Gratitude

I am sooo grateful today for sooo much! I cannot even express the joy in my heart! I may not have much in the way of worldly possessions but I have what is most important in life!

My family-
My husband and my wonderful kids are what make me want to keep going from day to day! They are everything to me! Seeing their smiling faces is what makes my world go round!

A relationship with my savior-
The gratitude that I have for the atonement in my life cannot be expressed fully in writing. It is amazing to me that he cares so much for me that he was willing to suffer for my sins. Something that only he could do! I thank him each and every day for that sacrifice!

My health-
Our bodies are so amazing but there are so many things that can go wrong! I am so grateful that my body functions normally!

There are so many more things that I could go on and on about but then you wouldn't want to read anymore would you! ;)

Kiddos!

My babies are getting so big I thought I should probably sit down and write a few memories! I know I have a lot of catching up to do here on the blog but it will have to wait till I have access to my pictures and a real keyboard! (this post will be published from my phone!)

Emma

Well Emma turned 3 in October and she is getting so smart! Some of her favorite things right now are riding her bike and watching Strawberry Shortcake! Here are just a few funny things that have happened lately.

- I was eating a salad and she reached over and pulled out a piece of purple cabbage. I asked what it was and she said something slightly resembling the word "cabbage". So I said "that's right! Cabbage!" to which she replied in a very matter of fact kind of way "yeah, I'm smart."
And getting smarter everyday!
- Ryan was moving a family in our ward and Emma went to "help". He picked up a box and Emma said "that's tricky!"
Oh that kiddo!
- Emma's grandpa Herring always tells her "I'm impressed" when she does something well. So when I told her she was getting good at riding her bike she said "yeah, that's impressed!"
Yes it is sweetheart!
- At Sea World in the gift shop she wanted a huge Shamu toy. I explained to her that this one was too much money. Just then Ryan walked over and she looked at him and said "Daddy, I want the too much money one!"
Daddy caved... Lol
- It's funny when you have kids because they start saying things that you say a lot... When we pick things out now if I say "let's get this one" she says "that one it is!" lol
Just glad I don't swear!

Daxton

Well my baby boy is almost 7 month old now! He is proficient at the Army crawl (figures! Lol). He is working on his second tooth. The first appeared just about a week or so ago. We feel so luck to have him in our family! He has such a sweet little personality! He loves his sister so much and always has a special smile just for daddy! When he thinks someone (mostly just emma) is hurt or sad he gets really upset! He is starting to babble and it is sooo cute! I can't wait to find out more about this special little guy! Love you little man!


And now.... Pictures!!!

One Great Week!

Tonight my feet are so swollen that I have no choice but to be in bed with them up on a stack of pillows so I figured there was no excuse for me not to update the blog! ;) lol

OUCH! No ankles! boo hoo! :(

This last week (since labor day weekend) has been amazing! So many good things happened that this post may get a little long but I will try not to go on and on about it and I will try to keep it lively with a few pictures! :)

- Last Thursday (Sept. 1) we had tickets to go see the Tacoma Rainier's. It is the minor league baseball team here! It was a lot of fun! Emma enjoyed it and even got a foam finger and giant baseball and bat!

Emma with her ball and bat! (Ryan and Chad goofing off int he background!)

- Friday night we left to spend Labor day weekend crabbing in Oregon with Ryan's sister DebiLynn and her husband Wyatt. We had a great time and caught a TON on crab! It is sooo delicious! (Try not to be too jealous!) ;) However, I did not take many pictures so you will all have to stay tuned for the rest those when I get them from DebiLynn! But here are the few that I do have!

On our way there we found a really cool diner! It was yummy! :)

Gettin' ready to eat yummy burgers!

 The Bridge into Coos Bay!

 We took some time out  to watch the BYU game and Emma wore her lucky shirt for grandpa! :)

-Wednesday was our 4 year wedding Anniversary! Wow! Time really flies! I love being married and could not ask for a better husband! He would do anything for me and has proven that on several occasions. I love him sooo much! I can't wait to spend the rest of my life and eternity with him! :) To celebrate (because we did SO much the rest of the week) we went to Walmart and bought Emma's outfit for her first day of school and stuff! Afterwards we went to Arby's and then home to watch a movie. Not to exciting but it was good to spend time together and just relax!

-Thursday Emma started preschool!!!! AAAHHHH!!!! I have to admit that I did really good dropping her off but when I got home and it was all quiet I had a little bit of a freak out moment. I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big! She absolutely loves school and actually cried when I went to pick her up because she did not want to go home! Her teacher is a sister in my ward and she is amazing with kids! As she was explaining all of the fun and exciting things they will by doing this year it almost made me wish I was back in preschool! ;) Emma is going to learn sooo much this year!

Getting Ready to Go!

 In Front of School (Teachers House)!

