Happy Veterans Day

This morning I called my brother to wish him a Happy Veteran's Day.  I told him that he was my favorite veteran.  He served in the Army reserves for many years and served a year fighting for our freedoms and the freedoms of other nations.  We talked about how both of our grandpa's were veterans and what they did for us in their day.  It was nice to think back on all my family members and Tony's family who have served or currently serving our country.  What amazing people we have in our lives to show us their amazing love for this country.  I too love this country and thank the Lord for the opportunity to live here.

Last night we had our ward "Tasters Table."  I think that it turned out really nice.  My committee members did a great job decorating and their was plenty of food.  We didn't get as many people as I thought that we would, but everyone who came said that they had a good time.  That is one of my favorite activities of the year, but I am glad that it is over.  Now I can start planning for next years activities...well, lets say start thinking about next years activities.

Yesterday morning I went into the doctors to have them check out a sore under my chin.  She said that she thought it was a type of Herpes that I had.  So, like a cold sore under my chin...way crazy place for that.  She gave my a prescription to help it and said that it could worsen into a boil.  So far it hasn't started looking like a boil (thank goodness) but it has really been itching today.  I still can't believe it.  Maybe I got it from the stress of the activity and waiting to hear about Tony's job.  I did get a cold sore at least once a transfer on my mission for stress, but always on the lips.  At least I have some medicine to help with any future cold sore break out.  Life is just full of funny stuff that happens to you...it's all about taking it in.

Interesting how life works

We still haven't heard about the job in Ogden.  Tony heard that they will have a decision made by the end of the week, so that is good that we have a more definite time line.  Tony had a phone interview with the manager of the cannery in Mesa.  If Tony doesn't get the Ogden job then he will want to get the Mesa job.  We don't really want to move out of Utah, but that might be what we have to do to get Tony into the position that he needs to be in.  I guess we will find out later this week.  I am having a hard time thinking about selling our house and moving to Mesa, but when you tell the Lord that you are willing to do whatever is necessary, that means that you are willing to move.  That is what we said, so we need to have the faith that whatever job Tony gets offered is where our family is suppose to be.

My ward is having our "Tasters Table" on Wednesday.  I am the Chair of the Activities committee for Relief Society, so I have been busy for the last little while.  I have all the recipes typed, copied, separated, and paper clipped.  On Wednesday morning my committee is coming over to get little gift bags ready to give out to the sister that night.  We are making caramel corn to put in bags with candy corn then a cute tie.  I hope that it all comes together.  This is my favorite activity of the year generally, so I hope I still feel this way now that I am in charge.  It has been a lot of work so far.

Tyler and Josh have been playing really cute together.  The other day (when the weather was wonderful for like a week) Tony found Josh and Tyler playing in the window well.  So cute.  Then last night Josh snuggled up to Tony while he was laying on the couch.  It was really cute too.  I thought that he would have moved when I went to get the camera, but he stayed and gave me a big smile.  I sure do love that kid, even though he screams a loud, high pitched scream ALL DAY LONG...it's loud!

Halloween - better late then never

Tyler as a cow boy with his horse, Pal.

My little Tigger and Cow Boy

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday this year, even though the actual Halloween day was on Sunday.  In the morning we got the boys dressed up and then we went to Macy's where they had some trick-or-treating through out the store with some other fun things.  So we did a little grocery shopping while the boys got some treats.
After we went to my sisters house and parents house to show them the boy's costumes and to trick-or-treat at their house.  My mom gave out little play dough this year and Tyler has already played with his.  It is a good idea if you don't have many trick-or-treaters that come to your house.

"Trick-Or-Treat"

Yummy neighbor candy

After that we went to Tony's parents house to do a little trick-or-treating.  It was fun to show off the boys in their cute costumes.  After we took the boys home and Josh took a little nap.  Then around 5:00 pm we ate some dinner and then started going to a couple of the neighbors houses before the ward Trunk-or-Treat.
We did about 4 houses when it started to rain.  So we ran and got our car to drive over to the church.  We all got out and did a little truck-or-treating, but then it was just too rainy so Tony and Josh waited in the car while I took Tyler around to the rest of the trunks.  I took him around pretty fast and skipped cars that had a line.  I am not about waiting in the rain for a little piece of candy.  After we got most the cars, we ran back to our car.  I tell you what, it was a good year to be a cow boy.  Tyler's hat kept him pretty dry, which is good because I pretty much stole his umbrella.

