It's Official!

Most of you know already, but as of this morning Jake has officially accepted a new position with Hemasource. This new job will take us back to Utah. Jake will be the new Vice President of Customer Relations and his primary responsibility will be to manage their customer service team. I am so proud of him!!! He has worked so hard at school and at work. Because of this Hemasource was so excited at the prospect of him joining their team.
We feel overwhelmingly blessed by our Heavenly Father. This is such a difficult time right now in our nation and we feel completely humbled to be given this great blessing. We have been trying to sell our house since September (knowing that this job was going to be offered) and I was starting to stress as showings completely dropped off about a week ago. I was telling everyone I knew to pray for us that our house would sell. It WORKED! Heavenly Father does answer prayers! Saturday we had our first showing in 11 days and that night they made an offer. We close November 12th. We have a moving company moving us to Utah on the 11th and we are going to fly to Utah on the 15th. (2 1/2 weeks from today). Needless to say, things are a little crazy around here-but happy. Jake reports to work on December 1st. We hope to be able to get a new house in Utah and get settled before Christmas.

To my dear friends in Decatur. I don't know how to put it...I am reminded of the song from Wicked, "For Good". I truly have been changed for the better because of all of you. The twenty months that we have spent in Decatur, Illinois have forever changed us. We are better and stronger for it. We have met wonderful people who we will always remember and who have truly touched our hearts and lives forever. Thank you, thank you. We will miss you.

To my sweet sister, Heather. It is too hard to say goodbye. As I write this I am struggling with my emotions. Our chance to live closer to you and see you as much as we have has been a wonderful blessing. We truly treasure our relationship with you and your family. Thank you for everything. You will never know what you mean to us. We love you all so much.

Thank you to ALL of you who have supported us and prayed for us through this transition. We are so blessed to have you all in our life.

13 Days of Halloween update

Rise and Shout for the BYU pumpkin. Jake had a great idea to do a BYU pumpkin, but I did the carving! (I was pretty proud of myself.)

Luke's pumpkin Daddy helped him carve.

Luke and I made paper spiders. So Spooky! Luke took this picture of me with a spider on my head. AHH!

Mama spider, Daddy spider, Luke spider and Ty spider...Luke pretending to be a spider!

The Great Pumpkin Patch

For any of you Martha Stewart fans, a few years ago she did a show on "The Great Pumpkin Patch". This happens to be a 30 minute drive from us in a small town called Arthur, Illinois. The town has a large Amish community. Real horse and buggies going down the street, authentic clothing, the whole bit. We felt like something out of the movie "Witness". Anyway, it was really neat. We talked about how we even envied the quietness of their life. I think it would definitely have its advantages. But no blogging :)

Some of you know or may remember that Jake and I have a tradition of the 12 days of Christmas during which we plan an activity for each night to celebrate the season. Jake suggested that this year we add the 13 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN! (I know it seems like we are trumping Christmas, a fact which secretly bothers me, but it is in the spirit of organizing seasonal activities for our kids.) So Sunday we kicked off our celebrations with a Halloween movie, "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Then Monday we went to the pumpkin patch, (of which I really do intend to tell about). We had a great time together. We went through the hay mazes and bought yummy food at the Amish Bakery. Ty squealed with delight at the baby black pigs. Luke loved going through the mazes and sweet shop. It was really great! It was great weather and for such a large tourist attraction not busy at all. They have their own museum which tells about the farm. They have a map for people to mark where they are visiting from. There are spots marked from all over the world. What a fun day!

Just got back from the Windy City

Jake and I went to Chicago for the weekend. We had a great time. We stayed at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue. We walked around Millennium Park, went shopping at the huge Macy's that used to be Marshall Fields, saw Ben Folds in concert and went to Wicked. We had a great time walking around Michigan Avenue. It is so fun to be in the hustle and bustle of a big city. So many movies have been filmed there so it feels like you already know the city. There is so much to do and see but we opted to be leisurely and keep our car parked at the hotel. We walked around and visited little art stores, had a Chicago hot dog and Garrett's popcorn (something Chicago is known for). Thanks babe for a great weekend!


The "jelly bean" as Jake likes to call it. This is a interesting tourist attraction and piece of art. It reflects the city it such a neat way. When you are standing by it you can see the skyline of the city.


