Change

"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown." I am about to go back to school. I am a little worried about how to juggle a full time job, 5 kids and school all at the same time, but when I think about the benefits of going back to school, I see the necessity. I have just enrolled at the University of Phoenix and classes start on May 10. I am seeking a Bachelors degree in Business Management. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Most people are drawn to UoP for the online classes, I however, will be attending the Campus classes because I feel that I will have less distraction in a classroom environment. I am especially worried about taking math classes again, I wasn't good at math during high school, hopefully the fact that I am anxious and willing to learn now will change the outcome. My new job has changed my work experiences significantly. I am enjoying it but it is so different. I am not moving wafers much anymore so that is weird in and of itself. I am trying to get to know my employees better and I try really hard to be a good supervisor. I have gotten some good feedback on how I can do better and I try to implement the advice I receive. Sometimes I feel like some people complain just to complain and I try hard not to waste too much energy on that. I have implemented some pretty drastic changes and a lot of people are very resistant to it. I have said to my employees "I cannot make 50 people happy but apparently I am really good at ticking 50 people off." In trying to do better I have found several quotes to be particularly helpful and read them often: "I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition." ~ Martha Washington "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." ~Herm Albright "Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left." ~Hubert Humphrey I find myself looking up motivational and inspirational quotes more and more often. I write them down on post it notes and attach them to the overhead shelf at my desk. I have been lucky enough to take several different classes at work including Time Management, Productive Meetings and Crucial Conversations. I look forward to reading Crucial Confrontations and Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I love learning new things, especially when I can implement the skills I have learned and see them working. Enough about work changes, on the home front.... Babies Change too quickly! Monty is now 5 months old and looks so different already. She is so beautiful and I love her so much. She does the cutest things and I just want to squish her. When Monty gets tired she shakes her head back and forth very quickly until she finally finds a comfortable position, usually 10-12 shakes later. She squeaks and squeals and screams nonsensical noises and I do my best to repeat them back to her. Monty tried baby food for the first time last week, she had sweet potatoes and she loved them. She did so good, I have never had a baby take baby food so easily the first time it was offered to them. Monty is so happy and almost never cries. She demands food constantly and has the double chin and rolls to prove it. All of my kids are growing up so quickly, it seems to be happening even more quickly since I started working. I miss them all so much. Ryan experienced her first New Beginnings a couple of weeks ago and will be joining the Young Women's group in about 3 weeks. I have to admit I am terrified of sending her off to girls camp and youth conference. When I look at Ry I still see my little baby attached to oxygen tubes and monitors and I worry so much about her. The only thing that scares her about camp is bears. Uncle Colton is leaving for a mission in June or July. We don't know where he is going yet but my kids are going to miss him like crazy. So much change.... I have to remind myself that each day is change, nothing is ever exactly as it was the day before. And how boring would this life be it everything remained constant always? Anyway, that is all.

Not quite 6 months

Well I am getting better, it hasn't been another 6 months since my last post.

The story of Monty:

At 10:00 AM on Monday November 14,2011 Raymond and I arrived at Labor and Delivery at Inter mountain Medical Center to start my induction. I had to be induced due to having been diagnosed with Group B Strep and requiring 4 hours of IV antibiotics prior to delivery, so we figured we may as well schedule our induction for our due date which just happened to be Ray's birthday (actually not a coincidence, this took very careful and precise timing on our part, boy are we good!!) I had never been induced before but did not expect it would be very different than regular natural onset labor, boy was I wrong.

At 10:30 am they started my antibiotics as well as the pitocin drip and informed me they would be back in at 2:30 PM to break my water. 2:30 comes and goes and they finally come in at 3:00 and decide I should have my epidural now ( I have to have an epidural due to my previous c-section, darn c-sections anyway!) because the anesthesiologist has a free minute and will be very busy the rest of the day and that it would be better to have that done before they break my water anyway, so I say ok. I get my epidural, never a fun event, and then the resident doc comes in to break my water and check my cervix which is at a 3. After about 10 minutes of fiddling around with her crochet hook she determines that my water is broken tells me that delivery will be fast now and leaves. I continue to lay in my hospital bed with very mild contractions about every 3 minutes. In the meantime I had Kimi bring my little Ryan up to hospital to witness the birth of her new baby sister.

