Goodbye January

January was a fun month. I am not liking this cold weather though. My skin is not liking it either. My hands feel like sandpaper; they are constantly cracked, dry, and bleeding. My poor 2 year old has eczema, so her skin has been awful as well. So, lots of lotion, and medicine for the skin here. I am not anxious for the blazing hot summer, but I am anxious for the spring weather....... the 2 weeks of spring weather that we actually get in Utah ;)
A great accomplish this month: My 2 year old is potty trained. I have always said that I will not have a kid that is 3, and still in diapers. We just barely made it in time. She turns 3 next week. She has been potty trained for a few weeks now. BONUS: She stays dry through the night, too. She is so excited to officially be a "Big Girl" She asks me almost daily, "Am I 3 yet?" It has been over 7 years since I have not had to change diapers. I tried to add up one night approximately how many diapers I have changed over the course of motherhood thus far. I can't remember the number, but it was a butt load.... literally ;)
We hope you are all enjoying this new year.



Courtney put her coat on upside down, lol



All snuggled up watching movies

In his favorite spot.... by the heater

On New Years Day we went to Temple Square to explore, and see all the beautiful lights.

This Temple is so special to me. All the temples are, but this one has a special place in my heart. It will always remain special to me. I thought it would be harder for me to see this temple after everything, but it was such a wonderful experience to go there again.

This photo just makes me laugh. She is all bundled up though. It was about 6 degrees out that night. Extremely cold. We spent most of our time in the visitors center. We saw the Joseph Smith movie, and then when we were brave enough, we went outside to see the beautiful lights. It was a quick stroll.

I was able to meet up with some old friends of mine from Job Corps. We had dinner together at Tucanos. It was so great to see them. I hadn't seen them for 9 years. Wow, time sure does fly.





I stayed up one night folding the mountains of laundry that kept piling up in the front room. Ben puts the laundry in the washer/dryer, and I fold the laundry, and put away. Well..... he was keeping up on his part, all the while I was slacking on mine. I will not go down in the basement here (if that's what you can even call it) and that is where the washer/dryer is located. So, Ben does it. Thank goodness. Needless to say, I'm a chicken. Want to hear a weird fact about me? I'm still scared of the dark. I'm a great big baby. ;)

I just had to throw this one in here. My 4 year old daughter was convinced that the girl in this photo was me. I'm not quite sure who she is. I just thought it was funny that my daughter was convinced. LOL. Kids.... gotta love em. They are too darn funny. :)

Goodbye January

Our soon-to-be new home! :) (Well, kind of)

