Jocie

So Jocie is blooming in her love for dance. She has started Center Stage, and dances everyday for about 4 hours. It is exhausting I am sure. She has got to come up with a plan to help pay for this wonderful experience. She thought she would make a flier and give it to our family. She wants this so bad it is awesome! I see what my parents did now to put me through so many music lessons, camps, teacher, ect. Exhausting. Bless Sterling's heart for being such a good man and doing all of this. I feel like a useless slug half the time. It kind of stinks when you start to feel better ( you think). If anyone needs a cute blonde dancer to pick weeds, babysit, pick up dog poo, LOL! IDK, she'll do it! hey a dollar is a dollar right.

Honestly....

So when you think you have it all together , somehow life throws a curve ball right at your forehead. I don't know...

Hard Adjustment

I am finding this move emotionally harder than I had thought that it would be. I miss my friends. I miss my kids friends. I miss all of the busy crazy activity that always buzzed around our home. I miss Mason, Tallon and Jordan playing games and running through the house. I miss Jocie, Mckennah, Taylor and Morgan making creations in the kitchen and doing their nails in the back yard. I miss Elizabeth randomly stopping by to see how I am and talking to me. I miss the treats from Angie and our fun talks. I miss the neighbor kids stopping by asking if they could have something to eat.

Our first week in our new ward was great, and really hard at the same time. It is so fun having my in-laws around the corner. They are in our ward. The door rang bright and early and it was Claudia with her sweet voice asking if the kids were ready. We sat with them. All three meeting I had to keep taking deep breath to keep from crying. I never realized how attached I was to the people in my old ward. All of the sounds, kids crying, the people you know are going to get up and walk out with their kids, ect. Sterling was right at home. After all he was raised in this ward. But I felt very odd. I always seem to feel odd where ever I go, so maybe that is something I will have to figure out.

So all in all.... I am happy we are in Orem. I do know that we should be here. It is a great situation. I just feel a little out of place and don't quite know where I fit in. It will take me a while.

Even though I am a fairly quiet reserved person, I still miss all of my outgoing friendly neighbors. All of the little things I was so used to everyday, I really do miss.

We Moved

Well it kind of happened a little sooner than we had planned.... But we moved to Orem. I know there are some very good friends and neighbors that feel like we are moving to China, but it is only Orem. I thought we would be moving around the first of August, but we moved the middle of July. The house became available sooner and we thought it would be good for our kids to have a chance to feel settled a little more before starting their new school. The house is just my style. It is older and full of character and charm. It is really big. At least for us. We have been living in 3000 sq ft. with only 1500 finished for 8 years. This house is all finished and is 3900 sq ft. I see a big project but I see a lot of fun. We have plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms and room to grow. It is in the perfect location. Sterling family lives around the corner and my sister Dottie live just a few blocks the other direction. I actually have a laundry room I can work in and a kitchen I can cook in. Now there are no excuses... I have got to cook. The medication that took away my appetite is gone and I finally can taste food again. I feel rather weak, but that is normal. I had just better get my buns back over to the gym and kill this pain and get me some energy and strength! I walked in our Spanish Fork house today and looked around. The only reason I was so attached to it was because of what was in it. Well all of those precious people are in a house in Orem now, and it is going to be home.
I will miss the youth in our ward so much. These kids are great. We feel so blessed that we were able to be a part of their lives for so long. Our friends are great here.

Just remember that we are always friends. Orem or Spanish Fork. That should not matter. We still have cell phones and email addresses. Now we have more room to hang out. So don't forget to call and write and stop bye anytime.

Mother's Day

Mother's day is everyday. Not just one day out of a year. With kids like this and a cutie pie husband, it seems like everyday is mothers day. I admit that sometimes there is screaming and yelling about silly things. But kids are kids and there has to be at least one breakdown a day. LOL!!! Sterling makes his famous french toast, and he writes me the best cards ever! I have every card he has ever written me back to high school. Jocie and Mason always do just the right thing. Straight from the heart. Little Mason goes to the neighbor having a yard sale and uses his own coins to get me the cutest surprises. He made me magnets also. Jocie wrote me the cutest poem, and Sterling bought me beautiful flowers. Zoie the dog ate them the next day. She is awful!!! They were beautiful :( I do love mothers day. Family is beautiful.

Go Airtime Boys Team

It was a fun season for Mason and his team. One of them made it to regionals. GO JARED! He took our very own coach Shane as support. Mason loves gymnastics. It is fun to watch him learn and grow and find confidence in himself. He is always so proud when he achieves a new goal. How fun to see the boys in the news paper. Keep up the good work. We are proud of you.

You are the worst mother in the world

Exhibit A ... Chocolate cake and soup

OK OK... So I might not love cooking, and find times where I forget about food altogether, but come on.. Yesterday seemed to be the grumpiest day out of my children I have ever seen. All day " MOM WE ARE SO HUNGRY. THERE IS NO FOOD IN THIS HOUSE. " Now please do not judge me on my cleanliness of the fridge, but on the items found in it. Mason was starving the entire day. I had made soup, peaches, pears, cake, top roman, celery and peanut butter, apples, oranges, scrambled eggs, sausage etc. These were the words I heard about 300 times.


