More pics! :)

Hi!!! Utahna... you make me laugh. :) I know what you mean though. I check this thing way too much. Anyway, I wanted to post a few more pictures of Amber. Hope things are going well for everyone. Love you and look forward to seeing you soon. Miss you!

Love,
Crys

Is it too soon to be addicted? :)

Ok............  I keep checking the blog to hear from Cheryl? Where are you? What's going on with you and your family? :)

 

I also find myself sorta addicted.... signing on frequently to see if there's anything new.  Kinda like my other email! :)....... Dori, I want some more scriptures to give me perspective! :) Crys, I need another updated picture(s) of that sweet baby of yours.......  Cheryl, (back to you), can we see a picture of Chris?:)  And your dogs?:) ....... Mom and Garry, how about some pics of all the changes you've been making in the house? :)

Miss you all!  I'll try to get some newer pictures uploaded, too.  First, I have to call Crys to find out how to do it!!! :)))

Happy Saturday night!

Love,

Utahna

I got the chance to refuel some A-10's and had my phone handy so I thought I'd take a video for ya'll. I know the quality isn't fantastic but you should get the idea of what I do. They may be kind of slow and boring but it still is pretty cool. If you got any questions I'd be happy to give ya an answer. Anyways, enjoy :)

P.S. Sorry I didn't get the contact on video, I was looking out the window and not at my phone :P

Better Later than Never...... :)

Okay.  I'm lame.  Took me long enough to get on here!  Thanks, Crys, for setting it up.  Don't know why it got confusing for me but at least I am here NOW! :) Although this is my first post, I HAVE posted two comments so far, so does that count for something?!?! :)  I'm doing things backwards here--commenting on other posts before entering my own.  Anyway..... I think this is a great idea, Crys!  Thanks for getting this together.  I LOVE getting the updates and seeing the cool  pictures!  Wow!  Talk about snow!  What an adventure you must all be having!  Amber is absolutely adorable and I am sooooo glad you are posting pictures.  Lexi squeals with delight when I show her the pictures.  She loves ALL of her cousins--but doesn't seem to squeal over the boys.  Go figure!?  It must be that innate female bonding thing! :)

Anyway...we are well. Busy, busy, busy!  Cole started after-school sports today for 6 weeks of Thursdays.  He played football today and loved it but was soooooo dirty when I picked him up!  Man, boys play hard and he had the dirty face and dirty clothes to prove it!  Lexi is hard at work, memorizing her lines and dance routines for the play she is in.  She has a lead--but, the down-side is her role is a GUY!  She's kind of torn between being excited she has a major role and disappointed she doesn't get to wear cool girl clothes.  Ahhh!  The joy of raising a pre-teen girl!  Sometimes I feel like I should just be taken out now! :)

So..... we are all doing well after our Spring Break and are starting the count down to the 11 weeks of school left until Summer.  How sad is that?  Eleven weeks to go and we have begun counting down!  Hard to believe that in 11 weeks we will  be the parents of a 5th grader and 2nd grader.  Crazy how time flies so fast!  Hold on, Crys! ...... and don't blink! :)

Love you all and I promise to be better about blogging and updating you all on our little life in San Diego.

Happy "almost the weekend"!!! --Utahna

Perspective

I've read this scripture before and loved it then. But today I re-read it and it brought comfort to me all over again. Tonight when I was writing about it, I felt like I should put it in our family blog. So...here it is. My favorite part is the end in red.

Alma 7:11-12
"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities."

I love this because it reminds me that regardless of who does or doesn't know either what we are going through or how we feel, the Savior does and he knows how to help us best. (That is how he wanted it.)

I am so grateful that we are family. Friends come and go, (even ones we don't think will,) but despite our differences our family is always there. Thanks. I love you guys!