So 5:30 PM rolls around and still nothing, my nurse comes in and says that she doesn't think that my water is actually broken and calls the resident in to try again. The resident comes back in, checks my cervix again, which is still at a 3, and then with her crochet hook, fiddles around some more, and voila, my waters break and start gushing out of me, she pushes on my tummy a bit to help it drain out and then tells me that delivery will be quick now. Meanwhile Mom and Dad come to the hospital, as we had expected the baby would be out by 5:00, so they come in and visit with Kimi, Ryan, Ray and I while we wait for the contractions to pick up. A short bit later Anngee arrives and we all sit and visit while we wait.

Finally at shift change the new nurse comes in and asks how long I have been in my current position, well only all day long, so she has me roll over onto my left side. Boom, all of a sudden I am having crazy strong contractions every couple minutes, they hurt like crazy! after about 45 min of these crazy contractions I decide I have had enough and I would like to have my cervix checked again, the nurse comes in and checks and says that it is time to push. What can I say, this had been the longest day in the history of the world for me so I started to cry, hooray finally I can start to push!!

Mom, Dad and Anngee clear out of the room, Kimi sets up the video camera and positions little Ryan in such a way that she will be able to see her little sister come out but not be completely traumatized by the full on view. Dr. Porter (the greatest Dr. in the whole wide world) comes in and I start pushing, about 3 pushes later at 8:28 PM my beautiful little Monty is out and laid on my belly. Kimi cut the cord (Raymond has issues with blood and has never cut the cord.) and Ryan got scared by Monty's blue complexion, sat down on the couch and asked if the baby was supposed to be that color.

The nurses got Monty all cleaned up with a little help from Ryan while I got stitched up from my level 2 tear. Ryan watched as they put her on the scale to measure her, 8 Lbs 8 Oz. and 21 Inches long. Then they swaddled her up nice and tight and little Ryan got to hold her, it was a very special moment for her. After that Mom and Dad came back in to see their new grand baby.

I had picked out the name Monty at about 14 weeks gestation and knew that was what I wanted her name to be but Ray hated it so we had to pick a cool middle name to go with it. We love the Star Gate tv series, and all of us girls favorite character is name Vala Maldoran, who was at one time possessed by a Goauld symbiote named Qetesh, the Egyptian goddess of fertility. I thought that was a pretty unique name and loved the way it sounded with Monty so we picked that as her middle name. Raymond was never completely sold on the name Monty and tried to get me to change my mind clear up until I was filling out the birth certificate information, then he said that if she was going to be named Monty he got to have 2 middle names. I agreed so that she could have the name I had picked out and Ray finally settled on Calisto as her 2nd middle name. So our little girls full name is Monty Qetesh Calisto Eggertsen but I call her Monty Q for short.

Monty Q is a wonderful baby, she has been so calm and easy going. She has just begun to smile on purpose and every time her little face lights up with a smile my heart melts. I love this little girl and am so grateful that she is a part of our family.

We plan to have Monty blessed on February 4th and our church session starts at 9:00 AM, sorry Mom I thought we went to 1:00 but we don't. I will post another blog when we finalize our plans and include the address to our chapel.

Now here are some pics of my little Monty Q and my ever growing family.

Laziest blogger ever!!

So I am the laziest blogger ever, I know this but I have a hard time finding time to blog and find face book a much easier way to update people with the goings on of life. Then again not everybody uses face book nor do I want to share everything about my life with random people I went to high school with and my blog has a much smaller audience of mostly family and a few friends who I am comfortable sharing my more personal stories with.

Anyway, it looks like the last time I blogged was clear back in March when Ray and I went on vacation to Vegas, that was a really fun trip, well all except for the ride home and our introduction the douchiest (sorry Mom, I still say it is not a bad word!) cops in the whole world. Since then our Kids have had birthdays, finished 4th grade and kindergarten and started 5th and 1st grades and Soren is of course still as adorable as ever. Ray and I learned we are expecting our 5th child, we were actually pretty sure of this before the Vegas trip but waited to announce until 14 weeks. We are having another little girl who we have picked a name for and because the kids know her name some people have learned it, however for the most part we have been able to keep it a secret and now have only 7 1/2 weeks or less until we get to announce it. I will say that her name is somewhat unique but I am in love with it and am excited to meet her.

