playing pretend

talk about cute! Here are my kiddos dressed up like mommy and daddy. Liam is even doing a little rap in his cool outfit and please notice the pretty eyeshadow around sissy's mouth. I also love that liam has his feet through the holes in morgan's knees. i guess it's a good reminder to get him some new pants.

It is so fun to be a mom. These are the moments I love. Those randon moments when your kids surprise you with a good laugh! have a super sunday! Love jess

A Quiet Sunday Afternoon!

Hey y'all!-
Sarah and I just got back form church and I though that I would leave a little message to update you on what has happened in our little lives lately. . . . . . well that about summs it up for us! Just kidding. Seriously though not much has transpired since last we talked; Sarah is still with child, School still has two weeks left before it wnds, I till have two major papers and two finals not to forget the papers that I have to grade and the final I have to proctor. Other than that we are waiting in anticipation for Aiden's arrival and enjoying the final days of being married without children. Though the last four years have been fun wiht just the two of us, we are rally looking forward to the new challenges and experiences that will come with the addition of a new family member. I agree with Aunt Pattie, it has been too long since we were all together and we need to figure out how to get together again as a whole family. We look forward to seeing you all (or those of you who can be here) when Aiden is born, and the rest we hope to see ASAP. I hope you all have a peaceful Sunday and enjoy time with your families.

My Two Princesses

Food For Thought

Hello my sweet extended family!! I am so thrilled and excited to be part of the family blog!! Things here in So Cal are moving along great, Ash is working for me running the landscape side of our construction company. It is a fun and rare opportunity that I have to make working together a positive - so far it is working really good! Matt is living back at home and thank goodness the Arizona house finally sold!! Matt got a great job as a computer tech for a small but growing company and he is happy!! YEAH!! Lucas is still living up at Travis Air Force Base, he is heading back to the war on May 9th - and volunteered for double time staying there so that the married guys have more time with their families. Dani and he are still talking but thing are up in the air for their future. Mark and Christina and the kids are wonderful, the kids are still going to private school and growing up fast. They live 2 blocks from Mark and I - so we get to see them alot, right now the fun thing is to ride home in the back of my truck. Mark and Mark have almost finished the re-do for our house - two years without carpets was long enough!! So any way here is my first entry - I love and miss you all and hope we all get to have a family together time soon. I will post pictures soon as it is birthday time here!!

In The Family

Well well well, We are officially having a girl according to the ultrasound and are so excited. The end of this week will make us 5 months along. Yeah! We are over the half way mark and everyone just found out! We think our due date is sometime around the 19th of September. Right now, our biggest decision is where to have the baby. We are considering going to Idaho to have the baby with my favorite midwife. Morgan is going to be in Idaho on tour and we figure that is the best way to give him an opportunity to be there for the birth. We still need to pray about it, but that is the idea thus far.
Things are going well. Morgan is in China as of tomorrow and the kids and I are on our own for the next two weeks. Liam and I are starting school up again. Sissy is joining us as well. They both love to learn and are excited to spend extra time with mommy.
By the way, we have some fun photos of our family sliding down Nathan's 100 ft slip and slide. Yes, it was a blast!

Wasting time

Just thought that I would drop a line on the blog to update everyone on what is going on with Sarah and I. As I'm sure you have guessed, we are still waiting for baby to show. There has been a lot of progress, just no baby! This is proving to be quite confusing and i'm not sure that I like this waiting thing. School has another two weeks left, and I have two huge paper that I should be working on right now, oh well! Lets see, what else is going on . . . Oh! I got the scooter runnign yesterday and now I can't get it to kick over consistantly. Where is Jordan when you need him? Apart form all that there is very little to talk about. I hope that there is more excitmetn in your life than in ours. The waiting game is no fun!

Since I am currently writing a paper on Superheroes, I propose the following challenge: develop your own superhero story and post it here on the blog so we can all enjoy the tale.

here are some questions to get you started:
If you could be a superhero, what would your name be?
What would your superpower be?
Who would your arch-nemisis be?
What city would you protect?
What was your most challenging battle, how did it end?

Have fun! I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.

ACCEPTED!!!!!!!

I just was informed, informally, that my thesis proposal was accepted!!! first time through the revision process and it passed.. I have a little more work to do find ding sources, but I'm good to go for next year to begin working on my thesis! YEAH!!!!!!! If everything works out, then I will be able to begin writing the main parts this summer, revise them this fall, and defend them this spring. Oh man this feels great!!!!!!!! Anyway, I just thought I would fill you in on my good news. Now hopefully we will have some more good news coming in the next week or so!