OK, I'm off my soap box, thanks for letting feel taller for a few moments. Ha, ha, ha. :)

Happy Easter...a day late! :)

Hello family! We just wanted to wish everyone a Happy belated Easter. We hope everyone had a great one with all the families. We had a pretty good Easter. Church was nice. We had our picture taken to put in the Stake Directory. That way when the stake presidency comes to visit, they know who we are. (So they say:P) We had a big Easter dinner, so that was nice. I ended up making a gigantic ham for just the two of us. Yeah...we'll be havin' ham sandwiches for a month. Other than that, it was pretty low key. Just nice to be together as a family and celebrate the Atonement! What a blessing it is for all of us. I am far from perfect. I am forever grateful for the gift the Lord gave us!


We were excited because the dreaded snow had started to melt, but our excitement was short lived and premature. It snowed about 5'-6' this weekend, leaving a blanket of snow for us to deal with. Oh well...they say it's gonna end. I don't know about that one. Nick and I just think it's wrong to be snowing like that at the END OF MARCH!!! We'll just keep waiting for it to stop!


Here are a few pictures of Amber in her Easter dress. And a cute little video of her kicking and smilin' away! She looked pretty cute if I say so myself. Our camera finally gave up and broke this past week, so we need to get a new one soon. For now, we're using our camera phones, so the quality isn't as good as we'd like. But it's better than nothing. Anyway, we love you all. Can't wait to see you all. Love, Crys

Exciting & Changing Times

So...

How cool is this - to be able to talk with all of you at the same time!  May you all have a beautiful, Happy Easter.  We sure are fortunate to live in America where we can celebrate whatever we want, whenever we want.  It's one of our choicest blessings.  I truly consider each of you my sweet blessings & I know Father in Heaven is very happy with all the good choices that you & your family members make, too.  The Gospel is true & the Book of Mormon is, too.

San Diego is boasting a beautiful 82 degrees today & looks & feels so gorgeous.  Anyone (or all) want to come on by & check it out??  What no takers??  It's an open invitation anytime!  We opted not to go on the Campo Train Ride down to the border today but will make it when it is a little less crowded as all the kids that are going on the Wyoming Trek in August (replicating the Martin & Wille Handcart Companies by the early Mormon pioneers) are going today.  Maybe a future weekend before the summertime.  It will be too hot then to enjoy it.

Do know how much each of you are loved & I thank you for being so special - my little angels all grown up!!

Lovingly,

Mom

Pictures of Amber

I'm so excited that we are doing this for our family! I really hope it works out. I love you guys! Here are a few pictures of Amber. Hope to see you soon!

Love, Crys

Hello my beautiful family!!!

Ok, so I had the idea to start a blog for our family, in hopes that we will ALL post and be able to keep in touch just a little bit better. I know we are all so busy with our individual lives, but I firmly believe that we need each other and will truly benefit from this if we really make the effort. I love all of you so much. I miss you and think about you often.

We are doing well out here in North Dakota. It is ridiculously freezing, but we hear it's suppose to end. We're still waiting for that one. :) Amber is getting so big!!! It makes me sad some days. She is so smart and active. She rolled over for the first time the other day. When she did, I think she surprised herself cause then she looked at me and started smilin' away. Sooo cute! I love being a Mom! It is the greatest joy I have ever experienced. I love it!

Jake and Kodah are lovin the snow. If we we'd let them they'd eat, sleep and play outside all day. (On a side note: you KNOW it's cold when two Siberian huskies run straight back to the door when they're done going to the bathroom, instead of playing :) ) They are great with Amber, which is a real blessing for me. She just giggles and smiles when they wrestle or lick her toes. I love it! They are little best friends. All three of them are gonna plot against me some day, I just know it!

Nick is back in the air again after some more training when we first got here. He loves being in the air and actually doing his job. We still don't know when he's going to be deployed exactly, but we'll keep you all posted.

I am doing well. Just trying to adjust to everything and be grateful that we are finally settled.
( at least for the next year or two!) We are very blessed and are so grateful to finally be together again as a family.

I love you all. I truly hope that we all take this opportunity and try to connect just a little bit better. Some things just can't be expressed on a phone. ;) And that way we can post pictures of all of our families too. I hope to talk to you all soon!

Crys

I've added a few pictures, so you can see some of the things we can do. And also look at my cute baby!!! Hehe :)