R&R And a Little Bit of Fun!

So I know I have let alot of time pass since I have actually blogged so I thought I would take a quick opportunity to do a quick update!! First of all Shayne came home!! We had the opportunity to go and listen to President Uchtdorf speak and thanks to Shayne's plane catching fire in Ireland, he missed it by just a few hours! It was the most amazing meeting I have ever sat through and would have traded anything in the world to have had my Sweetheart with me. What an amazing spirit that comes with an Apostle of the Lord. It was a great night and I was grateful I was able to share it with great friends! So the next morning I was FINALLY able to go to the airport, very nervously I might add, and see my Love for the first time in nearly 8 months! Feeling the fire and elctricity I felt as I wrapped my arms around him was undescribeable! Knowing that I would only get him for two weeks made me never want to let go! While he was home we packed in all sorts of fun stuff including a train ride up to Pike's Peak, Gymnastics, trips to the park and LOTS of Wii Mario! But most important, we got to have a sleepover date night!! Sam and Ann were great enough to take Payson for the night! He just loves them so much!!
We got a hotel with a pool so we could take Payson swimming before our date!

Payson and Pappa in the foam pit at Gymnastics!

We waited to open Payson's bday presents until Shayne got home and still 2 months later Payson plays with this train set EVERYDAY!! We've added a few more pieces and it now takes up our entire office!

Having Shayne home again just made life feel so normal again! Having him leave again was harder then the first time he left, even though we just have a short wait! The day after Shayne left we skipped town and headed to AZ to spend more time with the Fam!! We had a blast like always! There is nothing quite like getting together with your siblings and laughing the days away! Stevie, Jessie and I stayed up waay too late one night playing Mario and it was suddenly like we were 10, 8 and 5 again! I think the three of us laughed and cried like we hadn't in a long time! It was great! Like always it was hard to leave but great to come home! Ashley came home with us and spent a week! We spent most of our time following Payson around with a camera and laughing hysterically at nearly everything! Two weeks after Ash left we headed back to Bozeman to suprise Em for her birthday!! And what a suprise it was!! I am still kicking myself for not recording it when I saw her walk in!! It has been a crazy couple of months and we have about a month until we go on our next and LAST adventure until Shayne comes home for good! Oh ya, and somewhere in between all of that madness I was called as the 2nd Couns in the Relief Society Presidency! As of today we are down to roughly 60 days until our Family is complete again!

What a Wonderful World!

What do you do in that moment when you realized your SPOTLESS CLEAN bathroom has been turned into cologne wreaking, baby powder mess with a little Imp standing in the corner shouting "I DID IT MOMMY!" What do you? You GRAB THE CAMERA!! What else would you do?!

He was so proud of himself and I couldn't help myself but laugh!

Apparently he is tall enough to get into Pappa's drawer. So he decided to spray himself and his toys with the cologne and then dump everything with baby powder!

Oh and this is yesterday's adventure....the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper and my boot along with a couple trucks..all shoved in!

And the best part is, I am loving every minute of this!

The Best is Yet To Be!!

"As a new year begins and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives."
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Jan Ensign 2010

Yep..It's one of those days

I swore I was not that girl and that it would never be me. I'm better than that. I'm stronger then that. I will keep my brave face on and continue to help everyone else and be happy while I do it, in spite of the pain my heart is going through. But I guess everyone is entitled to a day of wallowing right? Not me. Or so I thought. I am not here to complain by anymeans. I hate complainers and I have no right to complain about anything. Anyone who really knows Shayne and I knows that we are Best Friends, Soul Mates, Eternal Companions. We do everything together and share all of our secrets with each other. We love to stay up in bed laughing the night away..who cares how late it is or what time we have to wake up in the morning? We love doing spontaneous things, we love long car trips together, especially if we have great music that we can turn up and sing at the top of our lungs to. Who cares how we sound?! We love dancing together no matter how silly we look, thumbs up and all! ;) We love just being together even if we are both sitting on the couch reading a book. Bottome line, we are together. Like it or not, we are a package deal and that's how it will always be. And then I suddenly realized he has been gone nearly 8 months and it has been way too long since we have had the chance to enjoy any of those things. It hurts. Bad. Don't get me wrong, I am proud of my Soldier and grateful for the blessings, the friends and the opportunities we would not have had otherwise that being in the Military has brought us. But this time that we have been apart has made me realize how much we have missed out on. How much he has missed, especially his little boy growing. Has it been worth it? I am not trying to offend anyone, but we are not lifers. We can't be. We are not cut out for this being apart business. We knew that the first Summer he left for training. I don't want to just get used to my Sweetheart being gone because that is part of life. I need him all the time. Is that too much to ask? I don't care if we have to go to living the poor life. It would be worth it to have him home all the time. I can hardly contain my excitement about him coming home for a visit in a couple weeks, but I can't help thinking that it is only for 15 days and it is gonna go by fast. I know I sound like a whiner but I know he feels the same way. We are supposed to be together and do things together all the time and I can't wait until the day he is 100% mine again. I just miss him. That's all.

Let The Count Down Begin!!

