Wonderful month of October!

I have always been a fan of Halloween... And starting this year - I will be given even MORE reason to love October. Not only were some very special people in my life born in this month, my birthday as well, and ole' hallows eve all occur in October!!!! Well - I get to add one of the most amazing treasures to my life as well. I get the absolute and amazing privilege of marrying a dedicated, honorable, strong, assertive, loving man!



Our initial thought was to get married on my birthday, but in light of recent events, it will likely be taking place on the 29th instead. With the change in date, Matt's son (stationed in Washington) will be able to attend and show his love and support for his father. I couldn't be more happy to watch Matt's face talk about how excited he was that his son was going to make sure he attended! As he put it into words.... "It's awesome, from a father's standpoint, to watch his son become more of a young adult instead of a knucklehead teen." (I love it how Matt says 'knucklehead'!)

Jonathan, of course, will be the most handsome little man anyone has ever seen! Yup - that's right!!! Momma's gonna go all out of the kid!!!

I'm also very excited to be able to complete my life as almost 2 1/2 years ago it felt as if it had fallen apart. For those friends who never found out the background - let me do a quick version. When I returned from Afghanistan, I met Russ and we were married in December of '07. However, for reasons only our Heavenly Father knows... he decided to leave our marriage in June '08 - leaving me 2 months pregnant. He has made the decision to not be any part of Jonathan's life and has only taken the opportunity twice to see this beautiful boy (and that was only because Jonathan and I went to Kien's (Jonathan 1/2 brother from Russ' first marriage) soccer and basketball season end games!) BUT ANYHOW!!!!! I gave birth to an amazingly beautiful baby boy. I had the strong support of my family. My mother was able to be in the operating room with me when they took Jonathan out via C-Section after I started having complications during labor. My oldest sister stayed with me and the baby our first night in the hospital. Both my little sister and my oldest sister (and all their kids) were able to come and stay with me the entire month of January, so about 3-4 weeks before I had Baby J! I'm so grateful for them and their husbands for sharing their precious families with me!

Matt and I started seeing each other when Jonathan was about 5 months old. But Matt left for a few months to complete some military schools and such back in Pennsylvania and Georgia. When he got home in December, we continued to see one another. Let me back up just a tad.... I first met Matt when I came back off of Maternity Leave. He had been hired as a Temp Tech in my office on Gowen Field while I was gone. And we became good friends as we worked with each other daily. It wasn't until (like I said earlier) Jonathan was around 5 months old, that we actually started seeing one another. Now back to after he returned from schools..... Matt has been amazing in helping here and there with Jonathan and me as well! He was home in time to help celebrate the 1st Birthday!!! Matt even got the birthday cake!!!





Matt was schedule to deploy back to Iraq, but due to some medical reasons (no worries, he'll be just fine!) he stayed home!!! Which leads us to getting married!!!! YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's our little family! - (we'll update a little family picture when we add Matt's two kids!)

Wow - where has the time gone!

It seems that time continues to fly by regardless if I am ready for it or not. There has been a lot going on in the last month - so let me try to catch everyone up!

My brother has been shipped down to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for a few months before heading over to Iraq. I've been there John - just keep pushing through each day - and you'll be back home before you know it! We love you!!!

Over the past month, I've been busy with coaching volleyball at Mnt. View High School (so far we are 5~win and 1~loss!) and that leaves me with very little time with LJ. So on the weekends, we like to be range things from flat out lazy to hiking! I snuck into his room during naptime and caught a little peek of my beautiful boy.... Oh how I love him!



When he woke up, however, I was a little surprised to find something new..... For whatever reason he had... he was rearranging his shirt.....



Who does this?! And how did he get his arm out of it like this?! :) Or maybe he just had a VERY active dream!!!!




LJ is growing up and learning new things... One of his favorite things is to get a bit messy while eating yogurt all by himself! It's so adorable, I just have to let him get a little dirty as he enjoys this new learned task!



A few weeks ago, Matt, LJ and I were able to go out to dinner with part of his family to celebrate Matt's son, Stephen, getting back from his tour in Iraq. We went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse... And well..... who doesn't LOVE their rolls!!! LJ obviously thoroughly enjoyed too many!!!



I have been living in the Boise area for quite a few years now... but I have never taken the time to go and hike Table Rock! So last weekend before the BSU vs Wyoming game - the boys and I headed out to go and take care of that! It was a gorgeous afternoon and we had a blast! LJ even did a bit of hiking of his own... it was really cute - but I wasn't able to get pictures of it because he was adamant about holding onto both Matt and I's hand :) - which was fine with us. But I did snag a few pictures when Matt threw him up on his shoulders for some steep parts before putting him back in the backpack!






Here the boys are after I cooled LJ off with a little water on the head.... which of course he completely enjoyed!



Here is a quick picture when we all made it to the top!!!!




Now.... you are more than happy to exit my blog, as this next part is going to be me just venting!

Let me start with this picture.........



This was the view of the front doors of my office building. Our customers were warned, HOWEVER, we were forced to continue working is some EXTREMELY hazardous conditions. The only thing between us workers and the construction guys above us were the cardboard ceiling fillers since the entire roof was tore off and they were shoveling off everything right above our heads! We had the dirt and such falling through onto our heads, we could see the sunlight and sky through our light fixtures even!!! What if they had dropped a hammer?! It could've killed one of us!!! We voiced our concerns about this within minutes of starting the workday - but we were told to just deal with it. My anxiety level went off the charts - and it was going on ALL DAY LONG!!! That's 9 hours of working in an extremely hazardous environment!!! Even after volleyball and a little workout jogging over and back from LJ's daycare, I was still on my nerves end. I was exhausted by the time I put LJ down for bed... I think I may have made it to 8:30! Poor Matt just let me go to bed early! He's such a wonderful man - I am completely in love with him!!!!

