Viva Las Vegas.....

....Almost became our new slogan for life! The last month has been very stressful in deciding if we could move our little family 8 hours south to this crazy big city. Chad was offered a great job at Therma Systems just across the border of California. But we would live in las vegas. He flew out for 2 days for interviews and then a week later me and him drove out to look at housing options. I have to say while in Las Vegas I felt completely sick to my stomach, although we both love the city for a vacation its not completely ideal in my book for a place to raise a family.  But when we got to Henderson where we would have lived, I was surprised at how quickly I fell in love with it.

To make a really long story short, the cost of living there is so high (#3 in the US) even with the raise and crazy awesome benefits they would have given us to move there,  it still wouldnt have been enough to better our current situation. We sadly declined the job and the lights of Las Vegas. Lots of prayers and preisthood blessings have gone into this decision. It has been an emotional rollercoaster for quite a while and I was surprised at how upset I was after we decided not to go. I think I was just ready for a change although we have been happy in Twin Falls. We all get stuck in a rut at one time or another in life and we are definantly there.

So for now...the job search continues. Chad has been very happy with his job and we have great benefits that are hard to beat anywhere else. But the shift work is super hard on our family and our marriage and we both strongly feel it is time for a change. And in the wonderful words of Rafiki I have found myself remembering, "Change is GOOD."

EASTER 2012

We celebrated Easter saturday morning at G & G Reeds house. The kids were very excited. We did a little less candy this year with a few more gifts. I sometimes forget they are small and dont eat much candy. This year I remembered (becasue I am the one who eats it all!)
But with our annual family egg hunt, we came home with TONS of candy anyway. Mollie loved gathering eggs. I told her to "clean them up" and she obeyed and put all the eggs in her bag. So cute.

Carter was very into it this year. He found gobs of egss and candy.

That evening we headed out to Moore to be with more family. As soon as i got Mollie dressed in her Easter dress sunday morning I turned my back for 1 minute and the next thing i knew she was covered in chocolate!

We quickly cleaned her up and here is the best picture I could get of them in their easter clothes.

We ended the trip with colds for all of us. YUCK! And mine happened to turn into pluerisy (a painful lung infection) and I am STILL suffering from it. Wish I could have enjoyed the day more, but it was still great to see family. I love Easter!

27 & a sleepover

At the begining of April, I turned the fabulous age of 27! This year has been a hard one to accept, especially since I have lost track of time over the years and thought I was turning 26. Chad had to convince me i was really turning 27! Him & Carter started my day out by making me cupcakes!

They showered me with gifts

and then we ate cupcakes.

And YES I blew out all 27 candles in 1 breath. (If you know me, you know this is a big deal for me!)

Chad actually was on night shift the night of my birthday so a good friend set up a girls night at my favorite diner and her husband generously watched my kiddos. It was so refreshing and really nice to chat with my friends. When we returned home, we found two VERY excited little boys.

My friend pushed me out the door insisting that it would be fine if he stayed the night! She is a true champ to take on a 3-year old sleepover! But eventually they tired and crashed. LOVE these sweet little boys!

All in all, despite turning 27, it was a great day! Thanks everyone who made it happen!

Mollie-O

Dear Mollie,
Please don't grow up.
You are almost 18 months old. You are learning so much so fast. I want to keep you as my baby forever. You went to nursery today for the first time and I felt a little lost. I've looked forward to this day, but it surprised me how hard it was. You are learning to fold your arms for prayers, and to make unbelievable messes. I like to call you my little tornado. You love books and we could sit there for hours reading them...unfortunatley, you also destroy most of them.

Your hair is crazy. And curly! (where did that come from?!) And I can't get enough of those curls. Im amazed at how girly you are already. Wanting to wear "prettys" in your hair (although you pull them out in 2 seconds). And for the first time the other day, you wanted your nails painted and you held still for it!

Piggy tails were a first this month too! Your hair is growing and chaning as quick as you are.

You love to be like mom and wear your sunglasses.

And you are often found wearing a tutu while playing with cars.

You HATE to shop, although you love to push around this cart and fill it with things that I have to clean up later.

You LOVE zuzs (shoes). I am constantly helping you put on shoes and they usualy arent yours.