I feel like I have a whole months worth of stuff to catch up on when in reality it's only about 2 weeks!! We finally came home from Bozeman and immediately got started decorating and preparing for Christmas!!! We broke down and bought an artificial tree that took way too long to put together! I'm not the pro yet like my Mom and sisters! Payson and I had a good time decorating it! He would cheer after each time he put another ornament on the tree!
One Sunday morning before church he noticed one had fallen off and quickly had to replace it!
We had the pleasure of having Ashley come up and spend Christmas with us! We had so much fun with her and can't wait for her to come back!!

Payson's first present was from Gramma Jen and Grampa Terry. We had to remind him there were lots more presents to open!!

Santa brought us cereal with our stockings and Payson was trying to sneak off with Mommy's!

This is just a random cute picture that Ash snapped of Payson! I can't get enough of this kid!!

We had alot of fun decorating cookies..even after Payson dumped out all of the sprinkles!

He really liked the frosting!

After hula hooping on the Wii Fit at the Gappmayer's we took a little trip to Manitou and found this giant Hula hoop! Ya...I still got it!

Payson even took a turn on the Wii!

It had snowed the day Ashley came to town so of course we had to go sledding!! Payson preferred to just play in it rather than sled!

Payson thought this was less scary than flying down the hill.

I swear it was fun!

Ashley and Payson's turn!!

Ashley and I decided it would be fun to go out at almost midnight and build a snowman...well the wind was blowing and it was freezing and all we got was a big hump!! All the snow is melted but that sweet hump is still in my yard!!

Thesme are a few random pics that I did not include in my last post! While we were in Bozeman we got to go to Em's first Basketball game as a Lady Hawk!!

Payson didn't want to wait for us to dish him some ice cream...Think I could sell this to Wilcoxen's to use as advertising?!?

And of course super exciting news....We got to see SETH AND JAYNE over break!! It had been a year and a half since we have seen them and it was SO GREAT to be with them again and be able to finally meet Ollie. t was just like old times being together again and I cannot wait for it to happen again! We are so blessed to have such amazing friends!

OH and I cut off all of my hair!

Payson and I were just doing a little dancing while we decorated!!

And the best news of all is SHAYNE COMES HOME THIS MONTH!!! I have waited 7 months to say that. Well he is only coming home for his mid tour leave but at least we get to see him for a bit!!! The countdown has begun and he should be home on the 25th!!! Thanks again to everyone for all of the wonderful Christmas gifts and for helping these last months fly by!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Payson!!

I know I have a lot that I need to catch up on from Christmas but today is Payson's brithday and I cannot believe he is already 2!! Where does the time go? It seems like it was just recently that we found out the shockingly unbelievable news that we were expecting him! I will never forget that day and the roller coaster of emotions we went through while we waited to go to the DR and know if it was real! I will also never forget the look on Shayne's face of pure joy when we heard his heart beat for the first time and Dr. Bradford told us everything looked great!

And then came the night that I was in complete denial about being in labor and Shayne practically had to drag me to the hospital! He wheeled around my room in a chair more excited then a kid in a candy store while he called everyone to let them know Payson was about to make his arrival!

Then he came with no problems or complications and they actually trusted us to take him home!

Somedays it is still so hard to believe that Heavenly Father has trusted us with one of his sweet children! Especially this one. I cannot believe Shayne and I went 5 1/2 years without him in our lives. I could never imagine life without him now! Since Shayne has been gone, Payson has helped me stay happy and gives me something new and exciting to look forward to everyday! After 2 years I still continue to thank my Heavenly Father everyday for this sweet little boy and the blessing that he has been in our lives!

Thanksgiving and Then Some!

So it finally happened! Shayne was promoted to 1st LT this week! I am so proud of him and for all of the hard work he has been doing. I was sad to miss his first promotion ceremony but there will be another in 18 months! He is still doing great and staying positive! We are on the count down to R&R...56 days, give or take a few!! We can't wait!! Payson and I flew up to Bozeman for Thanksgiving to spend time with the Family and run our annual 5K....alright, well I walked most of it but finishing is all that counts! I think my time was 45 something!

Thank goodness we had Jonathan out there to capture proof of Macy and I running at least a little bit! ;) Then of course we had to stop for a quick chat with him before running to the finish line!

Almost there!!

Somehow I forgot to post the picture at the finish line! Oh Well!! So earlier today Payson wanted some chips! I thought he might like some ranch cooler ones. They are Shayne's favorite! I opened the bag and handed it to him and he said "Dip it, salsa." Payson LOVES to dip things and he especially loves Mommy's salsa! I tried to tell him that those chips were not to dip but he didn't care. So I gave him some salsa and he ate the whole bag! I love this kid so much!

Payson and I were supposed to go home yesterday but we decided at the last minute to stay and extra two weeks!! I absolutely love being in Bozeman and I have loved this time with Grandma Heap! She is so stinking funny and I could listen to her stories all day!! Em made the basketball team so we are super excited to be able to watch a few of her games while we are here!!

I totally forgot to say that Friday morning Jonathan and I woke up bright and early to hit up the black Friday sales!!! We always have a blast together!! We were at the mall and saw the huge display to take your picture with Santa. Of course it was closed so we decided to hop the gate, put the self timer on the camera and take a picture! I thought it made the perfect headline picture for this time of year! We were cracking up at ourselves!! When we were at Target, a news camera man was stalking us and then ended up interviewing me....Jonathan very slyly stepped away! Anyway, my interview didn't make it on the news but a shot of the two of us shopping and my quote did! Good times!