My little Ryan is doing so well in school this year and I have to say I am grateful for teachers who take the time to really get to know a child and learn what makes them tick. Ryan's fourth grade teacher was absolutely amazing and I know that the time that she spent with Ryan has had a lasting effect that will be with her for the rest of her life. She was the first teacher to ever make Ryan feel like she could complete the same amount of work as her peers and that she is as smart as her peers. Ryan went from a level J to a level T in one year, that doesn't happen without a very dedicated teacher and Ryan and her had a very special bond. This year Ryan is in a different class than Rayden for the first time ever and it seems to be to both of their advantage, Ryan doesn't get compared to him anymore and is able to thrive because he isn't in the same room to outshine her (not that he does it intentionally, things just come to him more easily.) She has a different resource teacher which has been a great help and she gets to be herself instead of Ryan and Rayden, though Ryan typically goes by her middle name "Athena" at school because of the multitude of Ryan's in the class. She is very strong willed and wants to do what she wants to do, we often butt heads because I am what some might call "over-protective" especially when it comes to her, I can't really help it. I don't allow any of my kids to go into their friends houses because you never know what happens behind closed doors and I don't want to risk their innocence. I allow them to play outside at the park at our apartments which is directly outside our apartment and I can watch them from the patio. Ryan gets very angry with me for not allowing her into her friends houses and the other day when she asked me if she could go do something that I felt was too dangerous and I told her " No, I don't want you to get hurt!!" she replied with a very snotty " How can I? you never let me do anything!!" I couldn't help but laugh a little though I told her not to get snappy at me. Ryan is a wonderful, pleasant 11 year old as long as she has been recently fed and I wouldn't change anything about her. She is spirited, feisty, love able and wonderful!!

Rayden is my little artist. He has made some of the most incredible artwork I have ever seen and I have to remind myself that he is only 10 years old when I look at it. He is very talented!! He is also very intelligent and has a mind that reminds me of his Papa. He sometimes says words that are so far above what I would expect a child his age to know that it shocks me. He asks intelligent questions and sometimes I think he already has accumulated more knowledge in his somewhat large head in 10 years than I have in my 31 years. He is a sweetheart for the most part and is definitely my most sensitive child personality wise, though at the same side he seems to have a little bit of an anger management problem. Rayden does very well in school, the only thing his teachers ever say is a problem is that he is very shy and that he has to be told several times to stop lining up his pencils in his tote tray, he is also a bit OCD. Rayden is like me in that he is very cheery in the morning, he jumps out of bed whistling while he walks to the shower, he loves to laugh and tell funny stories. Rayden is also musically inclined and we are hoping to be able to get him into orchestra this year, which would be great because he would learn how to read music and could get really good at playing his guitar, which he strums on now and makes up his own music that actually sounds pretty good but he could get even better. Rayden is my little sweetie pie and I can always count on hug, a funny story or a beautiful piece of art.

Alex is still my Oopa, he is such a big boy. He is much bigger at 6 then Rayden was at 6, he weighs more than Ryan (not a hard thing to do) and wears the same size shoe as Ryan. He still hops everywhere he goes and is my little China-man, it is hard to understand a single word he says because he is a mumbler and he giggles a lot while he talks but it is super cute. He is a total sweetie and doesn't ever retaliate against his bully of a little sister when she chases him around the house, pinching fingers at the ready. He just runs in to Mommy or Papa yelling "Soren's gonna pinch me!" so that we will stop her. He idolizes Rayden and wants to do everything Rayden does. Alexander loves school but has had a problem with one of his classmates who thinks it is funny to pance him in the bathroom and push him on the playground, he has told the teacher and hopefully this little punk knocks it off or he may meet the craziest Mommy on the planet!! Last week while Alex and Rayden were playing outside with their Nerf swords another little boy came over to play with them and hit my poor little oopa right in the face, he came in the house bleeding all over the place and scared the crap right out of me, I ran down the steps asking Rayden which little punk hurt my boy and that I was going to kick their butt, the poor little kid was so scared he ran home before I could find him. Raymond said to me " There I am in the bathroom trying to take care of Oopa when I should have been holding you back from beating up a 4 year old, you gotta calm down" anyway there was a lot of blood and we couldn't tell if it was his nose or his teeth so I rushed him to the instacare which turned out to be a little bit of an over reaction, it was just a bloody nose! Alex is sweet, love able and always ready to play.

