My long-awaited update

Hey there girls! So I know I've been promising to update forever, but it's like writing in your journal, the more you put it off, the more you have to write about, the more you don't want to write about it, and the cycle continues. Where to start? So I finished massage therapy school in December (yes it really has been awhile), 5 days before Christmas and the same day the twins came home from their missions. Taylor and Tanner were originally scheduled to come home a day apart, but my mom was able to get it worked out that Tanner flew to Prague, and then he and Taylor flew the rest of the way home together. They showed us video of when they met up in the airport in Prague. It was fun to see how excited they were to see each other. Sometimes I really wonder what it would be like to be a twin. They have so much fun together, and they're such good guys. Anyway...I digress. After I finished school, I continued to work at the chiropractor part time, and then I did massage on-call in the mornings for this girl that I met randomly. I made good money when I worked for her, but I felt like I had to sit around all day waiting for her call, and then nothing would happen. Plus some of the people were a little shady, but hey...it did get me a $200 tip once. A story for another time :) I ended up finding another part time massage job at a small clinic, which I liked. With both jobs, I was working 6 days a week, and long hours. It was killing me, so I ended up quitting the chiropractor and started working full-time at the massage clinic. I loved the flexibility I had. I didn't have to come in until 10, and I was done at 6. If I have something to work around, he was really great about that as well. Unfortunately business is slow right now, and we were not very busy. Truthfully I've been lucky to be able to pay all the bills. Why is it so difficult to find a job you like that actually pays decently? Things should have picked up in Sept., but they didn't so I started looking for another job where I could count on a steady paycheck. I just started a job at a physical therapy clinic. I'm only part-time right now working 30 hours a week M, W, F. I will start doing massage on the side on Tues/Thurs. I keep trying to think of other things I can do to make money on the side, but they all require that you put money in before you can make money, so that doesn't help much. :)

I moved out of my apartment in Mesa when my last roommate got married. It's a crazy story, but she got engaged and married within 4 weeks to a guy that she had dated a year previously. I decided to find a bigger place, did all the research, found a nice apartment in Ahwatukee, had a roommate all lined up and everything. I moved out of my apartment, put my stuff in storage, and stayed with my parents for a week until we left on the cruise. I was going to move in right after we got back. The day before we left on our cruise, she called me and told me she had decided not to move in with me after all. Thanks for the notice chick. :) That freaked me out, because I knew I couldn't afford the rent by myself, but I didn't have any time to do anything about it. So I tried not to worry about it when we were on the cruise. I got home, got all moved in, and luckily I found someone to move in within the next month. I ended up living by myself for almost 3 months, and I gotta say, it was hard having a roommate again. I never thought the day would come when I would rather live by myself, but it's true. I'm turning into an old fart. :) To make things better I just got assigned to be the VT of the girl that bailed on me. :) I'm not sure if she's figured out the connection. I'm over it...she seems like a nice girl, and really I think it worked out better for both of us.

My family had a really good time on the cruise. We went to the Eastern Caribbean and visited Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and the Bahamas. We got to do fun things such as swimming with the dolphins, a canopy tour (which was 9 ziplines and then a ropes course in the rainforest), snuba-it's like scuba diving but your tank is in a boat on the surface of the water, and there is a tube connecting it to you. You can go up to 20 feet down. We also went swimming with and fed some stingrays. It was okay, but not near as cool as it sounds. The others were all awesome. I loved the Caribbean! I loved the blue water, and it was so warm and calm. It was a lot of fun meeting the locals and seeing their culture as well. All of the places we visited (except Puerto Rico), they drove with the car on the left hand side of the road. Depending on whether it was US or British Virgin Island, sometimes the steering wheel was on the left, sometimes on the right. That would be seriously confusing for me. They all drove somewhat crazy too, but what was interesting, is that the drivers were actually courteous to each other. Put Americans in a situation like that, and it would be a huge mess of accidents all over the place. After the cruise, we stayed in Florida a couple more days. We went parasailing, hung at the beach some more, went to the Everglades and did an airboat tour. It was a good trip, and hard to come home and go back to work.

