We survived the weekend! Thursday was Thanksgiving and since we are oh so rich, we ended up staying here in Sunsites and had a thanksgiving lunch with our ward. It was very nice, however not anything like what Zack and I are used to. We have been very spoiled by our families and it was difficult not to be with them for the holiday. Friday we Left early in the morning and drove the 3 1/2 hours to Mesa to have a get together with Zacks extended family. It was nice and I met a lot of new people, and also re-met some. We spent the night at his uncle Rays house. I couldn't get over how much he looked like Lincoln! On Saturday we met up with my friend from High school who moved down here a few months before we did, Katie Sparks (williams). We went to Brass Pro Shops and Zack had an absolute hayday playing and wishing in that store. We made a few other stops and had lunch with our buddies. Our children started getting grumpy so we made the long trek home. That sums up the Thanksgiving adventure of 2011.

Today Zacks Basketball team (JV-which is what he coaches) won their game! I took the kids to go see it and they did great. Lots of whistles blowing and people cheering to keep them on their toes. Zack left early and we were able to enjoy some family time at Pizza hut. Zack was formally evaluated for the first time today and he said it went great. He did misspell worship as 'Whorship' and the kids got a huge kick out of that!

Shaylie has been having some attitude stress lately and so I've cut out all candy privileges. Doesn't seem to be helping. She's a big sweetheart, and very shy, but with me she is just a naughty some times! We took zack to meet up with the bus to take him down to get his car tonight and Shay got after me for leaving him! "He was just talking with that man mom and you left him! He's all alone now! Poor daddy. He needs his Shay!" After some calming down and a talk to daddy on the phone she was okay :)

Remember in my last post when I said Kade isn't really showing any real interest in walking? I guess I was lying. In the last two or three days he's taken a step or two. Mostly falling forward, but he loves to get up and try again. He's such a happy baby. He gives me kisses and loves to roll on people. I still cant get him to sleep through the night and I"m currently blaming it on the many teeth he's cutting. He's a big boy. At his 9 month check up he weighed 21lbs and was 27inch long (head was 17 inch) he's growing up so fast!

Last Saturday we decided to help support Zacks School by getting our pictures taken for a fund raiser. They turned out great...except...no on cared to tell me that I had too much make up over ONE eye. The kids took great pictures though!! She was able to get them to both smile at the same time!

Update

So...its been a while! So very much has happened so I'll try and report the short version of things :) To start off, Zack got a job! The end of June he was interviewed and offered a job at Valley Union High School in...Elfrida Arizona. It is about 50 miles from the border. I had very mixed feelings about the move but Zack was so excited and happy. We moved the last weekend in July to a home we were going to rent until we closed on a house.

Leaving was very hard for all of us. Saying good bye to friends and family isn't the most fun thing to do. We cried but survived.

We moved to a place called Pearce (Sunsites). It is a retirement community :) We had some stress closing on the first house we wanted but ended up getting a fully furnished home that we just love. We moved in the first week of October.

Of course the most fun thing to talk about are my kids. Shay struggled the first little bit after the move. She really missed her friend Lydia. there are little to no children her age here. She really regressed with the potty but things are back to normal now. She has been very helpful to me and has made things much easier...some days :) Kade is growing by leaps and bounds! He now has two teeth and about three more are fighting their way through. He crawls everywhere and

has just recently started to stand on his own. He shows very little interest in walking but he's still just a little guy. They are learning to get along with each other. Shay is struggling with it more than Kade because now the baby who used to just lay there can move and get her.

Shaylie had her 3rd birthday! I'm getting old! She got many presents in the mail and we had a family in the ward come over and play. She had a great day.

About the middle of October my dad and Tami surprised me! My dad told me he sent a suitcase with a friend I needed to pick up at the airport. I picked him up instead! Then two days later when I thought I was dropping him off to go home, I picked up Tami! They both stayed for another three days. It was the best surprise ever! I loved having them with me!

Zacks Graduation!

Zack Graduated with his Bachelors or Science in Secondary History education on April 29, 2011 at 1:00pm. We started the day by giving him little presents.

My mom gave him a UVU tie that he's been wanting and he wore it under his gown. The kids and I gave him UVU shorts, since he also has Snow college shorts, I figured he could add these to his collection.

After the Graduation stuff was all over, I had put together a little surprise party for him. He thought that just his family would be there to surprise him, but I got as many friends and neighbors as I could. I was surprised and told me he had a great night. I was so stressed about it! So glad it all fell into place!

This was taken right after he walked off the stage. We were both trying to be quick about it and neither of us noticed that the folder was upside down...opps! Richard was trying to take a picture next to my and accidently pushed the button to turn the camera off :) I kind of had to giggle. He walked around to where Zack was sitting and took another one!