And you discoved one of your favorite hiding spots - the dryer. I can't keep you out of it! I am amazed at how different you are than Carter. You keep me on my toes constantly and are very good at letting me know when I need to slow down and spend some time with you. Never let me forget that. I love you so much Mollie. You are a miracle in my life.

LOVE MOM

Some fun new words Mollie is saying at 18 months:

bebe - baby

bebe - puppy

bebe - pretty

Mommy

Daddy

Papa

CaTee - Carter

syses - eyes

tat tat tat - quack quack quack

sus - Jesus

naa - snack

suice - Juice

book

men - Amen

BAAAAA - sound for a sheep

FIVE years and counting....

Has 5 years really already come and gone?! Mar. 1st was the day I married Chad in the Logan Temple in frigid condtions. It was such a special day. I love this man even more than the day I married him. He is constantly making me smile and letting me know how much he loves me.
One way he showed his love this year was getting us a night away! (thanks to grandma for coming to stay with the kids!) He surprised me and took me to the Filmore Inn Bed & Breakfast here in Twin Falls. It was such a neat little place and the food was great!! We ate at Johnny Carinos, then checked into our room.

Roses, chocolates, sparkling cider, chocolate covered strawberries, and cookies were waiting for me when we arrived.

And a wonderful jetted tub!

We slept in late and enjoyed a great breakfast in the dinning room.

It was so homey and the service was great. I HIGHLY recommend this to my Twin Falls friends (or out of town friends for that matter) for a little get away or celebration. It was wonderful and much needed!

Thanks so much Chad for loving me through everything and making me feel so special, just like the day we were married. You are the man of my dreams. Love you lots.

On to February....

We started off February with Hiccup & Annie. 2 goldfish who became a part of our family as Carter's reward for being potty trained. Yeehaw!

We had a special visit from Grandma Reed and had a indoor picnic with plastic dishes...A fond memory from my childhood. (Dont look at all my laundry on the couch..)

If anyone knows my husband well, you would know he is a lego nerd...(love you dear) and he made this for me the week of Valentines Day.

I woke up Valentine's morning to 15 love notes scattered around the house with reasons on each one of why Chad loves me. Very sweet. It made my whole year. :)

And later that night....well, I'll leave it to your imagination. ;)

Happy Valentines Day!

January has come and gone....

But it sure doesn't feel like it! The weather has been very mild, with no snow. Come on, it's January!! But we had a great month. Probly the best month we have had in quite a while for a number of reasons.

#1: My brother and his family were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on their 5 year anniversary which was Jan. 5th. I am so proud of my big brother and all the hard work he has done to get his family here. Love you guys!

Reason #2: We tagged along with Chad on a business trip to Utah and me and the kids played while Chad was in class all day. We did get to steal him away and do a few fun things. Staying in a hotel room with all 4 of us had its challenges, but i would do it again. We had so much fun playing and shopping! We went to a huge aquarium in Sandy.....

And to Jump on It with TONS of trampolines and bounce houses...

And to the mall where they had a neat play area for the kids....

And to Planet Play, which is like an arcade for smaller kids....

Carter was in heaven and I think he was in shock about how many fun places he was getting to go to. The trip also included Jim's Jungle, lots of eating out, swimming, a memorial service for Chad's grandma who passed away, and lots of cousin time with the Dudschus family.

Reason #3: Scotty McCreery, The Band Perry, and BRAD PAISLEY! Yes we took a quick trip to Boise to see this concert with some great friends the Sorensons. We had so much fun with them and the concert was amazing. It was Chad's first concert. We were a little late and missed Scotty McCreery (Chad was heart broken....he really likes him) but i was so glad when he came back on stage at the end. GREAT night.

(Scotty)

(Brad) Ok, so I lied....a little at the begining of this post....we got a tiny amount of snow and we ran outside to play in it before it was gone. Carter and Chad had a snow ball fight.

Mollie didn't love the snow and just wanted to play on the slide.

Chad pulled the kids in the sled.

And we built a snow man with the best packing snow I have ever seen! Carter sang "Once there was a Snowman" every day for weeks as we watched it melt away.

I give January 5 Stars. It was a wonderful month!