Walmart

It might sound silly but if you live in Rexburg you know that the most exciting place to go in the winter tends to be Walmart! It was our little get away when we were busy all week and needed to get out and run. We saved up a lot of money through the summers to get little presents at their favorite store when winter seemed to never end. Now when we talk about going to Walmart almost instantly Layla informs me it is too far away. I think she is realizing that unlike Craigo's that is in one place... WALMART FILLS THE WORLD and in our case there are like 6 within 10 miles of us. 

The Pizza Store

AKA Cragio's Pizza. This is the girls favorite restaurant. We went here for every celebration our family had. We went for birthday dinners, potty training celebrations, bike riding successes, great grades, finals over, and most importantly GRADUATION! The girls loved to pick out their own pizza, eat as much as they want, and end with "cookie pizza" that had oreo on top. Here is our last visit to our special family restaurant. 

Oh the things you miss...

The girls are starting to really wonder why we are here and miss little parts of our old home. We took tons of pictures of their favorite places, things, and people so they wouldn't miss home so much! I will make a post of all the things the girls miss and why they mean so much to us!

We are still alive

So I really thought that not going to school and living with built in baby sitters would leave me with plenty of time to blog but it seems the opposite. I am more busy now then before. There is always something to do and somewhere to be. I am almost done cutting and coloring everyone I knows hair and now I will be ready to start back through the cycle again in a few weeks. Not to say I don't love it... it just keeps me busy. If I worked in a salon I would have made some good money!

Anyways Brian is working now at a temporary job for Children's Mercy Hospital until he figures out what it is he will do. Jobs are hard to come by right now so it is take what you can get. He might redo his EMT license next month and them work for an ambulance service out here. But he has to find a night job he can work at since the accelerated class in only offered during the day. The good thing is though if he gets the class taken it is with the same service that is currently hiring. We are just crossing our fingers and praying a ton that things work out for us as the Lord sees fit.

The MCAT scores should be in next weekend or the following week so the wait is almost over! Then we start applying to medical school the beginning of June so it is a busy up in the air month for us!  We do think we found a place to live though. It opens up in August and is a 3 bedroom duplex with a nice yard, garage, and finished basement. It is actually affordable so we hope to get in before the whole ward here knows it is available and snatches it from us. We had planned to move into it before but one of the girls called the owner before we could when she heard our friend tell us about it. Luckily the trip to the temple and hours of service have paid off and she isn't able to take it leaving it open for us again. 

I don't know if any of that made sense but the jest is we found something ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for our little busy family! other that that we are enjoying the beautiful weather and my great tan thanks to a day by the pool that is FINALLY open! I think I will take the girls to swim every day before naps so they pass out and I can relax and catch up with friend via by blog! I miss everyone tons but and finally ready to make this my home again. I will forever love my time in rexburg and miss how righteous a place it is but will find my place out here in the world and hopefully share the gospel with someone why I am here! 

Update!!!

Okay so I am running short on time because these pictures take forever to load so I am going to just type a short update on our life here in Kansas until i can get all the pictures up on a post. Anyways Brian takes the MCAT tomorrow so he is completely consumed with studying today and this whole past week. We went to the temple on Wednesday to get some extra strength for this upcoming weekend and week of job searching.

I miss REXBURG and my temple on the hill. However the 8 hours in the car gave us plenty of time to study and talk. It was nice to have all day to ourselves. We are going to try to go to the temple at least 2 times a month as long as it is possible. it is crazy to think people hardly get there once a month or even once every other month. We have been going no less than once a week for almost a year and that really has been what has given us strength. It might take up a lot of gas and time but it is cheaper than a therapist so it is WORTH ALL THE SACRIFICE!!!

I am enjoying the thunderstorms here and am beginning to feel like it is home here. my parents house is luckily big enough we don't feel completely in the way all the time and it is nice to have a whole floor for the girls to play on without the worry of making a mess. We have set up a toy room in the unfinished basement on large carpeted rugs so they stay clean and warm. They love having Nana and Papa around and sleep better then they have in month here.

I do miss my quiet friendly neighborhood where I had friends just a few steps away. The people next door have kids the girls age but name it isn't the same as I had hoped.

WHY I MISS MY SMALL TOWN MORMON FRIENDS!!!!

I babysat the kids next door the other day and realized that we raise kids different in Rexburg. I loved babysitting the kids in the ward when we lived in Idaho. They all were well behaved and listened to me. They played WITH the girls not just in the same room as them. Of course they were kids so they were not perfect but the girls loved them all the same. The girls talk about several all the time... Adi and Robby of course because they are pretty much family. Then there is their buddy payton and Kyky and Kayla. They loved the "babies" as they call them Emma and Daniel. But the kids here are different. We had Layla and two girls together in the basement and they did not play together AT ALL. the girls would come up and take her toys and then play with them far off. Then when we went outside I had to fence them in to keep them out of the street. It was awful. I thought I might just lock them up or scream whichever came first. And Layla noticed the difference too because she said about every two minutes "can their mom come get them I want to play with nice kids" and I just felt awful. They were not horrible children just spoiled and unplayed with. I am used to all the girls in Rexburg spending the day on their butts playing down on the kids level. They teach them all day every day and are exhausted from playing dolls or trucks all day long.

Here kids are given everything they need to entertain themselves. And the result is they don't play WITH other kids just in the same area. NOT GOOD AND I MEAN NOT GOOD. I think I have had this conversation with my friend Sarah a thousands times but I am here to say that I would trade Kansas kids for rexburg ones now that I see the difference!!! So I might just be spending a lot of time with the girls myself until we kids friends that meet the girls and my standards. It isn't much but kids that play WITH the girls without acting like we are less smart because we didn't graduate from HARVARD and our dad doesn't wear a bow tie. The bow tie post will have to wait until later because that is a whole other story!!!

