Favorite Holiday - Julie

So I have been thinking about this. I don't know that I really have a favorite holiday. There are things about each that I really like. So I thought that I would tell you about some of my favorite things from a few holidays.

So first, I really like that I can spend time with family on pretty much all holidays.

Most of these memories are from when I was younger.
On Valentine's Day, my parents would leave us a little present on the door step. Usually the present said it was from our Grandma Adams. They would put it on the door step and then ring the door bell. Then they would tell us that Grandma came and left it and went home. But it was always fun to answer the door and have presents there.

For Easter, we always did it on Saturday so the candy part was separate from the point of the holiday. When we would wake up Saturday morning, there would be trails of candy corn leading from our rooms to our baskets. Sometimes there were lots of trails, some would lead to nothing. It was always fun to go on the little scavenger hunt. (I plan to do this with my kids when they get a little older. I think it will be a lot of fun.)

The rest of the holidays, we mostly spent being together. My dad was usually able to get a little time off for each one. It was always nice to spend time with him. We did almost always do something special during the holidays. It was nice to be able to have something to look forward too. I must admit, I don't always do that now. I hope that when Josh gets a little bigger and starts to understand, I will have enough energy to actually do fun things for these days.

Favorite Holiday

I'm guessing that it is my turn to start. :o) So, what is you favorite holiday and why?

My favorite holiday is the Fourth of July. I love to watch the fireworks!!! I could watch them forever. I also like that it's warm outside and everyone gets together to BBQ and hang out and have a good time and stay out late and play games, but I always wait for it to get dark enough to start the show.

Easter was a close second because I love to eat the marshmellow candy called Chicks and Rabbits. I make myself sick by eating too many every year but Fourth of July is definately my top pick.

Love ya!!!

Super Power

If I could have any super power I would choose to be stretchy like Mrs. Incredible. That way, when Sierra runs away I would just have to reach for her and I could grab her and not have to run after her and yell all the time. I always wanted to be like Superman because he got a little bit of everything. But if I have to pick just one I would definately want to be stretchy.

Love ya!!!

Super-power - Julie

If you could have any superpower, which one would you pick and why?

I honestly don't know. It depends on what I am doing at the moment. Most of the time I would just like to be able to do everyting that I need to without getting tired. I don't think that is really a super power, but it should be.

I would like to be able to see through walls and see what Josh is doing when I can't see him.
Along with that, I would like to be able to read minds, that way I would know what Josh and Lilly need. Then I wouldn't have to guess all the time. That would be so great. Maybe that would be my first super power.

I would have to agree with Krista, being really stretchy would be nice, I could catch things that fall, I would also be able to bounce right back after I have a baby. That would be lovely.

I would also like to have super strength. With Josh and Lilly only being 18 months apart and Josh being a very cuddly boy, I am often holding both of them. Josh weighs 26 lbs and Lilly 11lbs, 11.5 oz. So when I do this, I get tired very quickly.

Well, I know that is more then one super power. But lots of the super heros have more than one power, so there is nothing wrong with wanting more than one right?

Love you all

Question-Krista

If you could have any superpower, which one would you pick and why?

Now this is a question I have pondered a lot, especially with the movies that Disney has put out.

I would love to be stretchy like Mrs. Incredible. She could do so much! But...I don't think I would be in half those situations. Although catching the milk off the table would be nice, I think I would just have more to trip over!!
I have also thought about mind reading...like Mel Gibson in What a Woman Wants, or Edward in Twilight. I am always wondering what other people are thinking. It would be nice to hear all the good things BUT I don't have enough confidence to hear all the bad. I think that one would be the most hurtful.


So then I thought about all the superpowers I knew and I liked Jasper's in Twilight the best. He could project a calming effect on people. We worry so much. We have friends that come over that are in the middle of a divorce, or dealing with a sick parent, or bills, or anything. It would be great to be able to have them over for dinner and gave them an hour or two of peacefulness.

The power doesn't take the problem away, just makes it seem manageable. Kinda like the temple. This is how when I'm in the temple, I feel. Going to the temple doesn't pay the bills or put money in our account but it does make it seem like we'll get through.

It's just peaceful.

Maybe that's why I go almost every week since the new year!! :)

Fear

My biggest physical fear is SNAKES. I have a HUGE, CRAZY fear of them.

