It's been so long since I've written that I totally forgot my password and had to start all over again. Too many passwords these days. As Melissa has mentioned my mom and I are going to D.C. this next week. I'm so excited to bundle up and wear sweaters, it is still in the 90s here.

We received notice this week that Joe will be home in Colorado some time between December 27th and January 1. I'm so ready!! I plan to move up to Colorado the middle of December to get everything situated before he comes home. Once he is home he gets a month off at which time we'll go to Florida and California to visit his family and then Arizona to see mine.

My last day of work is November 19th. Though I'll be sad to lose the paycheck I won't be sad to say goodbye to 14 hour days. I'm leaving just in time to miss the crazy snowbirds with all their medical issues. Adios!

We don't know what the next year will hold for us. If we stay right where we are in Colorado Springs, Joe will leave again in a year with the same battalion he is with and deploy right back to Baghdad. Neither of us are excited at the thought of that. I really feel like I need him home for a little longer to keep my sanity in check. The tentative plan is to be in Colorado for the winter/spring and then move to Georgia for a Captain's Career Course which is 5-6 months long. After that we'll move some place else, Joe's guessing to a unit that is getting ready to deploy but not leaving immediately. We are hoping this at least gives us 2 years with him at home. Plus who knows what will happen with the next president. I never dreamed my life would revolve so much around the government.

Thanks to all my girls for your prayers.
Love you

Update from the Dicks

Hi Girls,

I've been meaning to post something since we moved, but keep getting distracted in some way or another. Anyway, things are good here. We moved to Kingman, AZ at the beginning of the month, so we've been here for three weeks. We really loved Boulder City, so it was a little sad to go, but so far we are really liking it here. Sean's company (SBS Construction Services) is opening a new plant here, and Sean will be the Plant Manager for the truss department (roof trusses). It is a good position for him, and he's liking all the new stuff he is doing. They are still in the process of getting things up and going, so he is gone longs hours every day (that stinks, but I know it won't be too much longer). I am going to be cleaning their offices (the things you do to help your husbands... J/K - actually it not too shabby. It's just once a week for a few hours for quite good money). We are renting a nice little house here for 6 months or so (slightly bigger than our house in Boulder City, but $450 cheaper - NICE). We are either going to build a home or buy after that. We are seriously looking into building, which means that we will get things going ASAP. Sean is taking our plans around to have them bidded by the different trades so we can see what we are looking to spend. We have a really great ward - lots of young families. We are anxious to get more involved with callings and such. The kids are doing great. Megan will be a year old in two weeks. She is a crawling machine. She has been standing on her own a little lately, so we'll see how long it takes before she gets up to walk. Ben is talking up a storm these days. He is Caelan's little mimic. Actually they have great fun together. He loves to sing, and carries a tune really well. I am getting ready to potty train him (and not very excited about it). Caelan is a very independent four year old. She actually helps out a lot. There is a girl that teaches dance classes for younger girls in our ward. I am trying to get Caelan into her 4-5 year old class - that would be fun for her. I wish there was some king of joy school or preschool that I could get Caelan in for a couple days a week (not necessarily for the learning aspect, but for the social part), but so far I haven't found anything like that (plus it's hard to get kids in in the middle of the school year). The library here has great programs for kids, so we take advantage of that. We also have a little play group once a week too. So, life is good. I have been trying to find a gym to go to, and I just heard about one that offers free day care (but it's a little pricey, so we'll see).

My crazy kids

We went on a fun camping trip over the Labor Day holiday. We met all of my family in Southern Utah and camped for a few days. We went to some caves and a lake and played at Devil's Garden (all sorts of Rock formations). It was lots of fun!

We are heading to CA for Thanksgiving and then to Arizona for Christmas (it's nice to be so close to family - quick, easy trips).
Anyway, when are we going to have an Upper Reunion? What about New Years? I miss you girls. I hope you are all doing well. I love ya.

Tera

Hey Girls!!

I'm sorry it's been so long! Life has been really crazy lately. Well some of you may not know, but I helped a friend out recently. She was trying to get away from an abusive husband. He ended of kicking her out of their house and we were going to try to get her a place her in Denver, but decided that it was probably better for her if she was out of the state. So we got her some plane tickets and she was able to leave at the end of September. So she ended up staying with us for 3 weeks (those of you who've been to my place know my condo is a tight place for 4 more guests). Anyway so my life was consumed with their lives, but I think it was meant to happen. I was even able to talk about the church with her, she loves the proclamation to the family and they left with a Book of Mormon. So I know that she was able to see a little of what life should and could be like. But so far things are going well for them, so Matt and I both feel good about our decision, plus they're really cute!!!

