REWIND!!!! Leaving Arizona part 1

Everything with our move happened so quickly I didn't really get a chance to explain what we were doing. Anyway, here it is...

We decided that Brett needed to find a new job, the one he was at just wasn't going where he wanted to so we decided to start looking for something new. Brett looked into some job opportunities in Arizona so we could stay where we were already settled. He interviewed with a few different places but they just weren't the right fit so we decided to look outside the state of Arizona. Then came this job with Wells Dairy (Blue Bunny Ice Cream) in Iowa. It was a Production Supervisor job doing similar work to what he had been doing for the past six years or so. It was appealing to us because it was in a small town and the company was a smaller family owned company. When Brett went to Iowa to interview he just fell in love with the area.

The day after Brett came home from his interview with Blue Bunny he received an offer for the position and we took it. They wanted Brett to start as soon as possible so we jumped right in and organized our move and got the heck out of dodge. It really happened so fast I didn't get a chance to really tell anyone that we were leaving or get a chance to say goodbye to anyone. I feel terrible because I had made some dear friends in Arizona and then I just pack up and leave without as much as a, "See ya later." I guess I did put a post on this blog but that's probably a little too informal but what can ya do.

The movers came on the 1st of September to start packing our house. Thankfully we had the best neighbors ever that let us take over their house while ours was full of boxes and moving men. The Wallin's were such fun neighbors. You know the kind of neighbors that are there for you when you need to barrow something. And there are the million times we had Kelly fix our computer. I don't know what we are going to do now when our computer breaks... Hmm... We had a lot of fun hanging out with the Wallin's (Kelly, Holly, Brinna and Laci). We really didn't hang out with the Wallin's as much as we should have :( Probably two months before we moved we started playing cards with them. We would either go to their house or they would come to ours and we played BIG. It's such a fun game! I don't know what to compare it to so that you know kind of what it is but it's one of the games where you have to get rid of all of your cards first to win. Maybe that's all card games.. Anyway the whole strategy of it is what's fun. The last time we got together we took a couple of photo's and this one of Brett and Kelly will always crack me up. They just look so special don't they? What a bunch of goofballs. We really miss you guys!The second day of packing went a lot quicker than the first. The movers pretty much just had to take down our beds and load the truck. Our original plan was to stay that night in the empty house and then head out for Utah in the morning. Well, the plan changed when the movers finished so early. We loaded our Montero said some goodbyes and then got on the road. Before we left Buckeye our good friends the Wright's (Ryan, Tifany, Kutter, Payton and Maggie) came over to see us to say goodbye. Pretty much wherever Ryan and Tifany were we were soon to follow. Brett and Ryan have worked together at three places now and it's not a coincidence. Ryan has always put in a good word for Brett and brought us along with him. We really owe their family a lot. Besides helping us find jobs Ryan and Tif have helped us with all sorts of projects anywhere from painting to yard work you name it and they have been there. It was really hard to say goodbye this time our little girls are close in age and have always played so cute together. We sure do miss you guys. I wonder if the Bishop is going to think that the Wright's moved since he always thought that Tifany was me.. Funny times!!Just before we left Buckeye Brinna Wallin was at our house and she asked me where our couches were. I was already pretty emotional so when I told her that they were on a moving truck because we were moving far away I just started crying. Even sitting here right now I'm holding back tears. Moving for me hasn't ever been a hard thing. I'm very adventurous that way. This move was hard because I hated taking Madilynn away from all of her cute friends. I was sad about leaving our friends too but I knew that I would remember them but Madilynn is so little I thought that she wouldn't understand what was going on. I'm just so glad to have the blogs of our friends to look at so that we can keep caught up on what's going on in their lives even though we are far away. Madilynn hasn't forgotten her friends. She talks about them all of the time. Hopefully we'll get to see them sometime when we are all in Utah at the same time.
I wrote this a month ago and for whatever reason I didn't post it. Well, since then a few things have happened. Ryan and Tifany (and their kids of course) are moving to Iowa!!! We are so sO SO excited for them to get up here! I mentioned earlier that we have always followed them wherever they were. (That sounds a little stalkerish) Well, it stands true we have to be around each other. Ryan will be working with Brett at Blue Bunny and probably for the first time ever they will actually be on the same shift so maybe they will get to see each other. We are very excited to have the Wright's here close. Now we just need to talk some of our other friends into moving up here too..