-Thursday afternoon Ryan let me go and relax with a pedicure and I also got my hair dyed! It was nice to have a little bit of time for myself! :) 

-Friday after Emma got done with School we packed up and headed off to the Puyallup Fair! By the time we got there we had no time to walk around and see anything because we had tickets to the Rodeo and concert that was starting! It was so fun! Emma loved all of the horses, cows, and even the bulls! She even begged Ryan and I to let her ride the sheep when she saw all those little kids doing it! ;) After the rodeo was the Joe Nichols concert! It was awesome! We had so much fun!

Concert!

Emma and I!

 Ryan and I!

So that is all about my exciting and amazing week! It is going to be a hard one to beat! :)

Angel Lullaby

When I was a kid growing up my mom would sit in the doorway to my room and read or sing to me at night. She sang mostly songs from the children's songbook but there was one song in particular that I always loved to hear. I never knew what it was called but I loved it!

Well, I had tried and tried to sing it to Emma ever since she was born but didn't really know all of the lyrics or the name of the song so it was very hard to find. Well, a while ago I managed to find it and so I printed off the lyrics and learned them all so that I could sing it to her. She calls it the "Jesus Christ Song" and asks for it all the time but the real title is "Angel Lullaby" and it comes from a play called "My Turn on Earth". Every time I sing it it brings back a ton of awesome memories of my mom. But even without the memories it is really a beautiful song so if you have the time go and listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LIcNm0uiEs

The lyrics go like this

"You came from a land where all is light,
to a world half day and a world half night,
to gguard you by day you have my love,
and to guard you by night your friends above."

Chorus:
"So sleep, sleep, till the darkness ends,
guarded by your angel friends,
Oh sleep, sleep, till the darkness ends,
guarded by your angel friends."

"There is one stand softly by your bed,
Another sits close with a hand on your head,
There is one at the window watching for the dawn,
And one waits to wake you when the night is gone."

Chorus:
"So sleep, sleep till the darkness ends,
guarded by your angel friends,
Oh sleep, sleep till the darkness ends,
guarded by your angel friends."

Ocean Shores!

This post is a little late coming but it is a good one so here it goes anyways!


On the last weekend in August Ryan and I decided that our little family could use a little vacation! So we packed up the car and headed out west as far as we could go! About 2 hours later we were in one of our favorite spots! A little town by the name of Ocean Shores!


Next to the hotel we stayed in there was a little gift shop and this was the front door! Emma loved it!

 A Shark that was hanging on the ceiling of the same gift shop!

 When we went out of our hotel in the morning we saw all of these kites flying over the beach!

 So we went down to take a closer look and they were amazing!

And there were soooo many of them!!!

 The guy who owned all of them put this one low to the ground so that Emma could see it! :) Very kind of him!

 Playin' in the sand was her absolute favorite part! I there is one thing this girl loves it is digging in dirt!

 Someone had made a circle out of a bunch of seagull feathers!

 Watchin' the waves roll in!

 Running along the beach in her bare feet! :)

 Running back with Daddy!

 Sooo tired of running!

 We borrowed other peoples sand art! ;)

 Her feet made the cutest little prints in the sand! It reminded Ryan and I of the poem "Footprints in the sand". If you have never heard it go and read it!

 Playin' in the waves with Daddy! She would not get down in them because it was a little bit scary but as long as Daddy was holding her she was fine!

 My two favorite people at one on my favorite places! Doesn't get much better than this! :)

Note* The reason there are no pictures of me is because I have a slight obsession with taking pictures which makes it hard for me to be on the other end of the camera! LOL! Also, it is hard for Ryan to chase Emma with the camera around his neck! So, lots of pictures of them and none of me! I think I will survive! ;)

The game of waiting...

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting....
Waiting to move, waiting for baby, waiting for dinner...
It seems like all I do is wait anymore!!!
So as most of you know we have been in the process of Ryan getting a medical release from the Army for about a year and a half now... It has been a really long drawn out and kinda stressful ordeal. It seems like they can never give us a straight answer about anything! For those of you who know anything about the Army you know how it can be and you also know the ridiculous amount of paperwork and running around that they require for even the simplest of tasks!
So anyways, a lot of people have been asking me when we will be moving back to Utah. We had been hoping for it to be soon but even October would have been nice for that matter! But as it stands right now we are expecting to be back with our friends and family sometime around December. That's right... today were were AGAIN told "about 90 days". So we will see if they stick to it this time or not... blah!
This means that my baby boy (name still to be determined) will be born here in Washington.
So, if any of you are looking for a place to go on vacation and need a place to stay feel free to come and visit! We miss all of you!

It's A Boy!

We are very excited to announce that we will be adding a little Boy to our family! Name is yet to be determined but the Estimated due date is November 30^th! We can’t wait to welcome a second baby into our family! Here are some of the ultrasound pictures!

 It took her a while to get this picture because he would not hold still!

 This one ^ is a picture of his nose and lips with part of an arm and foot in there somewhere too! lol

 This one ^ is his face. Forehead to the right.

Yup... It's a Boy! :)