Brick Wall

Well, the move has been going very slowly. At first it was going slow because Jopes has school during the week, so we had to wait until he was done with classes to start bringing car loads of stuff over. I was super excited and motivated though, at first. As the week dragged on, however, I got less and less motivated. Now, the last thing I want to do is drag myself over to the old apartment and load up the rest of our junk, and then try to find a nice, organized place for it all here at our new apartment. :-( Boo.

We've hit a brick wall and we don't even have that much left! It seems like a never ending, totally annoying task, though. What to do?? I know, suck it up and get it done. Bleh. Still easier said than done. That said, we've been able to unpack and organize just about all of what we DO have moved over and we really like our new apartment. It already feels like home to us. Maybe because we've already washed a million loads of laundry and dishes! :)

We are thrilled to be using our fabulous washer and dryer, and to have a dishwasher!

Hurray for these tender mercies in life!

Halloween

Happy late Halloween!! We had a good one this year. Last year we moved the night of Halloween. This year, we didn't. We moved the day AFTER Halloween! :) But first, about our Halloween.

As you can see, little Joseph was a pumpkin. Kirt and Brenda let us borrow this wonderful costume, which was made by none other than... Grandma Jamison!!! We loved it. We didn't stuff it though. We needed to fit him into his carseat. He was still an adorable little pumpkin though!

We had a ward party a few nights before Halloween, and then a friend threw a Halloween party the night of. Aria did a GREAT job! She did an incredible job and put so much time and effort into it. The decorations, the food, the games, the company...

they were all fantastic!

Oh! I forgot to mention... Jopes was a scarecrow and I was another pumpkin, though my costume wasn't as cool as the other two. We had fun though, and love being together.

That's it for Halloween news, but real quick about the move--we moved to a new apartment! We really like it, and yes, that means we are no longer assistant managers. We are really enjoying that, too! :) Give us another week to get settled and then we want you all to come visit!! We'll post pictures too, as soon as we can. Love ya! TTFN!

He's HOME!!!

HE'S HOME!!

Jopes got back from his Grand Canyon field trip at about midnight:30 Sunday night/Monday morning. I was SO very happy to see him!! Even little Joseph jumped for joy... literally. He woke up a little bit before his dad got back because he's teething. So, I fed him, changed his diaper, and just as we were finishing that, we heard the door open. We hurried in to the living room and little Joseph stared at his dad for a second, then smiled great big and got all excited. It was wonderful. Except that Joseph didn't want to go back to bed after seeing his dad! As soon

as Jopes was holding him, he started jumping up and down the way he always does when his daddy is holding him (he's figured out by now that mom has no muscle and can't bounce him as

long or as well as dad). So we let him play on the bed with us

while we visited about his trip and happenings here at home.

It has been so nice to have Jopes home again. I did alright while he was gone because I had Becca here to help me and to keep me company, but life is just not the same without him! I really missed him. Little Joseph is happier with his daddy back, I'M happier with him back, and everything is just so much better.

Jopes had a great time. They got to stop at a few places on their way through Utah, including Arches and Goosenecks, and then of course, they ended it all with the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I've included a few pictures from his trip, but he has more for sure.

I've been blessed with a wonderful family. I love them more and more each day. I'm so grateful we will be together for time and eternity!

Welcome Home Jopes!!

HOORAY!!

Jopes comes home tomorrow night!!!!! I can't wait. AND, I have some fantastic news for him!

I took Joseph with me and went to the swim meet this morning to support Becca and the rest of the team, even though Jopes, their coach, wouldn't be there. I was a little late, but when I got there, I found out that half of our team hadn't shown up! PLUS, neither the coach nor the assistant coach were in town! So, I went up to a couple of our guys and asked who all had and hadn't shown up, and found out that only 6 of our guys were there. I also found out that those who were there were totally willing to jump into the other events wherever we were missing someone. :) This gave me a great idea, so I started telling every one of our swimmers that they were MORE than welcome to jump into whatever they could to make up for all our absent swimmers. We just had to tell the meet manager so he could make sure it was all recorded and scored right. It was insane. Poor little Joseph was lugged all over that pool area as I ran around trying to get swimmers into each event, and work it all out with the meet manager. Joseph was so good though! He didn't whine a single time. About half way through, we found out that we were only behind by 20 points. We still had a chance of winning! So, our guys kept jumping in to everything they could, and our girls stepped it up too. They started making up the relays that we were missing, and swimming extra individual events as well.