Soren is my little monster. She is of course adorable but she is a bit of a bully. She terrorizes her siblings daily, chasing them around the house making them do her bidding, I have never seen a 3 year old exercise so much control over their older siblings. She also has her sweet side and loves to hug everybody. She still has her Papa wrapped around her little finger and can get him to do anything she wants, it is a little pathetic to watch actually, She has him more whooped than I ever have!!! Soren is convinced the babies name is Sarah and still tries to call her the name we have picked with Sarah mixed in in various combinations. We have decided we will have to get her a baby doll when we have the baby that can be her baby and that she can name Sarah. I love how feisty she is but seeing how feisty my girls are has me a little nervous about the little bun I am cooking now. I don't know how well Soren is going to adapt to having to share her Papa with this new baby, hopefully she will do okay. Soren is my adorable little monster butt and I love her to itty bitty little bits and pieces.

Raymond and I are doing pretty good. Ray has started going back to work as a flagger for a temp service, he doesn't really like it but it is work and he will take what he can get. He is hoping to be able to start school part time taking some creative writing classes and start submitting some short stories to science fiction magazines, he is hoping to eventually get a gig writing for SyFy (Dream Job) He can do it if he puts his mind to it and works hard.

Things have been going pretty well at my job, in fact I just got promoted again this past week. I have just accepted a position as the Production Supervisor on 1st shift (My current shift) responsible for about 60 employees & will be starting training in October. I was pretty shocked to get offered the position while 32 weeks pregnant and with barely 3 years experience in the industry but I am very excited for the opportunity and hope to do be able to do a good job.

Well that is just about everything for now, hopefully I will find the time to blog again before another 6 months passes by!!

11 Years

Yesterday Raymond and I had our 11Th wedding anniversary. We didn't really do anything yesterday because we are celebrating next week by taking our first ever Vegas vacation. We have not gone anywhere, just the two of us, since our honeymoon and we are really looking forward to it. We plan to stay at the Venetian and to see a Cirque Du Solei show, probably KA. We have also heard that we have to go to Smith and Lewinsky's Steakhouse and get a pass that lets your ride all of the roller coasters. Some "people" are under the impression that we will be bringing a "little souvenir" back with us, I keep telling them that I am pretty sure it is illegal to buy babies but I will look for one!!! Anyway I just wanted to tell my Raymee that I love him and Happy Anniversary!!!

Christmas 2010

I am a lazy blogger so this post is a little late. We had a wonderful Christmas. I still love keeping our tradition from growing up of opening our pajama's on Christmas eve and my kids enjoy it too. Santa Claus went a little crazy for Rayden again this year, last year he brought him a real Bow and this year he brought him a real electric guitar (Fender Strat) with an amp, gig bag, strap, and pics & extra strings, what a spoiled kid he is. Ryan got Lego Harry Potter the video game, Oopa got a Bumble Bee Plasma Cannon, he asked for a Bumble Bee Blaster but unfortunately that got discontinued and replaced by the Plasma Cannon, luckily Santa was smart enough to figure out what the replacement was. Soren got Princess dresses and presents because that is what she asked for. She also got this cool toy called Hide and Seek JOJO, it is a little bunny rabbit on wheels with a sensor that seeks a little carrot that the hider takes with them, the bunny puts it's ears over it's eyes and counts to 10 then seeks, it is really cute and when it finds the hider it does a little dance and says hooray, yipee. Ryan got some earings and nail polish and a 3D art set, Rayden got some instrucional books and dvd for guitar, alex got LEGO Star Wars the video game and a Bumble Bee action figure, Iron Man action figure as well as a pillow pet. Ray got some new Sketchers boots, a robe and a book of mensa logic puzzles. I got a new curling iron, brush and a very fancy 72 piece dishware set, all white with accents around the edges, I love them. We loved all of the cards from family and officially congratulate Rochelle and Scott on their pregnancy, we also enjoyed our puzzle from Mom and Dad, it will give us something fun to look at while we walk on the treadmill, and the kids loved their books. We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and wish you a happy new year.