Kimber update

Madilynn and Kimber had their well child visits last week. Our doctor here is great! She spent a long time with us checking the girls over. Madilynn is doing great except for some rashes on her feet. She has really sensitive skin so the dry fall weather is hard on her. We just have to really lather her up with the lotion and cortisone cream.

Kimber checked out really well. The doctor was a little concerned that she isn't sitting by herself yet. She said that Kimber's little leg muscles seemed a little tight so she wanted us to take her to physical therapy. She also said that she heard a heart murmur but wasn't concerned about it. I guess that with little babies when they listen to their heart they can hear normal blood flow and that makes it sound like there is a murmur. She told me that we'll watch it and if we feel it's necessary we'll take her to a cardiac specialist. The doctor really didn't think it was an issue she just wanted me to know everything.

On Tuesday Kimber and I went to her physical therapy appointment. I forgot my camera but I had a camera phone with me so I took a few photo's. It was so cute to see Kimber sitting on the huge table. The therapist worked with Kimber for about 40 minutes. She showed me a few things to help Kimber figure out how to sit all by herself. Kimber has always preferred to lay on her stomach so she just kind of skipped over sitting and has gone right into trying to crawl. Her little hamstrings are just tight from not practicing sitting up so we will work on her to get her in shape.

My sweet Aunt Jeanine

My dear sweet Aunt Jeanine returned to our Heavenly Father on Friday. She was the most amazing woman. We always loved to go and stay with Aunt Jeanine and Uncle LaThare. Jeanine was one of the ladies that on short notice could have the most amazing meal prepared for last minute guests. I remember Jeanine as a very loving and kind person. She always made me feel welcome and loved. I will really miss her and will always remember what an awesome person she was.

Huh?

The phone rings and I answer,
"Hello."
"Who's this!" The voice on the other end of the phone says rudely.
I pause and say, "This is Heather."
CLICK!!!! The rude guy on the other end of the phone hangs up.. Umm.. Where are people's manners?
Sorry that just happened and I was kind of stunned and had to tell someone about it. How weird.

Picture Tag

My friend Nicole Bender tagged me with this picture tag. It's so much fun to see what random photo you come up with.

For this tag you find the 5th file of photo's and then the 5th photo and post that. Here is my 5th photo.
I tag Barbara, Angelia, Tiffany, Beth, and Mariann!

Family photo's

We tried to take our family photo the other day... Umm... It didn't turn out as well as I would have liked but whatever. I guess I can't expect much when I have to set the timer and run to get in. The girls probably think I'm crazy running back and forth like I am. Anyway, here they are.

Carving pumpkins!

I know, I know Halloween was forever ago and I was late posting about our trick or treating. I just remembered I didn't put the photo's of Madi's pumpkin that we carved together. She had so much fun scooping out the seeds and sort of helping me carve the face. I think it turned out pretty cute. I just had to put this last photo in. Look how little she was just a year ago... She is growing up so fast it makes me sad.

Trick or Treat!

I'm a little behind I know Halloween was a week ago and here I am finally talking about it. Oh well!

Brett and I took Madi and Kimber out to do the Trick or Treat thing. Last year Madi was Pebbles from the Flinstones (homemade). This year she was a cute little witch and Kimber was a lady bug.

We walked up and down one street and that was enough to wear Madi out. She had a great time. We met some more of our neighbors and even a dog or two.

When we finished doing the rounds we went home to hand out our own candy. We watched Black Beards Ghost and ate some candy. Madi had a lot of fun handing the candy out to all of the kids that came by.

It was a really fun day! I wonder what Madi and Kimber will be next year.

Snow!

Last night Brett wanted to go try out this Mongolian BBQ restaurant called Hu Hot in Sioux City. We were saying the name like Al Pacino would say it. Anyway, it was really tasty and reminded us of the Mongolian BBQ that used to be in Logan that was called Amy's. While we were in Sioux City we decided to stop at Target and get Madi all geared up for the snow. We bought her a jacket, snow bibs, gloves and boots. She picked the boots with the fur and wouldn't hear of any of the other pairs. On our way home it started to snow a little bit. It was a really wet snow with really small flakes so it was hard for Madi to see it. Well, this morning when we looked out the window there was definitely snow on the ground and more still falling. Madi has never been in the snow before so she was very excited to get out in it. I got her all dressed up except for the snow bibs and she went out and braved the cold. She really loved it and didn't mind that her face was getting cold. She loved it so much that she really didn't want to come inside but finally decided that maybe she was getting a little bit cold.