Just though I would show y'all what it looked like outside our frontdoor this morning at 7:00. Pretty cool huh!

WE HAVE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

And lots of it!!!!! Just wanted to let you all know that apparently it snowed all night. I woke up this morning to go to work and behold, we have about a foot of snow on the fround and it is still coming down pretty hard. this is a great little twist of fates. Obviously timmy didn't bring the nice weather back from Colorado. Oh well. On another note, we all seem to be having great car troubles right now. Dad's battery went out, Mom's alternator, Jessie's fule line or whatever it was, and yes our wonderful little honda, aka the death trap, has decided that she no longer wants to turn over as she should. The ignition switch is going out and will not stay in the on position once it has been turned on. Fun Fun Fun! we all know what i get to do this week, besides graded papers and work on my final projects! Blah--cars are no fun! Well, I need to prep for class. Have a great day!

Happy Easter!!!!!!

Just wanted to say Happy easter to all of you whom we will be missing this Holiday. We are looking forward to having Mom and Dad come to visit us for Easter and to spend some tome with them; we wish the rest of you could be here too! Every year at this time I remember the Easter when Aunt Pattie and the cousins came to visit us and we all had a miniature trashcan filled with candy and a stuffed bunny. The other Easter I remember better than all others was the year the the Easter Bunny came several times throughout the day. We each got several Hariot Potter story books and little knick knacks all day long. Timmy and I were so convinced that the Easter Bunny was real that we started to devise a way to capture it. Thanks Mom and Dad for the great memories. I only hope that I can create some that Aiden will remember and look back on fondly. Sarah made me eggs goldenrod this morning. It was such a sweet gesture, I love my wife. She os going to be the greatest mother to our sweet child.

Hapy Easter!

Timmy's Car!

So, Tim is off to Colorado; I'm jelous, and Sarah is rearranging the entire house for Sunday. Nesting has set in! I took the superhero paper I wrote over to the local comic book shop for them to hand out to people who might want to read it and tiday I got several compliments on my work. That kind of made my day! Anyways, while I was there I was talking to one of the girls that works the copunter and she made the funniest comment. I told her i would barter Timmies car for a series of comics that I have been eyeballing and she told me that seh showers too much to have a car like that. I laughed because I remembered getting out of Chakita and realiving how much i smelled like a Volkswagon and Timmies car smells just the same! It was a happy moment for me that I thought I would share wiht all of you.

My Conference Paper on Superheroes

This will be a long post! This is one of the Conference papers that I read over the weeked in Logan. I got a lot of good responces to it and really enjoyed the opportunity to read and present some of the things that I have been working on for the last couple of months. If you take the time to read this I hope you enjoy it. (I moved the paper to the comments section so it would take up less space on the main page.)

A successful Conference

Thanks for all your support and prayrs today. The conference was a huge success, I read two papers that I had written last semester, one was a pedagogical paper on how to use technology in a composition class, the other was a creative piece I wrote on how to become a superhero. Both presentations went off without a hitch and I got some good feedback on both papers. I was able to meet a lot of different people from different disciplines and had some great conversations about writing, literature, and comp theory. It was awsome!!!!!!
Jess, we are sorry to hear about your car, I wish there was something that we could do to help you out with your car problem. We look forwrd to seeing you and the family once we are out there and hope that we will be able to see you before then.
Sarah had her first shower today in Rexburg, she said that it was a great time had by all. She got some good gifts, and had a great time vistiting with all her old high school friends as well as family.

Extended Family

Mom called me the other day and asked if I would send an invitation to Aunt Patty, allowing her to join the blog. I did as she requested and hopefully we will see the cousins joining this disscussion. By the way, for those of you who care at all, I am submitting a completed draft of my thesis proposal to my advisor toworrow and hopefully, I will have a final draft to the thesis commitee by next week. Also, Saturday I am reading at a graduate conference in Loga, Utah. Please say a prayer that I remember to zip-up my fly and don't pass out for fear of failure.

Summer Job

Just a quick note to let you all know that Sarah and I are officially going to me working in Nashville this summer. We will be living in a little suburb called Hermitag located about 5 miles outside nashville. we are really excited about this and look forward to spending some time with Jessie, Morgan, and the kids. Don't worry mom, it is only for three months and then we will be back here for school again and you can come and visit Aiden whenever you want. We love you all and hope all is well with you.

Wicked Stories From Our Past!