Kidney Stones and studying.

Yesterday Morning around 4:30 AM as Ray was getting ready for bed, he started having a sharp pain in the bottom left side of his abdomen that spread around to his back and down to his groin. It was causing him quite a bit of pain but he was able to lie down & fall asleep for about 20 min, then he woke up rolling around in pain barely able to move and feeling nauseated, he went into the bathroom to throw-up. I went in to check on him a few minutes later and he was still rolling in pain and nauseated but had not thrown up yet, we decided he needed to go to the ER. When we got there he was in so much visible pain that they took him straight back and did a ct scan. He has a great big kidney stone, they are not sure he will be able to pass it on his own, they might try to break it up with ultra sound waves or he might have to have surgery, we will know after his visit with the urologist. Poor guy!!!

On a healthier note, I went and spoke with an academic counselor at SLCC about starting classes and whether or not I should enroll in the Materials Science Engineering program through SLCC and get an Associate of Pre-Engineering (APE) or get my Associate of Science (AS) and then enroll in the Materials Science Program at the U of U, both options have advantages and disadvantages. If I get my APE, which is designed for a transfer to the U of U, then I wont have an AS and may not be able to transfer my credits to any school besides the U of U, but the APE also has reduced General Education requirements so I wouldn't have to take some of those pointless classes people have to take just to fulfill their credit hours, plus I plan on transferring to the U of U anyway so I don't really know that it would make much difference to me that other schools may not accept my credits, I am new to this whole college deal though so People who have done this please feel free to offer advice. Anyway I have been studying like crazy and have this whole upcoming week off to continue studying for my accuplacer exam which I will take on the 6Th of December and then register for classes on the 7Th. Scary and Exciting all at the same time.

So please wish us luck as we strive to pass tests and stones.

Random Stuff

I love the fall colors and the cooler weather, it signals that my favorite season of the year is coming, WINTER!! Time for snow and turtlenecks and sweaters and I know I am jumping ahead a little bit but the cold in the night air when I am going to work and in the morning when I get off of work has the smell of winter.

It is very strange working while everyone else is sleeping. While I am in the Fab I don't really notice it because of all the fluorescent lighting and the fact that there aren't any windows, but it is very different when I leave for break and the streets are abandoned and it is so dark outside. It has been an interesting adjustment to make. I am enjoying my new shift, everyone has been very welcoming and I am having fun learning new things and having more responsibilities.

Colton is taking basketball at school and he has not really been very athletic in his life, besides wrestling, so it is a challenge for him, I offered to practice with him, I love basketball.

Some of my favorite memories are of my family having Bar-b-ques every summer and playing b-ball in the driveway. I miss that. We need to have a family reunion that is all bar-b-ques and basketball and some middle of the street football. Oh and we can't forget a friendly game of Mario-Kart 64. We also need to have a snowball fight where I start crying because my "sock" gloves aren't keeping my poor little hands warm enough so I have to go in and run my hands under hot water every 10 min, then Rochelle can call me a big baby and write "Brit stinks" on a wall somewhere, and then we can roast some marshmallows and gummy bears and sit so close to the fire that someones shoes start to melt, while we all laugh at the same old stories that we tell every time we all get together, jeez I miss my family. I wish we weren't all spread out so much and so busy in our own lives that the only time we all see each other is at a funeral. I love and miss you all!!!

Promotion!!

A few weeks back I applied for a new position at work, it is a lead position over four different areas in the fab. I was hopeful that I would get one of the eight positions but after finding out that 29 people, all with more years of experience than me, had also put in for the jobs I was a little worried.

Today the official announcement was made so I am excited to tell everyone that I got the job!! Hooray!!

The following is the e-mail that was sent.

