Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas!! We have been in CDA/Spokane for the last couple of days. Our drive up from Iceberg wasn't too eventful and for that I am very grateful! We saw lots of people in the ditch. We took it slow and easy and didn't have any problems. Our typically 7 hours drive was about 9 1/2 hours, but I am not complaining because we saved on gas! We spent only $35 on gas one way!! Awesome!

Christmas Eve was spent out with my mom. Everyone was there and us sisters really did have a nice time talking and catching up. Corbin, Jarrin, and Keeley played with each other all day, which was nice. This is the first time Corbin was really able to play cooperatively with his cousins instead of doing his own thing. Naomi and her family along with Maranda showed up late as the severe winter storm that was hitting Spokane really slowed their drive from the airport. Unforunately we didn't get to stay very long after they finally arrived because of the snow- it was accumulating at 1" an hour and was pretty heavy. As it was, we had to avoid I-90 because of four major accidents that had the freeway at a stand still. We took backroads to get to Tim's parents and it took us 2 hours! We will be spending more time with them later this next week.

Today was a nice Christmas morning, a long nap for Carisa, and a wonderful Christmas dinner all in Hayden with Tim's family. I hope everyone else had a lovely Christmas as well!

We are going to be in Spokane until the 3rd of January. If you are in the area and want to hang with us, we have our cell with us- 208-227-4910- give us a call! I will be posting Christmas pictures here in a day or two- we realized that I left the camera at my Mom's- opps!

If I don't post again by next weekend- Have a memorable and Happy New Year!!

Love you all!

The Hetzlers

Elder Joseph B Wirthlin Passed Away

Elder Worthlin passed away last night and has joined his wife, who passed on two years ago.

I am grateful for his testimony and teachings. I have been especially touched by the last several conference addresses he's given. They have really touched my heart and helped me to look at life differently. I am grateful he was able to deliver these last sermons before his passing.

May the Lord be with his family and may they have peace and comfort during this holiday season.

From Deseret News:

"Joseph Bitner Wirthlin (11 June 1917 – 1 December 2008) was an American businessman, religious leader and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was sustained to the Quorum on October 4, 1986, and ordained an apostle on October 9, 1986 by Thomas S. Monson, following the death of Church President Spencer W. Kimball. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Wirthlin was accepted by the church membership as a prophet, seer, and revelator.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wirthlin was the son of Joseph L. Wirthlin, who was also an LDS Church general authority. He was a half-first cousin of late Church President Gordon B. Hinckley; the two cousins attended the same LDS Church congregation as children. Wirthlin played American football as a running back for the University of Utah.

As a young man, Wirthlin earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. As a standout high school quarterback, Wirthlin was offered a football scholarship at the University of Utah, but deferred it and served as a missionary in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from 1936 to 1939, returning to Utah just before the outbreak of World War II. He played halfback for Utah following his mission.

Before his call as a general authority, Wirthlin was a prominent business leader in Salt Lake City. He was also president of a trade association in Utah.

For over nine years (May 25, 1955 – June 7, 1964) Wirthlin was the bishop of the Bonneville Ward in Salt Lake City. The same day he was released as bishop he was called to serve in the stake high council, being set apart by Joseph Fielding Smith.

On December 6, 1964, Wirthlin was set apart by LeGrand Richards as second counselor to Russell M. Nelson in the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake Presidency; Wirthlin was Nelson's counselor until Nelson's release in June 1971.

Wirthlin's call to the Quorum of the Twelve came very shortly after his call to serve in the presidency of the seventy. Wirthlin became a general authority of the church in 1975, when he was called to serve as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the last individual called as an Assistant to the Twelve before the position was discontinued in 1976.

With the death of Hinckley in 2008, Wirthlin became the oldest living apostle.
Wirthlin married Elisa Young Rogers on May 26, 1941, in the Salt Lake Temple. She died in August 2006 of causes incident to age.

On 1 December 2008, Wirthlin had gone to bed at his Salt Lake City home, and died peacefully at about 11:30 pm of causes incident to age."

Quiet Thanksgiving

Well, we were stranded here in Iceberg for Thanksgiving, but you know, it didn't turn out so bad. We tried to find others stuck here, but I think we were the only family left in our whole complex on Thursday!