When we got to the last event of the meet, the 400 free relay, I sat down in a chair with Joseph and thought, "whatever the outcome is now, we did good." Then I noticed the meet manager say something to the coordinator... and the coordinator freaked out. Then he went to the coaches of the Spartans (the 'undefeated' team we were competing against) and they freaked out. I had to know what was going on. So I went and asked the meet manager. He said that we (the Knights) were only down by 2 points. 2 POINTS!!! And all we had left was the guys final relay. At this point, our guys were ahead, but it was still possible for the Spartans to pull ahead. Our last swimmer, who swam 8 events out of the 11 and placed well in all of them, had everyone on our team swarming around him just before he jumped in, telling him he had to swim fast. (DUH!) He did. He was dead tired, but he swam fast and hard and took 1st. FINAL SCORES: Spartans had 1072 points. Knights had 1076. WE WON BY 4 POINTS!! WE BEAT THE SPARTAN'S WINNING STREAK! WE WON THE MEET!!!!!! I almost cried tears of joy. I was so proud of all our swimmers there who stepped it up and did what needed to be done. I don't think I've yelled so much or put so much energy into any sporting event before. But I'm glad I did. It was amazing that we won, and I know Jopes is going to be so surprised and happy when he finds out, and that's the best part for me! Anyway, I can't wait for my wonderful husband to get home tomorrow night. I have really missed him. But I am so grateful to everyone who helped me be a little less lonely while he was gone. Especially Becca, who has been over every day to keep me and little Joseph company. Thanks Becca!

P.S. Joseph has been a perfect angel. I am so glad to be his mom!

Oops Again

OOPS

It is now October 16th

and I am just now posting.

No Good!!

Joseph will be 7 months old this Saturday. I can't BELIEVE he is more than half a year old!

Time has flown by way too quickly. Still, I am happy as ever to be his mommy. He is such a bundle of fun!

At his 6 month appointment, he was only in the 20th percentile for weight, and 22nd for height. And he did NOT like the doctor or nurses AT ALL!! Everyone keeps saying, "oh his stranger anxiety has kicked in already..." but I have news for everyone... his stranger

anxiety has

ALWAYS been kicked in. He's always been anti-just-about-anyone-who-is-not-mom-or-dad. Spoiled kid. :)

So, new adventure for our family... Jopes left this morning for a 4 DAY field trip to the Grand Canyon. It's the first time he and I have been away overnight, and I do not like it. Even little Joseph got irritated today and I'm sure it was because his dad had not come home to play with him and he was very bored with mom. Sad day. We both miss him a lot, but Becca was a wonderful help today. Joseph and I even survived clean checks tonight. I put him in the backpack and he was good the whole time. Jopes and I were really blessed with a wonderful baby. *sigh* 1 day down, 3 more to go. Ugh. I could never go to bed without Jopes when he was here at home. So now I find myself blogging at 12:38AM because I don't want to go to bed without him. I guess I'd better give in though, or little Joseph will find me very boring tomorrow! Much love to everyone!! Good night.

Life goes by too fast!

Well, it's been about a month since we last posted anything. It's been a crazy but good month, though. Aside from all the end-of-semester craziness both with school and the complex, we were able to attend Seth and Stacie's wedding, and an immediate family reunion with the Frees down at the cabin in Brianhead, Utah. Then, the next week, we had my mama here in Rexburg to visit!! Well, sort of. She was here/Pocatello/Idaho Falls to work on genealogy stuff, but we got her for a few nights and mornings! And we enjoyed/appreciated her time with us. We even got to meet her down in Pocatello Sunday afternoon/evening and played a crazy game of Skip*bo with her, Aunt Shirley, Uncle Kenton, and their daughter & son-in-law.
Little Joseph is just growing and learning new things more and more. He's so much fun to be with. I'm so lucky to be his mom! He definitely enjoys standing, bouncing/jumping, and his new trick.... sitting up by himself!
I had him in the tub one night, and he loves standing up in the tub (he loves standing up anywhere). So, he was standing up with me holding one hand under his arm and the other holding his other arm, when all of a sudden, he jumped... the hand that had been under his arm slipped completely off of him and my other hand slid down by his wrist. So, when he came back down, he dunked himself in the water all the way up to his forehead! At first, he had a startled look on his face, but it only took a second or two for that look to turn into a giant smile and more jumping. (boys! :) Now, we get water on his face all the time and he doesn't seem to mind.

I love my boys.
Okay, so one night we ran out of diapers and Joseph really needed one before we could get to the store... so I made one. Poor kid. I happened to have one of those peach hospital pads left over, so I used that and some packing tape (with toilet paper tucked in the sides so the tape didn't stick to his legs!) And then I had to make it more hilarious/awful by writing "My Mommy Loves Me!" on it... poor kid. :) Of course, his father wasn't sure what to think when he got home... I don't think he would have let me do it if he had been home though, and the poor kid needed a diaper change! :-P