Pumpkin Time!!

My sister-in-law gets excited about certain things. Pumpkin carving with her son, Wyatt, is one of them. Mainly because it is the first time he has done one. So, that is what Sunday afternoon found our family doing. I am drying the seeds out to roast/toast for a snack this next Sunday. It should be fun! Plus, Jeremiah will be able to enjoy the Pumpkin seeds too.

Julia and Pumpkin

Wyatt helping with the seeds

Melanie

Julia drawing designs on her Pumpkin top

The Finished product! Left to Right, Melanie's by Nana, Wyatt's by Aunt Catherine, and Julia's by Me




Needless to say, the adults did most of the carving. Minus Wyatt, he loved sticking his hand in the pumpkin and taking the seeds out.

Super Saturday

We had the GREAT blessing of having our Super Saturday today! It was quite an end of the week for us. We were up at the church helping to set things up last night. After set up was complete, the girls and I stayed to participate in book club. Kathy had some VERY yummy Thai recipes ready for us to snack on. Then, we finally got home (at 10pm) to get some last minute things together for this morning. Finally, we hit the sack. (Melanie and I) Julia was my dead log sleeper upon getting home. Sleeping in was something that came naturally after a late evening the day before, but we couldn't linger in those covers for long. Cleaning and preparing was pushed back half a day, but I am getting some time to do it now. I will probably pull an all-nighter tonight to get things in order for Sunday and so that I can FINALLY relax for this week! Yay! I know you all are just waiting to see what we had available, so here they are:


#1 Cards - Some free, some for $1


#2 Bead Snowflake Ornament, Free

#3 9 B's - $10

#4 Hot Chocolate Mix - Free

#5 Garland - Free

#6 Glass Ornament - $1

#7 Joshua 24:15 - $12

#8 Families are Forever Frame - $3

#9 Ho Ho Ho Blocks - $3

# 10 Joy Letters - $10

As a side "class" our very own talented Jenna demonstrated how to make her Grandmother's famous Orange Rolls! I will make them, take pictures and share with you all when I get the chance! Warning: They are yummy yummy, and you WILL be taking the recipe once I post it!

Daddy's Girl

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My Dad with Julia


This man means the world to me. Before I tell you all how great he is and what an impact he had in my life, I want to apologize. I am sorry that you all didn't have my dad, you missed out on a pretty great dad! Having said that, I know most girls have a special place in their heart for their father. So, you would probably feel just as badly for me not having your father. I get it, but I really feel that I got the best dad ever. Let me tell you a bit about him.

First off, he was an awesome missionary to the great state of Oregon (and surrounding areas) in '79. After my parents were married and I came along, my dad decided to go out for Cosmo. I know, way too cool! Sadly for me, I was deathly afraid of him in his get up and have the pictures to prove it. On a good note, it happened to be the year that they won all that college stuff. He got to "see the world". Oh, but before I say he "saw the world" he really did "see the world" as an Air Force ("brat" - nickname for military children) dependent. He lived in Germany for a while and then saw some of the United States. Needless to say, change was the norm in his family growing up.

In my opinion, my Dad got to do tons of really cool, useful jobs. The thing that I loved most about his jobs was that he was always able to be there for me and my sisters growing up. If we had something going on (track meet, field hockey, softball, soccer, chorus concert, band, etc.) he was there. I could maybe count the number of times he was unable to be there on ONE hand. His priority has always been his children and helping others. Mostly his children though. The other really amazing thing about my father, he never YELLED at us. He had his "serious" voice, and boy those swats hurt at times, but he NEVER yelled.

Reading Scriptures as a family was a treat (when I wasn't playing the teenager card) because he always made the story fun. He loves the scriptures, and I love him for that. I fear that I am not doing him justice in the slightest with my "speech". He helped us with anything that he could, was there to support us, always encouraged us and praised our strengths, gave us sound advice, and provided for our needs. Sure he had those "embarrassing" qualities. Such as yelling LOVE YOU after us when he dropped us off at HIGH SCHOOL for all other kids to hear, playing his records and singing at the top of his lungs (he does sing well though), and wearing those Give Blood or Apherisis hats he got from donating.

Small children in our home ward know another interesting thing about my dad, he has 2false teeth. He had a motorcycle accident when he was a teenager and completely shattered two of his teeth. He likes to surprise the children in the ward by popping them out of his mouth and turning them around during church. (He's the Bishop now too!) He has always been very good with children and youth. It seems that once he was old enough to get out of the youth program himself, he was called back into it. He has always served in YM as long as I can remember until his current calling. His dream calling is to be a Primary teacher. He would be such an amazing one.