Salt Lake Employees,

Recently, eight Production Fab Specialist openings were posted. After going through an interview process, the following individuals have been selected:

Photo/Etch
Diffusion/TF/Implant/Epi
Backmetal/Backgrind/CMP

Shift 1

Britteny Eggertsen
Becky Skola

Shift 2

Ponn Srey
Wes Howard

Shift 3

Tyler Socwell
Jeremy Hunt

Shift 4
Zach Davis
Kristi Miller

Please join me in congratulating and supporting these individuals in their new roles.

Regards,

Ken

The only downside is that the shift that I got is a graveyard shift, so that is definitely going to be a big change and will take some getting used to. Other than that I am super excited. I start on Monday so wish me luck!!!

I can't believe I'm 30

I recently celebrated my 30Th birthday and I still don't feel like I am as old as I am. I remember when I was little thinking that 30 was old, now that I am 30 I don't feel old but I still have it in my head that 30 is old. I feel like I have to grow up now.

I got a new bike for my birthday because I want to lose weight and I feel like an easy way to do that would be to start riding a bike to work everyday, I only have a few months left before the weather will make it difficult but a few months is plenty of time for me to lose 30 or so pounds, right? I did a test run after church today and it took me 14 minutes to get there, not bad because I expected it to take 30, I hope to get to a point where I can do it in 8 minutes, maybe after 30 pounds of fat are gone I will be able to, anyway here are some pics of my pretty new bike.

New Apartment

So Ray & I are in our own place again, thank you so much to his parents Ryan & Suzan for putting us up and putting up with us for so long, we love you guys.

Mom requested a virtual tour of the apartment so I went through and took a whole bunch of pics, sorry but none of my bedroom yet because our mattress that Kimi & Jesse gave us is a king and the bedframe the Ryan & Suzan gave us is a california king and they don't fit together so my frame is set up and my mattress is on the floor and it just isn't pretty yet. I will say that I have a master bath and walk in closet and will post pics as soon as we figure something out.

anyway, on with the tour.

The Living Room





My couches look orangish on purpose that is why we bought them, the actual color is called taos brown but they kind of have an orange tint and I love them.

The Kitchen





The kitchen is kind of tiny, but the bedrooms are ginormous so I guess it is ok.

The Dining Rooom






This is our new dining set that we bought from a very nice couple that we found on ksl.com classifieds they also through in the entertainment centers on either side of the tv in the living room.

Hall Bath





The Boys Room





The Girls Room





The Laundry Room




Thanks to Pat for the super nice washer & Dryer you are the coolest, you can be expecting your thank you brownies soon.

Well that is it except for our bedroom. I hope you like it Mom

We would also like to thank every one for the birthday wishes for Ryan, she had a great day at Chuck-E-Cheese with her siblings even though Alex and Soren are scared to death of Chuk-E. Colton and I were talking about it and thought what the heck is that big Italian guy doing with a giant mouse, duck woman, dog and some kind of purple hairy monster and we decided that the whole thing is his acid trip. Any way she had a great day and we cant believe that she is 10.

Oh btw Kimi, the answer to the question you asked yesterday has changed to a yes, hehehe!!!

Back to School!!

So I have decided I am going back to school. This is a big step for me because I am scared to death to take math classes again. I have always sucked at math and it is a huge part of the degree I am seeking. I am going for my Bachelors in Materials Science Engineering. I am going to have to do the first 2 years at SLCC and then transfer to the U, luckily SLCC's program is designed for a transfer to the U so I should be able to transition easily. The scary part is that this degree requires a lot of math and a lot of chemistry so I am super nervous and excited at the same time. I just finished my application to SLCC and have been studying for the ACCUPLACER exam that they use by going to math.com to study for the math portion. I am actually learning too, how sad is it that I am a 29 year old and I am back to studying how to divide decimals?? I have also found some ACCUPLACER study guides that I am using as well. I am planing on testing sometime in the next 2 weeks so wish me luck. Exciting!!!

10 Years

Remember
"Remember the first flush of love
that drew you powerfully together?
It still feeds the unassailable bond
that makes your marriage so secure.
Remember all the qualities about each other
you found so endearing?
They are still there,
and new ones create sweet surprises.
Remember thinking that this love
would last forever?
Your love has strengthened and grown
into eternal affection and admiration.
Years from now, you'll look back
at this anniversary
and realize you love each other
more than ever.