I actually enjoyed our quiet Thanksgiving. Usually we are with family and there are 20 or so people and I am either coralling children or doing at least half of the cooking. By the end of the night I am so exhausted and stressed out.

With just us four we sat down and played games while I cooked dinner. It was fun and it was non stressful. It was sooo nice! I wasn't totally worn down by the end of the night. All I can say was it was quite refreshing for a change! After our little feast we played more games and watched Christmas movies. I felt like we really had quality time as a family.

For Black Friday/ Weekend Tim and I went shopping at the Dollar Stores in Idaho Falls for Corbin and Tekara's Christmas gifts. After our drainage pipes in our basement home back in Spokane went out in mid- October and caused over $2,000 worth of damage, we are on a very, very tight budget just for living expenses. We are going to employ Julie Eggelston's great Advent calendar idea to help make the holidays more about family & service than gifts. Isn't that how it should be anyway?

For Christmas we will be up in Spokane/Coeur D Alene for a week. We are really looking forward to seeing family and friends again. We also have to do some drywalling in our basement to finish off all the repairs from the pipes.

If anyone is looking for personalized, inexpensive gifts I can do all kinds of vinyl gifts for you! Everything is 25$ or less. Check out my other blog www.empressivedesigns.blogspot.com or my etsy in the right bar.

Happy Holidays!

Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Wow! Can't Believe Its November!

Time has been flying by so fast! I did two craft shows- first one was very poorly attended, so we lost money on that one. The second was better. We are debating on doing a huge one on Black Friday and Saturday in Pocatello. I am getting ready to do another Super Saturday this weekend. So things are rolling. I am starting to design wall quotes and graphics to sell as well as ones for signboards and tiles.

Corbin had a good Halloween: Isn't he cute?! I got face paint for him, but hid it because I didn't want him to get into it.... then I couldn't find it!! Guess I hid it too well!!

Here are some fun pictures of Corbin goofing around:

Busy Busy

So, this week was full of business, which is okay, one week in a while is okay. Things are starting to roll with my little business. I got my first order from my online store! I was so excited! A bunch of additional supplies came in so I will be able to finish off and post some more projects. We also had a HFPE activity where the women signed up to make glass blocks and message blocks. Things were planned at the last minute, so not very many women were able to come and my vinyl projects were kind of the "rescue" for the whole thing. I am not complaining though, I figure we made about $100 profit that can go towards reinvesting into the business. So, I cut and weeded vinyl all day Friday.

Tuesday I flew up to Spokane for a couple of days to make all the funeral arrangements for my Mom. She's not doing very well. She can no longer talk or whisper from a lack of energy as well as coordination of her tongue and lip muscles. I had to play what I call the 'alphabet' game with her where I say the alphabet and when I hit the first letter in her message she would slightly nod. I would write it down and then do the second letter. We would do this until I could get a whole word or sometimes short phrase and then try to guess the rest. Talk about frying the brain! Her health is also complicated by an ongoing e-coli infection in her bladder that they can't seem to kill despite using the heaviest and most potent antibiotics. The doctors will try to keep the population down, but eventually they infection will be come resistant to everything they have and will spread throughout her body and that will be the end. So, now all the arrangements are done and all we will need to do now is plan the Memorial Service we will have.

This week I am going to be finishing and posting some more projects and I am getting ready for my first craft fair! Hopefully it will go well. I am going to get some finished products done, vinyl only cuts, kits, brochures printed, and business cards printed. I also need to make a vinyl banner to hang and pick up some folding tables..... so much to do!

If anyone has tips on how to be successful at craft fairs they would be most appreciated! So, here we go...another busy week!

Christmas and Getting my new little Business off the Ground

Well, the last week I have been playing with my rolls of vinyl and getting brochures, business cards, website, and such together for my little vinyl business. I posted some of the first samples on a craft blog my sister and I share. You can check them out at http://downtimepapertherapyforus.blogspot.com/. I will be adding more projects I will finish today- mostly tiles today.

When I have my website and etsy set up I will let you know. This has been so much fun and I hope that by not charging as much as most others, we can get enough business to pay for our Christmas this year. I am trying to get into a couple of craft shows here in SE Idaho too.

So, if I don't blog for a little while, you'll know its because I am working on the business! Happy Fall!