Waiting at the door - before the rain came

We then drove home.  I found our other umbrella and Tony took the boys to more houses while I stayed to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  Tony just held Josh, but looking back he really should have taken him in the stroller.  It would have been tons easier.  With all the rain we just weren't thinking logically.  After they went up and down the street Tony brought Josh back and then Tyler and Tony went back out.  My sister Sherri came to visit and see the boys.  It was fun to chat with her while the boys were away.  Tony and Tyler weren't gone too much longer when they came back pretty wet and tired.  Well, Tyler was tired.  Tony wanted to keep going.  He probably should have taken Tyler in a stroller too.  They all had a good time and Tyler liked passing out the candy once he got home.  It was a really fun Halloween, even though it rained so much.

First big snow

Tyler making his snow angle

I woke up this morning to four gloriously beautiful inches of snow on the ground.  It was so beautiful.  It helped to know that I didn't have to go anywhere so I could just stay inside and look out my window.  Tyler was so excited to see all the snow and he wanted to play in it first thing.  I told him he had to wait until it got warmer.

Tyler making his first snow ball

Once I got Josh down for his nap, Tyler and I went outside to play in the snow.  Of course it took five minutes to get all his snow clothes on...then he said he had to go pee.  Luckily we bought him the snow pants and not the snow suit, so it wasn't too bad to take him to the bathroom.  The first thing Tyler did when we went outside was make a snow angle.  It was pretty cute to see him so happy in the snow.  He loved picking it up and throwing it at me - no real surprise there.  He really does love the snow and it was so much fun to play outside with him in it for a while.

Tyler happy as can be playing in the snow

Tyler and his HUGE snow ball, which he threw all over me

Tonight I got to go to dinner with a friend of mine from my ward.  Tony was so nice to not only stay home and watch our boys, but he watched my friends little girl too.  It was nice to get out of the house.  I have needed a break for a while.  I realized that I hadn't left the house without the children except to do my visit teaching since I lost my job.  Pretty lame.

We need to be better about having date nights and getting out.  Tony's mom is going to watch the boys for us Friday morning so that we can go to the temple.  It has been a long time since we have gone...shame on us for sure.  Any who...fun snow...fun dinner...generally a fun day.

Trip to St. George

I only got one picture from the whole trip and it is one Tyler took of Nana Great on my phone

Tony, the boys, and I went to St. George this past weekend with Tony's parents to help Tony's Grandparents with some stuff in the their new place.  We left Thursday after Tony's work and drove down.  Josh has decided that he isn't a huge fan of the car, so it was kind of a rough ride there.
That night we stayed at Tony's grandparents place on air mattresses in their front room.  It wasn't too bad, but Josh and Tyler were getting into everything.  They had lots of small breakable things around and that is exactly what the boys wanted to play with.  So I felt like I spent a lot of the weekend chasing after them and making sure that they didn't break anything.
After the first hectic night and the next day Tony and I decided to get a hotel room where they boys could play and we didn't have to worry so much.  Also Josh was such a loud screamer this weekend.  Well, he always is, but he scram a lot and loudly while we were in St. George.  Because he screams when he wants something or doesn't get his way, or he's really happy...so I think it was driving everyone crazy, especially Tony's grandparents.  They are way too nice to say anything, but I am sure that they were happy that we got a hotel room for the next couple of nights.
Tony's mom had a soft ball tournament Friday night and Saturday during the day, so we got to watch her play a little ball.  On Saturday we also went and visited my Aunt Connie and Uncle Jeff and my Grandpa Willis.  It was really nice to see them and chat with them for a while.  On Sunday we went to sacrament meeting and then headed home.  Josh did much better on the car ride home, so that was very good.  It was a fun trip, but honestly a very frustrating one.  Tyler for the most part did very good and I was very proud of him.  Josh is just at a very busy stage.  Tony's mom has talked a little about maybe taking us to California in March or May, so I think by then he will be tons better...at least I sure hope so!

