My Kind of Evening

I can't think of anything more fun than the combination of a beautiful park on a beautiful evening with my favorite people - and a football - (a BSU football).

Not Sissy Stuff

Ever miss someone so much that it hurts?

Five more weeks.

Ouch.

Our relationship has strengthened so much through this experience - and it's only been two weeks! When we talk on the phone, we are so close - yet so far away!

If you ever need a renewed feeling of love in your relationship, send hubby away for a while! It's amazing how that works, huh?

Other wives have done this for much longer than I..... to them, I say, I admire your courage. A good friend of mine instilled courage in me today with a thoughtful e-mail. Good friends are all around. I am with them on a daily basis - on our walks, through e-mail, on the phone, at church, at school, and in my home. I am very blessed.

This is tough. Definitely not for sissies.

Pioneer Days

Well, since Chip has the camera with him, I thought it would be fun to go back to some "before blog" pictures! Beth has some great pictures they have been taking since moving here. I plan to post some of them, but until I can figure that out, this is kinda fun!

So, aren't we a cute little pioneer family? We were asked to do this for the children at church about 4-ish months ago - told stories about our "pioneer days" and sang "To Be a Pioneer" - it was a fun experience!

The Airport Goodbye

Sometimes there are no words...

because the pictures say it all...

Back to School

Well, here we go again.
This is the first time I wasn't ready for school to start yet. I wasn't ready to start setting the alarm a couple hours earlier. I wasn't ready for the kids to be gone all day yet. Crazy? I know. But this time for some reason I just wasn't ready.

Well, it's been two weeks now, and I'm getting the hang of it again. I am loving my mornings with Anela - it feels so natural, like I've been doing it for years, and I love loving her. Picking up Jack and Eden from Kindergarten is so much fun - I get two big hugs at once - how lucky is that?! Still working on a system for when they are all home at once at 3:30! Aubrey thinks she has it all worked out. Two at the table eating a snack, two at the counter doing homework, and two telling me about their day. Then, they all switch - twice. Not a bad idea!

I am especially loving having the Makaafi's here. They live in a tiny room, they are living out of boxes, and they have to eat my cooking - poor things. I so appreciate them putting up with it all. I talked with Taylor, Aubrey, Hannah, and Jack today about how they are doing without daddy home. They all agreed that although they miss him lots, having their aunt, uncle, and cousins here with us is just what we need to be okay through it all. I couldn't agree more!

By the way... did I mention I have a junior high student now? I think I'm still in denial... I swear I was just dropping her off at Kindergarten - telling her that everything will be great and to stop crying because this was supposed to be a happy, wonderful thing!! Then I cried the whole way home.

Yep. totally in denial.

Before and After

Before Chip's "dress rehearsal" four hour training ride - one week before he flew to NYC....

and after.

Needless to say... he made room for sunblock on the trailer.

FOOTBALL SEASON!

We are seeing, breathing, and eating BLUE and ORANGE again! After a perfect season last year, the city is even more pumped for the Broncos. Chip got to take Jack on a special outing (perfect timing with his big ride) to a BSU barbecue to kick off the new season.

LOOK

WHO


JACK

GOT

HIS

PICTURE


TAKEN


WITH!!!!!!!

If you don't know who Ian Johnson is, you better go do your homework and find out! He's not just an ordinary football player, ya know!

Needless to say, we don't play much catch with this ball anymore! Jack got a different ball for being so brave getting his K-garten shots. That's the ball he plays with now - he still uses a wipe to clean it off when he's all done though. But now this ball with Ian's signature sits on his Jack's dresser!

Jack also got to meet Coach Peterson - he even threw Jack a pass in the parking lot on the way out! It bounced off Jack's chest and fell to the floor, but Chip assured coach that we'd work on that one!