 1st and Eliza will begin preschool!

Reunion time

We just returned home last night from our trip to Utah. I was worried about how the kids would do on the airplane. I was especially worried about how Wyatt would do. I really worried for nothing because they all did FABULOUS! Wyatt did cry a little there and back on the plane, but not long enough in my opinion that it would've bothered anyone. We flew to Salt Lake and we spent a few days there in a house we rented. It was huge! It was nice to have my parents, grandma, sisters and kids there without having to worry about being in someones way. It was also nice to have several bathrooms. We went to Heritage park I think is what it's called, where Brigham Young looked over the valley and said, "we're here!" Well not really, but he did say it was the right place. They have a little pioneer village that was fantastic, the kids had a great time, and the adults did too! Everyone agreed it was a winner. We spent time in the hot tub, had a little talent show, and played our family game Mormon Bridge. We also celebrated my sister Christine's 40th Birthday!







We left Tuesday for Beaver. We had a schedule for the days we were there which went breakfast at 8a.m. all three days, and we had activities in the morning, and some free time in the afternoon, and stuff in the evening. The second night was our Mormon Bridge Tournament. We had 13 tables, and 7 people per table. It was a lot of fun. We also had our usual family talent/variety show which is always good fun. We also had 2 family dances. At the last family reunion 5 years ago, my cousin Jean and I and some other family members got in the hot tub with all our clothes on in the middle of the night. I joked with her about doing it again. I didn't think she'd do it, but we were up playing Mormon Bridge and I think by 2:30a.m. all our senses were gone anyway, so we jumped in the pool and then got in the hot tub. We also recruited some younger cousins that weren't there last time to do it with us. It was so much fun! (thanks to my Dad for staying in my room with the kids!) I of course had my camera and got pictures!
The reunion went by way to fast!

Summer Fun *warning, tons of pictures!

So I know most of you may be wondering what I've been up to since I haven't posted on my blog in awhile, so I will give an update!
School got out on June 16th and the next week my sister and her kids came for a visit. And that was spent going to the beach, to the aquarium, and just hanging out. We had lots of fun! We've gone to Busch Gardens a few times. Wyatt can ride some of the kiddie rides now, and he loves it!


We've gone to the Beach a few times. We went with my sister as I mentioned, and we went on the 4th of July. Then went to see the fireworks with Jenn, David and their girls.



















We have gone to the botanical Gardens W.O.W. (world of wonder) area for the kids, which is fun because they can play in the water. Since we have a Botanical Gardens membership, we can go whenever we want, and so we've gone there a few times.






Jonas started summer school on June 29th, his teacher thought it would help him improve his reading and writing. Maddie started a summer enrichment program through the school on June 29th and thankfully they both are about the same time. I drop them off at school 8:20a.m. and Maddie gets on a bus to go to another elementary school, and Jonas goes to school. Then Jonas gets done at 12:30p.m and Maddie gets off the bus at 1:30p.m. and they both will be done at the end of July. Jonas and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We met up at Friendly's and got ice cream and then went to the theater to see the show. It was a lot of fun. Although not all children that attended made it through the whole movie, but if you're wondering Jonas made it, he's just like his Mom, a nightowl. We didn't get home until 3:30a.m. Needless to say, I'm tired!




I don't have pictures, but usually Monday through Friday we also go to the YMCA for a few hours! This next week we'll be busy getting ready for our trip to Utah for my family reunion! My neice will be flying up here to help me with the kids on the flight. I'm so excited to see all of my family!
On another note, we will be here in Norfolk until next May 2010. Josh has extended his time in Kuwait due to the fact he's applying for a different program in the Navy, that will take him out of flying completely. Because of when we find out whether he will get in this new program or not, I didn't want to end up possibly moving twice within 6 months, so we decided to stay here. We also decided if we were going to do that, Josh might as well stay in Kuwait and collect the extra pay he gets for being deployed. I'm very sad about this, but I know we'll survive. It helps that we get to talk every night via webcam so we do "see" him. He has 15 days of leave, and we will be seeing him in October, and we will get to celebrate our 10th anniversary together. So that's the bright spot in this deployment.

Happy Fathers Day!

Especially to these three important men in my life, Happy Fathers Day!

My Husband Josh, thanks for being a great husband and Father! I love you!


My Dad, thanks for being a great Father to me, and for always being so much fun growing up and still being the fun guy you are! I love you!






My Father-In-Law Bill (sorry I couldn't find a recent picture around!), thank you for being a great Dad to my husband, you taught Josh to be the great and wonderful man he is today! I love you!

We'll always have Norfolk...

If you've ever seen the movie Casablanca, they have a line in there that says, "We'll always have Paris." And here I think for anyone that has lived here in Norfolk our line should be, "we'll always have Norfolk."
Living here there always (it seems like) people coming and going. (kind of like us leaving and then returning!)
And today we had a goodbye party for some friends, the Vaughans (sorry no kids they were busy playing!),

but we also said goodbye to some others the Crandall's and the Rossi's. We of course got a shot with most of the girls there, although some people had left already.



And of course I had to get a shot with Jenna and myself. Which this is now being known as my "signature" shot I must add!


It's always nice to get together, but it's sad to say goodbye to people you've shared lots of laughs with. I'm so thankful for e-mail and blogs that keep us at least somewhat connected even though we're miles apart. I'm getting a bit sentimental, so I'll just add... We'll always have Norfolk and all the fun times we've shared.

Keeping me sane...

My friends must love me because they will go see David Cook (even though they don't love him like I do) and get cold because it's on the beach at night.



And I must love my friends because I go to see The New Kids on the Block (NKOTB)
in the POURING rain, and honestly I stopped listening to them after the age of 13! (but it was a lot of fun!)


After the concert was over


And these things help me stay the (somewhat) sane person that I am!

Happy Birthday Maddie Mae!

On this day 6 years ago at 8:38a.m., my beautiful little girl Maddie was born.

It's so amazing that 6 years have flown by! We decided not to find out when I was pregnant with her if she were a boy or girl. I wanted to be surprised. I was SO SURE that I was having another boy! So, when she came out, I will always remember Josh saying: "It's a Girl!" And according to him I looked very shocked, but I think the shock went away very fast when I thought of all the cute little dresses I'd be able to put her in! (ha ha)





I have to say I'm pretty lucky to have such a fantastic daughter. Maddie is so smart, funny,sweet,thoughtful, and caring of others. She has always been like a little mother to Eliza and Wyatt.


She's also very creative and I love seeing what she will come up with in her drawings and what she'll write next. I look forward to seeing her continue to grow and blossom. We were lucky my parents were able to come and celebrate, so we celebrated a day early and had cake (although it didn't turn out quite how we planned) we blew out the candles and opened up presents!


Today it was Maddie's turn for their "snack" so we brought in glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts!
Tonight we're doing it low key by going to see the movie "Up" and going to dinner somewhere (we haven't decided where yet!).