But so far today, there isn't too much going on above our heads. I will admit that I've still got a bit of the shakes after working all day yesterday. Gotta love our government at times!!!

.....more official.....

Well - as most of you know, I have been dating someone for a bit of over a year now. And I just have to say that I am very thankful for the wonderful man that he is! He treats me with respect and dignity and showers my son with the true love of a father!!! Matt has been involved in our lives since Jonathan was only 5 months old. I remember that time because it was right before I moved him out of my room to sleep!!! :)

Anyway - I just wanted to publicly introduce Matt to my family and friends (in case you have not all ready met him!) and to show you a few of the pictures he was able to join in with LJ and I to celebrate LJ's 18 months!!! A big THANKS goes out to Shandy Vogt Photography for doing such an amazing job!!! Send Shandy an email if you're looking to get some pictures taken! Winter photo shoots are FUN!!!!

Without further delay... Here are the promised pictures!!!


















Oh how I love these boys!!! And watching them play and interact together... nothing makes me happier!

Family Trip - Arizona Vacation

Ok - it took me a while to upload all the photo's that I had from the trip we took to Arizona for a little family vacation and to also watch my amazing mother graduate with her Master's!!! Since I didn't have enough time to take off of work, LJ and I flew down instead of driving with the rest of the crew. LJ is a good little flier... And he's such a ham with the flight attendants.



Good thing our flight was terribly full - they gave us our own row so this little guy could roam a bit...



And when we landed in Phoenix, we found out that my parent's and brother were going to be quite a bit later than they had planned... We waited for nearly 5 1/2 hours in the airport for them to pick us up... So LJ needed to take a nap - and even though it was a noisy terminal - he still crashed!



Now.... for a scary story. After LJ took a nap and we had a little dinner at the Chili's restaurant in the airport, we were waiting near the terminal door after I got a text from my mom saying they were on the outskirts of Phoenix (little did I know that meant they still had QUITE a way to travel!). But anyway - I had just gotten off the phone with my brother (in-law) Ben and was putting my cell phone back in my pocket when this man (who was normal looking and didn't even get picked up on my creep radar!) stepped between the small space between me and LJ in his stroller and he took off with him!!! He only got a few steps by the time I reacted and caught the other end of the stroller and began the tug-a-war along with profanity yelling at this guy for trying to take my son!!! As he was standing and pulling the stroller against me - I didn't hold back - and kicked the man straight in the nuts! He was lifted off the ground - and fell down into a fetal position. Two police officers were right outside the terminal doors writing a ticket to a smoker smoking in a non-zone - and the two officers saw the whole thing but since it happened so quickly - they got to us by the time he was on the ground. - The rest of things that happened are typical police action after an incident - file a report, give statement, glare at creep in the back of cop car, remained rigid and both hands on stroller... - and just after they had left was when my mom text'd me to walk outside so my dad could walk to my terminal as they continued to drive up... As soon as my dad was within reach - I grabbed him in for a big hug, and yes, he instantly knew something was up. But he went in and grabbed my luggage while I put LJ in the front seat on my mom's lap until I could get his carseat in the van. Once in the van - I told my parents and brother the insane incident... and it took me the next 2 hour drive to the condo to calm down.... Needless to say - I am very thankful for the kickboxing classes I've been taking!!!

Now back to vacation..... LJ wore himself out quickly the next day with his cousins... Play hard = crash hard!



Here LJ is with Grandpa and cousins enjoying some after nap cartoons!!!



Ahhhhh - the relaxing time!!!



Grandma doing some homework, while Uncle John entertained a few other cousins!!!



Aunt Tera and baby Taylor (Grandma's birthday present!!!)



Uncle Ben with his little girls!!!




Lj with a crazy little Skylar-man in the background... can you tell he'd like to go swimming?!






LJ with Katie



Oh yes - he just had to find stairs to climb!!!



These psycho squirrels... They came out of nowhere it seems and would attack the food that they kept placing out for them...



At Grandma's graduation!!! Yeah!!!! It was a bit long for the little ones... but hey - we were happy to support Grandma!!! Congrats!!!
























While we were in Arizona, we were able to visit a wolf exhibit and actually get to see a real wolf! This was as close as we were able to be next to him - even though he was fairly tame - he was still a wild animal... Isn't he just a magnificant creature!






And we also found a little petting zoo!!!!









After meeting a real wolf - and playing at the petting zoo.... Yup - play hard = crash hard!!!



After the kiddo's woke up from their naps - Tera and I took them to an Indian Reservation/Exhibit and some ancient Ruins.... It was hot - but well worth the trip!!! And Owynn was VERY helpful in making sure she kept LJ's hand with hers and walked him with her!





















The pool at the condo was a refreshing delight! They had this awesome little kiddie pool that was great for all the little ones!



Grandpa and Baby Taylor at Church....



Grandma helping LJ enjoy a delicious Root Beer float!!! Oh YEAH!!!



Tera couldn't help but take this picture..... Owynn did NOT want to take a nap - but her poor growing body NEEDED IT! When Tera went to go check on them - she found Owynn had wrapped herself up in her blanket!



Coming to the close of our trip - we were waiting in Phoenix at Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room after we went for a quick swim before heading to the airport to fly back home... LJ found a friend that smiled as much as he did!!!! He was just too cute!



I also have a couple of video clips of my little sister, Shera, as she is singing some of her songs - especially one she wrote for our Dad for Father's Day. But that post will have to wait for another day!!!

We had a fun family vacation - and it was great to be able to spend so much time with them all!