Tony's Job Interview

Tony had a job interview for a lead position at the cannery in Ogden.  He said that he thought it went pretty good, so I guess we will see if he gets it.  He is one of the top three choices, so those are good odds.  There is another lead position that opened up in Mesa Arizona, so that is a possibility if he doesn't get the Ogden job.  We would really rather stay in Utah, but have both decided that if we need to move for Tony's work then we would be willing to relocate.
Ogden its self is pretty far away.  Tony said it took him an hour to get home from the interview.  So if he does get this job we would have to think about maybe moving closer to his work.  Defiantly not in Ogden, but somewhere near there.  I don't know.  Ideally I wouldn't want to move until Tony got a manager position so that we knew that he would be there for a while, but my ideal doesn't always happen.  I just know that we need to be willing to move and we will be blessed.  Isn't that a weird thing to think...but that is how we feel.  Maybe we will be blessed will our willingness to do what is necessary to serve the Lords church???
Maybe he won't get either of these jobs and we are back to waiting.  The guy over all the canneries in the church is Tony's old boss and really likes him, so we are hoping that he will do whatever is necessary to get Tony a lead position so that he can get trained for management.  Only time will tell.  We will try to remain humble and patient for when our time comes.

A weeks worth of thoughts

This has been kind of an exciting week.  Tony learned about a couple different job opportunities within the church that are coming available.  These positions would be a step up for Tony and the step that he needs before he could become a manager.  He has sent in his resume and even had a phone interview on Friday, so now we just have to wait and see how he did on the phone interview.  We also would like to hear about a regular interview too.  All things that make us excited about the future and maybe like we are finally getting blessed for our patience. 
We got out and did some yard work yesterday.  Trying to get it ready for the winter.  I never really know what to do with certain types of plants and flowers, so I just wing it.  Sometimes they come back, other times not.  Okay, most the time not.  I am not exactly the green thumb that I wish that I was.   Maybe some day I will learn how to have better looking flower beds, until then I will just settle with what I have.
Josh is doing really good.  Tony took him in on Friday and got the stitches out.  He didn't care for that part, but he actually did really good with them in and never played with them.  He is such a tough guy.  He really just loves playing outside.  I am so glad that we have a nice fenced in area for the boys to play.  Well worth the time and money to put that in.  I hope Josh doesn't have too hard of time with the winter.  Tyler, on the other hand, can't wait until it snows.  I got out his old coat and snow boots to see if by some miracle they still fit him so that I wouldn't have to buy new ones and they do - YEAH!  So now he likes to play in his hat, gloves, and snow boots around the house.  I love that kids can find enjoyment in the smallest things.
Josh has the loudest scream ever!  He doesn't just scream when he is mad or sad, but ALL THE TIME!!!  When he is happy, excited, wants attention, wants "something," anytime.  That is the way that he has chosen to communicate.  It is driving me nuts.  I just can't handle it sometimes.  I try to stay calm and say with a stern voice, "Joshua no" but it does nothing.  I find that I am loosing my temper a lot more lately because of the screaming.  I try so hard not to yell and to be patient, but it has been super duper hard these past couple of weeks.  I find that I have to remind my self that he is only 13 months and that I can't reason with him like I can Tyler.  I have gotten so used to being able to talk things out, that I forget that I can't do that with Josh.  That has been a hard adjustment from having a preschooler AND a toddler.  I need to work harder and being more patient...deal with the screaming...and just be better...

Trip to the fair...and the doctor

Tyler waiting in line for the bouncy house

Last night we went to Tony's parents Stake Fair.  It was lots of fun.  They had a bouncy house and a couple different blow up slides that Tyler really loved.  They also had soups and chili's for people to eat with plenty of yummy desserts to enjoy.  They also had cotton candy and pop corn machines.  Tyler got to go fishing for a prize and even won some pumpkin chocolate chip bread doing the cake walk.  Tyler could have played for hours, but Josh was getting fussy so we only stayed a couple of hours.  We went with Tony's dad and we all had a really good time.

