Horseback Riding

Some months ago when my Dad was home on leave from the Middle East, my mom wanted the adults to take a night horse ride.  It was my first time leaving William, but we did make it through the evening.  Here are the backs of our horses.

 So I saw this "Good Luck" star in the bathroom.  Really?  What a way to make your customers feel confident in your horses!

 My mama

 The view on the way in

 My mom and Dad with their horses.  This was right after dinner.

As you can see, my dad's picture was taken before dinner because it was still light.  My mom's was taken after dinner because it was dark.  So we rode the horse in to a steak place that was DELICIOUS!  I don't normally love steak and since these photos, we have pretty much cut 80% of meat out of our diet, but this place made a really really good steak.  After dinner, we rode in the dark back to the start.  It was SO fun and such a great opportunity to try something new.  I loved it!

Almost 4 Months

I cleared up a little space on here, so here are some of my WAY behind pictures.  These were taken the last week in April, so William was almost 4 month old.  Laycee and Will are napping.  That is our normal Sunday afternoon activity and one of my favorites.  Laycee loves to nap and she loves it even more with me and William!

 

William rarely has a bottle at 4 months, but I was so surprised one day when I handed it to him and he could hold it!  Laycee and Logan couldn't hold their own bottles forever so I was shocked!  Also, he rarely laid in his crib either.  I just happened to get a cute photo!

 Some cute smiles

 His idea of helping with the laundry.... eating the clothes!

 William has always loved being with the kids and part of the family.  He was so happy to finally get to sit at the table with him!

So for now, I am able to put a few more pictures.  I just made year 2007 into a book.  So when it arrives, I will be removing 2007 from the blog and clearing up more space.  If you feel like reminicing the good ole days, now is your chance before the photos and commentary are gone.  I have been wanting to put the blog into a hard copy book forever, so this was my motivating factor.  With all of the social media options (that were not near as prevelant in 2007), I should do away with the blog.  But I just love to look back and see how we have grown and changed.  When I am down, I get to remember "the old days" and see pages and pages of beautiful smiles of my children.  I get to remember great times with great friends.  Our blog started when we were far away from family in a foreign country and how can I replace those great memories?  So... look back, enjoy the days now gone before they are REALLY gone from the blog!  Love you all!

Year End Review

I suppose since we are nearing the end of December, it is time for me to at least make one post from the past 6 months.  Unfortunately, I am having some difficulties with blogger capping their limit of photos for "free" so I am working on a solution for that.  It is very likely I will be using a 3rd party company to create a rememberance book by years and then delete those posts so that I am able to free up some more space on here.  Until then, I am a little stuck on blogging.  BUT, I felt like it was at least time to close out 2012.  Yes I know there are still days in December, but it's time to sum it all up.

First I would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS.  This is one of my very favorite times of the year where I can ponder and think more clearly on Christ.  I am so thankful for my chance to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to have a knowledge of the Savior and our Heavenly Father in my life. 

Our year started out AMAZING.  We were so blessed to have Dave come for a visit from the middle east near the end of December.  I was past my due date, but we were blessed with a week of time with him before the baby was born.  In January, we welcomed our sweet William David.  What a joy that has been.  The following months proved to be more trying as Dave went back to the middle east and we continued life here.  Although, it was so great to no longer be pregnant!

The months passed by, William grew, learned to roll over, scoot, crawl and eat.  And in the summer, Dave quit his job and returned home.  We have been blessed to have him back.  He has been gone much of the last 3 years so this has been a welcomed change. Dave and I both became Certified Personal Trainers through The National Academy of Sports Medicine.  We opened our own company HigFit, LLC.  And we both went back to school.  He is studing strength, conditioning and personal training and I am studying dietetics. 

Haylee has finally found a passion.... music.  She started the piano this year and also started the cello.  She really has a talent in music and the dedication to practice often.  She has also taken the plunge to try sports again and is playing soccer this winter. 

Trent has continued to work hard in karate.  He just passed his green belt exam.  He has practiced and worked hard to achieve green belt.  He continues to struggle with his dyslexia and eye issues in school but he continues to persevere. 

Laycee has also found a love for music.  Many of her issues in the spring have been worked through and she is excelling in kindergarten.  Thankfully her teacher loves to sing and her school has a good music program where she gets to use music to process her emotions.  She too is finding a love for soccer.

Logan has always been a boys boy.  This year he played flag football and soccer.  He loves sports. He also loves kindergarten and is becoming quite the little reader.  I have been impressed with how quickly he picks up his educational studies.  He hates homework and that continues to be a battle here.

William is a pure joy to have.  The little man has grown so fast that I feel as though he was a baby for such a short time.  He is nearing 1 years old.  He learned to crawl by 4.5/5 months, then to walk by 9.5 months.  He took his first steps at 8 months.  He has learned to crawl up and down the stairs.  Onto and off the trampoline.  And onto the stool to open all of the kitchen drawers.  Thankfully, he is not mischevious, just BUSY.  He loves the dogs and his new favorite skill is dribbling the soccer ball while saying "kick". 

We hope you all had a wonderful year and if you didn't, we hope the new year brings more joy.  We are truly blessed and attempt to find blessings in the little things of life. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Love,
US