Hey, here is one for the kids,

I was sitting in my office today wiht my officemates and we were discussing some of the things we did in our youth that we never told our parents about; not incriminating or bad things persay, but things we did that we know we would have gotten in trouble for still the same. Just curious what little dark secrets you may be hiding in your closets :)

In The Family

In The Family

Well let's see if I have this lovely thing all figured out. I think I got it this time. Thank you for signing me in. Price I have to agree with your April Fools comment. The Lord truly will and is blessing each of us in our endeavors. It is sometimes tough to maintain that faith, but as long as we can push aside our fears and follow Christ, we will find that faith becomes a natural step.

By the way, we had a rocking storm today. The lightening and thunder rocked the apartment, much to poor Jo's chagrin. (Jo is Quinn's love of his life and she is terrified of thunder and lightening.) We were all celebrating each roll of thunder and then I noticed her hidden face and reallized that we are all insensitive terds. Yes, I did just post the word terd on this blog. Anyway, I told her about Mae Drive. That was a great memory. Another thunder memory was just a day or two before Liam was born, I remember it was thundering and I woke up as pregnant women often do during the night. I spent the most wonderful half an hour watching the lightening, listening to the rain on our tin roof and the roll of thunder. Oh I love that memory. It was a very sweet bonding moment between me and an unborn Liam.

As far as new news, we have none that everyone has not now heard. (is that anywhere grammatically correct?) Liam is doing super well and is constantly asking to do school with me. I think I will order his school a little early and start some work with him. He loves learning and eager to begin reading. I don't think it will take him very long to pick it up. Especially not if desire has anything to do with success.
Sissy is excited to be a big sister and if she and I survive potty training, she may live to fulfill that excitement. Her favorite thing to tell people right now is that she has a baby in her tummy, just like Aunt Sarah and mommy. Too cute. She is 100% girl. She loves dress up and to have her hair done. She is very sweet when she is all dressed for the day. She will then look in the mirror and run in and tell daddy or Liam how pretty she is today. What a funny girl. I love having a little princess.

Speaking of potty training, as a final note, I think someone could make millions of dollars opening up a potty training center, where you send you child for a week and when they come home, they are potty trained. In know I would pay big bucks for that. That's my blah blah blog! Love ya! Jess

Here are the funny ones for your entertainment...

some pics of my new look... to be continued

Friday Tim, Sarah, and I went climbing with our friends Mike and Wendy Stubbs. It was a great day of climbing, and I finally finished the roof rout that I have been working on for the last couple of days. What a Pump! Here are some pictures of what went down.

end of the day

It is the end of my day. It is now 1:00 am and I am going home. I want you all to know that I love you and want you to be happy in all you do. It has been so long since we have all been together I only hope it will not be much longer. I miss you children and I miss your dad when he is gone. After so many years you might not think it is the same kind of missing you have in your families but it is. Don't forget to watch conference in the morning. I will be thinking of you all day and remembering great conference weekends as a family. I think my favorite was when we got to see the interview with Morgan while he was serving his mission in England. That was priceless. I will talk to you all soon. Love, mom

It is April Fools day today. I think that is one of the most fun and unnecessary of all holidays! That said Ithink it is good to allow a little foolishness sometimes. I don't need to take myself so seriously. Sometimes a gal just has to cut loose.

I love to remember the April Fools in my life like Colter Hodge whose birthday lands on this day. A more appropriate birthdate I cannot imagine for anyone! It fits him beautifully!

This year I will remember April Fools day for a different reason. Today Jessie fooled me. She said she was going to have twins...really she is having just one! A new baby for this very blessed family! I can hardly believe how lucky I am to have another baby to love and adore. That makes me a grandma times 4!!!!

Price I am glad you remember the thunder and lightening on Mae Dr. I remember you and Jessie in Jr. High running around the front of the Lincoln St house soaking wet from a spring storm. You were both so young and filled with promise! Now you fulfill your promise everyday.
Tim, I wonder what this next year will bring to you. I hope that by a year from now part of your future will unfold. I love you all dearly and cannot imagine a luckier mom in the whole world.

A snowy day in Pocatello

It is snowing here today; I have to go knock doors in training for my summer job and Sarah has to work at JoAnn's. This should be a fun day! As I sit here thinking about all the various things that I need to do, I can't help but wonder what is going on with everyone else. Is it snowing and thundering (an odd combination I don't think I have every really experienced before) where you are too? Whenever I hear the distant rumble of thunder I am immedaitely taken back to when we lived on May Drive and would sit on the front stoop as a family and watch the lightning flash across the sky like a parade of crooked skeletons marching into the distance. That is, and always will be ,one of my favorite memories. What memories do you associate with the sound of thunder?