Blessings

I am sorry that it has been so long. Our family has been very busy for the past month. I have titled this blog "blessings" because I was sitting here tonight thinking about a lot of blessings in my life. I have been having a hard time the last 6 months. I was 3 months pregnant and thought things were going well, but I went in for a normal prenatal exam and started having complications. I then miscarried a couple days later. I had never had to go through anything like that ever in my life. I had so many questions and wondered what I was supposed to learn from this.
You may be wondering why I am bringing this up now. I was having a real hard time with everything. I knew I was blessed already with 3 beautiful and healthy children, but I still felt empty. I didn't feel strong or happy. I was always sad. I felt like I was at a spritual low.

I finally decided that I was really going to turn things around and work on myself. I started the very next day at the gym. I got a trainer, got on a strict diet and as of last Wednesday I have lost 31 lbs. I cannot tell you how much that has helped me. I had fallen away from my daily scripture study also because I always thought I had other things I needed to get done while Sophia was taking a nap. I have since gotten back into reading my sriptures daily. What a difference!!! I also started going out with the Sister Missionaries. What a BLESSING!! I have become very close with them and cannot even go a day without talking to them. (I am hoping one of them will be my sister. We are trying to hook up our parents) :)It has been wonderful to have them in our home teaching investigators and having our children around them. I LOVE THEM!!!(sister on the right) :)

I have even made it a top priority to have a date night with my husband. With 3 kids it is very hard, but we have been doing it a couple times a month and it has made our marriage even stronger.

I am so thankful for the blessings in my life. I am thankful for my temple marriage, my 3 beautiful children, and the Gospel. I am thankful to feel these things again that we sometimes take advantage of.

My Valentine

I had the best Valentines day ever thanks to my husband. We actually decided to celebrate on Friday because Bryon was going to be the dj at the single adult dance the following night. He had told me that he had some plans and not to worry about anything or anyone. This SCARED me!! Anyone that knows my husband knows that he is not a planner and sometimes doesn't pay much attention to details. :) I recieved a text from him while he was in class on Thursday night to lay out the kids clothes for school, of course I had to ask Why? I was then told that he was going to be getting the kids off to school and that I would be sleeping in. I was so excited, so I did everything that I was asked.

The next morning the alarm went off and he popped right out of bed, gave me a kiss and said "don't get up." I was a little freaked because the kids had a lot of things going on that day (parties and a project due) and I was worried that he would forget something. :) I laid in bed trying not to get out, but I did go to the door a couple times and yell out don't for this or that, so I was then told to go back to bed. The kids got off to school and all that was left behind was Jacob's project (but was later taken to school) :) I reall tried to sleep, but I just couldn't and about 15 minutes later Bryon came in with breakfast in bed. I was eating and enjoying the attention when he then came in with roses and a card. (Little did I know this was the start of my wonderful day) I had to wait 1 hr before I could open it. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not patient. :) This was killing me!! Bryon got ready for work and off he went. It finally had been an hour and I got to open my card. It read..

"Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Go to the Gym and

your sister will know what to do."

This is cute, but I was going crazy because I had to wait until 11:30 to meet my sister and it was only 9am.

I met my sister at the gym and I then found out that I was going to have a massage. As I was working out, Bryon comes in and gives me a kiss and tells me to take his car and he was taking Sophia home and to wait for his call. I figured out that he didn't go to work. :) I went off to my 1hr long massage and then off to the Steam room and laying on the bench was some magazines and another card. I opened it up and there was another little note and $ telling me to go get my nails done and to go shopping and to enjoy time to myself and to wait for his call. I was so excited and relaxed. :)

