First Visitors in our new Home: The Cops

So I am trying very hard to have a positive attitude about our move to New Jersey but it has been difficult considering the unfortunate circumstances that seem never ending since we have arrived...

Upon arrival we had a few quirks with our apartment where I was unable to use our stove for a whole week (this was not neccesarily a bad thing for me but Matt was sure missing it) then our refrigerator broke and we had to ice everything down.

We also have not been recieving our mail and therefore have not been getting our student loans that we need for bills and FOOD!! (Don't worry though crisis averted)

The mail we did recieve though (which led to our visit from the police) was a huge home theatre system. My first thought was sweet we can return it and I can get one nice IPOD. But the more we looked into it the more we realized we had become victims of identity theft. Apparenty one of our kindly neighbors got a hold of our credit card number and ordered a $700 suround sound system. They sent it to their address but the office recognized my name and sent it up to our apartment. A very nice police officer came and took all the information and they are going to put a detective on the case. Kind of exciting that I get to help solve this mystery but unbelievable the things people do.

We are getting to know our ward and the other members in the area. It is a huge change from our large cozy ward in Virginia. The ward is really friendly but is a lot older and there and no other student families. Also the ward building is 30 minutes away and the chapel was only half full. So instead of having to leave home 30 minutes before church to get a seat we now leave 30 minutes early to get there in time.

On the bright side I do like the apartment it has two very huge bathrooms with a huge tub in our master bedroom. It also has a balcony with two storage closets on it and two very nice sized walk in closets. Our veiw from our balcony faces a forest so we have lovely scenery. We also do have a lot of privacy (oh except for people steal our credit cards).

I will have to post pictures.

I also found a very shady running trail not far from our apartment.

Trying not to be a Negative Nelly we are all safe and continually counting our blessings.

A little glimpse of my husband...

Because of my husband's birthday I also wanted to share just a few silly pics that I have found. Not many know that he was a serious runner and ran in college. So I thought I would share...

Happy Birthday Wonderful Husband...

This Saturday was Matt's Birthday and every year around this time I get all nervous. I always have the best of intentions on making his birthday the best day of the year but really fell short this time. What was supppose to happen consisted of breakfast in bed, a trip to NYC and ending the day with his favorite dinner and birthday cake while winding down with a fun movie.

What happened instead:

The aftermath of a hurricane.

With all good intentions aside the day still managed to turn out okay. The Breakfast ended up not being in bed because I realized I was out of eggs and had to do a grocery trip. Needless to say he was out of bed before I could get it to him. We canceled the trip to NYC due to the rain. Instead though the day consisted of the kids and mommy making and decorating Daddy's cake with sprinkles (which included Jack eating the frosting off the top in the process) and while we watched the rain come down we taught Stephen how to play monopoly. (According to him it is the longest game ever) . To conclude the day we did eat one of Matt's favorite dinners (sesame chicken and stir fry rice) and watched "What Happens in Vegas."

Since it is his birthday I thought I would just also mention what a wonderful husband he is. He is very inteligent and so willing to do whatever he needs to in support of his family. He is a wonderful father who loves playing with the boys and teaching them all about sports. He is extremely knowledgeable in the gospel and I always find myself looking to him for answers. He is my constant comfort and love. WE LOVE YOU MATT!!

The best and worst of Cake Making...

So lately I have found it really fun to make and decorate cakes. With the help of a good friend and a mini relief society class I picked up some tips and have made a few of mine own. This is definately something I would love to become better at and develop at a more professional level.

The first cake I made here is a Lightning Mcqueen cake from the movie Cars for Jacks birthday. I cheated and bought the frosting, which melted so much it wouldn't hold up the decorations. So not the cutest cake but a good learning experience.




The second cake I had a blast with but was in a little bit of a time crunch. I felt it could have been better but still liked how it turned out. A good friend of Stephen's was having a birthday party and we volunteered to make the cake (I don't ever get to do girl cakes so this was extra fun and a lot easier than a car!).


The last cake I made for my sister's wedding!! She was very trusting to let me (who had never made any kind of decorative cake before) experiment. It was very fun and very time consumming! Not to mention stressful when the day of the wedding my own son spys cake and takes a big bite out of the top of it. Needless to say there are a few spots on the cake where the decorative flowers are there for a reason.



All of these pictures were taken with my camera phone so not the best of quality. My mom still has not sent me the pictures from her camera of the wedding cake so I had to use this lower quality one...(mom that is a hint and reminder...I love you)

Slacking off again...

Just a little update. A few events that have taken place in the last month...
Matt has taken the bar and the boys love having their daddy around!! After the bar was over we went on a little sight seeing trip. We got to go to Niagra Falls on the Canadian side (first time in Canada) and almost got stuck there because we had no birth cirtificates for the kids and so therefore no proof that they were ours. After a quite extensive and frightening lecture from the border patrol man we got let off with a warning. Then we continued onto Palmyra and saw all of the church sites there. It was really neat to actually sit on a park bench in the sacred grove. To end off our little sight seeing tour we stayed in Scranton Pennsylvania for all of those Office fans out there.
The biggest news of all though is that Jack is finally potty trained!! I would like to say that it was due to my great parenting skills but he did this one all on his own. I just had to give him a little motivational tool (a lightening McQueen car after he went at least three times).
And now the saddest news of all... We are moving in ONE WEEK and just found out yesterday. We finally found a place to live that is not too far from NYC but far enough that we don't have to pay the NY price!! I was very exstatic to find a place but now it is really heartbreaking to leave all of the friends that we have made...So those of you reading this blog feel free to come and visit...(exspecially if you want a girls night out on the town in NYC) Also our place is only about 5 minutes from the beach (i don't know how good the beach is, I'll have to fill in when I get the scoop)
As for posting pictures an unfortunate event has occurred. I placed the camera on the side of the car while getting into the trunk and when I shut the trunk it shut on the camera. So sadly enough the screen is cracked and we have to send in for repairs...
Well it has been fun but all good posts must come to an end...

A Photo Opportunity

My side of the family finally got together after 4 years and managed to get a family picture after my sister's baby blessing.

The first picture is the whole family (all eight kids and Mom and Dad). The second picture is just my brothers and sisters and I and finally the last picture is the whole family

and spouses (minus my husband and my sister Janil's husband so we sandwiched in between our brother Orrin in the front.)

I also better state on my sisters behalfs (because I would expect the same) that

two are pregnant and one just had a baby. Looking good either way!!

My mom really wanted a picture with her and my Dad and all of the grandkids. My kids decided to be a little uncoporative and Stephen would be the one holding the book in front of his face.

What do you do???

Open House at the Twin Falls Temple

The Twin Falls temple is having their open house this month and part of next, so while visiting the family we all got tickets to go. It was fun to take the kids to their first look inside of a Temple. They did pretty well on the tour and loved putting on the paper booties.



It was beautiful to see and experience with the kids.