Daddy - I love you. Thank you for teaching me kindness among another million things. Every time I think about you I know the love that Christ must have for our Heavenly Father. You are such a shining example of a true disciple of Christ. I am VERY blessed to have been your daughter. The principles you have taught me have always governed my life. Thank you for supporting me and sending me those letters on fast food liners while I was away at school. I couldn't have gotten through it without you. I have kept every single letter you have ever written to me.

Just Plain Excited!

I just had to blog and share my excitement with someone other than myself!! There are a few reasons why I am super excited right now. First one is....

Granted... I took this a few days ago and gas is now $2.75 in my neck of Norfolk!! I just want to cry about the savings our little family is getting from that $0.60+ drop! Yes, you can all think I am the worst frugal person in the world.

The next one is two things actually, but I am trying to keep one a secret from Jeremiah. Let's just say I am excited about some of the sales at BJ's right now.
Here's one of them:

I've been wanting to get this puppy for a few years now. I love these shows. I think it really helps get the spirit of giving started. Since I am lucky enough to have my birthday in the same month as Christmas, I get to sometimes purchase "Christmas-y" items. I just had to get it when I saw it was on sale.

Another bit of excitement: CATO!!! I know some of you have been shopping there or are at least trying to get there to see what they have. I just love the place!! It's not like finding pants on sale at JC Penney for 80% off or anything, but it definitely beats paying lots of dinero for something that will eventually get stained, trampled on, thrown across a room, and most likely spit upon. Not to mention all the dirty hands that cry "clothing, please!! Johnny just pushed me down, I just have to rub my muddy fingers on your new"er" shirt!! It'll make me feel a lot better, promise!" So, I perused a bit today and got a few things. I definitely suggest that anyone who has not taken a look should definitely make the time.

Last item on my list, I'M ALMOST FINISHED WITH BRISINGR!! Yay! I am reading the dragon series books and have been trying to fight for some time to finish it so I can get to the book club book! T -6 days, I know! So, here's to the last leg of the journey!!

A little busy...

Tuesday found us running from place to place. Here is where we went: to a brunch in honor of one of my friend's birthday, drop my girls off at Tara's so I could go to my lovely annual pap smear(ughhh!)- plus, they even took blood from me this time to rule out something that could have been going on with me, then to visiting teaching, then finally home for a few hours!! While we were relaxing, Julia started getting warm and fussing (TOTALLY needed a nap HOURS before!!). So, the last trip of the day was supposed to be the recipe exchange and unfortunately, I was only able to drop off my Halloween "creation". I missed out!! I'm so bummed! I look forward to the pictures of the goodies that were there and hope to get those recipes! Needless to say, today we are taking it easy. I moved my furniture around in my living room/dining room today. I welcome change (in the form of rearranging furniture). We'll see what Jeremiah thinks!

Julia's 2nd Birthday!!!

Julia loves Elmo, so we planned an Elmo birthday for her. Since the girls are still pretty young, we just get together with family for birthdays. We celebrated Julia's birthday yesterday with cake and ice cream (and presents of course!). Today is her actual birthday. It's hard to believe that 2 years ago today I was in the delivery room at this time with just about an hour before I got to meet her! (she was born at 12:44 PM) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA!!!
Here are a few pictures:


Julia's Birthday!!

Julia at 1 year

2nd Birthday! She has grown up so fast!!






The cake that took forever to decorate!! (Ok, not forever, but it sure seemed like a long time!!)

Navy Shmavy

Navy - it's a blessed word and a curse word in our house this week. Jeremiah got back from San Diego on Tuesday morning. He was thinking he would fly to his ship the following morning. Well - to get to the point - he didn't fly on Wednesday morning - or at all for that matter. They decided he would stay here until his ship returned and was passed around the different areas of "temporary duty" (not using any names). We thought we landed in a dream (turns out that is all it was). He got a few days home with us and was thrown back into the worst area of "temporary duty" on Saturday morning. (It was the worst of times and the best of times comes to mind when I think about that) I was excited to finally have him home for a General Conference weekend (it seems that he has missed every single one since being on this ship (minus the one a few days before he left in '06 for deployment). However, now he's missed Conference again! He works again today until who knows when. It's probably my fault he got it. I tend to be a jinx. Maybe I was so thrilled to have him home with me that it just couldn't last. His ship comes home this week - so, he'll be back on it and home for about another week and then he leaves again. It's Navy life. I can't complain I guess. But, I sure can be frustrated with it (I've earned the right). Only Plus is he is "HOME" and not in the Ocean.

