birthday greeting from my friend

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Happy 3rd Birthday

Yesterday, we celebrated Isaiah's 3rd birthday. We had such a fun day. Some of the fun things we did were;

We headed to the park at lunchtime and had a picnic, we went to a park close to dad's work so he could come and join us. He got to play tickle monster with dad, which is his ultimate favorite. Here are some shots of him playing at the park.

In the afternoon Matt got off early from work and we made it to the mattinee. We went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Isaiah actually sat thru most of the movie, & Mckayla thought it was great and would like to have the movie for our home collection. While at the mall, we couldn't leave without letting Isaiah have a carosel ride, and pizza at the food court.

After his busy and fun-filled day we headed home to open presents and blow out candles. Isaiah opened his gifts and he got Mickey racers & track set, and a Basketball hoop. He loved his gift, and I think he had a great day.

We feel so blessed to have Isaiah in our family. We love him so much, and enjoy his sweet, sensitive, fun-loving personality.

I am writing this on here because I want to remember how funny he was the other day. For family home evening we decided to play charades. Isaiah guessed what I was acting out, and it was his turn to go up to the front. I was waiting to see what he was going to do, because I was sure he would need some help. He walked up to the front, very sure of what he was going to do. He stood there for a moment, and then said matter of factly "I am a tiger RAR, RAR, RAR", Matt and I started busting up, and he proceeded to RAR for about another minute waiting for someone to guess what he was. He couldn't quite get the concept to let us guess, he would tell us everytime what he was when he acted something out. It was probably one of the funnest times I had playing charades. I absolutely love being a family.

Tallulah Falls

If you ever want to go for a weekend to get a little rest & relaxation might I suggest Tallulah Falls. Our friends invited us to go with them to the mountains for some weekend fun. We had a blast, and were sad to see it end. We rented a 5000 sq. foot, 3 story, 6 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 2 kitchen, 2 family room, 2 decks overlooking breathtaking views, and sun room cabin.

The best part is this place had cable, so we were able to see conference all snuggled up on the couch and enjoy it with some wonderful friends. Inevitably, it seems there always has to be some bad with the good. I was so excited to have this fun weekend, we were planning on leaving friday afternoon. Around 1:00 pm I started to feel a little ill. I believe I had some form of food poisoning. I was not sure I would be able to make this fun filled weekend. Matt got home from work and packed the whole car and got everything ready to go, while I layed ill on the couch. I asked him to give me a blessing, and he blessed me with some comfort and relief. It did taper off a little, long enough for us to make it up to the cabin. At least one person in every family that came that weekend got sick on the trip, or on the way up. After all that passed we all had a fabulous time.

We headed to Tallulah falls were you can hike down to the bottom of the falls, and the hike back up the 1067 steps back up to the top. Matt and I headed down with all three kids. Matt hiked down with Seth in the carrier, I walked with Isaiah, and Mckayla walked with both of us. I had opted to only go half way. There is a bridge half way down, so when I reached this I decided I would turn back. I was still a little queezy from the day before, and I knew that the moment the kids started to hike back up the stairs they would be to tired to go all the way up. I tried to take Isaiah or the baby with me, but Matt insisted that he would be able to do with all the kids. So I headed back, and a little bit later, and with some help from our friends Matt and the kids made it back to the top of the falls. What a Hike!!!

After conference we headed to the river where the water was pretty shallow, and lots of rocks to walk around on. The kids had a great time, here are some of the river shots.

This is the view from the deck of the cabin in the morning.

This picture is of all the families that went, Tumlins, Homens, Hansens, and Cheeks!

Special thanks to Brittney for using some of her photos. Hope you are ok with that.

Home sweet Home

Well we made an offer on this home in Twinsburg, Ohio, and the family selling, accepted our offer. We close on the house at the end of October, and have the movers scheduled for the Nov.7th, and 8th. It is official. It truly is bitter sweet. I absolutely love the friends I have made here, and love our home here in Georgia, the weather is wonderful, and I think we are crazy to move up north, but this is a wonderful opportunity, and we feel very good about it. The best part is we are going to be near family. I guess that trumps the weather that Atlanta has to offer.

Matt and I took a trip to Ohio last weekend to go house hunting. We picked our top 3 homes. We put an offer on the 1st house, and were waiting to hear if they would accept it or not. The next day I was really thinking strongly about our 2nd pick house. I couldn't seem to get it out of my mind. I mentioned this to Matt, and he said to me "that is funny you say that, because I have been thinking the same thing." Just so you know, going into looking for a house, Matt and I had been very prayful that we would be able to find a home for us, a home that we could feel good about. I just wanted the spirit to help me know where the Lord needed us. After talking with Matt, I felt very much that this is the house we should buy. As you can see, the 1st house fell through and they did not accept our offer, which allowed us to move onto our second pick. I am grateful that we are able to have help from the spirit, and receive the inspiration we were looking for. I feel very blessed.