The Joys of Kid Puke

So, Friday night Corbin got his real first case of flu or food poisoning- I am not sure which- If I end up sick we'll know for sure :). He woke up in the middle of the night crying and shortly after Tim pulled him out of bed he puked all over him. Since he had to work Saturday I had him go back to bed and I stayed up with Corbin the rest of the night. It was one long night- I felt like I was a new mother again- up at all hours feeding an infant, but this one was crying and puking instead! After he'd pretty much emptied his stomach I was able to get him to lay down in his own bed for a couple of hours and I crashed. Thank goodness! I was falling asleep sitting up on the couch! His little nap was short lived, as he decided he was hungry when he woke up I gave him a little bit of wheathearts. That came right back up- poor kid! He was now scared to eat or drink anything and he wanted me next to him on the couch. He'd scream if I left to do anything. So, being bound to the couch all day with him I decided I might as well try to make it educational!

We sat and watched the History channel ALL day! I learned all kinds of interesting things about the proton particle collider they started up a couple of weeks ago in Europe, physics of the universe, the process of how the earth was made, about cobra snakes that were let loose in Florida during hurricane Andrew and are now populations are exploding in the Everglades and the snakes are entering subdivisions, all about the Geological history of New York City, Swarming and stampeding animals & insects, and more!

I do have to say being confined to a couch by a sick toddler was a little frustrating as it was a beautiful day outside and I had a million of things I needed to do...but oh well...guess there is Monday.

We didn't go to church today as I didn't want Corbin infecting the nursery if he indeed has a virus and Tim has to work one Sunday a month and it's his Sunday. I hate missing church! I love the spiritual nourishment I get each week.

Sorry! I fell off the Blogging Wagon!

I can't belive it's been 5 weeks now that I haven't posted! Things have been rolling so fast lately and Corbin wants to play every second of the day! One of those weeks entailed a trip back to Spokane, which was spent mostly taking care of errands and loose ends from our move to Rexburg. I have also started a Family History class at BYU-I! I have been working on getting together and entering all our family info into a geneology program. I am also starting a vinyl sign business and have been working on creating my first cuts on the computer now that my vinyl and transfer tape have arrived. I am so excited to get it going! I am also having visions of vinyl phrases on our wall throughout the apartment! I have also been getting things rolling for the Achivement Day girls. We have 13 and I have two other women I work with. We got the whole year planned, and last night completed our second activity for the month. We did a game involving the Food Guide Pyramid and the Word of Wisdom. Afterwards the girls decorated tin lunchboxes to use as a recipe box and the girls brought healthy recipes and one healthy snack to share. It turned out really well.

Tim's been doing well also- we is taking his second B of M class and still working at Sam's Club. After being there two months he was just promoted to be the Produce Manager- which is full time with benefits! Yea!! It will also really help his resume when he graduates. I am so proud of him!

So, I am getting back on the wagon and will be posting again more frequently....

Yellowstone

Here we are at the Antler Arches in Jackson Hole

Corbin and I Waiting for Old Faithful

A Drive By of Yellowstone

Tekara arrived Wednesday night and we got her squared away for school on Friday. The schedule is a little different here. She's on trimesters with 65 minute classes and will have release time seminary first thing in the morning. Jr High starts this Wednesday and get this...classes don't start until 8:30... I wish I had the schedule growing up instead of early morning seminary that started at 6 am and school that started at 7:15... lucky girl!

So, we decided that since Yellowstone was pretty much just on the other side of the Teton Mountains, we should take advanage of the opportunity and get a year long double pass to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton's National Parks.

We packed up everyone early Saturday morning and headed to the South Gate enterence of Yellowstone. We spent much more time in the car than we anticipated. We drove the 1.5 hours to Jackson, Wy and made a pit stop. Then we continuted on to the Gate. It took a lot longer than we thought- nearly another 1.5 hours of driving. By the time we hit the gate and Vistor's Center at West Thumb it was lunch time.

I won't bore you with details, so here is the run down:


Stopped at a few waterfalls
Saw Old Faithful
Attempted to see one of the Paint Pots
North rim of the Canyon and Upper Falls
Backtracked and left via West Yellowstone
Ate dinner at West Yellowstone



Enjoyed an 1 and 20 min drive home! Next time we will enter by the west gate- SOOO much less driving!