My parents moved into a new house (not new, but new to them) right after we got home from the trip. They finally got the old house all cleaned up and put on the market about 6 weeks ago. They got 2 offers on it in the first week. They finally accepted one about a week and a half ago. It kinda makes me sad actually. I basically lived in that house my whole life. They've remodeled since I last lived with them, so it's not like it's completely the same as when I used to live there, but still...It's just weird to think that someone else will be living there. It's not like they moved all that far...the new house is just on the other side of the main road, not even a mile away. So it's been exciting for them, and chaotic, and they swear they will never move again. I was just happy they finally took the plunge. They've been talking about moving since I was in jr. high.

Shelbie just turned 11. Can you believe it? If you saw her, you wouldn't recognize her at all. She's got glasses and braces now (they come off in Oct I think). She's totally hit her growth spurt, I think she is almost as tall as my mom now. Not quite caught up to me yet, except that her feet are bigger than mine :). That's not too hard to accomplish. Matt's been dating a girl for over a year, and they just recently got engaged. They are getting married in November. Taylor and Tanner are just doing the community college thing, dating, having a good time.

Well, I think that's all the news. Sorry it took me so long. I hope everyone is healthy and happy!

Goth

P.S. I have more pics of the cruise on my facebook profile if you want to check it out here...

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27195&l=9e4fb&id=755322731

It's a Girl!

As you know from the email I sent out we are having a girl! Joe got his next assignment to Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. It was the closest option West. We are only 6 hours from home (Phoenix) which will be nice especially with the baby. The unit he will be with is set to deploy to Iraq in May. I can't believe we are already talking about that again. At least this time it is only a 12 month deployment and who knows maybe the next president will bring them home even earlier. I'll definitely move back to Arizona when he goes. As of today he plans to get out of the military as soon as he gets back or November of next year. Which ever comes sooner. YEAH!!!

Joe gets done with his classes here in Georgia the middle of December. Luckily the military does all of our packing and moving. I'll fly home to AZ and Joe will make the cross country road trip (something he actually enjoys) and meet me in AZ for the Holidays. We will probably deliver in El Paso instead of Phoenix but we are still not sure about that. Joe's unit is suppose to leave for the usual month train up in the Mohave Desert in prep for Iraq January 12th. Since baby is coming (around Jan 17th) Joe plans to use all of his leave days and not report in until they have already left. Missing baby #1 is not an option.

The second trimester has treated me well. The morning sickness has ended and I'm a normal person again. Since I'm not working I've had lots of time to improve my domestic skills that I never had time for with school and work. I got behind a sewing machine and made an apron and purse something I never thought I would do. I'm also spending more time in the kitchen trying some fabulous recipes. I started taking cycling classes again and discovered zumba classes at the YMCA. If you ever get a change to take a zumba class totally do it. It's a combo of dance and aerobics. It is so much fun, such a good work out and the time flies by.

Hope you all are doing fabulous!