I am currently in the market for a new job, my boss is totally unethical and he hasn't treated me fairly since I started. I think at times he thought I was a "yes sir" person, but I have really learned that it's ok to state your opinion, I always try to do it professionally but he always thinks I am trying to insult him. He's labeled me the "trouble maker" and says that I always hurt people's feelings. Plus I think the company is really trying to hide something, they're recording all our phone calls now, they read our emails and it's kind of freaking me out. They're looking for something and I don't really want to know or get mixed up in things. Matt is doing really well, he got an award at work for the Spanish translation he's doing for investigations. We think he'll be done with school at the end of Spring '09!! It seems so far away, more because Matt doesn't want to start trying to have kids until he's close to graduation.

We got our first snow fall!!!! It was about 5-6 inches but it's mostly melted now. It was crazy snow! But by the end of the week it will be back in the 70's again. We're all ready for snow this year, we have our snow board passes and we traded the yellow bug in for a jeep grand Cherokee, so bring on the snow!!! Wha-who. I hope everyone is doing well, I miss you guys a lot, lets think about a reunion next year!!! :)

New Blog addition....

Where are they now...? Goth and I were talking the other day and reminiscing about the good ol' days. We were wondering what all our old friends are up to now. So if you have any news post it in the column on the side bar. To do this go to the Template tab instead of Postings and then click on edit in the "Where are they now....?" box. This will open a new window and you can add to the running text in the box. Put you name in parenthesis afterward so we know who has the inside scoop! :) Then save changes and it will be added to the blog. Perfecto!

Red's Update

Girls, I love you all so much! This year has been flying by! I can't believe it is October already. Time for picking out pumpkins, the start to change, the weather is perfect for being outside. Oh, if I could be a season I would be autumn! It has been such a fun year out here in DC. Sarah and I went to Israel at the end of August and it was fascinating. A trip of a lifetime, although I hope I can go back some day.

I am going to Boston this weekend with some girlfriends to go "Leaf Peeping" as they call out here in the east. We are calling it the Fall Extravaganza! It doesn't get much better than seafood at Cape Cod, checking out the cranberry bogs and driving through the East to see the leaves. It should be good time. I love Boston.

We had a housewarming party last weekend and it was a huge success. The house looked great after hours of painting and hanging up pictures, etc. All of my roommates are fantastic and all pitched in to make it a really fun party.

November is going to be a fun month with visits from my mom, London and her mom. Sarah and I have been busy planning the itinerary. Be prepared for non stop fun! And then for Thanksgiving I am hoping to escape the cold and be somewhere tropical. I am thinking Cancun or Costa Rica. Any suggestions?

The love department is always a tricky one. No love right now, but I have gone out a few times with a guy in my ward. We have a good time together so we'll see where that goes :)

Sorry this update is kind of boring - I have another blog that I have been posting on pretty regularly so check that out as well (www.mightyredhead.blogspot.com) It is always so good to hear from you.

Love you all! RED

Let's all update!

Hi girls. It's been a while since anything got posted, so I'm hoping to start another streak to find out what everyone is up to. I would love for an upper reunion, just one problem. McKenna costs money to fly now and ticket prices are getting expensive these days. I'll look into though. When?

We are heading to Utah this weekend. Tyler's granmother passed away, and her funeral is on saturday. Ty's grandpa is paying for the whole family to come out for it. This is a good passing, it was her time. A couple weeks ago when she was still somewhat coherent she apparently was talking about how excited she was to see her "daddy". He died when she was 10, and here she is 89 years old. I love the Gospel so much. Just to think that death is something to rejoice over. We have anscestors and friends on the other side waiting to see us. We will be able to be in the presence of our Father and Elder Brother again.

Life is busy, busy. We are having YWIE in a couple weeks; that and personal progress have been consuming all my time. I'm very excited for the program though and pray that the YW will feel the spirit. McKenna and Kate are becoming great friends already. McKenna loves to play with Kate, and of course Kate loves it in return. I love those precious moments when I turn and see McKenna showing Kate a book, or giving her a hug and kiss. McKenna suprises us all the time with how coherent she is. One funny example is yesterday I was getting her ready to get in the car and she says, "mommy, I don't want to go to the store poopy!" (I didn't know she was!) :) She's getting very good at formulating sentences, and expressing her desires. Kate is so big! She's just about 5 months, but she wears clothes anywhere from 3-12 months. It's so weird b/c McKenna was always so thin. She's a great baby, sleeps from 7:30ish to about 6 every night, and very smiley - although it seems I don't have any pictures of her actually smiling! She's a wiz at rolling over to her left, it's automatic at this point. We're going to start her on food as soon as we get back next week.

Tyler got a new calling a month ago. He's the ward clerk. Sundays used to be my days to have all my meetings and get lots of YW stuff done. Not anymore. Oh-well. He was able to pick up an extra class at work, so at the moment he doesn't have a prep period at all. It's making him pretty tired, so this may be the only semester he does this. We're grateful for all the blessings we've receieved for extra income.

Talk to everyone later!

Love,
Jamie