And then I cried.

    Today is "Nie Nie Day." What is "Nie Nie Day?" You can read about it here. Stephanie Nielson ("Nie") and her husband were involved in a plane crash in St. Johns, AZ. They are both in critical condition with burns covering 80% of Stephanie's body. Stephanie is known throughout the blogging world for her honest and creative blog.  I never read her blog until I stumbled upon it a few days ago. Of course it's not her blogging now, but her family members instead. 

    I became so touched by the story and the support so many friends and strangers are offering this family. I can't help but think about the beautiful kids who are learning to adjust without their  mom and dad while they recover, and the family fighting for not just one, but two of their family members. There is a link to many different things people are auctioning to raise money for this family today. I encourage you to place a bid in any of the auctions if you can, and as always, to say a prayer for this family in need.  

Online Shopping

In searching for some church outfits for my always growing chunky baby, I came across these:

True Religion baby boy jeans: $79

Diesel baby jeans: $75 (save yourself a few bucks)

Lacoste shoes: $64.95 (they come in size 4 months!!)

Gulp!! I just don't see how this is conceivable. Am I missing something?



Oh yah, money.

Weekend Warriors

   We had a busy yet fun weekend. On Friday I set foot in the kitchen and stayed there for the most time I've spent cooking in a long time. I think it was good for me. It gave me hope that I can cook if I actually take the time to do it. We had some friends over and I made some potatoes and a lemon cake, which recipes I posted on Jenny's cooking blog. Tim was excited to use the grill for the first time. I'll have to post the marinade for the chicken we used too. Here's a pic of me and Kyle (who was looking too much like a toddler for his age). I was holding his shoe because I wanted to point out how awesome they are. Please pretend like I'm wearing some mascara and whatever other eye stuff people use. My makeup was temporarily lost. It was the first time holding Cara and Jeff Jones new addition, Mckenna. She's adorable! Here's Mason acting like a natural:On Saturday Tim and Andy started laying some tile down in the house. The house came with some dandy yellow stained linoleum that we knew we'd have to replace. While Tim was tearing out the flooring, I was catching some photos of our cute boy. (What's new?)
Here's the latest page. It's pretty simple but I liked it.: Happy Bday to my MOM on Monday. We all know how much I love my beautiful mother. She is so fun, seems to know the answer to any question I ask, and is such a hard worker. I hope you have a great one Mom. You know I wish I was there to celebrate!

The Haps

   Recently I've been reminded that it's a blessing to be healthy. Yesterday my sister called me to tell me that 3 of my cousins were in a car accident on the way to school in Mesa. Luckily two of them are doing ok, but my sweet cousin Chelsea is undergoing surgery right now.   We've also been thinking a lot about cute baby Claire who underwent brain surgery recently. You can read about it on Summer's blog. With such a sweet smile, who could guess that this little baby has gone through so much?     I haven't been able to meet Claire yet, but I hope to soon. She is so cute! Kyle's been sick too. I think I took him out in the rain too much. It's hard to stay inside though when it's been raining so much here! Luckily he felt well enough to read the Friend this morning. 
   It's sad/funny because Kyle starts to cry after he sneezes now because he knows I'm coming to wipe his nose. Tim decided to make a tomatillo salsa at 9:30 last night. We're enjoying our time with him around before he starts school on Monday and we never see him again :). Have a great day!

A Little Late

After seven months of life, Kyle has been rewarded with a crib! I am so excited to be living in a place where Kyle gets his own room and there is room for a crib. I bought the bedding awhile ago and have been anxiously awaiting the day when I would get to use it. I love how it turned out! I hurry and snapped these photos before I put Kyle down for his nap.

In this next picture you can see his 2 teeth. He has already bitten my shoulder twice. Any tips on how to teach a baby not to bite?

We haven't done anything else to his room yet. Tim is going to paint it while I am out of town and then we will be able to put things on the wall. I just love Kyle's thighs. This was only the second time wearing this outfit, and it will be the last. The pant legs get stuck in his rolls too much. We're still enjoying our adjustment here in San Antonio. Everyone continues to be really friendly. Tim has orientation this week and then school on Monday, so we'll see how I feel once he's not by my side all the time. On Saturday night we got to meet Elder Russell M. Nelson and shake his hand. He was here for Stake Conference. It was such a good conference. I love the spirit that was felt when he talked. I couldn't listen to half of it since I was juggling a tired baby, but you could really feel his love for everyone in the room. I love being a member of our church. He talked a lot about teaching our children about Jesus and the Holy Ghost. One theme during conference was the importance of having pictures of the Savior and the temple in our home. He is a really funny and intelligent man. Between conference and the news of my brother's engagement, this weekend will sure be memorable. Life is good!

Remember this Cute Couple??

     That's my oldest brother Curtis and his FIANCE Candace!!!!!!! Curtis proposed tonight at a Barnes and Noble. It's a great story. I am just so happy for the both of them. My family loves Candace, she'll be a great addition.
     They showed me the ring on iChat as their way of breaking the news. I freaked. I am so excited!!! The ring is beautiful. So far the date is set for Oct. 11th. What a great night! Welcome to the family Cbug. We love you and I can't wait for another sister-in-law!