Right along those same lines, I left the video camera with my mom to video tap. I quickly told her how to do it then ran off to take picture of Zack. When I came back, it turns out she had pushed the wrong button and missed the whole thing. I thought it was funny but she felt so terribly bad. Its not a problem at all though. Even Zack said all he needed were the pictures. Still, She was on the verge of tears. Darn technology! :)

This is Zack and his buddy T. J. Ballard. They were both history Majors and helped each other quite a bit through the two years they were together. They still talk and Zack says he thinks they will be the kind of friends that keep in touch and help each other out with teaching. I'm so glad he has a friend like this to help him out and relate to.

Nana Chele came to visit us a few days before Zack graduated. She came for his graduation, two weddings, and to take Tami home. She was a great help to me and the kiddos just love her to death! I hope I can be half the mom she is.

We found this graduation headband at the dollar store...you cant pass up something this cute for just a dollar. It was a surprise for Zack and he thought it was awesome!

Taken before Zack left for graduation.

Zack with his parents after he graduated

Zack with Nana chele after he graduated. Thats sums up all of us that were there. We went to eat at cafe rio afterwards. Richard had to go home to work, Anita took Zack shopping, while I took my mom and kids home to get ready for the surprise party! It was a long fun day! And the kids were awesome!

Easter

So we're been pretty busy this last little bit with holidays, graduation, weddings, and so on that I havent been able to blog so much. I'll try and update as best I can. Wont have as many fun stories...but I'll make up for that later I guess! First on the list, Easter.

And what is Eater without coloring eggs? It started out fun enough, but in the end (as is expected) we had a lovely mess of color. Justin and Caitlin came over to do them with us. I get eggs for free through WIC but dont seem to go through them very fast, so this was a next excuse to us them!

Shay got this lovely little dress and LOVES wearing it. She was so excited about her Easter Basket too. She was actually with me when I went to store to get everything, which she reminded me later. We gave Zack his basket first, and kept saying, "Shaylie pink basket go? Suckers go?" She's a smart one, so I guess I'll have to go alone next time!

She also got new sandals to wear with this and for Lincoln and audree's wedding, but I didn't put them on until we were done taking pictures...of course.

Kade screamed every time we tried to sit him next to shay for a picture so we resulted in Zack holding him out next to shay. Which she was fine with because it meant she could show off her dress and hold her basket at the same time.

Looking at this picture I think he was actually trying to sleep and kept waking him up...no wonder he screamed at us! We went to Wales to watch Grandpa Port get set apart. See that lovely white shirt he's wearing? Want to guess what he did to that lovely white shirt during sacrament? yeah...right up the back! Luckily he was wearing a sweater vest to cover it up! Boys are just so gross! The day before we went up to Logan to be with Audree and jessi when they took out their endowments...he did it at the lunch afterward too! Only when we're away from the house!

Not the most flattering picture ever taken, but this is us in our Easter attire!

Keeping track!

So I've decided I'm going to try and take pictures of Shaylie every time she lines things up in her perfect little way! It'll be so much more fun to tease her when she's older if I actually have proof! Here's my quirky little girl:

Pieces of a puzzle book. The line might not be straight, but you get the idea!

The plates to her tea cup sets. I think the crown adds a little something extra too!

Nana got her this princess puzzle which she loves! It can connect in all sorts of ways, but straight in a line is the only way she does it!
Nana also got her a puzzle where you can dress a bear. She lined up the shirts (body), the heads, and the shoes into their own lines...what a smarty pants!
These are all our non-working electronics. First she stacked them on top of each other and when that didn't work, she lined them all up so neatly! I'll be keeping the camera handy to see if I can get any more of them!

My Quirky Daughter

This is kind of a funny story. My family, and many others, believe me to be a bit...OCD when it comes to certain things. I've always joked that it just makes me a better person, even though it seems to annoy most people :) Last fall I took a psychology class where I learned about an OCD something or other that is a sign of a mental handicap. That 'something or other' was the need to put things in rows. Lining things up over and over again. Now just to be clear, Shaylie does not have a mental disorder :) She's just a little OCD like someone else...Anyways, I brought this subject up with Zack when we noticed Shaylie doing this...

These are her new pull ups...

She how hard she works...

To put them in such straight and perfect lines...

and to freak out her daddy just a little bit...

At first Zack was super worried when it dawned on him that Shaylie does this with cookies before she eats them, stickers on a paper, beads, books, stuffed animals, etc. But I think I finally convinced him that she's just a little quirky :)

(make sure to read the last blog I posted! Cute pictures!)

New Pictures!

So about a week ago we had our neighbor and friend (Brindy Bennett) take some pictures of Shaylie and Kade for us (mostly Kade since we were inside). They turned out way cute! Cant resist showing off my perfect little babies!

Two little angels...and they like each other! I think this picture is priceless.

Really no words need to be said for this picture. She's got some sass, and now I have proof!

Love her big Johnson eyes! They are one of the few things I can claim. Eyes and hair!

LOVE! As a mommy, this is so precious to me!

This one is Zacks favorite! We got the little jug from josh which he found at an antique fair.

My healthy, happy little man! Check out those lovely rolls!

He was tired of holding up his head, but still turned out cute!

I love it when he makes this face. Hands can be so fascinating to little people!

Very first picture of the day. He was a trooper!