Grateful, grateful truly grateful I am!

I know it has been four months since my last update and I can't believe how fast life goes! Halloween came and went. We had a blast this year carving pumpkins, going trunk or treating and trick or treating with the boys. We went with Jordan and Shari and their kids. The kids got so much candy! I couldn't believe it! The neighborhood next to ours had a spooky house and P actually went inside. What a brave little man! I went inside too and it freaked me out. I screamed and ran out!! haha! The boys still ask about the scary house. It's funny how much they remember.
Early in November I had the great opportunity to go to Time Out for Women. It starts on Friday night and goes all day on Saturday. Deseret Book sponsors it and has guest speaker and singers come. I got to go with my mom and sisters. It is such an uplifting weekend and truly strengthens me everytime I go! I feel so grateful to be able to afford to go and have it be in Phoenix, really close. I feel so close to my family and the Savior after attending this event. Macy Robson was the musical guest on Friday night and she sang a song called, "Grateful" and that is truly how I felt after the conference. It is such a wonderful feeling to have.
Thanksgiving was grand! We went to my brother's house for yummy, delicious food and got to see all of my siblings and their kids. I had a wonderful time, visiting, and eating!
I want to say the beginning of September, we were able to go and find out what we are having and see the baby. It was such a fun time seeing the baby! I was anxious to see how the baby was doing. We found out we are having......a GIRL!!! It is hard for me to write "the baby." I want to call her "she" and "her". We have picked her name already. After writing about 30 names down that I liked for Joel. He picked about 6. He was fond of one name in particular and that was "Sage." We had known the cutest little girl with that name. He had even liked the name years before and I remember he did. So we both agreed that would be her name. Sage Michelle. I am pretty sure of it! I am now 32 weeks and very ready to meet her and hold her. Maybe she will come early! Wouldn't that be awesome?! I would love that. I am getting to that point of exhaustion.
Christmas is coming fast enough. Joel put up our lights outside and they look gorgeous and we put up our tree for Family Home Evening. The boys LOVED getting out the ornaments and hanging them on the tree. P was especially excited, every ornament he would ask, "Is it mine?" It was so cute! This year I got them both a tractor ornament with their name and year so they would have their own. Each year I want to do that as a tradition. My mom has given me some old ornaments of mine when I was young, and some from places that she has traveled and I love them! They are dear to me. I would like to do that for my children also.
I can't wait to see their faces Christmas morning, it will be a great Christmas! I am looking forward to it so much! This time of the year is so magical for me. I love everything about it.

Amazing Things

We have had so many amazing things occur in our lives over the last three months. We found out that I am expecting baby #3! January 24th is the due date which is incredible to me because that is my sister Melanie's birthday and then Joel's is the 26th. I have a dear friend who's birthday is the 25th. So this baby will be born among the great birthdays. 2 weeks shy of his brother's Ethan who's birthday. They will be almost exactly three years apart. It is so neat! I hope the baby comes on its due date! That will be so fun!
I am feeling pretty good now being past the sick stage of pregnancy. I am still really tired, but I find that I am starting to have moments of energy more often and more motivation to get tasks accomplished. Things that were put on the back burner a couple months ago are starting to get taken care of. :)
I am anticipating the day when we can find out what we are having and get to see the baby! My favorite part!
The other amazing thing is that my oldest will start school on Monday! I can't believe it! I will have a kid in school! I am so excited for him! We met his teacher last night and she was so sweet! She showed him his cubby with his name and everything! I was so proud! He has been looking forward to going to kindergarten for months and now it's already here! I don't know how I will be on Monday when I drop him off, but I know right now I couldn't been more happy for him. He is so ready for school!

Missing this and Rocky Point May 2011

I can't believe that it has been almost a whole year since I have blogged, and I have missed it. I enjoy blogging, it is a journal for me and I have slacked in my journal writing and my blogging. I said to my self, "Self, I need to start blogging again. It is something I enjoy, much more than facebooking." So this is my fresh start to start anew again.
I wanted to blog about our vacation to Rocky Point. We decided we really needed a vacation after Joel got our of school for the summer. Joel thought of renting a condo on the beach where the kids could play in the sand and swim til' their heart's content. So we rented a condo on Las Conchas beach and it was perfect. It was more than perfect. The beach and sand was right out our back door. The condo we stayed in was quaint and sweet. It was perfect for a small family. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
We had a ball! We swam in the ocean, picked up a million seashells, (which I think are the most gorgeous things on the whole earth), rode the banana boats with the kids, saw dolphins, and went to the acuario (aquarium) which I was impressed by because they had sea turtles that you could touch and a sea lion. You could feed them but we didn't. We went to a different part of town called, "Cholla Bay" and that was really neat. The beach was rocky and Preston and dad walked on the rocks and the kids just loved it. I found some neat shells over there too.
When we left Mexico we were sad. I found myself being more grateful when we got home. The people down there were so nice and humble, especially the people we came in contact with. Joel enjoyed visiting with the vendors that would come around to sale things. One of the vendors was offering massages for a pretty decent price, and so we took her up on it. We had massages on the beach right on the porch of our condo. It was so relaxing and nice to hear the ocean. I realized I have way to many knots in my shoulders. She really worked on those. Ouch!
We met all kinds of people near us who were from Tuscon, who had been coming down there for thirty some years that said they have never had any issues or problems so we felt safe. We are always cautious travelers anyway, but it was such a great experience for us, everyone was so nice. We want to go back as soon as we can!