Mexico!

Well I must admit, I didn't want to go. Let me explain...Troy and I went to Mexico in May of 2003. We had a fabulous time and Troy wanted our children to experience the thrill of Mexico, but I was nervous! There were girls getting kidnapped and I didn't want to be afraid the whole time! After some coercion and promises that everyone would stick together, I relented! I am so glad I did! What a fabulous time!

REMEMBER!

Helloooo again! I think I must have sounded a little discouraged in my last post. My brother called my mom to see if I was ok. I am ok! In fact things are getting better all the time. Kaylee seems to be doing very well at school and socially too! She has made a few friends with the young women in the church. April and Alex seem to be doing a little better, but are still working on finding "JOY"! I know it will be better. I wouldn't want to be in Jr. High for anything! Would you want to go back? The elementary kids seem to be fitting in great! Kameron is loving having a scouting program. Abbey is loving Activity Days! They are easily entertained so it doesn't take much! Throw them in a room with a tv, computer and plenty of food and you wouldn't see them for days! I try to only use that scenerio as a last resort!
Talking about school has got me thinking...do you remember your school years? I know that I went to a different school every year until high school, so my experiences are very different than most. I remember how hard it was to fit in, how the secretary at almost every school needed to buy a bra, how I loved the school lunches because they made them from scratch at some of the schools, especially the cinnamon rolls! I remember the plays, the debate team,the school newspaper and the very important recess. I remember swinging on the swings like spiders with my best friend Susie and singing "Private Eyes are Watching you". I remember riding my bike everywhere; it was a yellow ten speed and I think I wore it out! I remember mowing lawns, babysitting, cleaning and farm work to earn money for school clothes and fun! I remember lots of great times and a few really hard ones. I think as you get older when you look back you remember the good and try to forget the bad. Someone once told me that works with children too. When they grow up they don't remember that you yelled at them!? Do you think it is true? It is for me! I cannot remember my mother ever being mad at me...now I know that can't be true, but I really can't remember. Maybe I really was as good as I thought!!Haha! I bet my children won't be that lucky! It is fun to look back and remember all the experiences that have shaped you. I wonder what I would be like if I had never moved. Or if I didn't have to learn to make friends all the time? Both of those experiences have proven to be great assets in my life. I usually make friends easily and have learned to adapt to change. I wonder what my kids will remember. Do you think it will be vacations or game night? I think the most memorable things are usually the little things!

The beginning....dadada!!!!

Ok. So we made it to Utah and we are mostly unpacked, at least as much as we are going to. I must admit I am a little disappointed that we haven't met the neighbors or very many church members. When you come from a small branch you attack anyone new that enters the doors. Here they don't even know if your new. There are so many people. I think the children are feeling it too. Only they are feeling it in a different way. Yesterday they started school and I am not allowed to comment much on it, it evidently did not go well. The schools here are huge. There are 1600 kids in the high school 10th-12th grade. There are just as many in the jr. high. The elementary kids have 1000 kids in their school and they seem to be fairing better.
There is nothing harder than watching your children suffer with any problem. I have prayed and cried and prayed some more that someone might step in and be a friend to them. Everyone needs a friend and moving is so hard. I should know I went to a different school every year until high school. There are some advantages. You get to be whoever you want. No one knows if last year you were a geek, because this year your amazing! The other advantage is the "I'm new here and I don't know what your talking about!" That is a classic! Of course, I here that all the time! I am proud of the kids for doing their best to make the most of it. I know it will get better, but change takes time and we are an impatient society!
I know I tend to blabber, but if you know me then you know that I am like that in person too! I love to talk. Not the best thing to do when your new. The best idea is to be friendly, but be a listener. Not my gift! I am working on it. Especially since Kameron informed his primary teacher and school teacher that his parents NEVER listen to him! How can that be? I am sure I have heard him talk before. I mean in the last 10 years I have had to have heard something he said.....no..I guess not! What a funny kid! He is a riot though and I would be sad if he were to ever go away! See you later!

I was lost, but now I'm found...