It's so fun to be back where it snows again but now I have to teach myself how to drive in snow again.. I really don't want to slide into someone on the road that would not be good. Now I'm kind of wondering if it really was a good idea to get rid of our car with four wheel drive... Hmm... Oh well I'll just drive extra careful now and I'll have to really plan ahead so I'm not rushing.

So does anyone else have snow yet?

It really bugs me when...

It really bugs me when I call to find out some information on one of our accounts and they won't tell me anything because my name isn't first on the account.. So annoying!! It's especially annoying when Brett has already talked to them to give me authorization and the next time I call they need authorization again!!! SO ANNOYING!!!! I mean, I deal with all of our bills and it's very hard to make changes to stuff when they won't let me do it... Ahhhh!!! I know that it's a good idea for them to do it that way because there are disgruntled people out there but I'm not one of them and I don't like being treated that way.
Ok! I'm done griping about this now.. Thanks for listening!

Some new favorites

Here are some of my favorites from our little photo session today. Hopefully it won't snow before we get a chance to take a photo of all of us in the leaves. Leaves are so much fun and I guess tasty too... Icky!!

Quirky tag

My friend Jen Moon tagged me with this quirky tag. I'm supposed to list six of my quirks so here it goes.
1. When I hang my clothes up they all have to face in the same direction. When Brett would help me put away the laundry I could always tell what he had hung up. I have him all trained up now and he does it automatically.
2. Whenever I take a bath I always take a shower right after. I don't know if everyone does this or not. I once mentioned it to someone and they thought I was so weird because why would I want to wash off the bubble bath. Umm.... I think it's icky not to wash off.
3. I am a door locker. When I get in the car I immediately lock the doors. When I walk in the house I lock the door behind me. The car door locking started after I took drivers ed in high school. I remember we watched a video that said you should always lock your doors in case you roll. That way if your doors are locked they won't fly open when you are rolling over. Silly I know but I actually was in a roll over and our doors didn't fly open.
4. When the telemarketers call Brett just tells me to ignore it but I can't. I always answer the phone and tell them to take us off of their list. I just can't stand that they will just keep on calling. It usually only takes a second anyway.
5. I don't do this any more really but I used to take a clean glass out of the cupboard and rinse it out before I drank out of it. I'm pretty sure I started doing this when my younger brothers and sister were washing the dishes. I guess I didn't think they were rinsing them well enough. After that it was just a habit.
6. I always buy my milk, eggs and meat at the grocery store and not at walmart. I'll buy everything else at walmart just not those things. Maybe that's not so weird but Brett thinks I'm silly to make the separate stops.

So now you know some of the silly things that make me me... Me me... That's funny!

Now I tag: Angelia Fairey, Krystin Wahl, Robbin Conner, Lucy Watson and Stephanie Tucker. Well and anyone else that wants to play.

My visiting teaching route...

I got my visiting teaching assignment in the mail today. Our ward boundaries are crazy big it's not like anything I'm used to. I'm amazed at how far apart some of my people live from each other. My companion lives in the town Struble, Iowa it's about 15 minutes away from me. I think getting all of our visits done in one day is going to be a huge undertaking. This should be interesting.

View Larger Map
I'm not totally sure where our ward boundaries are but this map will give you a pretty good idea. I don't know how well you can see it but our ward goes into South Dakota and Nebraska. Yeah it's that big. You are probably thinking that we have a ton of people in our ward. We don't it's really pretty small. Such a change from our over flowing ward in Buckeye.

View Larger Map Map
This is my parents ward in Utah. It's just a few blocks.

View Larger Map
This is the ward in Buckeye. I thought that it was pretty huge.

View Larger Map

First haircut

I took Madi to get her hair trimmed today. If you remember a few months ago I flat ironed her hair to see how it would look. It was all uneven so it needed to be cut. I have been trying to decide if I wanted to do it yet and today it just seemed to be the right time. So since we were going to Walmart to do some grocery shopping I figured we would stop and see if they could fit her in.

I kind of thought that she would freak out about someone coming at her with scissors but she didn't. She sat there with a huge smile on her face the whole time. She loved it! Just more proof that she is a girly girl.

Halloween Parade

Saturday was dedicated to Halloween. Here in Le Mars they had a parade for the kids to march down Main Street in their costumes. Madi dressed up as a witch and Kimber was a lady bug. I really wasn't sure how many people were going to show up so when we got there and saw the line up I was very surprised. I think just about all of the kids from around Le Mars were there. We were right at the tail end following the large crowd of kids and parents and dogs who were all following behind the fire truck. It was so much fun and I'm pretty sure that Madi had a blast. She loves dressing up so this was a great time for her to show off.