Needless to say, we were very impressed and are eager to go back and do some camping so we can hike several of the trails and see more of the gyeser basins as well as the canyon.

The most entertaining part of the trip was listening to Tim. He was so eager to see wildlife, like what you see in the documentaries about Yellowstone. The whole time we were there, we didn't see anything and Tim was making side comments about his disappointment. At one point I said "Look! Wildlife!" as I pointed to a herd of cows. It kind of became a running joke as we pointed to fish and people hiking, ect...

We are hoping to go back in September before the first snows and spend at least one night camping. I am looking forward to it!

Just when I thought we were Safe....

You know, I have always been so grateful that Corbin has never pulled a poop-smear on us when I would listen to others tell their child rearing horror stories. I can now say that we are now part of the "in crowd". While I was out today, I left Corbin home with Tim. Corbin was supposed to be taking a nap. When I walked in the door Tim stared at me and said "Your son...." with that exasperated tone.

Corbin had pooped in his diaper, took it off, and then began using various means to "wipe" himself. He used toys, the carpet, opened the bag of diapers and tried those, his shirt, some swimming diapers, etc. When Tim found him he had poop all over the bedroom and all over his body- including near his mouth... (I don't even want to know!) ! After trying to clean everything up and giving Corbin a cool shower his bedroom still WREAKS! All we can figure is that more is blended into the ugly 80's brown carpet we have.

So... Tim is off to Albertsons to rent a Rug Doctor so we can clean his carpets.

In the meantime Corbin was put into Tekara's bedroom. When I went and checked on him again, he had torn up the bed sheet on her mattress.... ARGGGGG!

Some stuff I've learned.

This is the hubby again. which means most people will stop reading at this point. Corbin is having a hard time getting to sleep again tonight so I thought I would entertain all those who read this. Here is a list of one lines I've either come up with or learned from.
1. A wise woman once told me,"she's always right." any one that reads this knows that this isn't 100% true but I know that without my wife, I would be lost, for example One problem I've always had, is picking out what to wear. I've learned and for the most part I do alright but luckily for me, Carisa is there to correct me when the lines on my shirt are going perpendicular to the lines on my shorts. The last thing need is the guys teasing me on the golf course.
2. You only live once, it might as well taste good. I wish I could live this but my wife wants me to stay around as long as possible, and golf not only gets harder with age but also with size.
3. You never realize what you had until you don't have it any more. You can ask my wife to explain that one.
4. If it hurts, stop doing it. For a glimpse at my younger stupidity, compared to my current; When I was in high school, my friends would get together. We knew it got to late when we would take the dogs bark callers and put them up to our own throats. enough said.
5. When in doubt, read the instructions. Left over parts, aren't extra all the time.
6. If your camping and you hear someone ask for the campers gold, they are looking for the toilet paper.
7. Just because you have money, doesn't mean you have to spent it. Most the time, excess money spent goes straight to my hips.
8. A friend is someone that knows everything about you and loves you anyways.
9. Guys, flowers are good for any occasion, not just when it's a holiday or you might be in trouble.
Girls, guys want more then subtle hints.
10. If she ain't' happy, ain't' nobody happy.
11. Mostly guys, We have two ears and one mouth, use them proportionately.
12. Just because it happened to someone you know, doesn't mean that's how it happens to everybody, or even most people. If someone you know dies because of there seat belt, doesn't make seat belts bad, it just means they were in the .5%.
13. He who take offense, when offense ISN'T intended, is a fool and he who takes offense when offense IS intended is a greater fool. I have had my fare share of being a fool. This doesn't give anyone a reason to offend who ever they want. Tact is a good thing.
14. Just because it's not your way, doesn't mean it's the wrong way. The dishes will get cleaned either way and the laundry will get folded.
15. Life isn't fair but we can all strive to make it as fair as possible.
16. Tact is being able to tell someone they are going to hell, and having them look forward to the trip.

