Roofers on the roof of our new house today. I watch them but get nervous. They walk on little boards and hold heavy roofing materials. I hope they stay safe today. Jeff and I caught some nasty colds, I stay up coughing a lot. Not too fun, I hope it goes quickly.

The kids had fun decorating the Christmas tree this year.

Teddy our pug and a kitten Lauren bottle fed. Our pretty front door. More pictures of today's concrete finisher.

Here are some pictures of Halloween, the van decorated for trunk or treat. Some pictures of the concrete being poured today. It was really fun to watch,

it's like an art. Cool to see the concrete truck and the concrete finisher working together. Our pretty windows in the upstairs room.

Today I took Trey to the Dr. early this morning for his asthma. Trey has asthma and I have to keep a check on it and make sure he has what he needs. It is kind of a cold, dreary day today, hopefully the sunshine will come out sometime this week. Jeff and his cousin Brian have been working on the house slowly but it's comming along. It will probably be January before we get into the house or later. I'll take pictures as the stages of the house are being worked on. I forgot my camera for the Halloween party at the church so I wont have many pictures to share of Halloween. Trey dressed up as a skeleton this year and Heather dressed up in her dads army clothing. Lauren is too old for Halloween I guess. She didn't want to come this year but ate some of the kids candy.

Halloween--This week I took the kids to pick out a pumpkin to carve at home, I also took them to a haunted house at Steele's Apple Orchard here in Cullman where I work sometimes. They got about halfway and decided to turn around because it was too scary. I went to a Halloween party at a friends house and it was really fun with lots of cool Halloween decorations. Tonight I took the kids to the church for trunk or treating and some fun Halloween games and hot dogs to eat. The kids had fun decorating the back of our van. Happy Halloween.

Some pictures I just took this evening.

more pictures taken today. The wide opening is the kitchen area with the double doors that will be put in.

more pictures of our house being built. Jeff and his cousin Brian finishing up some walls upstairs.

Hello, another beautiful day here in Alabama, it has not rained here for several weeks and that's a good thing when your building a house! I hope the weather stays nice until we can put the roof on the house and it's blacked in. We finally got faster internet service so I can put pictures on my blog much easier than with dial-up. It's a lot nicer. I need to work out more than I do but my plantar fasciatis has been killing me so that dosen't help much. I took the kids to the Cullman
County Fair but I forgot my camera so no pictures at the fair. The kids had a lot of fun riding a lot of the rides, we went with a friend Dana Dube and her kids this year.

Some more pictures to share with you.

Here are some random photos of our field trip to the Civil War museum and the Oktoberfest in Cullman. I also took some more photos of our house we are building!

I had a fun time sitting on the first floor today overlooking a beautiful view! The basement is covered with the floor and part of the basement is a big garage. I love to go over there and sweep out the basement and picture what it will look like some day. I went upstairs and sat down on the first floor and looked at the incredible view of the rolling hills the house will have. I really like this area of Cullman and I think where we are building our house is a nice area with new houses going up all around us. I think they will start building the walls of the house tomorrow and putting some windows in. Jeff was sick today so he didn't do much today but hopefully will feel better soon, the weather is incredible this week here in Alabama.

I had another fun day at the Apple Orchard. It is so beautiful outside today and all week. The weather here has turned cooler so the weather is great and it's nice to be outside. I taught a lot of people today about apples and all week it will be busy at the orchard. I came home and took a peek at the basement and the stairs were put in today and the floor is almost all put in, so the house is comming along. I will take more pictures of our house and put them on my blog to share. My mother-in-law brought home 3 boxes of goodies that a truck load gave to her, so I have been eating some cakes and goodies, but I know I will get really fat if I continue to eat like that so I need to be careful.

Jeff's been working on the house and has some wood around the basement walls, tomorrow he is going to start framing walls in the basement. Today I spent a couple hours at the apple orchard and taught some first graders about apples. It's fun and I like to get outside and be around other people. I also get some apples to take home with me sometimes. My daughter Lauren and Heather went to listen to an apostle tonight in Huntsville, Alabama. I think this in a great time to hear an apostle of the Lord and hopefully will remember this day for a long time and have a great spiritual feast. Stake Confrence is this weekend so tomorrow is the adult session in Huntsville with Elder Bednar and Sunday we will watch the confrence on a satellite from the ward building.

I went to the Apple Orchard on Friday and Trey came with me and helped me out a little bit. It was fun, a group of first graders from Tuscaloosa came down to see the orchard and I got to talk to groups of students about apples. I will be doing this same thing for a couple of months when students come to visit. Sunday was another beautiful day in Alabama.