I am like Julie. I can't watch movies with them, look at pictures, hear them or even think they are there. I will have nightmares. I just break down and cry.

Chris has always wanted to own a snake. like it's his life mission. I can't think of anything more scary to me. Having a snake in my house. Even a small one.

I think I would have nightmares every day, IF I could ever sleep. And if I had a new baby around....oh my gosh! I'm getting tense just thinking about it.

I used to like snakes. I would go for walks with my Grandma and pick up the gardener snakes for her.

Mr Riechel used to have one in his class room. I almost transferred out of his class because of it.

I don't know what made me change from liking them to being so scared of them, I can't walk down the pet store section with snakes. I make Chris go first. SERIOUSLY! I have even talked to a counselor about it, it's that big. But nothing. She said that I probably got scared so bad that it isn't a memory anymore. I blocked it from my brain.

I'm so scared to move. There are scary snakes in New Mexico and Florida. We'll just have to see.

Well anyway, there we go! Our fears are out there.

my biggest physical fear

I'm afraid of spiders. It sounds dumb because they are so little and I am big but I can not stand them. I still call my dad to come and kill them for me. There is one guy at work who will pick them up with a piece of paper and take them outside and I can't watch because it creeps me out. I was at a friend's house the other day and one dropped from the ceiling and I screamed like a little girl. He made fun of me all day... not nice of him at all. But there you have it, 'm afraid of spiders.

What is your biggest physical fear?

I would have to say that my biggist phsical fear is snakes. I know it seems silly, but I am really afraid of them. I still look away when I seem them on tv. I used to have horrible nightmares about them. They would keep me awake for a long time. I don't really know why I am afraid of them, I have never had any experiance of them. Even now I don't think about them because I don't want to have any nightmares.

So that would have to be my biggest fear. I think that is what the question meant. If not, well, that is how I answered it.

What about you guys?

Lotto

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted.

If I had as much money to spend as I wanted, lets see I would do what people might consider boring, but it is what I would do.

1. Pay tithing

2. Buy a house with property

3. Pay off any depts (if we have any)

4. Put enough in a bank accout for a years worth of an emergency fund

5. Buy at least one years food storage, as well as non food items

6. Buy a newer van

7. Buy a truck (Ford, the only good kind)

8. Go on a honeymoon with my hubby

9. Buy my dad a cabin or something that can be used for family reunions

10. Start savings funds for Missions and college for kids

Lotto

That's totally cool about her winning the Lotto! Okay, top ten things I would do if I won the Lotto:

1. Pay off my student loans

2. Pay off my car

3. Go to Hawaii with friends

4. Buy a house

5. Buy a new 4Runner with all the bells and whistles

6. Pay off my family's debt

7. Go back to South Dakota to see where I was born

8. Fly the family back to the mid-west for a family reunion of my mom and her sisters

9. Go to Hawaii and be lazy on the beach

10. Donate to the food allergy research foundation

Wow, that list was harder than I thought it would be. The first six were easy but the last four took some effort.

Good one!!!

Lotto

If you won the lottery, (just go with it) what would be the first ten things you would buy?

So I just watched some chick win a million dollars on Deal or No Deal! She was pregnant and Mormon. Love it!

Anyway it got me in the mood to think about what I would do with a million dollars. I think that the lottery is more than a million, right? I don't pay attention.

Anyway this is what I would buy first...

1. Property with a house in Colorado... more like a ranch

2. Me a Jetta with all the gadgets

3. A sewing machine, longarm.

4. Chris his dream car

5. A whole warerobe that fits!!

6. Oh I'd have to pay tithing.

7. a maid for 10 years

8. a cruise with my hubby and some great friends!

9. I'd pay off most of my families' debt

10. More land somewhere.

I know it's not very fun but that's alright. I'm pretty simple.

So what about you guys? What would you buy?

First Bicycle

Are we talking about a real bicycle or those little plastic 3-wheelers? I'll go with a real one... I think I was about four when I got my first bicycle. It was one of the ones with training wheels on it but because all of the other kids on my street were older than me I made my parents take the training wheels off so that I could be like the older kids. Both my mom and my dad taught me how to ride but I have a really great picture of my dad teaching me.