These are just some of my thoughts, some are thoughts from college text books, and from funny forwards that lots of people don't like to get.
If this offends anyone, I'm sorry. Goodnight

Drinking from the Well

This last week was so wonderful for me! I felt very strongly that Tim and I needed to attend Education Week here at BYU-I, and even though we are quite poor, we bit the bullet and decided to do it and that the Lord would provide. I am so glad we did! Words cannot describe how meaningful every single one of the classes I attended was to me. I felt like each one really had been specifically designed for me and I received answers to so many of my prayers. Best of all, I regained THE VISION that I had lost in my dark abyss. I can again see with my Spiritual eyes and I was able to drink of the well of Living Water. Not only was my parched spirit revived, but so literally was my mind and body. I am so filled with gratitude and thanks for my Heavenly Father guiding Tim and I (even if it was with a 2x4) down here so that we both could receive the blessings we need to learn and grow. I feel so much better, I am filled with hope, I have been truly inspired, and the spirit has filled my brain with so many specific ideas and guidance for myself, my marriage, and our family.

Tim and I have been able to sit and talk about the things we learned and make decisions on steps to take in strengthening our marriage and family. He is so supportive and is genuinely as excited as I am to make these changes. I love him so much and so grateful he is so willing to work together to create a gospel centered home.

In the process of attending classes, we were going to need a babysitter for Corbin. In a random, roundabout way the Lord directed us to a young woman named Valarie who lives on the other side of Rexburg. The first day she watched Corbin at her home and the next day at our house. She was a fabulous babysitter! She did so well with Corbin, that when I came home- he wanted her to say and play! It was so cute! He really liked her!!

We decided that we needed to go to an Education Week every year from now on as a couple because of how much we learned and have been blessed from this experience. We are going to make it part of our annual "Couples Retreat" (alone time away from kids).

something to add

This is more my wifes thing but it's late and I can't sleep so I thought I would write something.

It's been nice finally having my wife and son down here. True, I had lots of time to play in the BYU Idaho golf league but it's nothing like having my wife here. Now when I go golfing I have a time frame (that's not a bad thing) and my wife to come home to. I am on the winter/summer track her so now that school is out I have a little less then 7 months before I can go back. In the mean time, I have a job at Sam's Club that will help in giving me experience in the supply chain operations/logistics field. They have a wonderful managers training program but to enter it, you must past an assessment test first. I plan on taking the assessment this week.
Hopefully this year will go buy quickly so I can finally be done with school. I just wish I would have spent all 4+ years here. Next July, right after graduation, I will be doing an internship. I'm hoping to get the Honda U.S.A. internship, if not there is about 150 others I can chose from.
Carisa and Corbin are doing great, my lovely wife Carisa finally gets to be the stay at home mom she wants to be. She is so great with Corbin. He knows that when it's time to go to bed he needs to brush his teeth, which he loves to do, and then right after he goes to his shelf and picks out a book for us to read to him. After attempting to read the book, he climbs out of bed, which makes us think he is running off to go do something else, but instead, kneels next to his bed, folds his arms and is ready for his nightly prayers. What a wonderful woman she is.
Well, on the chance of this getting to mushy, I had better head to bed before it's time to get up.

Routines and Taking Care of Myself

Sorry it's been a while. Now that life is getting more settled (Tim finished his finals week and ended the semester with a 3.5 ---yea!), we are trying to create some routine in our lives.


Tim was hired at Sam's Club in Idaho Falls last week, but really isn't enjoying it much. Their sales philosophy really drives selling the Discover credit card to customers and we don't really agree with that. He is actively looking for another job closer to home. He is really hoping for a position at Melaluca here in Rexburg. He has some friends from back home who work there and have been talking him up. He puts in that application tonight. So we shall see.


Corbin and I go the the ward playgroup on Tuesday mornings and Corbin is enjoying having neighbor children to play with. We have one little problem though... when he wants to play with them, he goes to their door, opens it and walks right in. He doesn't understand boundaries yet. *sigh* All I can do I apologize and try to explain to Corbin that we don't to that- we knock or ring the doorbell and wait. Anyone else find the process of teaching social norms a little embarrassing at times?!


The best part of being here now is that I am taking time to care for myself. Back in Spokane I felt like I was just in "survival" mode- just trying to get through the day, through the week. I was constantly taking care of everyone and everything else; my students, my family, my home, my calling, etc... I was overwhelmed and exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. My body fell apart, my spiritual well ran dry, and I felt depressed and that I had no control over the direction of my life.