Baby Come Back

Can I just say I love my Swiffer, but that I love their commercials even more? I die in laughter everytime I see one. It's the commercials where the broom/mop is trying to win the love back of the mom cleaning. I think they're so funny!! I also love our GPS unit. It was Tim's Father's Day gift this year. I don't know how many times we say to each other how grateful we are that we got one. I don't know who created the roads in TX, but let me assure you (my lack of direction skills aside) that the roads here make NO sense. Despite that, I have already driven somewhere all by myself! I went to Enrichment and back without getting lost. My longtime friends know that I still can't give them directions to my home in Chandler. And for an even more personal story, I cried the first time I drove at night to Tim's house while in high school. The lights I saw all around me were attacking me. My GPS has diminished the probability of me ever reliving nightmares like that again.

Welcome to Texas

     Here's a pic of our new house. The homes all around us look exactly like this but in different colors. We really like it, our neighbors and the area. We can't wait to get totally settled in! So I still haven't figured out why they say "Everything is Bigger in Texas," but I have learned a few things while being here for the first week. I prefer the dry heat, the zoning is bad but it makes for very close stores to us, the people are incredibly friendly and it is way more diverse here than Utah. It is so fun to be somewhere new. I'm glad we had the opportunity to move away from Utah, but I am looking forward to the day we can be in AZ with our fam!

  Kyle turned seven months last week. He got a new car seat and a new high chair. Lucky boy. He was growing out of his old seat and we got his new one for a great deal at Babies R Us. The salesman even threw in 10% off (once again, so nice!). Kyle looks more comfortable in it and doesn't cry as much. We love the recline feature.    (Yes he is eating paper again...) He has also learned to sit up and play all by himself. This is Kyle's serious face. He is getting his second tooth so I am seeing this face a little more frequently.     At seven months he still loves his jumperoo, laughs at things on his own, sits up, loves to drink water out of a cup, still doesn't like baby food and loves to see other babies. His new friend is his cousin Sadie. I am so happy he gets to play with a cousin for a year!     I think the only way they look alike is in their thighs! Things are going really well. We just finished painting downstairs so I will take a pic when everything is moved back. Picking paint colors is the hardest thing! Also we went to church today and our ward is incredible. I never felt more welcomed into a new ward. There are a lot of couples in the same situation as us (husband in school, mom with kid) so I look forward to making new friends! Happy Sunday!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

   No, not pictures of the house. That would require me to find our camera and the usb connector. Sigh. We're still unpacking and living in a mess.

  In good news, Kyle and I made it safely on Saturday. I was picked up by my kind sis in law Hillery. How spoiled am I to move to a place where I already have some friends and family? She even had some groceries for us. Thanks so much! We dropped off Kyle at my personal hero, Jenni Konkle's, house and then made it to our house. The boys had already unloaded the truck and returned it! Tim had roses for me and lunch. He knows I'm very unhappy when I am hot and hungry. He could take care of the hunger but he couldn't take care of the heat--which by the way I think I am handling well.

  The house is fabulous! It's taking days to unpack and clean up, but we'll get there. We had never seen the house in person. I cried on the plane ride because I was sure there was going to be something awful about it. Besides the awful bathroom mirror and a few gold fixtures here and there, it's great. 

  The people in San Antonio are so friendly. Whether they are speaking English or not, so many people stop and talk to Kyle whether it's convenient or not for me either. Our neighbors are nice as well. 

  Anyway, I got Tim to reduce his six boxes of mission stuff to just one. In the process we came across some great photos. For your pleasure I decided to take a break from painting and post them:
   Please notice Preston and Brandon Basha, Matt, Andy, Robert Kempton, Curtis, Tim, Cody Pace, Pete (aren't you too old for these guys?), Steven Kempton, Chris, John Kempton and Tyson Basha!

I hope Kyle is as cute as a little TRay.

Chris and Tyson sporting the MIckey Mouse. Nice legs Chris!

Such a Kyle face.

I didn't know Pete wore glasses!

B Ray in his baseball days.

And last but not least another all-time favorite. Don't you wonder what they were all in amazement about?

We're Alive and Surviving

We're alive. 

We survived a 15 hr drive from Utah to AZ. Don't ask me why it took FIFTEEN HOURS instead of  the 12 we were generously planning. 

We survived an entire day of unloading cardboard boxes, loading more heavy furniture, and then reloading the boxes. Unfortunately I had a migraine that day. Thankfully my mom, Taylor, Curtis, Matt and Tim's Uncle Eric saved the day. Tim has been such a hard worker.

I survived watching "Mamma Mia" with my dad, Alli and Taylor while my mom graciously watched Kyle. Yes, survived. I felt awkward watching them break into song on the movie screen. All the middle-aged women and older in the theater, however, were in love with the movie... or Pierce Brosnan.

Tim has almost survived a 17 hour car ride to TX in the huge Penske with his car towed on the back. I should hear he made it soon.

I hope to survive my bright and early plane ride with Kyle to San Antonio quite well tomorrow. We know I never know what to expect with him on the plane.

p.s. Some people wondered why I haven't posted pics of the house yet. We haven't actually seen it in person... so when we get settled in and access to internet I'll be sure to post a few!