After we walked down Central Avenue the kids could go trick or treating at some of the businesses. At first Madi wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do and so she just walked up to the people and said, "Thank you!" She had the "trick or treat" part down once we were all finished. I guess it was a great trial run for the real trick or treating event next Friday.

Later that day we decided that we would drive to Sioux City to go to the Trunk or Treat at church. While we were waiting for the festivities to begin Madi found some kids to run around with and Brett and I were talking with some of the other adults, then I heard Madi crying. She was completely terrified and running towards me. At first I didn't know if she had fallen down or what had happened. As she was running to me she kept turning around to look behind her and then I saw what had worried her. There was a boy that was wearing one of the scream costumes. You know the mask of it has the fake blood that runs down the face. Madi was so freaked out about it. The boy was really cute and took the mask off and talked to Madi. We kept telling her that he was a nice boy and that he was just pretending. She didn't care she just knew that she didn't like that mask. After that she stuck really close to us and was watching very closely to see if that "Scary Boy" came around. She was even talking about it when I was putting her to bed. I just told her that he was pretending to be a scary ghost like she was pretending to be a witch. Hopefully she doesn't think about it any more. She didn't wake up talking about the "scary boy" so I guess she has forgotten about it.

Kimber isn't sitting up by herself yet but the little hole she was sitting in held her up so perfect. She sat there for us to take a bunch of photo's. I think we ended up with some really great shots of the girls in their costumes. It was a really fun day and the weather couldn't have been any better for the fun fall outing.

Duh part 2

Remember a few weeks ago when I didn't know it was General Conference and we went to church thinking it was normal church? Well.... Last night I set the alarm clock to wake us up so we would have plenty of time to get ready and get to church on time. This morning I was laying in bed thinking I was still pretty tired and I noticed the sun was out but didn't think much of it. Madi was also in the bed with us and she was talking about something. Then Brett says, "Heather... It's 8:00AM..." Oooops!!! I did it again... I set the clock for 6:00PM!!! Shoot!! I guess I was delirious after our day of fun. I better not have any more of these brain lapses or somebody might have me committed.

Funny little girl!

Cute little Madi Moo Moo! She is such a little doll but there are times that she tries my patience. She will ask me for something and before I even get a sentence out she starts to freak out. So I try to talk to her and she just cries and won't listen to anything I have to say. I think it usually happens when she is tired. Anyway, I look at her and I say, "Show me how good you can be and then we'll see if you can have that." So she puts this huge forced smile on her face. I crack up every time because she has tears streaming down her face and then this gigantic smile. It's just so cute that she thinks if she smiles really pretty that she is being good. What a sweetie pie! I guess it's also her way of showing me how precious she is to me and that I should remember that when she is driving me up the wall. I love you Madi Moo Moo! The first two photo's are the smile I'm talking about without the tears.

This her being a dinosaur. She started doing this when we went to the dinosaur museum in Vernal (something I need to post about....)

Rainy Fall Day

October 15, 2008

October 22, 2008

Look at how many leaves were on the trees just a few days ago. Crazy! I love the rain that we are getting it's so nice. While we were in Buckeye it was so rare to get rain so I was always so amazed by it. I just love the change of seasons.

I took these photo's from our front yard looking down the street towards the Ice Cream Park.

JG Wentworth

I'm sure you've seen the silly commercials for JG Wentworth. A few months back they had one with all of these people that were yelling out, "IT'S MY MONEY AND I NEED IT NOW!!" Well, our cute little Madi turned to the tv put her hands on her hips and yelled, "IT'S MY MONEY! I WANT IT NOW!!" It was so cute I only wish I had a video camera on the ready to catch it. Brett and I both just burst into laughter.

Halloween 1988

Oh my goodness! Look at how silly we all were. I'm not really sure why I decided that I should be Alvin that year but whatever. I think we did a pretty good job of putting together home made costumes with what we had on hand. I'm pretty sure I have the only copy of this photo so I know my brother's and sister's will get a huge laugh out of this one. I mean, look at Sharon and Beth.. They look a little crazy don't they? Just kidding! Richard and Nathan are just cute. I love you guys!

Pumpkin carving stencils

So I was looking online to find some free pumpkin carving stencils and I found something even better. Go to this website and you can make your own stencil and print it out. I think it's pretty cool and I can't wait to carve our pumpkins. http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/pumpkin-carving/pumpkin-stencil-maker/?psrc=RG810BTR48