So, here, I am daily working on refilling my spiritual well, Tim and I are working out hard everyday early in the morning before Corbin wakes up, and eating more veggies and protein. I have already noticed that the reduced stress from being here is causing positive changes in my body- evidences that show my hormonal balance is beginning to restore itself. I did a lower body workout on Thursday that I didn't think was that extreme, but boy did I feel it Friday and Saturday! I could barely walk!


I am also going to start a project creating FHE folder lessons for Corbin and our future children. Now that Corbin is acquiring somewhat of an attention span, we are focusing FHE lessons on him now. It's still pretty short- I got the Gospel Art Kit and what we do is pick a few related pictures- show them to Corbin and read the abbreviated stories or explanations on the back. This usually takes about 2 minutes- just about as long as he's willing to sit still! Of course we start with prayer and song, then we end with song and then our activity for the evening. So far it's going well. Corbin's favorite activity:





Tekara will be joining us on the 13th of August. She is flying down and we will pick her up at the Idaho Falls Airport that evening. School starts for her the third week of August.


We are planning on going to Spokane August 28th- Labor Day. Tim may or may not join us, depending on his work situation.


I got a calling last Sunday- I am a Co-Activity Day's leader. I haven't met my partner yet, but we have a total of 6 girls ages 8-11. I am excited for this...it takes me back to my Merry Miss days. Those were fun and fond memories. We will be planning activities twice a month for the girls. I am excited! Tim is still waiting for a calling.

At a Loss for Words..

Well, I already posted some funny things Cobin did earlier this week, and believe it or not he has topped those stunts!

Yesterday we laid Corbin down in his bed for his afternoon nap. We have a 3-in-1 crib that convereted into a toddler bed, so we have had in toddler mode since moving down here. Needless to say, sometimes getting him to stay in his bed during naptime and actually nap can be a challenge, as he gets up and plays with his toys instead of sleep. Well, I had Tim check on Corbin after about an hour because I could hear Corbin doing something in the bedroom. Tim opened the door and beckoned me to come quickly.

As I peered into his room this is what I saw:

Corbin was laying on his changing table, had pulled his pants off, taken off his diaper, and had is legs spread with a wad of diaper wipes in his hands and wiping in between his legs!!

I couldn't believe my eyes! Tim went over and checked his diaper he'd taken off, and it was wet. So, trying so hard not to laugh, we put a clean diaper on him and put him back in his bed and told him to stay there!

We busted up laughing as soon as his door was shut! Holy Cow kid!! I still can't believe what I saw!

He is a never ending source of entertainment, that kid...

The Funny Things Kids do...

After we arrived home from church and Corbin had his nap, he insisted on going outside to play- as usual. So, seeing that there was a new family we hadn't met yet outside playing, we went ahead and joined them. They have a 2 yr old son also and Corbin took to this new playmate right away. As we sat and visited with the new neighbors, we looked over and noticed Corbin leaning against the shopping cart the same way Tim does- with his lower feet crossed and his forearms resting on the handle. He stood like that for a while while "chatting" with his new playmate. It was so hilarious we had to get a picture!





If that wasn't entertainment enough what he did later that evening caught us both off guard! Lately at meals, Corbin has been really fussy about eating when we eat, and dinner especially seems to take forever with him because he dilly-dallys about eating. Last night it seemed to take forever. Tim had finished dinner and I was nearly done, when Corbin was just finally starting to pick at his plate when I looked over and saw Corbin put his piece of toast in between his toes and then lift up his foot to his mouth to eat his toast!! I couldn't believe my eyes! Tim was trying so hard not to laugh- he went and got the camera to take a picture before correcting Corbin!

Oh the silly things kids do!!

Playtime and Unpacking..

So far unpacking is about 1/2 way done. There are a few boxes spread around the main part of the apartment, but the worst is still our bedroom. I can't see the walls or floors still! I am hoping to tackle some of that today while Corbin sleeps.

I have spent a lot of time during the day playing with Corbin, vi sting with our new neighbors, and enjoying much more time with Tim. Yesterday Corbin and I spent 3 hours outside playing. Just in our building alone there are 11 kids- all under the age of 5, so he gets a lot of interaction with other children as well. Our next door neighbors have lots of large plastic kid toys and Corbin has taken a particular liking to one.

