Yea, we have internet back at our home. We have not had internet for the past week, so I am a little lost. I have realized that I rely on it more than I should. A quick catch up...the girls are back from Odessa and had a wonderful time with Grammy and their cousins (they were both very excited to show off their new dances), Jake flew to Houston to spend a weekend with Chris, and I am thinking about possibly going back to school (why not if FedEx will pay a portion of it). However, the school decision is based on a few factors and is just a thought right now, not a plan. The kids start back to school in about a week, so I want to squeeze in as much time with them as I can. It seems like this summer has flown by.

As the summer goes....

Being married to a school teacher has a few perks....one of which being summer. Summer should be a time of relaxing but it has been busy, busy, busy for our family. We just got back from Texas to see Jake's family. It was a nice trip. Jake, the girls, and Will left Monday, June 27th, and Christopher and I flew out Friday, July 1st. I was unable to get off work for the week but needed to go help Jake drive home with the boys because we left the girls to spend a little time with Grammy and Papa. We left at 5:00 a.m on Tuesday and I had to leave for work by 8 p. m, plenty of time, right? Wrong, we had a blowout on the way home and ended up purchasing 4 new tires. As Jake was changing the tire, I got the baby out to change his diaper. I sat on the floorboard and when I got up, my bum was soaking wet. We had it looked at when we got home and the air conditioning was leaking into the car instead of under the car. The one part that was not still under warranty was the part messed up. So, our trip home costs an additional $1200 than planned for. Other than that, we are great. I decided sometimes when it rains it pours but thank goodness for umbrellas and rain boots. Not only, did we have malfunctions with our car, our home air conditioning unit quit cooling. Seth and Sydney are here right now and it makes me a bit sad that my girls will miss them but at least I get to see them briefly.

Happy Fathers Day!

I am blessed by many wonderful men in my life, two of which are my dad and the father of my children. My father always did what he could to provide for our family, even when it meant that he was unable to be at some of our functions. He has been an example of prayer, home teaching, service, and scripture study in my life. There have been times, where I may have felt less affection from him but I know and knew he loved me. I feel that I have a pretty good relationship with my dad and am proud to call him "my dad".
The second man, the greatest blessing in my life, is my husband. He is an excellent father and husband. He works our for our family to provide for us and lead our family in righteousness. Jake is very patient with both me and our children. As a child, when I thought of marriage and family, I never envisioned marrying a man that is such a good father. Jake exceeds all expectations (society and personal) of being a good father. I can take the examples of both those men and learn a little about parenting myself. I am confident that many of Jake's attributes as a father came from his parents and the example of his father.
Thirdly, I am blessed with a wonderful Papaw.....I had the best grandparents ever....my kids are blessed with good ones too but mine rocked. He never forgets us kids and visited often growing up and makes it a point when we are in Jackson to come see us. His actions show that he cares for us.
Fourth, I have awesome brothers and the same amount of great brother in laws. Both of my brothers teach me a little something....and both have very distinct, different personalities. They each hold a special place in my heart for different reasons. Both my brother in laws are still relatively new to the family but I am enjoying getting to know them and their attributes better.
Fifth, I am blessed with two precious boys of my own. It is my hope that they take the best attributes from each of the above mentioned and their other uncles and develop those attributes into their lives as they grow. I hope when Will and Christopher are older, they are as gospel oriented as their Papa, as smart and fun, as their uncles, as family oriented as my Papaw, and as gentle, patient, non-judgmental, and as well balanced as their father. I hope Christopher and Will are learning now as young as they are to show love through their actions and not just word. My boys have several tremendous examples to look up to.
Lastly, I am blessed with the knowledge that I have a loving Father in Heaven and brother, Jesus Christ. They have my best interest in mind and silently cheer me on everyday. I am blessed to have a relationship with them and a sure knowledge that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live for me today. It is through obeying the principles and covenants of the gospel that I know that I can be eternally with my family and have ever-lasting happiness.

Happy 1st Birthday Christopher

Today was a special day in our home. We celebrated our last first birthday...yes, that is correct, our baby turned one. Christopher is a source of joy in our home. He is not mobile yet and we are 100% okay with that. He has discovered table food and has a distaste for his baby food. He loves cocoa puffs cereal, cheetos, goldfish, and crackers. He smiles much more often these days and laughs. Yesterday, his daddy and brother were playing cars and Christopher had a car, he started making car noises too. It was way cute. Christopher enjoys swimming pools but is not a fan of baths and he loves to be outside. We are blessed that Heavenly Father blessed our home with him.

I LOVE Holidays

It does not make a difference what holiday it is...I love holidays. I enjoy dressing my family for the festivities and the family gatherings that usually occur. This past weekend we went to my parents for a small family gathering because some of dad's family was in from out of town. We had planned to go and only stay a couple hours but stayed for almost five hours. Jake even enjoyed it. I loved reminiscing with our cousins about growing up and sharing different memories. I enjoyed watching my kids play with distant cousins and some they had never before me...it was wonderful. This past weekend was exactly how I remember patriotic holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day) growing up. It was great. The only thing that would have made it better was if all my siblings could have been there.
Earlier before the cook out, we met Papaw at the cemetery to put patriotic torches on a few of the graves. Aubree has been asking to put flowers on them, so she enjoyed it. However, she was very concerned that my Mamaw (Virginia Pauline Litton (Jones)) did not have any, so we went to a nearby store and purchased some flowers and a balloon and went back to the cemetery and put them on the grave. Overall, the day or even the entire holiday weekend has been a good one.

Vacation week from work

Originally, my vacation from work was suppose to be the 1st week of May, however, I volunteered to change it to this week (May 16-20). I guess it was a good thing because last Thursday (May 12), Jake threw his back out and has been very immobile. He has been unable to drive, so I get to play taxi for everyone. He took Friday off work but I have driven him every day since and to the orthopedic doctor and now he is beginning physical therapy. To me, it has been a subtle witness of the generosity of the Lord. I am not saying it is a good thing that he hurt himself but I am saying is the Lord was mindful when vacation week changed. Jake can not even lift Christopher, so I would have had to figure something out. He is even unable to put on his socks and shoes right now. Other than that, life is good. Actually, I had a pretty sucky day Tuesday. Let's see: my iPhone was dropped in the toilet (not even clean water...), spent 3 hours at doctors with the boys, dropped Jake off at temple, and had a flat on the way home. The flat was not even on my van but on the Xterra and getting to the spare tire was a challenge. But, I did it, with the help of Charity. Changing the tire gave a sense of accomplishment but overall the day just kept adding up. My phone is fried and has to be replaced and I am taking the tire in today...life just comes as you sometimes but things could be major. These are all minor things.

Spring photos by Kara

I am blessed that my brothers chose wonderful women to marry. They are good women and have added bonuses too. My brother James, is married to Kara, the more I am around her the more I love her. She has lots of neat things about her and as an added bonus takes great pictures. She has asked to take a few pictures of the 3 cousins together and I also asked her to snap a few of the kids. We did this in her garage and it took literally a few minutes but the pictures are great! Here are several of them.