I know it sounds lame and cheesy, but I still vividly remember the very first time I saw Ray. I thought wow this guy is pale.I remember talking to each other on the phone for about a month before Ray worked up the courage to ask me out. I remember our first date, we went and saw " Big Daddy". Ted and Mark walked up behind us as we sat in our seats waiting for the movie to begin, Ted grabbed Ray at the back of the neck and said "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!". Of course I was super embarassed, Ray was surprised having never met either Ted or Mark. I remember all of our firsts vividly because they were all of my firsts with anyone, First time holding hands, first hug, first kiss, first "I love you!". I remember telling Rochelle that he said he loved me and asking her if she thought that I was in love with him too. Poor guy went out on a limb to say it and had to wait nearly 24 hours before I said it back. Then I remember Kimi saying " When did they start saying that?" I remember deciding that we were going to get married only 3 months after our first Phone call. I remember picking out our rings and then Ray confusing the crap out of me by taking me to riverton music for trombone lessons, I remember thinking what the heck am I taking trombone lessons for. The guy giving the lesson distracted me by telling me that I was doing better than most 4th graders, so I didn't even notice when Ray disappeared, to return minutes later holding a boquet of orange roses and my ring, getting down on one knee and proposing to me. I remember coming down the stairs at the reception center in my white dress, feeling very self concious and then seeing him, I forgot all about the other people in the room and only saw him. I remember him rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb as the bishop read the vows, I remember that my " I Do" was so quiet that the bishop had to double check that I said it. I remember Rochelle crying standing beside me as my maid of honor and I remember Roby saying "Kiss her again." when he didn't feel that the first one was good enough and being completely embarassed when Ray did kiss me again, for far too long than was comfortable in front of family. And then our life together began. In some ways 10 years has flown by in others it has seemed long. The trials in the beginning with Ryan felt like they would be neverending, and then looking back, we recognize how very, very blessed we are. We have the most beautiful children in the whole world (even if they do somewhat resemble Patrick Stewart). Life has definitely had it's up's and down's. We have had our struggles but we are stronger for them. I could not imagine my life any different than it is now. I love you Raymee, Thank you for a wonderful 10 years.

Another Year
Another year to create
precious memories together.
Another year to discover
new things to enjoy about each other.
Another year to build
a life rich in love and laughter.
Another year to strengthen
a marriage that defines "forever."

Wow

OK, now it really has been forever since I have posted. Ray and I have had a busy couple of months. We listed our house for sale on Sep 12 and had accepted an offer within 1 week. We closed on the house on Oct 16. We put brand new carpet in the entire upstairs and the stairs to the basement, we also re-tiled the upstairs bath and painted the whole interior or the house in two-tone paint, off white on the walls, and super white trim. We also did a bunch of stuff with the yard. I have to say that Kimi has a very handy husband Jesse did an amazing job helping us with the yard and helped us to fix the sprinkler system that hadn't worked since the fist winter we lived there. We still owe you guys and Shane and Anngee a steak dinner. Thank you guys so so much we never would have gotten every thing done without your help.

I painted some cute pictures on Suzan's windows that I need to get pictures of posted. The Halloween painting was probably the best painting I have ever done, I loved it. The thanksgiving one is cute and I am just getting ready to paint the Christmas one. I am grateful that Suzan has allowed me to use her window, I would be very sad if I didn't get to do any holiday paintings.

We had a nice thanksgiving, I had to work but I got double time so that was nice. I also got a two hour break to go have dinner with the fam.

Raymond has wanted an E-reader for quite a while so I finally got him one for his birthday this year and he has been reading non stop since I showed him how to download books on to it. About a week after his birthday I got home from work and he surprised me with one of my own, I asked him why he didn't save it for Christmas and he said that he had been looking for something for me for a while but he couldn't find the right gift for me, he said that I just deserved it for being such a good wife and mother and he already had plans for something else for my Christmas gift. What a sweetie huh?? Love him!!! After I got that I finished the rest of Sword of Truth series in 3 days. I absolutely loved that series but now I am sad that it is over and I don't know what to read next. Suggestions???

