Last Update For a While

Well, I thought I would write one last update before we leave. We are officially leaving Colorado on Wednesday after the movers get us all packed up. It will be a very sad day for us, but when we get to Bagdad and settle in I'm sure we will be very happy! I think one of the things Dave and I are most excited for is to be able to sleep in our new King size bed for the first time. Yay!


Even though Sam's birthday isn't until February 11th, we had his birthday party tonight so that all his family could be there. It wasn't much of a party though. I don't know if he is getting sick or if he just senses the stress all around of us leaving, but he hasn't been himself so he didn't get into the whole cake thing at all and he was fussy the whole time. Oh well! Such is life!

Anyway, we probably wont have internet set up there for a little while, so wish us all luck and I will update everyone when we do again!

Bagdad, here we come!

Well, it is official...we are headed to Bagdad! Bagdad, Arizona, that is. Dave officially accepted the position on Monday and he will be starting his job on Monday, January 28th. He would be the Industrial Hygienist for a mining company called Phelps Dodge (part of a corporation called Freeport McMoran). We have a lot of mixed emotions about it, but mostly we are very excited. It is going to be a great opportunity for him, career-wise, and there are many great benefits, perks, and opportunities that come along with the job. We have been praying for months for a job opportunity and we never expected such a great one right off the bat. We are definately thanking the Lord every chance we get!

It might be a small mining town in the middle of nowhere, but I think we can handle it. It will be a new adventure for both of us, as both of us have always lived in a normal/big city. The closest it is to any normal size city is about an hour and a half to Prescott, and about 2 hours away from Pheonix. But, even though it's a small town there is still a ward/branch building there, so at least we wont have to drive an hour and a half to church every week!

We don't know the day we are officially driving down there yet because we have to find out first how soon we can move into one of the houses down there. Everything in the town is owned by the company, including the houses, so we will be paying rent to them to live in one of the houses for a very reasonable price.

There are a lot of other small details that I wont go into here (if you want to hear more, email or call us), but basically we are excited! Wish us luck!

Yes, we are alive!

Well, it has been about a month since our last post, and a lot has happened during that time, which is why I haven't had the time to write. Okay, I guess I should rephrase that - I haven't taken the time. So now I am going to update you all on everything that has been going on in our lives.


First of all, Dave finally graduated with his BA in Health Science on December 14th! Woo hoo! No more school - at least in Rexburg, anyway. His whole family came out for it, even though only Mom and Dad could go to the graduation. The girls (Jessica, Mary, Jenny, and Jeana) just babysat Sam, which we really appreciated! The gradutaion went really well and we enjoyed hearing from President Clark and Sister Tanner. Mostly, we were just excited to be done! So, after 4.5 long, hard, and stressful years he is done - and he did it with a 3.8 GPA. We are all so proud of Dave!


That weekend was pretty jam-packed. We had graduation, moving, Grandma's surprise birthday party (which was also very fun!), etc. That Thursday night (the night before gradutaion) when the Meyers all got into town they helped us pack up the truck Dave's friend let us borrow. Moving and packing is stressful enough as it is, but when you're doing it in the dark it's even worse - especially with a baby. Yes, that's right, the power was out in our whole apartment complex for about 4-5 hours that night. Perfect timing. Sam was down for a nap when it went out and the family all arrived and we tried to all do it in the dark, while one or two people held a flashlight. Then when Sam woke up he cried for about an hour strait while we all packed because he didn't remember or recognize the family and it was dark and he didn't know what was going on. But it finally came back on right at bed time - when we were done, of course.


Anyway, there was a lot of moving going on this last month - we moved back to Colorado to live with Dave's family until we figure out what's going on, Jason and Brittany (Dave's brother and his wife) moved back to Rexburg to finish school and Cindi and Braxton (my sister and her hubby) also moved to Rexburg to start work at Melaleuca and get out on their own. So Dave had to quickly go to Idaho Falls a few hours before his graduation and get the Uhaul trailor we rented, we packed it, went to graduation, came home and did more packing that night, and then early Saturday morning (about 5am) Dave left to Colorado with the first load of our things. He unloaded our stuff at his parent's house, loaded Jason and Brittany's things, went to my parent's house in Highlands Ranch and loaded Cindi and Braxton's things (Dave wasn't doing this all on his own, by the way - they all helped), and then he and Jason headed back to Rexburg the very next morning. They unloaded Jason, Brittany, Cindi, and Braxton's things at Grandma Mary's house and then Jason drove one of our cars (packed with more of our stuff) back to Colorado the very next morning. Whew!