Super big news here!! We..... are...... building....... a........ HOME!! YAY!! We are super excited!! Our house won't look exactly like this. It will be some-what different.
We will be building in Southern Utah County. I have mixed feelings about the area. It really wasn't my first choice, but certain circumstances lead us that way! I love Springville area, but the more I think about it, the more I think we are going to LOVE it there. It will be nice to be closer to some of my family, and closer to some of Ben's family. Ben's brother and sis in law live in the same town we are building in! So excited to be closer to them! We will be building in a brand new community out there. 600+ homes will be going up in this community. They are set to build a clubhouse with a huge pool, workout room, great room etc. this Summer! They will be making this pool available to the public for like $50-$60 a month. We will get use of it for free. (Well it comes out of our HOA fee money) They will be putting in our yard for us. They will be maintaining the whole yard, so long as it is not fenced. Then what is fenced is our responsibility. They will be doing snow plowing and removal. I never thought I'd buy a house in an HOA area, but the more I think about it, the more I'm going to love not having to do yard work or snow plowing and having access to a pool, workout room, great room, volleyball courts, etc. We will be building right in front of a little park/play area with tons of open grassy areas. We are bulding a hybrid home; It is a mix between 2 homes. We are taking the plan of the upstairs of one home, and the bottom plan of another home, and putting it in to 1 home. It will be about 2,400 sq. feet. It will have 3 levels on it. No, it is not a split level home. The basement will not be finished, just the upper 2 levels will be. It comes with 3 bedrooms 2 1/2 bathrooms. When it is all finished, it will have 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 2 living rooms, and a cold storage room for our food storage. They have not built the hybrid yet. We are actually helping a little to finish the plans for it. We are currently trying to decide if we should place the laundry room upstairs or downstairs. If we put the laundry room upstairs we can do like a mud room downstairs with cabinets as lockers for the kids. However, if we put the laundry room downstairs and don't do a mud room, we will do a little loft area upstairs. We are loving the loft area idea. We will probably make it a little play area for the kids while they are young, and then a study area or lounge area for the kids when they are older. It's fun being able to help design this home even though it is in a small way. The changes that we make are going to be the standard plan for anyone who looks in to building the hybrid model. So, we decide whether the permant plan has the laundry upstairs, and mud room downstairs; or if people have the laundry downstairs, and have a loft upstairs. We have an option of putting a separate shower in the master bath, but that cuts into the closet. It's just lots of little things that we are helping design. It's fun going over it all. What is your feedback? Any suggestions on what you would do with the laundry room? What is seen in the pictures comes standard with the home. What we see is what we get. Most model homes have a base price, and the model homes are loaded with upgrades. So, to make the home look like the model home, they actually have to pay tons of upgrade fees, and the home ends up costing more. So, for our home there will be no upgrade fees for the canned lighting, crown molding on the cabinets, higher baseboards, 2 tones paint, ceiling fans, etc. I love the way the kids bathroom is set up. You walk through a door, and see a vanity area. Then through another door is the toilet and tub/shower. It will make it nice to have access to the vanity, and to be able to do the kids hair while someone is using the restroom or showering. Anyway, I don't have pictures of the new home as they haven't built it yet. However, I have pictures of the 2 homes that we are building in to 1 home! Enjoy! We sure are! Ben, the kids, and myself are so excited for this upcoming change! We should be in early to mid May! :)



This is house #1. We are building the upstairs to this home.




Another view of house #1.




This is the master suite




This is the master bath. Through the archway on the right is a HUGE walk-in closet.




This is one of the kids bedrooms. The rooms are actually really big. I'm impressed. You can't see the size of the rooms in these pictures. It is opened quite a bit to the right.



Another room for the kids. I love all the windows in this home. Tons of natural lighting.

This is house #2. We are building this downstairs.

Another view of house #2. I love how the garage on these homes are on the side of the house. It makes the homes look so much bigger.



This is the living room.



This is the kitchen. They are actually widening the dining room a little bit in the hybrid plan.



Another view of the kitchen. I love the desk off to the left. I'm thinking about trying to make this counter in to an island instead of it wrapping around connected. We'll see.



And a little close up of the kitchen. The hybrid design will change a little bit. Originally through that door is the laundry room, and bathroom. They will be opening it up, and just doing a bathroom, and a mud room, or a bathroom, and laundry room more opened up, and it will have a door that leads to the side of the home.
There will be tons of little changes, but these pictures give an idea of what our home will look like.

That's it for now. More to come later! :)

Happy Birthday, Ben! We love you!

