A Light in the Darkness

Sunday night we took the kids to the DC Temple to see the lights. We also had a cute neighbor who was playing "Mary" in the live nativity. It was really neat to see the nativity acted out and see all of the beautiful lights. I just really missed the Utah snow that we usually encounter at Temple Square. I won't complain though because the truth is...the cold usually discourages me from taking the kids to Temple Square and this night in DC it was in the high 50's. Just perfect! We were all sweating in our coats!





We caught this photo driving down the road after leaving the Temple. I love the way it shines through the dark silhouettes of the trees.

If Trees Could Talk

I fell in love with Mount Vernon. I even dreamed about it that night... ball gowns and carriages! So far, I think it is my favorite place we have visited. During the month of December the third floor is open to visitors, so we were able to see where Martha Washington spent her last two years of her life before she passed away. When George Washington died, Martha closed the door to the room that they shared and moved upstairs to a bedroom on the third floor where she could see his tomb from her window. She died two years later. I just thought that was so romantic. They wouldn't let you take pictures inside the house...I wish I could have though. It was amazing.




This is the same view George Washington saw from his porch 200 years ago. The tree in the picture is one of two original trees on the back portion of the house.


This is the Tomb where George and Martha are buried.



George often paid for a camel to stay on his property for the Christmas season.





The visitor center had 13 themed trees decorated. Jacob couldn't leave the ornaments alone. We had to get out of there fast. It was a wonderful day. We spent about 5 hours looking around the farm, and even saw a fox. (Tehya had a nightmare about being eaten by a fox with glowing eyes that night...exciting!) I told Chad that we are going to have to buy a year pass there...and if you come to visit us, just plan on making a trip to Mount Vernon. All the paint in the house is original and so is 40% of the furniture. The house has such a grand feeling to it...just imagine all of the important decisions that were made within those walls...

One more thing...

If you do get to watch it, look for the poor guy who has to stick a huge thermometer up his nose. I felt so bad for him...the things we do for money!!

He's on TV!

So tonight Chad and I went to his bosses house to watch a thingy, (I don't know what to call it), but anyway, National Geographic did a story on what Artis has been working on. It was so much fun to see him on TV. I feel bad though because I didn't tell anyone about it...so now I am telling you about it. It was entertaining to see Travis Poulson (my cousin), and other of Chads friends on TV. Good job boys! So now, you can watch it too! It is replaying a few more times:
Saturday Dec 6, 2 pm
Thurs Dec 11, 5 pm.
Now these are Eastern times, just so you know. It is playing on the National Geographic channel. They didn't go into much detail on how the system works, but it is really interesting. I am proud of those guys for creating something that can save lives. It was a good 2 minutes of fame, now back to work! Let me know what you think...

A visit from Cheri

The Saturday after Jacks birthday Cheri and Jeremy came to visit. She also brought Jacks birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Green...Jack was so excited, he answered the door naked. It was so fun to see Cheri and Jeremy, we miss you guys so much. I wanted to add a few more pictures to Jacks birthday post...









Thanks so much grandma for the present!!! The boys kept taking pictures of it.

I am never letting them leave

We have had Mark and Liz here all weekend and a lot has happened...a delicious dinner...a fire in the oven...the ZOO...and lots of late night fun. I wish I could keep them forever here. They have really helped ease the homesickness. Here's a few pictures...







OK, so here is what happened when the oven was glowing red...
Marci froze, she couldn't stop staring...
Chad to the rescue...
Liz couldn't stop taking pictures...
Jacob running around the room crying and screaming...
It was so funny!! I just smile thinking about it.







At the Zoo...











Bath time with the babies...



Date Night with Mark and Liz equals girls go to the bookstore, boys go to the electronics store and then we meet for dinner. I wish we could do it every night!

Blossoming Tehya

Friday Tehya had her 1st grade Thanksgiving performance. I was really nervous about how she would do. She is normally shy when it comes to things like this, and I imagined it would be worse this time because of all of the uncertainty she has been through lately...
To our surprise, she was wonderful! She sang every song... she danced...SHE SMILED!!! I feel so much better now that I know she is OK. Her teacher has been so wonderful for her and she thinks school is AWESOME!!

Happy Birthday Jack!!

Just wanted to add more pictures that we took later...




Today Jack has turned 3... (although if you ask him he will tell you he is 5)!! He woke up this morning so excited and charged for the day!! After eating cupcakes for breakfast he opened up his present from his Grandma. (Thanks mom)! You are awesome Jack! We love you. Now I need to go make more cupcakes... he just ate the last one for lunch.

My Talented Friends

So I really wanted to get this put on my blog before we moved but it didn't happen. I had two very talented friends take pictures of my kids so if you are looking for a photographer and live in Nevada or Utah, here are two great artists! Ashley Gull took the pictures of Savannah and Kiersten Lewis took the pictures of the Kids. Send me a note if you want more info on these photographers.