He's quite possessive of this little car and has a hard time sharing it with other children...in fact, when he does get out of it and starts to wander into the parking lot or get into some other kind of trouble, all I have to say is "it looks like you are done" and he comes running back to it, gets in and says "NO!!". It's hilarious to watch him in this because it reminds me of the Flintstones car...you can see his little feet at the bottom furiously propelling the car all over the place.

Here's the outside of our apartment:

We are in the bottom left hand side. They are 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartments. Not too bad... the only thing I could complain about is the 1980's dark brown/red veined carpet. Everything else is fairly nice and in good condition. When I finish getting things unpacked I can give you a tour.

It took us a while to get pictures up because Corbin broke the lens of the camera we received as a Christmas gift... so I went online to eBay and won another Olympus camera that was refurbished for 78$. It's actually a newer model than the other Olympus we had that we paid $400 for brand new. So- we got it yesterday and I am so excited to play with it!

There is a really nice spray pad at Porter Park here for the kids. Tim and I tried taking Corbin last week and he wanted nothing to do with it. He just screamed and cried even being near it. Eventually we got him to the point of putting his feet on one of the little sprays and that was about it. The next day when Tim went to give him a bath, he was terrified...

So needless to say, no matter how hot it gets, the Spray Pad is not an option for this kid.

Tim's last week of the semester is next week. He has a job lined up at Sam's Club in Idaho Falls that hopefully will also give him some time with the Operations Manager there so he can use it as an internship experience as well. He's hoping the work schedule will allow him to be a coordinator for BYU-I's golfing program in the fall as well.

Finally Here!

It has been a very long road getting down here to Rexburg! I am so incredibly happy to be done teaching! After a very hectic last two weeks of school and packing up my rooms I can say I walked out those doors for the last time and didn't even shed a tear....I am sooo ready to move on in my life. Of course, I couldn't do that until I packed up my house and garage alone, with a two year old attached to my legs or trying to "help". The anxiety and stress nearly did me in. After 3 truck loads of stuff off to the dump, numerous items sold or given away on Craigslist, and intensive cleaning, I managed to get stuff reduced to fitting into a 26 foot long moving truck- 2/3 of which ended up in storage upon getting here. My father in law drove the moving truck down and since I didn't finish cleaning and turning over our home to dear friends who are renting from us while we are gone until 10:30 pm, I slept in a little and then Corbin and I drove down. We arrived around 6:30 pm Saturday night. Tekara stayed behind to hang out with Gailyn and Nick for the summer. We are going to have to go and get her in August so she can start school down here.

Now I get to unpack everything..... It's not anywhere near as painful as packing it all up- and I can take my time.

I am very much looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom. I am so excited for our new life down here and it is so good to be with Tim again. Now I can have some time to teach and play with Corbin, enjoy my hobby, and best part- sleep in past 6:30 am!! I can de-stress and get my physical, mental, social, and spiritual health back in order. No longer a slave to my job! In other words- I get a LIFE!! YEA!

It's about time

I want to post this from Carisa's point of view but she wants me to give my point of view. Sorry.
I left Spokane 10 weeks ago and started my last year of college at BYU- Idaho. I am a buiness major, emphising in operations management (Supply Chain).
School has been great. I have always had a hard time with school. I have failed more than my fair share of classes but now it's different. It makes me wonder what some of the high school teachers would say if they knew the grades I am getting now: 4 A's and 1 B. The differenes in BYU Idaho from the other 3 colleges I've gone to would have to be the Spirit. I'm still getting use to having a prayer before each class but I'm not sure if I will ever get use to having a prayer before track and golf practice. It's is really nice going to class knowing that everyone else shares your same belifes and ideals.
It's been hard being down here without my wife, Carisa, but she moved down yesterday and all is well. The only nice thing about being down here by my self was being able to join the BYU golf league and golf 3 times a week. Don't worry, she is sitting write her watching me type this to correct all my spelling errors.
I'll be done here next July at which time I will do my internship, then off to work I go. I am thinking of going into forcasting/production planning for the auto industry or home imporvment industry. Who knows.
I'm going to leave the rest of the more detailed stuff to the more detailed person, my wifeeeee.
Have fun.