So I MISS MY LITTLE REXBURG but know we are where the Lord wants us and for that we are grateful! I miss all my friends and hope they know how much I appreciate how they parent... they are such great examples for me!!!!

Our Long Journey

And we are off all packed in and ready for a long ride!!!

The heartfelt goodbye with grandma was more than anyone could stand... we miss you already and the girls have started a have grandma come visit fund to save up to bring her to come see us!

Somewhere on the border of kansas and it feels like we might not ever make it there... thankgoodness the girls are good because i would never be able to stand driving so far alone with cranky kids. But this is how they were the whole trip... Just PERFECT!!!

Incase you can't tell why i got tired driving... I stared at the same blue butt for 24 hours. It became mesmerizing after a while!

Halfway across Kansas and noticing the change in atmophere.... large fluffy clouds, green grass, and you can't see it in this picture but beautiful rolling hills. I LOVE THE MIDWEST!!!!

The girls as we parked the car all finished with our trip!!!
We Have Arrived!!! After two days, 24 hours, a flat tire, and lots of children's movies we arrive in Leawood for a good nights rest in our new home.

It is weird to be back and still feels like we are on vacation but that will change once we get our own place and settle in our own home. But for now we are so grateful to my parents for letting us stay with them until we get more settled. We are however completely enjoying the house shaking thunderstorms and spring as only the midwest can bring!!! This truly is zion... it is GORGEOUS!!!!

More Graduation!

Okay I am going to try to type this out without becoming a mess last I was the last post! We just want to thank everyone for the amazing support you have given us as we have tried to meet our goals. It has been hard to get through school and sometimes we felt we would never make it but somehow we did. We can't take all the credit though we got lots of help.

So thank you Clews Family for being our best friends. You really got us through the last 2 plus years. I don't think I would have made it if i didn't have someone just feet away that really understood how i felt. I have lots of close friends I care dearly for but few really understand my life. But Kristi you are just a copy of me in another family and that mean you truly have compassion. We will miss you more that I could ever express but I know that your tears now let you know you feel the same. LOVE YOU and thank goodness for the Internet because i wouldn't survive life without you!

Thank you Kathy (Mom) for all you have done. Every week you not only take the girls so they can spend a weekend just having fun but you give us a boost of support. I will miss our weekly chats and the encouragement you give me. I once heard a talk about mother-in-laws and how they should be a best allies because we both love the most important person in our life. And for us it is true. I know that Brian would not have made it so far if he didn't have us as his cheerleaders. It is wonderful to know that you love him as much as I do and that we work as a team to support him in whatever he chooses. For a long time he hasn't known if he could make it to med school and be good enough to achieve his goals but you have been there every step of the way reminding him how wonderful he is. You are an amazing mother and just as wonderful mother to me. Thanks for all you do and I won't even attempt to talk about missing you because I still have to type!!!

To my parents Thanks a million. You have ceased to support us no matter how long it seemed it would be before we finally finished. It was the best to be able to get away every year to your home for refuge from our never ending storm. We are so excited to be near you as we embark on the next chapter of our life. And we know you will be there with us ever step of the way!

Alright sorry if the rest of you don't get your own blurb on my blog but these three groups have been the greatest blessing and they needed there moment!

Our Future plans-- In 2 short days we will be moving to Kansas City Area. Brian takes the MCAT May 2nd and then applies to medical school in June. We will be playing the waiting game for a little while as he goes through all the many steps of getting into graduate school. But we are excited to move on to gain the needed education for his career. We have decided to go into the Air Force not just to pay for school but as Brian's career so after he gets accepted to med school he will gain the armed forces and thus begin our long journey serving our country. I am really proud of his choice to better our life and provide for our country. Not many men go into medical school just to provide service to those protecting us but we feel it is the right place for us to go. I know this means moving every few years anywhere in the world but I know it will be good for us.

As we wait to figure out when and where we go next Brian will be working in the KC Metro area. We are hoping he will get a job as an EMT so he can use some of that education we just finished up. But who knows. We have faith it will all work out and that the Lord will continue to bless our family as we strive to follow the Lord.

Graduation!!!

Today I sit at the computer a graduate! It is great! I think the best part was doing it with Brian. It meant so much to be there together. I can still remember his first day of class just weeks after we got married. It has been a journey we enjoyed together the whole way through. To walk with him every step of the way down the very last step meant so much. It hasn't been easy with getting used to being married, struggling to make ends meet, sickness, tragedy, two preemie kids, and a myriad of trials, but we did it and did it together. After sitting here hand in hand as we listened to President Clark speak today I felt bad for those graduating and sitting alone. It was nice to hear that out of over 1450 graduates we were one of only 70 couples graduating together. And I could take a guess that few if any have two kids like us. This has been a long journey but worth every bit of work to get here. I am glad I got to share in this special day with my one true love and know that we wouldn't be there without one another. So congrats to my wonderful husband for all the hard work, sweat, and tears. And thanks for supporting me so I could be there with you and feel just as proud of myself for doing something to better my future and my family! 

Now that I am all choked up I will post pictures and write more later!!!

4.0 Baby!!!

I am not sure how except to say that I had a lot of divine intervention this semester but I pulled off a 4.0!!!! I am very proud of myself because this is the first time in college I have done it. I am not the smartest duck in the pond but I work hard and am proud of my B's. Brian has been the smart on through college but in the last semester I finally proved I can keep up with my brainy hubby! Yeah I AM DONE!!!! Now all I have to do is clean my destroyed home and pack up! I think I might have to pray every 10 minutes to thank the Lord for all the help and muster up the added help for Brian who has 51 hours and counting until he finishes!