Then, because of Sam's bottom and the surgeon wanting to keep an eye on it, Dave, Sam, and I didn't actually drive our other car down to Colorado with the rest of our stuff until that next Thursday. We had a truck, a trailor, and 2 car loads full of stuff, and we still had to leave things behind! Well, we learned what not to do the next time we move.

So, now we are here in Colorado, back with family and loving it. We miss Rexburg, but honestly, we are SO glad to be done! Sam's bottom had a few more break-outs since then, but over the last week it has been doing great and healing up wonderfully! Other than his cold he has had, he is doing great!

Okay, onto the next item of business - my little sister, Cindi, also announced last month that she is now pregnant! She is due on Aug. 12 of this year and both her and Braxton are very excited to be parents. We are all happy for them and I can't wait to have another cousin for Sam to play with! She has her first apointment on Monday! We just all wish they could be closer. :( But they are very happy in Rexburg to have their own place. They just started their jobs at Melaleuca this week and talking to them about it has, oddly enough, made me miss it. Oh well, I wouldn't trade what I am doing now for anything!


Brooke, Dave's sister in Utah, had her baby last week and we are all very excited about that - especially Dave, as it is his first blood nephew! Baby Davyn was born on December 27 at 1:15 and is 8 lbs. 3 oz. Dave got to see them when he was in Utah a couple days ago and says he is very cute. He took pictures on his phone and yes, he is adorable. We are all very excited for her. And if we do end up moving to Utah, it means Sam will have another cousin to play with!

I guess that moves me onto our next topic of conversation - jobs. I'm not going to get into details but basically he has been offered one in Arizona and he has interviewed with one in Utah. We wont find out more until tomorrow and will have a decision made by monday for sure. There are pros and cons to both so we will just have to determine which would be better for us. We have definately been blessed with these two opportunities though - more than we expected and we are very greatful for that. So we will keep everyone updated on the outcome.


Christmas went really well. Christmas eve we spent here with the Meyers and had a little Christmas Eve program, as is tradition. People sang, played instruments, and we had a fun little nativity skit. Jason played Joseph, Brittany played Mary, Jennifer and myself played wise-women, Mary played the inn-keeper, Jeana played a sheppard, and of course, little Sam played baby Jesus. It was so cute. A sheet was put up when Mary was "giving bith," while we put Sam in the manger. He cried at the perfect time, but then once he was in and the sheet was lowered he was quiet and happy. It was adorable.


Anyway, Christmas morning went great. It was a joy to see Sam on his first Christmas. When you have children it definately changes - you don't care what presents you get - only what your kid gets. :) He didn't quite know what to do about the presents but we tried teaching him how to open them. He got a lot of fun toys! It was a good Christmas, probably one of my favorites.

New years was ...interesting. It didn't quite feel like New years, but when does it ever? Dave and I spent it with Braxton and Cindi, which was fun. We just watched Lost until midnight, paused it a minute before midnight, poored some cider in some plastic cups, toasted when the new year rand in, and then finished Lost. It was like any other night, but we were in good company.

Speaking of Lost, we are excited for it to start again in a couple of weeks and way excited for Prison Break to start again on Monday, but we are sad about our other shows that aren't starting or finishing because of the Writers Strike! I wish it would end! Yes, we are a little too dependant on our T.V. shows.


Sam has been growing so much and is advancing so much, especially over the last few weeks we have been back in Colorado! He is doing so many fun things, like waving, dancing, sticking out his tongue, standing, getting into everything, and playing with his new favorite friend, Macey (the Meyer's dog). We will miss family so much when we have to move again!

Anyway, I think that about covers everything. I will write more when anything new happens. Oh, and if you want to see anymore of these pictures, you can go to our Photobucket website. Happy new year everyone!