15 Years!

I can't believe that I have been married fifteen years today! Time has gone by so fast. I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. I have 3 wonderful sons that mean the world to me. I am one very lucky girl!

Long Time Coming!

So it's been about 8 months since I have posted anything new. Life has been a little crazy around here. It's always hard to move and start over but I never realized just how hard it was going to be for me. All of the kids are doing great. The move has done wonders for Clayton. He has made lots of new friends and is doing great in school. Wade has been so healthy the past 8 months. No pneumonia or shingles or scarlet fever (did I miss anything else) :) So for that reason alone the move has been really good for him. He is loving school and enjoys going to scouts every week. Luke is growing up so fast. This is the first year I have been alone during the day in 12 years. I was really enjoying it at first but I do miss my little crafting buddy. Luke loves school and is making friends slowly. Justin's business is doing great. He is happy to be where there is work available. He also loves being by the mountains again. We have done a lot of camping and hunting since being here in Utah. I think that the only person this move has been really hard on has been me. Growing up I had a few friends here and there, but when I got married the only friend I had was Justin. All of my GIRL friends disappeared. Being all by yourself away from family trying to raise your kids the best you know how has been hard. Moving around the past 7 years has taught me how important friends are and how much they can bring into your life. I was so blessed in Kingman to have so many great friends that were willing to help me in anyway. I don't have really any friends yet and that has been HARD! Sure my family is around but you miss having friends that listen and don't judge you. I appreciate those friends that have made an effort to come and stop by to visit when you are up here. You are always welcome! Also those friends that never give up on me and keep calling until I answer the phone. You mean the world to me. I will start posting more so that we all can stay close through the years to come. Here is our new family pictures. Love you all!

Utah here we come!

We are off tomorrow morning for Utah! I can't thank my friends enough for all of their love and support. I couldn't have made the move without you. I will miss you all. Come and see me as soon as you can. My door is always open. Love You guys!

We Are Moving!

Yes it is true! After 7 years we are moving back to Utah. I have made such good friends here in Kingman. When I first moved here all I could think about was how soon we could move somewhere else. But now that the time has come I've found out I'm really going to miss this place. I think that I have cried off and on for about 6 days now. I know that this is what is best for our little family but it doesn't make it easy. I will be happy to have Justin around everyday helping me with the boys. It has been a long 5 months without him. I will have to be better at keeping up with my blog. Thanks to all of my friends here in Kingman. You all have taught me how to serve and help others graciously. I don't know what I'm going to do without you guys. I will never be able to express my love for you all. I will miss you all!

Happy Birthday Luke!

We decided to meet Justin in St. George for Luke's 6th Birthday and had a blast! Luke was able to to his favorite thing, FISHING! We also went to the Wildlife Museum which he loved. I can't believe that he is already 6 years old. I love that little man so much. He is always by my side ready to make cards or crafts. I couldn't ask for a better son. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent him to me. In Luke's words we are "The Bestest Friends Ever."

Halloween

Better late than never! Here are the boys' Halloween pictures. Wade and Luke weren't able to go trick-or-treating because they were still recovering from the flu. But they dressed up anyway and I gave them each a bag of candy. Luke wanted to be Mace Windo. Love the Jedi stance!

Wade wanted to be Jango Fett. I've had this costume for about 2 years and he's been waiting to grow big enough to wear it. Finally the time came.

Clayton wanted to be Darth Maul. Of course he picked the one with the most complex makeup job. But I think that it turned out alright. Clayton was able to go to the ward truck-or-treat with my friend Andrea. Thank you for taking him.

Mom is ..... Tired!

Here are the reasons why I am so TIRED!!!

1. JUSTIN IS GONE!

2. Wade was diagnosed with pneumonia 4 weeks ago. Yes, that is his 3rd time just this year. He had it 3 times last year too. He missed a whole week of school! The doctors don't know why he keeps getting pneumonia so often.

3. JUSTIN IS GONE!

4. Two weeks ago Luke woke up barely breathing. So I checked him for bites or rashes, fever, anything that might let me know why he was having trouble breathing. NOTHING! So I put him in the car and went to Urgent Care. The doctor took one look at him and told me to get to the hospital. So off we went. In the ER they took x-rays, gave oxygen and a breathing treatment. He was diagnosed with bronchial and lung spasms. It was just a fluke thing that he caught. It is usually seen in elderly patients. So I had to give him breathing treatments every 3 hours no matter what for 3 days. Yes, even at night!