Inside the "jelly bean".
At F.A.O. Schwartz inside Macy's.
Wicked was fantastic. The Ford Theatre was breathtaking.

Looking down Michigan Avenue.

Fire Truck Day at Preschool

Waiting with his class to go see the fire truck.
The fireman taught them to say "get out of the house!" when there is a fire!
Driving the truck.


All of the kids got to spray the hose.
Splashing in the puddle from the hose.

Yesterday was such a fun day at Luke's preschool. Everyday a parent signs up to bring the snack and help out with the days activities. Yesterday was Luke's turn and it also happened to be the Firetruck day! He was so adorable. He was not timid or scared at all. One of the other little boys in his class cried the whole time and held onto mine or the teacher's leg. I snapped some great photos. Ty also got to enjoy it because it was our snack day. He had a great day at brother's school. The little potty they have in his room was especially interesting. YUCK! Now that he is fully walking he is finding a whole new world to explore. But nonetheless, it was a really fun morning. Having Ty there reminded me of being a little kid and getting to go to my older sisters class for parties and field trips with my mom. It always made me feel special to be included with the big kids.

I also snapped a few photos of them playing on the playground. His friend Grace will stand on the top of the playground and yell, "Yuke! I need you!" So cute!

Closet Readers

So I know there are some of you who read my blog but never post a comment. (Even though you can just by clicking on "comment" under each post. Then type your comment and put in your name-even if you don't have a blog.) But now I have added a follower widget on my sidebar. Sign up as a follower so that I know who is following-do you follow? Thanks.

"Now I have guilt!"

Wow, as if I wasn't already feeling horrible that Luke has a cavity, today I took him to get it fixed. He really tried to be brave, but he cried and cried and cried. My friend watched Ty for me (thanks Becca) and on the way to pick him up Luke was sobbing. It was completely heart wrenching. If I hadn't been so focused on getting there quickly I would have completely broke down myself. The dentist did a great job, they used a couple of different numbing and pain leavers, but the vibration of it was traumatic for him.
Even his new Darth Vadar spaceship I gave him afterward did little to calm him. That should tell you something. Not a fun day!

Bowling in Louisville

Look Mom, I did it!

Ty was so adorable. He kept cheering with everyone and he kept trying to crawl down the lanes.
Luke LOVED it! He had such a great time. He was completely fascinated with the balls returning to you. He would wait for every ball.
I had my best game ever! Give it up for my 80!! ( I am not coordinated enough for pretty much any sport-so sad!) I was proud of myself though. Reed killed us with his 190! How sad, he doubled my score.
We had an awesome time in Louisville. It is always so much fun to go and see the Deshlers. The four of us went out to a great dinner Friday night. We got to do some shopping and had a great lunch on Monday as well. Thanks Heather and Reed for everything. Miss you already!

Because Why?????

This is Luke's new favorite phrase. He asks this about everything!! Last night I was making dinner and we went about 10 rounds of because why about something that I can't even remember. I love to see his curiosity about the world around him. But, I am running out of explanations. "because it makes us happy" and "because it is fun" are not making the cut. I am sure for you seasoned parents you have been there... but sometimes I honestly don't know how to answer the questions. Some of the concepts are very complex.

Budding Entomologist

Luke LOVES to hunt for bugs! Anyone who knows me I am sure finds this humorous. I HATE bugs. For my avid readers you may remember that on Luke's birthday he got this cheap (Target dollar spot) bug collecting kit. That toy has served him through many a scavenge hunt of our yard for creepy crawlies. We have new neighbors who have two little boys. They are 7 and 9. They come over all the time with bugs they have caught to show Luke. They go all over the neighborhood gathering their spoils and trophies to present to Luke. It is so adorable.
Saturday morning Jake was getting our yard ready for fall and winter. We were doing some heavy duty trimming, weeding and cutting down. It looks nice, and was a ton of work (thanks babe!). Luke and his cohorts hit the jackpot! Dad helped them capture a praying mantis. Then they found a toad and captured that. They collected crickets to feed to the toad and they caught a caterpillar and a butterfly. They had SO much fun. Literally they spent two hours at least combing the yard for new treasures. It was so adorable to watch. I so wish I had thought to grab my camera and snatch some photos...alas, I did not.