My Silly Goose

In order to encourage my children to say nice things about others that are acting special at times, we say "Silly Goose". Plus, as a nice perk - it sounds so cute coming out of their mouths! Julia has been awarded the Silly Goose recently because of her obsession with these:



She just loves the glasses from Mr. Potato Head and ALWAYS puts them on upside down! She walked around the house for hours wearing those glasses. She even "read" books with those glasses on! I'm so proud of my Silly Goose!

Relief Society Broadcast

Nicole is hiding behind Brooke's head there - I wasn't able to get a really great shot of her. She is there!



So, the Relief Society Broadcast was last night and we got a bunch of us together to go to Panera. I have never actually EATEN at Panera, so it was a new experience for me. A group of us got together to carpool and eat at the Panera near the stake center. I really had a great time with my friends (at least I think of them all as friends) - I really enjoy friend time. I don't get it very much and I definitely think I need to do it more often, so I will have to keep in touch with everyone! Upon getting to the broadcast and finding a seat, it was a wonderful meeting. I enjoyed all of the talks so much and took a lot away from them. Relief Society is really something I have missed since being in Primary. (I love my friends!) I also learned at the meeting that I don't need to feel left out of RS while serving in other auxillaries. I guess I need a little more "refining" in that area. Here are a few pictures of those of us that were able to meet up together.

Meeting Aunt Laura

I hope I spelled the name right. I have been married to Jeremiah going on 5 years this December and have yet to meet his mother's sister - Laura. On September 20th, I had the opportunity to finally meet her and visit a little bit with she and Uncle Tom. It was nice to see them and finally put a face with the name that Jeremiah mentions. We ordered chinese food and ate at my place while we had some time to visit and enjoy each others company. Here is a picture of the siblings.


Nana, Uncle Tom, Aunt Laura

Camp Out!!

The trip across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (photos courtesy of Courtney)

Melanie in front of our tent (before it rained)

Julia after smores! The picture is a little fuzzy, but you gotta take what you can get when the girl is moving quick!

Andy Vaughan with his "catch"

Marshall Robertson with his fish

I decided to go to the ward camp out. Unfortunately, Jeremiah was unable to attend. We toughed it out and stayed with the Gaines family. (Again, I will be forever indebted to them!!) So, Codey helped me with the tent, and the girls got situated in the great outdoors. I think they had a wonderful time! It was a little difficult at first to get the girls to bed, but once they were asleep, they slept for a decent amount of time (especially with having colds). After we went to bed early Saturday morning, it decided to rain and continued off and on for the rest of the morning. We ended up leaving around 9:30 am because of the downpours. I was completely soaked from taking down the tent and packing up the car. It was great fun though! Hopefully we'll get to go next year and will have nicer weather so that we can enjoy all the perks of camping! =0) Oh, and while the guys (and some of the older children were fishing) we visited under the canopy that the Gaines brought. Andy got a flounder and Marshall got a gift (I think that's what Chris said). However, the fishing trip went from about 9 ish until 12:30am. They are very dedicated fishermen!

Book Club, Countdown, Campout

Yesterday was book club at my house. We discussed the book by Randy Pausch "The Last Lecture". To those of you who haven't read it, you can borrow it from me and read it! And, you better too! It is a great book and we had a nice turn out. I was glad some of my friends were able to make it. We missed those of you that had to work or were otherwise engaged. I loved having some time to talk about the views in the book and get feedback from my friends. Bottom line: I really liked the adult conversation!! Thank you for all who attended!

The countdown... well, who wouldn't count down the days until this guy arrived?

Well, the countdown is on and he'll be home in less than a handful of days! The visit will be short lived - he will most likely fly to his ship the next day. MAN!! The adventures he has! He's been catapulted off a ship before, now he is going to be caught on one!? How cool is that?! Anyway - I digress. So, we are excited to see him for about 20 hours before he leaves us for another week and a half.

The camp out. Big debate here in my head these past few hours. (The downpours yesterday, the dripping trees today, how weather-proof is my tent?, hmmm, my toddlers - will they get sick?) then on the other hand... (wow, what an adventure, it could make it to my blog!!, if I don't do it - I will remain a boring person, heck - let's do it for the adventure!!!) So, I am thinking we will tough it out! It'll be WAY fun!! I just know it! I'm sure you'll see what happened when I get back and am able to post pictures/stories. Wish us luck (and not lots of rain!!).