"YOU ARE THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD. IT IS YOUR JOB TO FEED US. JUST BECAUSE YOU DON"T EAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD STARVE YOUR CHILDREN!"

So two little people went off to bed grounded for the week and banished to their rooms. Looks like you are going to enjoy our jail cell meals children. I am just kidding!

Exhibit B... A Fridge. I understand there are not many items to choose from but give me a brake. MAKE A SALAD!!!!












Exhibit C... A pantry WHAT IS THIS IS THAT FOOD? ARE MY EYES PLAYING TRICKS ON ME?










Exhibit D... Baskets of fruit



Off to your prison cells children. You are banished!

Follow my favorite inspiration

Lately things are changing. That is something exciting and something scary all wrapped up in one. When your world is changing it doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. It is just different. I have my favorite inspirational quote on my fridge, by my bed, in my journal, downstairs and in my office. I read it multiple times per day. I am finding it very helpful. I tend to be the kind of person that loves change but I find myself emotionally attached to objects. But things like houses I have a hard time with. It is even hard for me the times I have been back to where I grew up, to see my childhood home. Even though I know I don't live there, it is like those people are living in my memories. It is as if they are changing them. In reality they are creating there own and I take with me what I have in my heart. Where ever this journey may take us at the moment, no matter where... Home is where you make it as a family. The only thing that matters, even if you live in a barn, are the people inside. They are who your memories are made with. They are love. Those friends you make along your journey become some of your best. Some even soul mates. You grow together and learn together. So even though my favorite inspirational thought is already here for you to read, I will put it here again. I need to put these words into action.

Allow Your Own Inner Light to Guide YouThere comes a time when you must stand alone.You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams.You must be willing to make sacrifices.You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved.Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged.There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better.Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by.Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life.Don't stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way.

I think this is a great quote for today.
"Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything.Take care of yourself and your friends.Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up!You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process.Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes:find the cause of your problem and eliminate it.Don't try to be perfect;just be an excellent example of being human."
- Anthony Robbins

Have a great day. I sure will.

- Alyssa

Who wins the practical joke war? You pick

Sterling and I are always playing jokes on each other. Always something to give you a fresh heart attack around here :) So if you remember my joke a while back where we made cookies and had extra batter... you know the poop cookies in the bed. I thought I did a great job. Those things were very convincing and then when I ate one you should have seen the look on his face. Priceless!!! Well he got me back. Yes that is our boa constrictor "Snakey" HE PUT HER IN OUR BED!!! She is real. Not a toy. Holy Cow!
Sterling VS Alyssa..... you choose

mom we are bored can we go swimming?

Since mother nature is in a really bad mood lately here in Utah and she can't decide if she likes winter or spring, we improvise around here. When kids see the sun they automatically think SWIMMIMG! They forget that it is 30 degrees. OK kids grab your suites and the dog and a can of shaving cream. Have fun! So they wash the dog, and draw lovely shaving cream pictures.
Dear Mother Nature,
We are really cold here in Utah. You are confusing all of us. One day it is snowing then the next flowers are blooming. It hurts our bones. Will you Please pick a season and stick with it. Thanks We would really appreciate it.

My funny days......

Well I see it like this..... my day starts at 4 am. I am kindly greeted by Pam at the gym and off with Shane to do our work out. There is a group of people at the gym that are absolutely hilarious! I can even get some visiting teaching in on the elliptical if I catch Annette at the right time. LOL! Oh and by the way I own the exact same shirt in every color. so chances are if you see me I will have a new color for every day. I just always write about our family, and the kids, and don't stop to think about me. So here it is folks. I wear the same outfit (in a different color) everyday, wear no make-up, and now that i cut my hair, have a little tiny pony tail.

BUT SOMETIMES..... you get to go to classic skating with the kids and have fun acting like you are ten. I have to laugh at myself. I have a great life.

Happy Birthday Taylor

Happy Birthday to our super cute friend Taylor. We had the greatest time at Classic Skating. They had the DJ room and Shane was jamin' out the hits for the ladies. They were so cute looking at ever boy that skated by. We all danced, ate tons of pizza and cake, and had a great time. Thanks for having us at your party Taylor. It was super fun.

Beautiful Little Dancers

The three amigos Jocie, McKenennah and Taylor had a great time at their dance competition.

Swimming and sleepovers and lots and lots of dancing .

We ran from gym to stage to see all of their dances. Mckennah did the cutest solo.

Jocie's team took first place in their lyrical dance. We are so proud of all of you beautiful dancers.

Happy Birthday Mason 3/25/09

Mason is a tender and loving little man. We love you Mason! Time is going so fast. You are 9.

M - makes me smile
A - ambitious
S - Spiritual
O- optimistic
N - nice to everyone

Mason is a special spirit in our home. He is not a morning person, but definitely entertaining. He is a romantic. He will hear a song and start dancing with me. He always wants to hug and love you. He loves gymnastics. He loves to play outside and jump on the trampoline. I love that his eyes smile. He cares about other people and their feelings. We are blessed to have him as our son.