Family Update

So I guess it would be my turn to post and it looks like I have some catching up to do. Sorry it's been awhile... I am finally better and am almost done with my antibiotics. I had to go back to the doctor about a week and a half ago and she told me I had a sinus infection to go along with the pneumonia. Seriously, could my luck get any worse? But the antibiotics have cleared it almost all up and she cleared me to run outside again the other day. Yah!!! So now I have to wait to see when I go to the academy, but it looks like it will be the end of March. Julie, what day are you blessing Lilly? I'm going to try to get that weekend off. On to the rest of the clan...

Mom and Dad are doing well. Dad is still working for the same electrical company and they are keeping busy so mom is greatful that he has work. Mom just left her job at the hospital and will be moving to the Cancer Center which is a new center across the street from the hospital. She will be administering chemo-therapy to patients at the center and is very excited for the change. She agreed to be an on-call nurse for the hospital so she will work two shifts there a month when they need her.

Beth graduated from the UW right before Christmas. She was working for Starbucks until about two weeks ago when they started laying people off. Unfortunately she was one of nine to be layed off at her store alone. Now she is job hunting and trying to figure out what she wants to do.

Jessica is still not driving, which is starting to annoy mom. I don't mind so much because she get nervous when she drives so I rather her not be on the road... Other drivers are safer that way. :o) She is a senior this year and is in her second year of running start. She has decided that she wants to be a teacher so she is starting to take more education classes and is looking at universities that offer good teaching degrees.

Sarah is 14, which should explain it all. Boy she is mouthy! I had to apologize to mom the other day for ever acting like Sarah. She said that it is part of growing up and being a teenager but I still felt bad. Sarah is actually really good and helpful when she wants to be but everything just has to be done on her own terms right now. She makes me laugh though because she says some of the weirdest things and she absorbes some of the oddest facts.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on. Just work, work, and more work. Okay, off to the next post so that I can catch up to you guys.

Love ya!

When did you recieved your first bicycle?

Well, it depends on what you consider a bicycle, and if it had belonged to someone else. We had a very little bike that we all learned how to ride on. I am sure it was my dad who taught me. I don't actually remember. But then when we grew out of that one, there was a bigger bike with a banana seat. When I turned twelve my parents gave me my first speed bike. I had that one until about 5 years ago when I got the best bike ever. It is a trek mountain bike. It is wonderful. I love it. I love bike riding. I have been able to ride a bike for as long as I can remember. I am the only one out of my sisters that really enjoys it. I think it is great. Now I have a trailer so I can go on bike rides with Josh and soon Lilly.

Guess what girls?!

My really great friend, here in Alaska, gave me a journal jar. Where you pull a little tab out and answer the question! I'm really excited about it. It will be so great for this blog.

So here we go...When did you recieved your first bicycle? Who taught you to ride a bike?

I got my bike for Christmas when I was about 6. I had little bikes before but this was my first big bike. Santa brought it to me. Kassy got one too. My dad taught me how to ride a bike. I remember crashing a few times because I didn't want to turn. I thought if I turned, even a little, the bike would fall.

Question #1 - Julie

What was your favorite pet you had growing up and why?

My favorite pet is actually two. But there really wasn't one without the other. So much so that when the one died, the other died not long after.

So if you haven't already guessed, my favorite pets were my dogs Rocky and Jake. We got them when they were just puppies. They were a valentines present for us kids (and my dad). We got them because the year before for Father's Day my mom had finally told my dad that he could get dogs again. They were the greatest dogs. Rocky would play and play with you, and Jake would just sit and let you pet him. He was such a good listener.

I remember that it wasn't until they were like 3 or so years old that I could take them for a walk by myself. they were too strong for me. Though Stephanie and I would take them on walks together. By me saying we would walk them, really I mean they would run us. They loved to go to the river and play. Well, Rocky loved to play in the water, Jake wouldn't go in until my dad was in the water.

They were so much a part of our family, that when Rocky needed surgery on his leg, we had it done. that summer we had to sleep down stairs with the dogs to take them outside when they needed to. While Rocky was at the vet, Jake wouldn't eat or anything. He didn't like to be without his brother.

When we moved, we took them with us. At first they would get out of the back yard and run away, they were trying to find home. But they finally got used to the new place.