Finally Split

So the talk of our ward splitting has been a big rumor for about a month. Every time we went to church, we were hoping to hear something a little more official. Every Sunday we left with just as much information as the week before, until today. Our ward was finally split today during our Ward Conference. I have never been through a split before, so it will be an adventure. The Stake leaders there were wonderful about encouraging us to stay strong and help where we are needed or see a need. The thing I thought was ironic was that half (at least) of our ward is military. We see change as a way of life - so, I don't think we needed as much coaching as we received. I know that I still appreciated the words of comfort that were offered, even if we didn't need it.
Our family happens to be one of those in the new ward (Norfolk 2nd ward). Our bishopric is great and I know they will lead the ward to the best of their abilities and carry out what they feel is needed for our ward. Fortunately, we have a lot of our friends in our ward. Some friends will remain in the other ward, but I hope to continue friendships and enjoy their company still.
Next week will be our first Sunday as a new ward, I'm excited to see how thigns turn out! Mostly because the only people in our ward with callings are the new bishopric!! So, a little farewell to those who will reamain "behind" and "hello and welcome" to those who will stay and those I will meet that I haven't already!

Our Sunday Evacuation

A few of you know about or have heard about our evacuation Sunday morning. I woke up to Base Security pounding on my door. I went down stairs hesitantly until I heard, "BASE SECURITY!! " I was told upon opening my front door, that there was a police emergency and I must evacuate immediately. Like a good citizen, I followed the warning and left with my girls (all of us in our PJ's). So, upon leaving and my brain waking up a little more, I thought - when can I go home? What about my class at church? Will I even get to go to church? Where should I go?

So, I called my dad - he being an Air Force kid growing up. He helped me think through some things and get some ideas. So, I called Tara up. Since she only lives about 1/2 a mile away. She graciously let us sit in her house for a little bit until I could call Norfolk Police and see if it was safe to go home. We were there for about a half hour when we found out we could go home. THANK HEAVENS!!! So, we headed back home and got ready for church. I am so blessed to have friends that would let me wake them up Sunday morning to ask if I could sit in their house for a bit until things were figured out. So, Thanks Tara!! You are a wonderful friend!! For those of you wondering what it was? My neighbor said that it was a car stopped on base and they couldn't get the trunk open, so they evacuated in case it was a bomb. Our home is just across the street from base. I'm glad they thought of us, and I'm glad it wasn't a bomb!

My 6 random Things - courtesy of Marie Turner

In my attempts to catch up today with all the posts I've missed in the past two weeks, I came across the one where I got tagged! Why did I have to continue to scroll down!? Nah, just kidding. I love the Turner family, and that's why, I can't get enough of their goings on! So, here goes it, I hope I do it right (I'm following your format Marie). I'm a little hazy on the other things, but I get the quirk part! Here it goes.

1. I have a bad habit of spelling words subconciously with my right index finger while I am listening to people talk.

2. When I really enjoy a song, I will shake my head back and forth instead of up and down like most people. It is something I picked up from a roommate - plus, I think of her too!

3. I currently have an obsession with cookbooks. Mostly Pampered Chef right now.

4. I love good deals - sometimes I will look far and wide for them too!

5. I like power tools. I've used them a few times and I just LOVE them! I wish there were more projects I could do and think of where I have an excuse to use them again.

6. I love to talk too! (Like Marie) I feel "out of it" lately because I don't get to talk to adults much. MY VOCABULARY NEEDS YOU!! Please!!

Now I get to tag you! (Tara, Heidi, Jenn, Cheryl, Tami, Jamie)

Last but NOT least!

I had the great blessing of visiting with my BEST friend, Erin and her family while in PA. Momma D invited us over for dinner (which was a yummy mac and cheese with hotdogs). They had a chance to watch the girls and see how silly they are. I got the chance to see my best friend that I don't get to see or talk to much. We visited for a little while and took quite a few pictures! Erin is an Elementary School Teacher now and definitely has her hands full with her work. She is also dating a guy right now that she cares about a lot. I am so happy to see her happiness! It makes me smile every time I think of how happy she is dating this guy. He better make sure he makes himself the man she deserves! Here are a few pictures from our visit. Erin and I got together the next week and went out for a Rita's (I tried the new Pumpkin Pie Cream Ice - it was delish!).

The girls kept hiding in the closet and opening it up to "surprise" us

Julia - my bellybutton fetish girl!

WHAT'S THAT!!??? Looking at the Dickensheets' game.

Julia loves shoes. She'll put your shoes on and come out and say "I like your shoes!" She wore Mr. Dale's boots around a few times. This is one time I was able to capture.

More shoe fetish - "I think I'll take these"

Erin - my best friend! Gosh how I miss her! Portrait courtesy of Melanie

Momma D - truly my second mother. I love her so much!! Portrait also courtesy of Melanie

Kid's Kingdom

There is a playground called Kid's Kingdom near my parents house. One day, we packed a lunch and went there to play and enjoy the nice weather. We would call parks like this castle parks. They were made of wood and had different places with a little "roof" surrounded by mazes of passageways. All in all - kid heaven!