My wonderful Husband turned 27 yesterday! (Well I guess technically day before yesterday since it's after midnight now). I am so thankful to have him in my life! He is truly the greatest blessing in my life (along with God and my kids that is :) ) He is ALWAYS looking out for the kids and I! He is always taking such great care of us! I always joke around, and tell him he makes a better house wife that I do, but he truly does. He cooks, he cleans, he does laundry, he works, he helps kids with homework, he gets kids ready for bed & tucks them in bed, he is always willing to get up with the kids in the morning, get them ready for school, and take them to school (even though he works graves). This is one subject that I am absolutely stubborn on. I will not allow him to do this unless I'm sick, and am not able to do it. He is always playing with the kids! He is always there to listen and helping me through my struggles. He is always telling me to forgive, soften my heart, and rely on the Lord! He is a great example to us, and everyone around him! He just adores the kids and I, and we adore him! He teaches the kids correct principles, and helps them gain a testimony of the Gospel! He is always so gentle and kind! He has been here for me through thick and thin. He has always had a such great patients! He has taught me SO much, and I have so much more to learn from him! He has helped me strengthen my testimony, and has helped me know what great worth I truly am. He makes me feel beautiful, and tells me how amazing, and beautiful I am daily. There is not a day that goes by that he doesn't tell the kids, and I, how much he loves us! He is truly my better half! I am truly happy to be his Wife! I am so anxious, and excited, to experience all of the things together throughout our journey here, and the here-after, together. So to Ben, thank you for everything! They say that Prince Charming doesn't exist, but you are truly my Prince Charming! WE LOVE YOU, BEN!

To the story of his birthday this year:
We had a nice day! On Saturday I took him out to 'The Brick Oven' for his birthday! We had our favorite dish there thus far.... the name seems to be slipping my mind at the moment! We have only had it 1 other time. That was back in July. Ben took me there for my birthday. I have craved that pasta ever since July. So, needless to say, I got my pasta fix on Saturday. I gained a ton, but hey, it was worth it :)
We had the pleasure of meeting with our wonderful Bishop on Ben's Birthday! I was telling the Bishop about an experience I had while I was pregnant with Marshall. I told him that while I was pregnant with Marshall the Doctor told me that my Son might have a hole in his heart, fluid around his heart, and that a part of his brain was not measuring correctly. He told me that because of the part in his brain, that he may not be able to walk or talk in his life. I had to go to see a specialist, and found out he was fine. I was reading the scriptures daily, and praying daily starting a couple months prior to this incident. I was closer to the Lord, and had a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father than I had ever had before. It was a struggle hearing those things from the Doctor, but I prayed to God telling him that I didn't want this to be the case with my Son, and it was my desires that my Son be okay. But, I told Heavenly Father that I accept anything he brings my way. So, if this was what was supposed to happen, then I would accept it. After I was finished telling this story he said, "I don't think we've had you two speak in sacrament yet. Would you guys be willing to give a talk on 'Having Faith Through Our Adversitys'?" Of course Ben and I accepted, and are actually very anxious to speak on this subject. The Bishop suggested we tell stories from our life about this subject, and also share with people how we met, and so on. We will be speaking in sacrament 2 weeks from today! :)
On the morning of Sunday, I woke up and made Ben breakfast- Chocolate Crepes with Strawberries. It was amazing! I made him chicken pot pie for dinner, and a homemade chocolate cake. YUM! It was seriously the best.... THE BEST... chocolate cake I have ever eaten. If anyone would like the recipes for any of these, feel free to comment with which ones you'd like, and I'll send them your way! :)

Happy Birthday, Ben! Thanks for being YOU!




Chocolate Crepes with Strawberries



Cake batter. YUM! Yes, those are little mini chocolate chips in the batter :)

The finished project. I am horrible at icing cakes, so don't mind that. And YES, those are pink candles, lol. You make work with what you have ;)

This cake was amazing. The whole thing is gone; every last bite.

At the top of Squaw Peak. We hiked there on the 4TH of July to watch the Stadium of Fire's fireworks from above. We were so high up.

The boys building a fort right after one of our huge snow storms

Another picture taken at the top of Squaw Peak. That is the Provo Temple in the bottom right hand corner. If you ever want to know where Squaw Peak is, just look up at the mountain above the temple. You can see it from the freeway. The Peak is pretty close to the top of the mountain (I think anyway). The way the Peak comes out, it looks like the Peak on
'The Lion King'

Not a pretty sight of me; no makeup, and hair messy. But we sure did have fun that day baking a cake with the kids, and that's all that matters :)

The highlight of my life; My Family!

We have had some AMAZING times with you, Ben! It has truly been a pleasure! I cannot wait to experience many more years with you, My Love! :)