There were so many times when I was sad that I would go and talk to them. It was always nice to talk to them. It really felt like they were listening and understanding what I was saying. When I was younger, I would climb in the dog house with them.

Then when I went to College, one of the first things I would do when I got home, was go out and see them. I always missed them so much when I was at school. When Rocky died, I was still at school, It was my third year of College. He died at the end of the semester, just before finals. My parents were so worried about how I would react, that they didn't tell me until I got home. It is sad how they died. Rocky we think had a heart attack. They found him just laying in the back yard. I spent a lot of time with Jake that summer. But he was never the same as he had been before. He didn't eat very well, he wouldn't really play or anything. It was durning the next semester that my parents decided it just wasn't fair to him to keep him alive anymore. So they took him to the vet and had him put asleep.

It still seems weird that they aren't at my parents house. We had them for such a long time. They were trully a part of our family. It sometimes makes me nervous to think about getting another dog because I don't know that they could ever match up to my memory of Rocky and Jake. But once I get into a house we are going to get a dog. I just love them so much. Plus I think it would be good for Josh and Lilly.

Question #1-Krista

What was your favorite pet you had growing up and why?

My favorite pet, by far, was Murphy. He took soooo much crap from Kassy and I. I remember running around the yard, hitting him with little sticks. He didn't do anything about it. Just ran around. Or when we would call him on the trampoline and then start jumping. Or spraying him with water. We were so mean.

But he stuck around. He loved us. And we loved him. I remember Murphy laying on the living floor and Kassy and I would scratch his back by kicking our feet up and down, along his back. He loved it. He would groan anytime someone rubbed his ears. He would sit down in the bath tub when he got a bath. He hated getting wet but knew there was nothing he could do about it! LOL

I remember anytime I was having boy problems, more like Kyle problems, I would go outside and throw rocks for SheRocks and sit with Murphy on the wall. I could cry or yell or just talk it out and he would just 'listen.' I'm positive he knew what I was saying! :)

The last memory I have of Murphy was Prom night, senior year. He had been gone for a few days but we all knew he kept lady friends over the hill so we weren't too worried. After three days of him not being home, we started looking. We found him stuck in the mud hole on the bottom of our property. His back legs were paralyzed from being so cold. My dad brought him up to the garage and then into the house. We tried to warm him up but it was too late. The rest of his body was starting to shut down.

So we all got to have our time with him before......., I was last. I went in the garage and pet him. He started to whine. And a thought came to me that he was hungry. I gave him dog food and he ate it like it was Hamburger Helper, his favorite. The poor puppy was starving. I glad that I was able to comfort him in his last few minutes.

I'm grateful that I was able to say goodbye. He was a great dog. People from school still remember him. I wish I had a picture of him to go with this post.

Anyway there's my pet story. I'm going to go wipe my tears! (I'm such a girl!) Now your guys turn to answer a question. Once we have all answered all the questions, I'll find more.

Another post

So I put up some questions on the sidebar for us to answer.

I also gave everyone admin privileges so that you guys can add sites or whatever.

I really think these question thing is going to be great!

I'll add more when we use these ones up.

Julie-read the comment on the last post.

Love ya guys!

Family Updates

I liked Julie's idea of Family Updates so here I go.

Chris is still enjoying his work on the F-22's. His squardron is in Guam. They only left 6 people behind to keep up the shop. Chris was one of the lucky ones. Although Guam would be a cool place to visit, the squadron will be gone until the end of May. There isn't a lot to do in Guam besides drink and have 'relations' with the hookers....so Chris would do a lot of beach walking and fishing. I'm glad that he got to stay here. I would miss him a lot.

So because Chris didn't get his orders when he was suppose to, (the military put the wrong date) he is now OPEN. Which means he can work on any plane that carries bombs or has guns, anywhere. The chances that we will go overseas isn't big but now is a possiblity. Now we could even go to Mynot, North Dakota!! LOL (I hope not!) Anyway it will be really exciting to see where Heavenly Father puts us at our next base.

Connor is at such a fun age. He is learning new things almost every day. Two days ago, I went outside to start the truck and check the mail. Connor usually stands at our glass door and watches me. Well I get the mail and am opening it halfway up the walk way is Connor with no shoes or socks, on the ice and snow. He is just smiling away so proud of himself for meeting his mom! I just busted out laughing, making note that I need to remember to close the door all the way now!