A week with grandma!

Last week my mom and dad came to visit. My dad had a convention in Savannah, so he brought my mom along, and she stayed with me, while my dad went to the convention. We had lots of fun, and are so glad we got a chance to visit with Grandma & Grandpa. We don't get to see them as much as we like, so when the opportunity comes to see them it is like Christmas!!!

The first day they were here my mom was feeling a little under the weather, but Grandpa got up and had an early start with the grandkids. Mckayla and Isaiah kept following him around the house. They even tried to follow him into the bathroom. Poor Grandpa couldn't even get a moment alone. As soon as he entered the bathroom, little hands started pounding on the door. Are you done yet? It is a rough life being the Grandpa! The kids had a great time with him in Isaiah's bedroom. They were throwing our football pillows at grandpa, then he would retrieve them. The kids thought this was great, but I am not quite sure what gramps thought of the whole thing.

This is a picture of the blanket grandma made Mckayla. Mckayla said I couldn't wash it, and I asked her why, she said "because it smelled like grandma". I told her we would eventually have to wash it, and that grandma's smell will eventually fade away. I thought it was sweet that she liked the smell of grandma.

We had a great week just hanging out and talking with one another. We didn't do anything to exciting, but we had lots of fun just being together. On Friday night, Matt took Mckayla out to the local highschool football game, while my mom and I had a pizza party and a movie.

During the week we had also taken my mom out to Rita's italian gelati. It is so heavenly. Anyway it was a big hit. She liked it so much we had to hit it one more time before she left. This time we got to take Grandpa as well. The only problem was, it was Suwanee days, and it was a mad house. I think my dad was a little nervous because they had to catch their plane and we were in a very crowded mess. To say the least mom and dad got off to the airport, and they made their plane with no problems.

While they were off to the airport, we decided to stay and enjoy Suwanee days. We let the kids play on all the inflatables. Mckayla thought it was lots of fun, and was bouncing from one to the other. Isaiah on the other hand needed a little more coaxing. I guess I can't blame him. Sometimes they have some bigger kids in those bouncy houses, and he gets a little nervous. He is such a cute little runt. They seemed to have a good time, and we were so glad we had a week with grandma.

This picture I am throwing in, because I think it is so darn cute!!

5k fun

Sorry Britt, I had to steal your pictures, b/c silly me I never saved the ones that were taken on my phone. My friends and I ran in the Suwanee days 5k race. It was way fun, but it totally whipped my butt. I have been actually working out for the last month to be ready for this race. I have been pretty proud of myself because I have been getting up about six in the morning and exercising. At least 5 times in the week. This is not normal for me. I don't think I have ever done this in my lifetime. I felt pretty prepared about running this race, I figured that adrenaline would also kick in and it would be a smooth race. HAH! not. I was so dying. It didn't help that the race had some hills in it as well. I do not do well with hills. They are not my friend. I had a goal to finish in 30 min. or less. I finished (mind you that is a positive thing, many times I thought about jumping ship) the race in 33min. and 10sec. Definitely not the best time in the world, but hey not bad after just having a baby, and nearing the big 35. We are also talking about doing another race in October. Hopefully I can improve my time. So if I post about the next race, I guess you will know if I did better. If I don't post about it, you can probably assume I did worse than this time. It is all good, I really don't care about my time, I just enjoy the fact that I am exercising, and I am able to run a few races with some friends.

On the move again!

It's official. We are moving! Our new place to call home will be just south of Cleveland Ohio. We are still looking for a house, so I can't give exact details of where, but some of the areas that we are looking for a house is Twinsburg, Solon, and Hudson areas. Matt starts his new job on October 13th. We have put a lot of thought into this move, and it just seems to make sense. Matt and I have been feeling that we just want to live close to family. So that would mean either Utah or Ohio. Needless to say Ohio here we come. We will be about an hour from Matt's family. We are excited to be near them again. For all my loved ones in Utah, do not lose hope. We are certainly hoping that we will have the opportunity to move there again as well. We are tired of moving all around the country, and are hoping that this will be a stay for awhile (unless of course the opprotunity arises to move to Utah, because Utah trumps all). For those we have befriended here in Georgia, we will be very sad to leave you. It was certainly a hard decision for us, because we do like it here, but the chance to be near family could not be passed up. We feel so blessed to have the Lord in our lives, and for his direction. We are also very thankful to have the church, and it's instant family network. It truly makes moving a lot easier. We feel that the Lord has blessed us with dear friends, and we hope to keep those friendships throughout our lives. I will keep you posted on all of the moving front.