New Years Eve 2012 and more!

That last post gave me a little motivation to get back to blogging. On New Years Eve, we got together with the Hargraves. Always a good time with them! The local animal shelter essentially had an open house/they needed volunteers during the holidays, where people could come and walk the dogs and play with them as well as the cats. All the kids loved it (Mark stayed home with Emma).

All the animals got plenty of loving, they were probably overwhelmed all the kids wanting to be up in their space. 

Later that evening, we headed over to Jake & Janells for appetizers and fun. Janell got the brilliant idea that we should play "Just Dance" on the wii. It was slightly embarrassing but hilarious all at the same time. Cameras were not allowed during the performance, but the kids enjoyed the show:

At the end of January I took David to the Dentist for the first time. I was so nervous how he would do, but he did great. The Dentist was fabulous, as well as his staff!

And just for fun, some pictures of David and Emma from this morning (5/4/13). They are so cute together and am so glad that they play well together (the majority of the time) and that David is so protective of his little sister. 

Woohoo, go me! Hope all is well wherever you may be, happy Thursday!

Easter 2013 and recent happenings

I read peoples blogs pretty much on a daily basis and wonder why they are not blogging way more often...and then I look at my blog and move on :-)

First up, Mark was offered a job with the St Anthony Police. We couldn't be more excited for this new adventure and even more grateful for this opportunity. We went through more unemployment than we would care to think about, but we are grateful for family and friends that have helped us along the way and to really see that the Lord has a greater plan for each of us, though it may not be "our" plan.

Mark was officially sworn in on March 11. He likes the people he is working with and already has some interesting and crazy stories. 

With this, we needed to be closer to work. It is required that you be within 10 minutes of city limits. We saw some great houses and some not great houses. Our realtor called me one day and said she had a house for us to look at, it wasn't on the market yet, but we could check it out. So we did. And thus began negotiations. A tiring process, but so worth it in the end. They accepted our offer and we will close on our first house at the end of the month!

This house is 4 bedrooms, 2 bath (the master bath has a jetted tub-a dream come true!), 2 car garage and a fenced in back yard! We again are so grateful to family and friends who help us keep the faith and encouraged us.

Easter. Easter this year was really run. David is just a fun age for these type of things. We went to an Easter Egg hunt in St Anthony. Definitely much better than Rexburg and a little less crowded. 

Emma spent the morning sleeping her stroller. 

One parent per child was allowed on the field. Mark braved the crowd with Dave

Mark was on call that day and ended up getting a call. So I took the kids on a long walk. When we got back, Dave needed to relax. It is slightly ridiculous how much he looks like Mark, but so cute!

Sunday morning, David was super excited when I told him the Easter Bunny had come. He kept wanting to see and play with the Easter Bunny. I couldn't get the video to load of David coming down the stairs. 

My mom got the kids adorable outfits for Easter. Emma is literally growing like a weed and I may or may not have had to turn her on her tummy to button her dress. 

That mostly catches us up for now. Have a great a week!

Associates/Blessing

All of our super fun visitors have left, a ridiculous amount of laundry has been done, Santa has come (thats a whole different post), so its time for an update on the blog.

Mark received his Associates Degree on December 14. It has been a long road, but we are proud of him! Emma was there, just not for any pictures apparently. Haha. We are still waiting on the background check for the job back in DC, here's to hoping it wont take the whole 9 months!

Since Marks mom and my Dad were able to come out, we also decided to bless Emma. My cousins, Reggie, Rex and Holly were able to come from Provo for this. 

But first we had to have play time, talking, eating, and just having fun. David really wore them out :-)

Then Sunday was the blessing. In the circle we had Mark, my dad, Jake Dustin, Jake Hargrave, Reggie, Rex, Ellis Johnston (HT) and John Smart.

We had a lot of fun and our sad everyone has gone. Here's to hoping we move closer to family soon!

One Month

I know everyone says it, but I seriously can't believe Emma is already a month old!! She is such a great baby and we are so glad she is here on earth and in our family. I took her in for a weight check today, she weighed in at 9.15. She only wakes up between 1 and 2 times at night, eats like a champ, and I think we finally have the projectile vomit behind us

David is a great big brother and is so sweet with Emma. He loves to "grab a kiss" and read to her (I wish I could have gotten the whole book)

On Sunday, we attended Marks units Christmas Party. It was catered by Gator Jacks and was a lot of fun. We really needed to attend because we missed the military ball. Normally it would be no big deal, but I was nominated and awarded the Molly Pitcher award. But, I had just had little miss 2 days before, so we were excused. Anyways, it is a great honor for this.

Santa also made an appearance. It was such a different experience with David compared to last year. I asked David what he wanted Santa to bring him a little over a week ago and he said Buzz. It was hilarious when Santa came in, because David started yelling "Hi Santa!...Santa, I want/need Buzz" over and over. It was so funny. 

Here is our first real family photo as well as a few others

                                                        

I also took David in for his 2.5 year check-up and it was confirmed yet again that he is tall and skinny. He is just under 3 feet (97%) and 28 pounds (25%-he has not gained weigh, just height)