Love you all,

London

Update on the Dicks

I'm pretty sure I emailed all of you about my other blog (in case I didn't, it is www.thedickfam.blogspot.com). I update that fairly regularly, but I still want to be a part of the Upper blog too. So, here is our little update. We are doing just dandy. We had a fun trip to Duck Creek, UT over Memorial Day with Sean's family (riding quads and hanging out in the beautiful mountains). I spent 5 days with the Young Women from our ward for Girls Camp in June. We had a good time with very little drama (which is a serious accomplishment when you get a group of teenage girls together camping in tents for a week). I even did a little repelling and hiking while I was there. The kids spent that week at my parents house. I took a little trip down to CA for Caleb's graduation and Kyra's 8th grade promotion, which is when I also dropped the kids off. They had a fun time, of course. We had plans to go to a family reunion over the 4th of July, but Sean just couldn't take 4 full days off. So, we spent the holiday here in Kingman (which had a decent firework show for a small little place) and made homemade ice cream. Then we drove to Flagstaff the next day and spent the night there (just to get away from the heat and enjoy a little vacation of some sort). We went to the Grand Canyon caverns, saw Wall-E, swam, went to a petting deer farm outside of Williams and picked up a new addition to our family. While we were at the deer farm one of the workers told us about some puppies that someone was giving away up the road. Sean wanted to go and check them out.... and we ended up bringing one home. He is a cute little guy (who will one day not be very little at all). The kids LOVE him, and he is pretty fond of them too. You should see how excited he gets each morning when they head out to the porch first thing. Next week we are heading to Colorado for a different family reunion. We will stop in Utah to see Sean's sister's new baby. Good times. Other than our small travels, we have just been hanging out at home and trying to stay cool. We loved the monsoon storms that came through last week, and actually Kingman is not quite as hot as many other AZ places.
I am feeling pretty good - definitely getting bigger and feeling this baby moving all of the time. This is the first time I have been big and pregnant through the hot part of the summer, and I think the heat wears me out a little more, but I am still good. Sean is busy with work - he is still working LOTS of hours, but his job has gotten a little better for him during the past couple of months (the stress was crazy back in the Spring). Caelan has a little reading preschool class that she goes to twice a week during the summer - she is getting good at reading simple words and writing words on her own. I can't believe she starts Kindergarten in less than a month. We're going to get adjusted to that change just in time to have a new baby and have something else to adjust to. I think it will be a big adjustment for Ben - he and Caelan are great friends who play together all the time. I guess he and Megan will start doing more and more things together. Megan is a busy little thing. She is always trying to keep up with her big brother and sister. She loves to run around and play with baby dolls and be a part of whatever anyone else is doing. Oh, what fun. Well, I love you all. I hope things are going well for you. I'd love to hear an actual update on the goings on of your lives. Can't wait for next year when we will all be together for an Upper Reunion.

Not so "Good" Game!

I went to Vegas at the beginning of May with the twins and David for Zog's wedding. Taylor served in the Czech Republic with Zog's new wife, Christine Taylor. Tanner and David came along for company. Anyhow, Nich's post reminded me of a little surprise we found walking along the strip. (You must enlarge pic for the full effect)


BTW...I promise I have a real update coming very soon. Hopefully this weekend. I was just waiting to get the pics back from our vacation. I know...you can't wait! The wait will be worth it. :) (Or so we're always told)

Happy Un-Birthday!!

So I always realize a couple days after your birthdays, that I totally missed it. Then I make a mental note to call, or email when I get a chance, but then by the end of the day the mental note has fallen out of my ear somewhere. Then the next day when I remember, I'm at work and can't do it until I get off. So I make another mental note, and the vicious cycle continues... So although it may appear like I've forgotten, I really think about you all the time, and I hope you all have fabulous birthdays even if I don't ever get around to calling! Here's to the Uppers getting old!

Girls, this one's for you!

GOOD GAME!!

McKell Update

Life is moving along at an excelerated pace right now. McKenna turned 3 last friday! Can you believe it?!? She was so excited to be getting older because then it meant she would be bigger. She had a great birthday. We had my parents and sister over for dinner. . macoroni and cheese, hot dogs, chips, cottage cheese and broccoli. McKenna got to choose some of it, luckily she loves broccoli. Her first request though was cake and ice cream. She got a keyboard fully equipped with a microphone from us, and a kitchen from grandparents and us. She is really enjoying her presents. Oh yeah. . . and TONS of balloons!

Kate is going in for sugery tomorrow to fix her cleft palate. I got pretty nervous about it last week, but am feeling a little more calm at this point (is there such thing as a nervous calm?). Tyler will be giving her a blessing tomorrow, thank goodness for priesthood! I will be staying the night in the hospital with Kate. She will have to wear arm braces for 1-2 weeks afterwards to keep her from putting her hands or anything else in her mouth. They will keep her from bending her arms. Kate started walking on McKenna's birthday. We're pretty suprised, she was never interested in using walkers.

I've been working on our food storage and emergency preparedness. I used most of our tax return already for supplies. I've felt a great urge to get this together, I'm so grateful for the spirit and inspiration! We are going to be taking a family vacation in June, it was my birthday present this year! We are going to central Oregon to stay at a vacation home. It will be so great to be together as a family without worrying about callings and work! :)

Love Always,

Jamie