Life in Mesa

We have been living in Mesa for over three months now and life is great...

Oakley started preschool. She absolutely loves it and is doing very well. I am amazed with how much she has already learned. She knows her months and season and the days of the week. She can count to twenty by her self and pretty much to thirty but she gets nervous and thinks she can't do it. She recognizes all of her letters and knows their sounds. She is starting to spell short words like Mom and Dad and can spell her name (when she feels confident). I know I say this a lot and if you know Oakley, then you completely agree... that I am already raising a teenager. She talks and acts like a 13 year old. She thinks she knows EVERYTHING... and will argue just to argue. She often forgets that I gave birth to her so that makes me the Mom, and not her... You laugh but I am serious! She tries to boss me around. For a while I have been feeling like a bad mom because she can be quite the... well, snot. It doesn't matter how strict I am with her or how i discipline her, she is smart and has a mind of her own, she knows what she wants and does everything she can to get it... she is ONE of a KIND. So I have decided to use her powers for good, and have been giving her responsibility. I have her help me with meals, setting the table, changing diapers, getting the boys dressed, cleaning the house... pretty much everything I do, she helps with. AND IT WORKS! She she has been so much sweeter and we get along so much better. A lot of people have said to me, "the smart ones are harder to raise" and I am finding it to be true. I sure so do love her though.

Easton is probably the sweetest little boy I have ever come across. He really just melts our hearts. Easton is talking so good... I dare say he talks better than Oakley did at this age. He isn't even two yet and talks in clear complete sentences. And he says the sweetest things. ALl through out the day I get a big hug and kiss and "I LOVE YOU MOM" from him. Every morning when Oakley and Easton wake up, I hear this conversation; "Hi Oakley" "Hi Easton" "How are you?" "GOOD! How are you?" They are best friends and I LOVE IT!!!! I could listen to them talk to each other all day. Easton also has learned his colors and his favorite color is blue. Every time he sees something blue he says "my blue one." He also HAS to have the blue plate or bowl and cup at meal time. He is learning to count. He has ONE TWO THREE down very well. probably because I give a ONE TWO THREE warning... ALL the time. But I have heard him count to ten a few times. Easton is definitely going through the terrible twos and can throw quite the tantrum. He also has melt down hour pretty much every night before and after dinner (when he is hungry and tired). Overall, he is a great kid and such a joy in our lives. I LOVE MY EASTON MAN!

Eric, Porter and I went to the UTAH ASU game here in AZ. It was SOOOOOO hot and crowded and Utah got their butts kicked... oh well.. it was fun to be at a game.

Porter is 4 months old already!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Porter is such a sweet blessing in our lives and we are so in love with him. He is caught up developmentally to his age and is doing very well. He is still a tiny little guy but is rolling over, giggling, playing with toys, loves to stand on his feet, and will be sitting up on his own real soon. His big brother and sister just love him so much and he loves them. When ever he hears one of their voices he immediately starts smiling and looking for them. I love to watch the three of them interact and love each other.

Easton climbs, jumps, falls, run and crashes in to, throws... EVERYTHING! His face and body are covered in scratches and bruises. I am really surprised we haven't been to the ER yet. HE IS VERY MUCH BOY... and you can see he likes to do the dishes.

WE LOVE TO BOWL and bowling is SO much cheaper here than it was in Cedar

Eric and I have been working really hard to lose weight and be healthy. We started running and love it. We both ran a 5k in October and did real well. Eric is signed up for another 5k on Thanksgiving day and I am signed up for a 10k... but I have stress fracture and don't know if I will be able to run it. I am going to do everything in my power to be ready for it though.

Eric's parents came to visit and while Eric was at school and his Dad, Mitch was in meetings, Eric's Mom, Sherilee, and I took the kids to the Phoenix Children's museum, which is like KID LAND! It was so awesome and the kids LOVED it.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year with having two kids that LOVE to dress up, LOVE candy, and LOVE to run around begging for candy. We also went to the pumpkin patch while Uncle Sam and Aunt Heather were in Mesa visiting us. Pictures from that are on the camera which I haven't downloaded to the computer yet. But, it was so much fun having them with us and the pumpkin patch in Mesa is really awesome and fun. An

Well that is all for now. As you can see, we are having so much fun in Arizona and everything is going very well for us. Oh! Eric got put in as an 11 year old scout leader and primary teacher. He is so excited for this calling and I know he will do great. School is going well for him and he is almost done with his first semester. I am so proud of him and how hard he works.