We made it!!

Just a quick note to say that we are living in our new house. I can't find the camera yet, so when I do we will have some pictures up!! We miss everyone. Oh, one more huge blessing... our neighbor across the street is in our ward, and she is amazing!! More to come later!!!

To Chad

Chad, I just wanted to tell you "thank you"

...thank you for working so hard for us.
...for taking such good care of me and the kids.
...for buying me a house.
...for letting me rest while I was sick.
...for always giving me compliments...you make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.
...for being the kind of father our kids deserve.
I miss you and hate it when you are gone. You are the best husband, I couldn't have dreamed of a better husband for me. I will be forever glad that we were brought together. I love you, handsome.

My Jacob

I was telling a friend about my weekend with Jacob and she just laughed and said that I needed to put this on my blog. (Thanks Janalyn!) I love my Jacob. He sure has come a long way from where he was a few years ago. We used to call him the "tornado" because he would destroy everything in sight. There was a time when every picture frame in my house was missing the glass, when we were on a first name basis with poison control (they used to just call to check up on him), when Jacob got lost everywhere we went... the worst was missing him for 45 minutes at the Dino museum. Things have improved a lot. Now on a sweeter note, Jacob is so sensitive. He allows compliments to flow freely from his mouth, and as long as I talk to him in a kind and soft voice, my wish is his command. He sure does keep me on my toes though....and here is what brings me to why I am writing this in the first place...

Saturday I took all 4 kids to the church to clean. Chad was out of town so it was just me. I sent the boys upstairs to wipe off the banisters with a cloth while I took the girls down the hall to wipe the chair rails. After a few minutes I couldn't hear the boys any more and a friend of mine said he would check on them. He found my two boys on the ROOF OF THE CHURCH!!!! A TWO YEAR OLD AND A 4 YEAR OLD ON THE ROOF OF THE CHURCH!!! He coaxed them back to the small window and helped them inside. (Thank you Dave for saving my boys!!) When he asked Jacob what he was doing there, Jacob replied that he was perfectly safe and that he knew how to fly like Peter Pan. We are never watching that movie again!!!

Sunday after church ended I learned that Jacob had left the church to run through the parking lot and across the feild. I think I need a leash. He told me he went with an "adult"...a boy who is 2 years older than him. Is that what he thinks an adult is? After a long lecture, he called his primary teacher to appologize and this is what I heard..."I am sorry I ran across the street. I thought I was going to go to jail, but I didn't. Good bye!" I just pray I can keep him alive until he is an adult. All of this just makes me love him more... I just don't know if I can keep up with him...I love you my Jacob.

I wanted to be sure I made note of all of the miracles that have happened since we decided to take this offer to move. I couldn't find my journal in all of the chaos, so I will list it here before I forget...

1. We were looking for a moving company when Chad ran into an old friend who he hadn't seen for years. His friend informed Chad that his older brother was the CEO of a nation wide moving company.

2. Jackson potty trained in the middle of all of the packing and moving and craziness, all by himself.

3. We were able to get our house on the market in a week- we painted, repaired, cleaned, and moved into my grandmas house all in 6 days.

4. We had 3 offers on our house in 6 days. I am still shocked about that, especially in this economy.

5. We closed on our house 19 days after we listed it.

6. My grandmas house has been vacant and we have been able to stay there during all of this. This has especially been meaningful to me...I have missed her so much. Some mornings I can almost hear her stirring juice in the kitchen and smell breakfast cooking.

I have to know that Heavenly Father is aware of us. I feel so strongly that it is time for us to go, even though it is not what I had wanted. I am glad that miracles still do exist. To have things with the house go so smoothly has been wonderful, especially because I feel like my kids are having such a hard time right now. When I start to doubt (which I do often) I need to remember all of these miracles that have happened and know that things will work out. Life sure is crazy....never a dull moment!!

We just made an offer on a house in Virginia...we'll see what happens next.

I just wanted to give an update on what is happening. We put our house on the market three weeks ago and it sold in the first week. We are closing tomorrow. I can't believe how fast things have happened. Now we are turning our attention to searching for homes in the Ashburn area. I have such mixed feelings right now. I am so grateful for how quickly and wonderfully things have gone, but I also feel so much sadness for the friends, neighbors, and family that I am leaving. Tonight I had to say goodbye to my house. It's been a wonderful house, and I will miss it's warped doors and worn floors. Time to start a new chapter.

I caved!

So I finally decided I better figure this out. I have been a little against this because of my limited time, but I decided that since we were moving soon it would be nice to have for family and friends to stay connected easier. So here it goes, my first post (with two kids on my lap while I am typing!)
More to follow soon!!.....