I have been having a lot of upper back pain for the past few months and I honestly think that I probably just need to lose some weight, OK a lot of weight (mostly from the front of my chest, B-cup Oh how I miss you!!) anyway I finally went to the doctor because I just couldn't move anymore. He ordered 2 MRI'S and blood work, turns out I have two herniated discs in my low back (congenital defect, FYI family members suffering from back pain) and my upper back pain is caused by my muscles, I will be starting physical therapy this week, my doctor appreciated that I don't like taking medication so he didn't make go on any regular anti-inflammatory regimen, hooray. Hopefully the physical therapy will help quickly. I also have personal training and nutritional assistance provided at no cost to me through my employer so hopefully by this time next year I will be wearing a much smaller pant and cup size.

My kids got school pics done and they turned out super cute I will post them and mail them out as soon as I get a chance. We were able to get Alex and Soren's pics done as well and I have to say that I am fairly certain that I have the cutest kids in the entire world.

Well that is all for now, happy blogging everyone.

Wow I haven't posted in forever...

So Rayden did get baptised, here are a couple of pics.













We have had a busy month. Raymond went to Montana for a week to try to find a job in Kalispell or Misoulla, so far no luck. A lady at work said that means that we aren't meant to move, I guess that also means we aren't meant to stay here because he has had no luck finding a job here in the last 6 months. Very frustrating.

We have been applying for pretty much any maintenance job we can find. There is one in Boise, Id that seems promising but I don't know if I want to go to Boise, I would like to end up in a smaller community than we are currently in. I did some research on population in Salt Lake County vs. Ada County (weird that Boise is in Ada county instead of Boise County) Salt Lake had 1,000,000+ and Ada had 100,000+, so it is quite a bit smaller. I talked to Chelle and she said it is a lot smaller, full of Llama and Alpaca farms and there is never any traffic.

Kimi and Jesse came over while Ray was gone, Kimi made some super yummy enchiladas and Jesse fixed my sprinkler manifold, thanks guys you are awesome.

Raymond's cousin Joelle watched the kids while I was at work and even slept over every night to ensure that I wouldn't be late the next morning, she is so nice, I just love her.

Raymond's uncle Urcle and his son Heath were in town for about a week and we had fun getting to visit with them.

We all went swimming as a family last week and it was so much fun that we are thinking about making it a weekly event. I guess that is all of my updates, hopefully I will get more chances to post in September than I did in august. Thank you to everyone who helped out while Raymond was gone it was much appreciated.

Rayden is getting baptized

Rayden will be baptized this Saturday, July 11 at 10:00 am at our stake house located at 8950 South 1300 West West Jordan, UT 84088. This is our invitation if I don't have your e-mail address. I am not good with fancy invitations so this is short, sweet and to the point. We hope to see you there.

Kelly Clarkson Concert

After I picked Ryan up from school, I grabbed a couple of rain coats and an extra sweater for her and then we were off to Provo.

We got to Grandma's work to pick up the tickets and Grandma asked her who her favorite singer was, Ryan of course said Kelly Clarkson and then Grandma asked if she wanted to go see her and Ryan was jumping up and down saying yes so she gave her the tickets and then we backtracked to Ogden to the Brent Brown Ballpark on the USU campus.

There was a bunch of pre-show stuff and Ryan was starting to get very irritated that Kelly wasn't on stage yet. We were the sixth row of chairs back from the stage, so when her van finally showed up and people rushed the stage Grandpa threw Ryan on his shoulders and rushed the stage with the rest of them.

He was such a good sport because he kept Ryan on his shoulders jumping along to the music the whole time up until the last 3 songs when Ryan was ready to sit down, she was cold from all the rain so I wrapped her up in a blanket,sat her on my lap and bounced her up and down with the music so she could still feel like she was jumping along with everyone else.

While she was on grandpa's shoulders she threw her arms up and held up the peace sign with both hands, Kelly Clarkson smiled at her and gave the peace sign right back to her. She was copying everyone else so I have a bunch of pics of her doing the rock on sign and clapping her hands above her head, all in all I think she had a great time and is something she will remember her whole life. Anyway here are all the pics, Enjoy!! (Sorry there are a lot of them.)















And the pretty Rainbow that I just had to take a picture of,