I then went off to get my nails done and to do some shopping when I was then called and told to go outside to the car and open up the center console and recieve my next clue. i rushed right out of the store and went to the car. I opened up the console and found another card and a gift. I opened the card and he told me that he bought my bday gift a week early (bday is on 19th) and he told me to open it up and it would take me to my next destination. It was a Garmin (GPS). I went through all the steps and went off on my way having no clue where I was going next. It took me to a beautiful Hotel in Cincinnati. I then figured out that we got to stay the night with NO kids. :) I then came in and told them who I was (Which they already seemed to know with smiles on their faces) and they gave me a key to our room. I went to the top floor and opened the door and was met by my handsome hubby with a hug and kiss. I was then told to change and freshen up and the we were off to dinner at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. It was beautiful!! We then walked around fountain square, did some shopping, got Graeters(YUMMY). It was so nice! We then went back to our room. :)

I felt so special that day. He had been working on everything for a couple weeks, so everything and everyone was taken care of. He hadn't done something like this since we were dating. I told him that I fell more in love with him (if that is possible) I have been so blessed by having him as my husband. He is my BEST FRIEND and a WONDERFUL father. I can only hope that my girls marry a man just like him.

It was a day that I will ever forget!! He said he is looking forward to the next time he can surprise me. Me either!! :)

Kids Sports

Well as most people know Bryon and I love sports and so do our kids, we are normally doing some kind of activity. The kids do soccer, basketball, indoor soccer, cheerleading (is that a sport?) :) baseball and softball. We absolutly love cheering them on!! I also coached Katy's soccer team and Bryon is the coach of Jacob's basketball team. We normally do not have a free saturday because we always have games (Bryon and I also just signed up to play on an adult indoor soccer team on Saturday nights) :) I feel like I live in my mini van more than I do at my house and I am truly a "soccer mom." Even though it takes a lot of time we enjoy watching our kids and I guess remembering the days when we used to be able to do the things they can.

We love cheering our kids on in every way. Here are some pics we have captured of them from last weeks game.

1st Big Storm

We finally got some serious snow where they even shut down the kids school (that never happens) We all got to stay home today (even Daddy) It was actually very nice for the 1st couple hours but then the kids got "bored." They have everything in the world to do and play, but it happens on those long days home they just get bored.

They then came up and asked me if they could go out and play. I don't know about some of you, but I hate getting my kids ready to go outside. I get out the snowsuits, boots, gloves, hats, etc just for them to be outside for 5 minutes and want to come in. We do not live on a hill, so there is no sled riding, so that gets "boring" too.

Here is Jacob and Katy when they first went out to play.

Here is Daddy doing "what daddy's do" and not to thrilled to be out there. :)

Sophia had to stay inside, but she loved watching them from the door. :)

We are waiting for some more snow and ice and they are expecting for people to lose power and I am hoping and praying that we don't. I think we will be stranded for days. :) Please pray for our family. :)

HUBBY TAG

Hubby Tag
Ok, so here it goes..
What is his name? Bryon

How long have you been together? We have been married for about 10 1/2 years, but have known each other for 14 years and I waited for him for 2 years while on his mission.

How long did you date? Well I waited 2 years for him while he was on his mission. He came home in November, engaged in March and then married in July.
How old is he? 33
Who eats more? Definitly him
Who said, Him
Who is taller? Him
Who sings better? Him, I hum. :)

Who is smarter? Bryon with out a doubt, but I like to say that I am smart in certain areas too.

Who does the laundry? I do, when I do it. I HATE DOING laundry, I just seem to buy more clothes.

Who pays the bills? Both

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does. It just so happened that the basinet was alway on the left side, so we switched.

Who mows the lawn? We both do, but I try to do it so we can spend more time together on the weekend.

Who cooks dinner? Me- usually, but he likes to help out at times.

Who drives?I DO. I am not a good back seat driver and he normally likes to talk and his speed goes down. :)
Who is more stubborn? I think that would be me.
Who kissed who first?It was mutual

Who asked who out first? I think we both assummed because we had been awa from each other so long. That was him when he came home from his mission. He did ask me to dinner.