Tyler at the top of the big slide getting ready to come down

Tyler coming down the slide while Tony and Josh behind

Tony and Josh waiting for Tyler to go in the bouncy house

After we came home I changed the boys into their new pajamas and while Josh was toddling around he got hurt.  He fell onto the hinge of the front door and got a pretty good sized cut on his eyebrow.  It looked pretty deep so Tony took him to the InstaCare that is close to our house.  While they were waiting a nurse came and put some numbing cream on his cut - he didn't like that at all but I am sure that was better then a numbing shot.  Then they took him back and the doctor ended up giving him three stitches.  So sad.  Tony said that he cried and cried the whole time.  I was so glad that it wasn't me there because I would have just sat and cried with him - since that is what I did when Tyler got his stitches.  At least this time it wasn't my fault, but it still isn't a very fun story to tell.  Hopefully his eyebrow will cover it and so it won't be very noticeable.  The hardest part about kids learning to walk is definitely all the bumps and bruises and cuts they get.  But I guess that is part of the job.

Last soccer game of the season

Tyler had his last soccer game today.  He did really good.  He didn't score a goal today, like he has done the last two games, but he didn't whine or complain at all about playing.  He got a metal when the game was all over and he really liked that.  It was really cute to see all the kids line up to get their pictures taken/  I am not sure if they play in the spring, but if they do I am sure that Tyler will want to play again.

It has been a really cold and raining week this past week.  It was hard on all of us (Josh especially).  I don't think that it is suppose to rain for a while, so that is very good news for playing outside.  It is definitely fall and I just hope that it stays for a couple weeks before winter decides to come.

A couple different employment opportunities may be coming up at Tony's work.  Tony may be looking into them and seeing if they might work for him and our family.  It is exciting to think that he might start progressing more within his work.  He has worked hard and totally deserves it.  But who knows, they might not even work for him, but it would be nice if it would.

Weekend Family Fun

On Thursday after Tony got off of work we headed up to the cabin.  We haven't been in a while and really wanted to get up there before it got too cold.  It was beautiful there.  The leaves were all changing and they were really bright yellow, orange, green, and red.  We went on a couple four-wheeler rides and the boys loved it.  It was fun to take them around and talk to Tyler about the changing colors.  We also saw some of the fishes in the pond jump up out of the water and eat the bugs flying by.  That was very neat to see.

On our first ride we saw a mom deer with her baby.  She just stood on the road and watched us for the longest time, so Tyler and Josh got a really good look at her.  We spent the night up there and it was a rough night for Josh.  Something about babies and the cabin, they just never sleep well there?  Then we had some breakfast before heading out for another ride.  After our ride my parents came up to deliver a new table.  We were able to help them bring in the new and take out the old.  It was a nice time up there and we hope to be able to go up again soon.
Tyler had his second to last soccer game on Saturday.  He did pretty good and scored a goal again.  It was still a battle at times to get him to go out and play, but he did have a good time.  Sunday we spent the day at Tony's parents with his whole family.  It was really nice having everyone (minus Tim who is in Iraq) there watching conference.  I had been thinking about Tony's brother and sister-in-law who live in Logan and are moving in the fall to go to Optometry school a lot this past week, so I was really glad that they were able to come down.  It is sad to think that we won't be seeing them for a long time when they move.  I don't see us being able to afford to go and visit them or them being able to afford to come home much, so that kind of sucks.  Maybe they will go somewhere close, I guess we will see.
Tony is working the later shift again this week.  I am already extremely lonely and bored.  It is a cooler, raining day, so we haven't been able to go outside and play.  I am really going to miss the warm weather this winter.  Josh and Tyler LOVE to play outside.  I hate to wish time away, but I really can't wait until this work shift week is over, I miss having my husband home in the evenings...I am too spoiled with my awesome husband.