It is a Big Day for us!

It has been over 4 years, before Luke was born and it was just Allie and I, that Jason was called to be in the bishopric. Four years of getting first two, then three, then 4 people ready for church by myself. Four years of him being gone at least 3 and sometimes 6-7 nights a week. Four years of missing him but 4 years of being greatly blessed and watched over and cared for. Four years of other people praying for us. Four years of Jason serving his God in this way. Has it been worth it? Absolutely!

And today Jason was released and he is now the priest quorum advisor (he works with the 16 year old teenage boys now).

This Took a While to Post

My brother Taylor and his wife Krista just arrived in Florida to visit my parents. We never got around to downloading some photos from our (nearsighted) point and shoot camera. This blog is our journal so we wanted to make sure they made it in. I suppose some day we'll turn our blog into a book that our kids can look at- we better not miss Florida. Well, I guess we do miss Florida and wish we could go there tomorrow.
The Southwest counter lady looked at us like we are crazy. Joy sure loves her double stroller and wants to go everywhere with it.
Scrappie the dogie cow. The kids loved this cow and he loved them. They chased each other around and had a lot of fun.
Off for an airboat ride.

Wesley fell asleep, Luke wanted his eyes covered.

Allie on the other hand had a great time.
Off to the beach. The boys had a good time playing sand pipers with the surf.
On the way to be hosed down at the top of the beach.

Did you know?

We got a van! A Toyota Sienna minivan. We waited as long as we could and then, when we found out baby #4 was coming, we began looking. We are enjoying it but I do miss the Mazda. A really nice guy from Mesa bought it from us so Jenny and Chris if you see a white Mazda 6 wagon driving around that looks familiar, it may have been ours. The guy does not live far from you. He is a paraplegic marathoner. But yes, I like the van just fine. Still a little rough on the parking but that will come.
This morning while I was pulling out the Sunday clothes for the boys I heard pitter-patter of small feet running down the hall. Something sounded guilty about it. I went to investigate and this is what I found:

Wesley's disaster. I had to smile though. It was easy to clean up and at least it was not filled (and overflowing) with water. THAT has been done on a number of occasions. Whew... we did not flood the bathroom. While I was putting everything away, Luke ran in and said "Mom come look! Wesley made a BIG mess!" The flood was in the kitchen, I presume from the water dispenser. Several towels later, we were mopped up. And sweet little Wesley just smiled... with make-up all over his face.

(I am so sorry I didn't get a picture of that make-up job. At that point we were just trying to hurry to get out the door for church).

Daddy + Daughter Campout

Allie and I went camping last night. You see, she figured out she missed the official daddy/daughter campout we usually do with other families each year. We were on a family vacation to see my sister where we... were camping in Wyoming. She has reminded me ever since that we missed the campout. So I promised her I would take her on a special campout- just the two of us and I promised that I would take her before the Father-Son campout (um, next weekend). I had found a nice spot behind our house in the wilderness area, but she wanted to "go see nature" and I guess our desert looking mountains don't count. (She has been watching Bambi so she knows what nature looks like I guess).

We had such a great time! I'll describe our adventures just so she and I can remember the campout- so if the travelogue gets old, just skip to the last glamor shot.

To Allie:

I picked you up from Kindergarten Friday after school- we were both super excited to go. I had a chance to speak with your teacher Mrs. Chevalier who said you were super sleepy today at school. You got up this morning at 5:20 when you heard me get up. I asked you to finish your homework before you played pbskids on the computer. Everyone else was still asleep. I went and cooked breakfast for the Seminary kids and you were still the only one up at 7:30 when I got home. After school I spoke with Mrs. Chevalier who said you had to go to the nurse's office because you were so tired and they thought you might be sick. You didn't have a temperature and wound up taking a nap in the nurses office for quite a while. You ran up to me, gave me a big hug and we were off.

I played John Denver's "Aye Calypso" which you and Luke love. It is Grandpa Payne's CD really, but we seem to play it whenever we go camping so I knew you would love it. You made me play it over and over and over again. I don't think I have played that song since last time we went camping as a family.

I wound up being the sleepy one. We pulled over at "10 Point," a little general store just south of Chilile, NM to buy sunflower seeds so I could stay awake. We wound up buying a few ice cream bars and ate them on the picnic table outside the store.

You thought the very first pine trees you saw looked just fine and wanted me to pull over right there. Instead we kept going and finally made it to the 4th of July campground west of Tajique, NM. We walked around a bit- there was only one other person in the entire campground of 20 or so spots. We found a branch with no one else and set up our tent, lit a fire and started dinner. I brought a chess board and we played chess together. We drove through a forest fire burn area (Trigo fire) and after watching Bambi, you were pretty concerned about our campfire. You had a lot of fun playing on the sleeping mats and just messing around. Our dinner was re-hydrated vegetable lasagna- your dad is not much of a cook. You were brave and told me "dad don't worry, I'll go to the bathroom by myself, you can stay here."