I know it has been a long time since I wrote which is actually kind of sad since there has been so much going on. Let see, we had the holidays, which we spent in Minnesota. They were great. The best part was Troy was home with us! We shared Thanksgiving with a couple of wonderful branch(church)friends! Troy flew out just after Thanksgiving and it was a very long month until we saw him again! I am so glad that is over! Christmas was stressful, as we were trying to get things packed. We took the Christmas tree down on Christmas day. That was kind of sad. Then the day after Christmas a bunch of men from the church came and helped Troy pack the truck. Oh didn't I mention...we moved! No, we didn't sell the house, but we have some great friends taking care of it until it sells. Anyway, we finished loading the truck, cleaning the house and started on our way to Utah! It took a lot of effort to get most of the stuff on the truck we rented and when it didn't all fit I started to lose it! Troy gave in to my pleadings (reluctantly, since he thinks we should just have disposable furniture!) and got a trailer to pull behind the 26' truck. I was happy until I realized we would still be leaving things behind! I know it is just "stuff", but we are those kind of people who don't replace things that we get rid of. Anyway, after some mourning for my unpacked possessions,we began our journey to Utah.
We decided to make it a little fun for the kids and so we stayed at a water park hotel in South Dakota. It was a lot of fun! Troy and I were so heavy together on the tubes we thought we would never stop in the toilet bowl slide! That is another story! So that night we drove up to Mt. Rushmore to see the lights shining on the mountain. It never even dawned on me that it would be closed. The last time we had been there it was summer you know! The roads were pretty clear and when we arrived the gate was open, but no one was there. The faces were all lit up and we enjoyed a full, clear view, without the crowd! It was great! I imagine most people don't go to South Dakota to look at the mountain two days after Christmas. We also went to reptile garden and though we couldn't see all the reptiles because it is too cold, we had a good time. The bonus is that it is way cheaper in the winter!
We arrived in Utah on New Year's Eve! We had a couple of guys show up to help us unload, but mostly handled it ourselves. Thank heavens for my tough girls!
So we are starting a new year in a new town, with new faces and new schools, but we keep reminding ourselves that we are finally together and that is truly all that counts!

One of those Days!

Today has been one of those days! You know when you want to crawl back into your bed and throw the covers over your head and sleep until tomorrow? Oh, you don't have those days?! Well anyway, I was having just such a day. It started out with a two hour late start for my two youngest because of ice on the roads, which just throws a kink in my day. Then off to take Kaylee to Chamber Choir practice, home again just in time to find Kameron and Ab's snow hats, boots, mittens, pants and whatever else they think they need for the first day of snow (less than an inch, mind you!). Then I managed to throw them on the bus as it went passing by! Whoosh! So I am feeling fairly successful at this point until I realize I had rented the ole' rug doctor and my floors were waiting for my attention! I started to empty rooms of their furniture and vacuum up the crap that grows on the edge the carpet. I am not sure how that stuff gets there, but man it is gross in just a couple of days! Anyway, I finally finish that task and begin the cleaning drudgery, but wait, there are spots to rewash and goop to dissolve! OK finally that is done. It is now about 11:30 am. Not bad considering I have been up since 6:15. (Which I should of been able to sleep in because of the late start, but my friend calls to tell me there is a late start and for some bizarre and unusual reason I can't get back to sleep...go figure!) I begin the actual cleaning process. You know it. The fill the base then walk back and forth slowly for hours on end. I was thinking how amazing this store brand machine was doing. I hadn't had to change the water yet. Two rooms later it dawns on me why. The whole dang floor is soaked and very little is actually making it back in the catch tank....Sheesh! I want to scream, but it would be a waste of energy since no one would hear me anyway! Just then my new realtor drops by to give me some forms. She is all dolled up in her expensive suit and I stand there in my sweats (which are wet) and greasy hair pretending I am fine with the way I look in the middle of the day!
Back to the carpet mess. I had to take the machine back to the store and get another one. Of course, they "just can't believe it doesn't work, it has never had a problem". By this time I have a problem! I am hungry, ugly and sweaty and I still have a couple hours of cleaning to do. Oh and by the way, the computer is fixed and could you pick it up now. No problem I love running all over town looking like I live in my car! Did you know you could have 700 or whatever spy ware thingies? Well evidently you can! So at 2 pm I am finally home, fed, taken some ibuprofen for the backache my fat body is causing me and am ready to begin again. OK so this time the machine works, but the carpet still looks dirty. What do you do about that? I say add more furniture and no one will notice! I finally get a shower, but don't have time for hair or makeup so I just pretend it suppose to look like that.I throw the Shepard's pie I had made the day before in the oven and set the timer to start at 4. I toss the cleaner back in the car to return it by 4 so I don't get charged a late fee. I run to the library to pick up Abbey's school library book that I had dropped off at the public library. "Yes, I know I should look to see what library it belongs to" do they think I can't read or something...I mean it is a library! I know how to read I just don't have time! They find the book and tell me to pay closer attention. Seriously, I wanted to swat her. She has no idea what I am thinking as I smile and nod my head, but inside I am...well nothing really. I am just annoyed and insulted and patronized and whatever....who cares! I know she isn't a mother of five because she is only about 12 (older I am sure, but college kids look younger to me everyday...right?). Off to the post office to mail some packages. Actually waiting in line at the post office is almost therapeutic at this point. Now I can go home and enjoy the wonderful dinner I have prepared and enjoy the kids. You'd think right? Oh no! Dinner goes OK. I get the dishwasher started (Kaylee's job this week) and clean up (Alex's job this week) because everyone has disappeared...conveniently! I have to take the girl's to young women, but Kaylee has decided to drive. She does well, except for the time she almost turned into oncoming traffic, it went fine. My heart is racing when finally arrive at the church and I drop them off. I come back home. Aah home! Time to relax? Nope homework and bedtime for the little ones. Now I am off to pick up the girls and then I think I am going to bed....this time I am going to keep the covers over my head...maybe no one will find me until tomorrow!
It is only Temporary and then we die...Enjoy!