I'm cutting out fabric for a log cabin. I doesn't look too hard but I think I'm going to have to do a lot of UNsewing!! I'm also taking my first quilting class this Saturday. I'll post pictures later...probably on my blog.

We are still trying to have another baby, with no luck. It's 18 months of trying. I sometimes wish we had more medical coverage so I could take meds for it. (right now, we'd have to pay for all the treatments and doctors out of pocket.) We talked about waiting until 2 years and then think about adoption. So we'll see. I just wanna another little one around. Just one would make me happy.

My sister Kassy is going through a tough time right now. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. She knows that she needs to get out of Marysville (because she's about to loose her job and when she broke up with Billy, in October, she slept with all his friends). So that's coming back to haunt her because now everyone knows what she did. She was living with a boy named Ryan, but he is getting laid off from Boeing next month and is moving back to Georgia. Soooo she is moving in with my dad. Oh can you just hear the drama now?? At least she isn't moving in with mom. She thinks that she is going to get fired from her job at the pool (cuz she causes sooooo much drama) and they are making budget cuts. She decided that because her boyfriend, Shawn, and we live in Alaska that she is going to move her butt up here. I DON"T THINK SO!!! It will be news to her when I tell her that she can't stay with us but I got to think of my family first. Chris would kill her. I would be a mess and Connor would, well he'd probably love her.

My mom is still enjoying being single. She is dating all kinds of fun people. She is actually tame compared to before. She is still dating a few guys but they are more just dinner dates than anything else. She just bought a new truck. The van is about died. She loves her motorcycle. She rides it at least once a week.

My dad is still living with that Chirstine chick. She is nice and really loves Connor. He lives up way past Arlington, almost to Orso. Still working at Boeing. Nothing new there.

Chris' family is good. His grandpa is on his last breath as we speak. But we've all known it was coming for a year so it's time. Chris' sister in law, Megan Waggoner (wilcox) is pregnant again with a boy. Heather Vawdrey (I used to live with her...Chris' cousin who set us up) is pregnant. She married Nathan Griffin.

Aimee is doing good. Shiree just got married this past weekend to a boy from Everett. Aimee is due in May.

I think that's about it. Nicci your turn!

Family Update

So I thought that you both might want to hear what is happening in my family.

Stephanie has finally started a blog. http://sw416.blogspot.com/ It is linked on my blog. Though Krista if you wanted to add it on this blog, she wouldn't care. She is still at school in Provo. I think she has one year left. She has been kind of dating a boy. She is unsure if all the things they have been doing are dates. We keep telling her that they are, but she doesn't believe us.

Heather also has a blog. She is already linked on this blog. She can't find a job that pays very well, or gives her very many hours. This is a big problem because she is try to pay off all her student loans and things like that. So she has decided to take a medical training course. I think that will be great. I am very excited for her. It will be good for her to have something to do again.

Jenny and Andrew are still living in Richland. They have finally gotten over being sick. Poor little Nathan was sick with the stumach flu for 2 weeks, he also had both of his ear drums burst, and the medican they put him on gave him diarea. He lost about 2 pounds. Which is really bad because at his one year appointment, the doctor said that they needed to keep him on formula to get his nutriants and calories to see if he would gain more weight. But that is over and he is finally eating again. So it is nice to hear that they are over that.

As for my parents. They are doing great. My mom is teaching seminary and doing a great job. My dad is still working for boeing. I think he is very glad to be back there and back in Washington. He still has to travel a little with this job, but nothing like what he had to do with Ford. They are actually going to be here the first weekend in March because that is when we are blessing Lilly. By the way, if either of you will be in the area, you are more than welcome to come. I would love to see you.

So I think that pretty much covers the basics. I hope you enjoyed the update. I would love updates on your families.

P.S. Nicci, we love the outfits that you sent for Lilly they are very cute. Also we took the farm back that you got for Josh because my parents had already givin a farm to him for Christmas. We got the Little People bus for him. He loves it. He kept trying put put the bus in the barn. First he was trying to put it through the front, it obviously didn't fit, so he moved around back to try and get it to fit there.