We brought some big marshmallows and found a stick that I carved for you to roast them on. You figured out how to make them golden brown and super good. I told you the requirements to be an official camper girl. You had to help dad set up the tent, know how to sleep in a sleeping bag, know how to throw sticks in the fire, go on a hike, and a big surprise requirement too. It grew dark and you were super excited for the surprise I had for you. It was the last requirement to be an official camper girl: your own flashlight. I gave you the present which you thought was super cool.

We went to bed and I told you a finger puppet story on the side of the tent about a dog chasing a rabbit. The dog's owner finally busted the dog and let the rabbit into the house as his pet. We went to bed nice and cozy in our sleeping bags. It was super cold that night and you woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to trade bags (you had mom's warmer one). It was freezing, I was really cold and I never get cold camping. We wound up zipping our bags together and snuggling to stay warm.

Saturday morning we woke up and slept in as long as we could so the sun would shine on our campsite. I got up and made some hot chocolate and we packed up a bit. We had instant oatmeal for breakfast then decided to go on a hike. You packed some snacks in your school backpack, a bottle of water, and you wanted to bring your new flashlight with you in the pack as well.

It was still super cold so we both dawdled along the trail. You wanted to stop about every 200 feet and eat a snack- so we did- this was your campout. We came back finished packing up and left camp. We drove the long way home on a dirt road that took us over stream crossings, through meadows and by beautiful terrain. On our way into Torreon, we saw two turkeys and rolled down the window and heard them gobbling.

I took this photo of you before our hike. You have on everything warm you brought (sweater shirt, fleece, your cousin's winter jacket, two hats & gloves. You thought it would be cool to do a photo like the models do- looking back at the camera with a serious look. Great job model Allie!

We had a great time Allie- I'm glad we had some time to spend together "in nature" as you say.

Love,

Dad

***

Mom, You Are the Best!

Happy Mothers Day Joy, you are the best!
We think so too:
Marlene, Happy Mother's day to you too, thanks for raising such a fun daughter.

Jason: Joy, you are the best Mom- thanks for all you are, all you do. I love you!

I'll make a better Mother's Day dinner than this:
Thanks for closing your eyes when I dance:
From Allie: Mom I sure love you!
From the real Allie: "love you Mom, even though you're mean; and you love me too." "But I really really like that funny picture." "Happy Mother's Day." Dad: are you sure you want to say she's mean on Mother's Day? "OK, OK, erase that." "I love you very very much Mom."

Thanks for playing with me

Thanks for curling my hair!

Luke: "Her flag, and then she loves it so much, and I went too to that Mother's Day. Thank you Mom"
Thanks for letting me be a boy!
Thanks for all the awesome cakes!
Thanks for holding on to me tight
Take a nap on me today

Thanks for bringing me a brother to play with
Wes: "Umm... Daddy." "Umm... Thank you."
Thanks Mom for loving me so much!
Thanks for not getting too mad when I bite and scratch
Thanks for letting me grow my hair out MomBaby: Thanks for being brave Mom- oh and being sick for me too- I can't wait to hold you!

Happy Mother's Day Joy!

-Love Jason, Allie, Lukie, Wesley, and baby.

Rincon a Rincon- Todo es Colchon

Translation: From corner to corner- everything is a mattress.

Interpretation: You are always welcome to come and stay at our house! Just pull up a piece of carpet- there is plenty of room to sleep on the floor.


Alternate interpretation: Let's pull all the mattresses off the beds and make one big jumping playground!!!

A New Refrigerator and Another Story You May Not Want to Read

We remodeled the kitchen knowing that someday we would get a new refrigerator. The old one worked so we were just biding our time until the stars aligned. And last week they did. The new Cash for Appliance Clunkers program, a major sale at Baillio's, and the torn plastic trim that seals the fridge when it closes and was now hanging limp on the floor- all in one week. Not to mention things have been freezing on one side of the fridge and warm on the other.

So we got a new refrigerator. It is great and we are really enjoying it. It is HUGE too. So huge that after a lot of measuring and finagling, we realized taking it around the back of the house would be easier and faster than removing the front door and fridge doors. Our wonderful neighbors came to help. It barely made it around back. We just had to move the rain barrel and some small objects.

As you know, the boys have really been into making mud puddles! They splash, and squish, and bathe and wallow (and hopefully not) drink the water from the rain barrel. I have tried to tighten the handle so they would quit getting all wet and muddy. It didn't work and by last weekend, the water had all been drained out. That made it easy to move. Jason took off the top and then very seriously said "You do NOT want to look in there". My thought- clean laundry or something, ugh. But what are you supposed to do when someone insists you don't want to see something- you look. I almost fell over with shock and horror! The rain barrel, once full of water, had just a tiny bit left at the bottom. The water that my boys have been sliding, slopping, squashing and showering in... had a dead, bloated, mouse floating on it's back in the little bit of water at the bottom of the barrel.

Oh that's right!

If you have already read the post below, I edited it because I remembered what happened the day the boys pulled all of the leaves off my plants.