My teenage Girls!!

I can't remember how to get the pictures like I should! I am such a novice! So anyway the girl's went to a stake dance! It was April's first dance! She turned fourteen last Sunday! The picture's were so cute! Kaylee is Belle from Beauty and the Beast and April is the one next to her. She is a princess! We must thank the Kenner's for the dresses! They had a great time even though only 7 boys showed! The young women came here to get ready and this is all of them. They went another 45 minutes to get to the dance! Our stake is almost 4 hours long from end to end! We aren't Utah! I can't believe how much my daughter's have grown and how beautiful they have become! They are great examples of doing what is right for their friends! They seem to have a good time together too! April isn't smiling wide because of her braces, which, by the way, are adorable! She still has the dimple!

Life and stuff

It has been nearly a month since I wrote. I am not very good at this Des! Check out the gunnellfamilylife blog to see a good one! So life is good! We haven't sold the house and haven't had any lookers for a while, but we have faith it will happen soon! Meanwhile, Troy has been hanging with his parents on weekends and that has been great for all involved! We see him about every 3 or 4 weeks. It's hard, but we truly enjoy him while he is here! The kids finished soccer! Yeah! Alex's team won their championship game and finished out the season on top! The picture is the indicator of success! Kaylee's HS games pretty much stunk, but hey they had fun! The kids are eager to get moved to be able to participate in activities out there. Waiting is never fun1 I think it is like being 9 months pregnant, but having no due date to look forward too! Painful!
I recently left my job to concentrate on the kids and getting packed. I think I miss it already. Being really busy keeps your mind off things.
Ok enough already!
You know lately I have been thinking about fathers! I mean with Troy being gone I have thought a lot about the role he plays here. Some father's don't do much to help with the kids, but he does and so I miss him more. I have also been thinking about my own father. Up until recently I would call my own father every single saturday morning. It was "our time". He told me about what everyone was doing in the family, how mom was and what he was thinking about. I loved having that time to bond. I am not sure I did it enough as a child. Anyway, the best part is he tells me how much he loves me (0f course!), but he also tells me specific reasons why he thinks I am a great person! Everyone needs that! He inspires me to keep going and to do more! He keeps me level headed and motivated! I think everyone could use a dose of "why your worthy" times! So I think I am going to add some here!

YOU ARE Wonderful because...
God loves you! You have a great smile! You makes others feel good! You are my friend! You are a mother, brother, father, sister, wife, husband or child! You get things done! You keep trying and trying... You CAN do it! You do do it!
That's just a few! I want you to know I appreciate all of your support and kindnes!

Take care!