5. JUSTIN IS GONE!

6. Yesterday Wade started having trouble breathing and had a really high fever. By this time I was so tired of taking care of sick kids I could just scream! So I waited all day trying to decided if I should take him in to the doctor again. As I was waiting the spirit whispered to me that Wade needed to go to the doctor. I thought I was just being an over-reacting mom. The spirit whispered to me again to take Wade in. So I put him in the car about 5pm and we went in. At this office they automatically do a flu and strep test on who ever comes in. The doctor listened to Wade's lungs and sure enough, he has pneumonia again. The nurse then tells the doctor that Wade's flu test is positive. The nurse and doctor started moving real fast. They make Wade do 2 breathing treatments right then. Then we had to run and have x-rays done. Needless to say Wade runs the risk of having serious complications with the flu. The doctor thinks that we caught it in time but I need to be on high alert. So yes, breathing treatments every 3 hours night and day and adult strength of antibiotics. If he shows no improvement in 2 days off to the ER we go.
Oh by the way Luke has the flu too! He is doing really good and should be better in a couple of days.

7. Did I mention that JUSTIN IS GONE!!!

And that is why I am just a little bit tired. BUT, I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life! I am also so thankful to have good friends that take care of me and my family! THANKS!

Wade's Baptism

I just wanted to thank everyone who came and made Wade's day a special one. I know that it was a long distance for everyone to travel. It meant the world to us to have our family there. Wade was so excited to finally be baptized. He picked who he wanted to participate in the program. Clayton did the talk on being baptized and did an amazing job. Aunt Brooke did a DVD on Wade's life. It was fantastic! The spirit of our Heavenly Father could be felt throughout the room. Thank you !!! I am so blessed to have you all in my life!

The Curtis Clan!

The Alvey Clan!

Wade got a new set of scriptures with his name on them for his baptism. He thinks that the letters and edges are made with real gold. Just like the gold plates. Oh, to be young again!

Happy Birthday Wade!

It's hard to believe that 8 years have gone by. Wade is such special little boy. He always keeps us guessing what he will do next. He loves his brothers so much. I am so blessed that Heavenly Father sent him to me. We love you! Happy Birthday!!!

Sorry I posted 2 days late!!

Fishing

Sitting on Grandma Dean's front porch. It had been about 5 years since I had been to Escalante. We had lots of fun fishing and going to the parade.Luke, Jessica, Clayton, James and Wade all ready to start fishing.
Clay caught the biggest fish. He was so happy! I think that he was just as excitied to catch it as he was to eat it!

Luke has the patience of a saint. He can just sit still and not move a muscle for the longest time. He loves fishing. But I think that he likes to play with the fish just as much.

One of Wade's BIG fish of the day. He kept getting little ones but they were fighters.

Waiting for the parade to start. Wade, James, Kyson, Jessica, Luke, Clayton and Carson. By the end of the parade the boys sacks were full of candy.

July 24th

The first part of our trip we went to visit Justin's grandmother, Grandma Dean, in Escalante. Most of Justin's family was there. One of the highlights of the trip was the Kids Rodeo. Clay decided to ride a cow and Wade and Luke rode a sheep. It was sooo much fun to watch them. Here are the videos of Wade and Luke. Clay's ride is on the big camera and I'm not sure how to get it on the blog.

Seven Peaks

So I promised the boys that this trip up to Utah we would go to Seven Peaks. I talked my sister into going with me because I knew that she would go down the slides with the boys. I lost count of how many times she had to go up the stairs with the boys. Thanks for your help Rachael. I never thought in a million years that Wade would go down the BIG slides, but he did. And loved every second of it. James, my nephew, was right beside Wade the whole time. They were crazy kids together. Clayton really liked the tube rides and would go on them with his cousin Jessica or Zoe. Luke liked to go in the lazy river and float on the tube. We had TONS of fun.

July 4th

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July Celebration. We had our friends, the Corbett's, come over and Barbecue with us. The boys had a blast! Thanks Justin for the "kid friendly" fireworks! Love Ya!The boys loved shooting the Roman Candles at the fence. Some hit and some definitely didn't!

Sparklers! I hate them! Every year someone always gets burned. At least this year it wasn't one of my kids (Sorry Colin!)

Yummy Watermelon! Cute Boys!

Last days of Baseball

Well we all made it through the baseball season. It was quite an experience for me running around with my head cut off. I was lucky enough to have my friend Rachel around to help me out when there was 2 games at once. Thanks for your help! Clayton enjoyed his first ever baseball experience. His coaches were so patient and kind with him. The boys on his team thought that it was great having a giant on their team. Clay was about 7 inches taller than everyone else.

This was Luke's first year doing T-Ball. He loved having Wade on his team. Luke's favorite position to play was pitcher. During the last game Luke was pitcher and Wade was first base. When the ball was hit Wade would run off of first get the ball from Luke and run back to first and get them out. After the play was over Luke would yell to Wade, "thanks Wade that was a close one!" It was so cute.

Luke did really good at coach pitch. So he is ready to play next year!

This was Wade second year playing T-Ball. He was going to go up to Coach pitch but Luke wouldn't have played without him. So I talked to Wade and he decided that it would be best to show Luke how to play baseball. He took his little brother under his wing and made sure Luke knew what to do at every game.

Wade favorite position was being the catcher. He was in constant motion which is great for him. He had to catch the ball and put it on the Tee. He loved when the runner was coming home so he could "smash" them.