Who proposed? He did

Who has more siblings? He does. I have 1 sister and he has a brother and a sister.
Who wears the pants? It depends on the issue at hand - but I would say that I have final say, but we like to say he does.

Now I pass this little game on to: Christina and Julie...TAG, your it!!!!

I'm a little behind!

Yes, I know that it has been a while since my last post. I knew I would have a hard time getting on here an posting often and I just started. We have been so busy with activities and the holidays, so I have to get you caught up with what I can without boring you.

I got to go to my kids school parties on their last day of school before Christmas break (thanks to my husband for working from home that day). I first got to got to Katelyn's school where she had "The Polar Express" breakfast. It was very cute! All the parents made breakfast for the class and we got to eat together, then they started reading the story "The Polar Express" and then they had a special visitor. Can you guess who that was? SANTA!!!! They also put of a concert for the parents that were there. They did Katelyn's favorite thing in the world....SINGING!!! Her is some pics.I was then off to Jacob's party which was more laid back.(He is a 3rd grader and they are to big for the parties) :) They just ate a lot of food, had a gift exchange, watched a Christmas Story and played games. I really enjoyed just going into his class and being with him and his friends.

The kids were on break for a couple weeks. Katelyn got to also make cookies with her Brownie troop. Right before Christmas we were busy baking and making candy and cookies and getting ready for family to come over. We even had some visitors while making our cookies. It was baby Troy and Aunt Rachel. (Katy loves to hold Troy) Sophia was home too, but taking a nap when these pics were taken. :)Here are some pics.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We had Bryon's family over to our house on Christmas Eve and then we went to my side on Christmas Day. The kids really enjoyed being with their cousins. It was fun this year too because Bryon's sister Rachel just had a baby in November and he was there at Christmas Eve and it was nice to have another child other than ours there. I'm sure next year he will be running around. :) It's nice to see the family growing.

We had our 4th annual New Years Eve party this year at our house again. We had a lot of friends here and we had a blast. We ate A LOT of food, and played games, pool, Dance Dance Revolution and of course ROCK BAND. The Men played it most of the time, but then the girls "The Hott Mommas" jumped in and we weren't to bad. :) The kids had a lot of their friends over and we didn't see to much of them because they hung out in their rooms and played (destroyed). I couldn't even believe that Sophia stayed up too and was in a pretty good mood. At the stroke of 12:00am we let off some fireworks let the kids beat on metal pots and pans (they loved that too much). We had a lot of fun. We truly are blessed with wonderful friends that we got to bring in the new year with. We had a rough 2008, somethings I am thankful we experienced, but others I pray we would never have to go through again. I know that we are only made stronger through these experiences. I am looking forward to 2009!!

Hopefully I didn't bore you to much and I am going to try to be better at Blogging. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too.

New for me.

I have been wanting for a while to create one of these blogs for those that are so far away. I am sure this will be as addicting as Facebook and Myspace is. :) I have found many people on here that we have lost contact with and it has been great to see that everyone is doing well and has such beautiful families.

I will share a little about our family. My husband Bryon and I just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary in July. Bryon works at Xavier University and is also working on his MBA. He is a WONDERFUL husband and father. I have truly been blessed by being married to him. I am a stay at home Mom, Which I think is the hardest job ever and the most rewarding. We have three beautiful children. Our oldest is Jacob-8, he is to smart for his own good, I will be very surprised if he is not an lawyer when he grows up. He loves his sisters and is a big help to us and a protector. Then there is Katelyn-6, she is our "pop star." She is actually very shy, but we wouldn't know it. She loves Hannah Montana, drawing, cooking, and boy does she loves to sing (especially Primary songs). Lastly there is our little Sophia-2, She is a stinker!! She is into everything (I thought boys were bad) She is very shy though and is a Mommy and Daddy's girl (it depends on the day) She loves to steal crayons, sing, and play with her friends.

I will get on here and share pics with friends and family as often as I can. We have a very busy life with activites, work, school, and callings, so please bear with me.