Our Road

We have a new road to our future house! I know it's not very exciting to many of you but to us it shows some progress! We got a great deal on some rock and a pretty good deal on some trucks and equipment so we decided to go ahead and build a good road. It is a good road and should last as long as the house stands, if not longer. The road had to be about 450 feet. That's how far off the county road our house will be. Plus we are putting in a parking area that will come off our garage for extra cars or guests to park. Here's a few pictures to show our progress -- slowly but surely. We have decided to wait to start building the house until the spring. We were getting too close to winter and we want to save a little more money before we start. I'm glad we are waiting. I don't want to rush building the last home I will probably ever live in! Crazy when you think of it that way. It better be worth it!Here it is all finished for now (below). The parking pad will be where all the tracks are at the bottom of the picture. It doesn't have the gravel on it yet. It only has the base rock. We are waiting until the basement is dug and the foundation it set to finish that part of the road!

Miranda May

I thought I'd post a little about Miranda since I haven't done so for awhile and she is changing so fast! She is almost 20 months old. I can't believe how fast time goes sometimes. Miranda knows how to get what she wants. She is a screamer. She often lets out a piercing scream if someone does something that she doesn't like or takes something away from her. It's very effective - especially in sacrament meeting. She loves routine and she loves her family. She doesn't like us to be apart. Her favorite spot is snuggling between me and Leonard in bed. She usually does this in the morning before we get out of bed. She won't sleep there, but she loves to snuggle there. She is a good sleeper. She goes to bed around 8:00 and wakes up about 8:00 in the morning. She is starting to talk and knows quite a few words. Some of them are:

Mo - drink or milk

Tuk - stuck

mine - obviously "mine"!

Na Na - her pacifier, which it's obvious to everyone that she LOVES her pacifier - this also sometimes means banana.

Ow - could mean "down" or "out" depending on where she is at

Dada - dad

da da - said shorter and quicker then the above one means Kaydra

byebye - usually done with flair with a kiss blown your way!

She has others but these are the ones that come to mind. She is one of those kids that is either happy or mad. There isn't really an in between kinda kid. She still has really long eyelashes but her hair has gotten much lighter. She loves dogs and cats and she is starting to show her maternal side by "tucking in" dolls and stuffed animals to go to sleep. She is particular about how the blankets are spread out and she gets frustrated if she can't spread them out on the floor like she wants to. She is a joy to have around. She brings laughter to our home. We feel blessed to have her here!

Cross Country

The elementary school here is great. They have so many activities offered to the kids as extra curricular that the PTO pays for. They have a "Special Chorus" group for 3-5th graders that meets once a week. Then they perform at various things around town. The also have an art class for the kids that meets once a week after school for kindergarten-5th graders. AND this fall they had a cross country team. They ran at school during recess for their training and then had one meet for the entire district yesterday. There were over 800 kids there! It was pretty amazing to see all those kids excited to run. My kids both participated and did quite well. Kanyon ran 1/2 mile and Kaydra ran 1 mile. True to the nature of cross country they didn't simply run around the track -- they ran down the middle of the football field out of the stadium around the school yard then back into the stadium to circle the outside of the track (on grass) then onto the track for the finish. They didn't place in the race but they both ran the entire time and I was really proud of both of them. They were given a t-shirt to wear that they get to keep and they were given a ribbon for finishing the race and some chocolate milk as soon as they were done! The only bad part was that it was STINKING COLD! We were all bundled up and FREEZING while we waited for our kids to finish. I was glad they didn't do really well for their age group because we would have had to stay for the award ceremony! It was fun to see them so excited about something that was healthy! I miss living so close to Falls Valley and having my kids walk to school. It is a great school and I always felt like they were safe there. Since we can't go there anymore, I am really glad that we are sending them to Winton. They really take care of the kids and they are really trying to teach them life skills and help them learn to enjoy learning. It is also a really great school! GO WINTON WOLVES!

P.S. Here are a few more baptism pictures -- thanks mom!

P.P.S. So I was never going to be one of those moms whose toddler always has her pacifier in her mouth. It seems like all the pictures I have of Miranda lately include her pacifier! How did that happen?! In my defense, I usually take pictures at special events and those events do not usually embrace screaming toddlers. Miranda is a screamer and the pacifier has literally become a plug to keep her quiet. I hope she won't take it to kindergarten!

Baptism Day

Kaydra was baptized this past weekend. I feel bad because I didn't take very many pictures. I had good intentions of taking pictures with all the family that was there but it never happened. I don't even have a picture with my little family all together. If anyone who was at the baptism took some pictures I would love to have a copy - email me! It was a rainy day but we were blessed with lots of family that made the trip to Coeur d'Alene. The Stephans came from Boise with their four kids, my parents and Jackson came with Courtney and Dan and their three kids from Idaho Falls, Paul flew from Utah, Markell and Andre came from Moscow, and, of course, Len's parents came as well. We also had a few families from the ward there too. It was a simple service with the primary kids singing and Len's mom and Paul speaking. I felt the spirit very strong and I knew that Kaydra was making a good choice. She is such a good girl. She makes my life very happy. I love her very much. Len baptized her and then confirmed her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She looked beautiful and happy and I hope that she can remember how she felt for the rest of her life. I know that many other people wished they could have been there and I want to thank you for having that desire in your heart. Your love was felt as well. It was such a special day and I am having trouble describing it. Most importantly, I want Kaydra to know that I am proud of her and that we will love her always.