Labor Day! My daughter was playing Wizard 101 this morning and I dislike that internet video game. It has been a battle with her because she enjoys playing it so much, but I need to make sure she has limits and not totally abandon her I guess from it. I really wish she wouldn't play it anymore though! I took two of my kids to a water park here in Cullman and they had a fun time playing in the water this afternoon. We had hamburgers for dinner and I made some bannana pudding for dessert. I kind of like the southern food and bannana pudding is a big hit in the south. I also steamed some yellow squash and that tasted great also. I'm hoping to have a wonderful garden next year. We didn't do a lot today just taking it easy this labor day.

It has been a really pretty day today in Alabama the weather is getting cooler so I love that part. Fall weather is actually pretty nice here and the fall colors are gorgeous! Summer is starting to wind down a little I hope. It has been a pretty hot summer! I went to a church swap and shop this afternoon and we had lunch and looked at used clothes and stuff to take home with us, it was fun. I also painted our mailbox white and decided to make it look like a cow so I put black spots all over it. Jeff did a lot of painting on the two story building we have. The kids had fun playing outside and Lauren even go sunburned a little today. Nancy, Jeff's mom, went to a yard sale all day. I also went grocery shopping and getting ready for the Labor Day holiday.

It's September! I had a pretty good day today, except tonight I had some anxiety and panic attack symptoms. I have dealt with this in the past and took medicine for it for four years and I have been off my medicine for over six months now and now I'm having to deal with them again and trying to relax and breathe so I don't have to take medicine again.... it's not a fun thing to go through! Heather loves Good Hope Jr. High School and enjoys her classes. She ran in P.E. and came in first place and the P.E. teacher wants her to join track. She is a very social girl and gets along with other people really well. I have been job hunting and probably will substitute on the side until I get a teaching job in the future, I might have to go back to school if no teaching jobs are available. My mom's birthday is September 10th so I'm excited for her. It has been getting cooler here in the evenings so I enjoy going for a walk down our street, sometimes when I take Lauren to early morning seminary I will walk around the neighborhood until she gets done. It helps to get some exercise. I still like to eat alot so I'm not losing any weight though. I'm excited to work on the house with Jeff and to help it progress.

Lauen and Heather have been feeding some kittens they found and the mother abandoned I guess. They leave them outside in a plastic tub and play with them when they can. I don't think our dog "Teddy" likes them too much. It has been a rainy day today. I like the drizzling rain here because it keeps everything green and it's good sleeping weather. We had a potluck dinner after church today and that was fun. Jeff has been sick with a cold and cough so he missed church and Trey missed as well. Lauren has early morning seminary every morning at 6:20 and then I homeschool her and Trey during the day. I'm hoping to get a teaching job in the future and keep my license good, so this year I need to take some classes to keep it up. I'm hoping a lot gets done on the house this week with the floor but Jeff also needs to go to Georgia to get into the national guard unit there.

This is our home and land from the street view-we planted all the trees and grass and did everything to the land- it was a dirt farm land before we bought it.

Here's a picture of our basement and house that were building on land in Alabama. A work in progress.

I'm homeschooling Lauren and Trey this year so today I took them to the public library to pick out some books. I helped Trey build a map of Alabama out of play dough today so he can label the rivers, mountains and learn more about the state. I'll probably help Jeff on the basement again today as well. It was nice and cool here this morning but it turns hot and humid during the afternoon. I love the green trees and grass around here and I saw two cranes flying overhead last night with the sunset in the background and it was beautiful.

Today has been a very hot day. I worked with Jeff on the basement putting wood around the edge of the basement walls to get it ready to put the floor on. It was very hot and humid so we took lots of water breaks. Late in the afternoon it started to rain on us and that was wonderful to cool off but when the lightning started it was too dangerous to stay out in the rain so we waited until it stopped and worked in the evening with lights on to finish some of the work. I am homeschooling two of my children this year so that should be interesting and hopefully it will go well for me and the kids. Jeff is having second thought about going to Ranger School so will see what happens I guess. It is a very tough school and I don't know why he would want to go through that. It will be nice to have a basement in so I don't have to run to a shelter down the street when the weather gets bad here. Hopefully we will get that done soon so we can go there instead. It has been a little stressful since we returned to Alabama but we are getting settled in here and working to make things better. Lauren did not want to go to public school here and begged to be home schooled so I will give it a try this year.

Well were back in Alabama and I have been busy with enrolling the kids in school. Lauren wants to be homeschooled this year so we have been checking on homeschooling. We live in our mobile home we purchased when we first got married in 1994 and it's on 5acres of land. The land was a field where they planted crops when we first bought it and now it has lots of green trees we planted and grass so it's kind of fun to see the different look. We are building a house on the other 2 acres of land and it will be a long journey but kind of fun I hope! I want to take some pictures because most of my family members and friends will never make it out to visit us in Alabama. If you ever drive through Alabama stop by to visit!

Well we past Nauvoo around 9:00 p.m. and I wanted to stay awhile and see the Nauvoo pageant but my kids and Jeff wanted to drive on....I'm kind of sad because we stopped in Springfield, Illinois and we could of stopped in Nauvoo, Illinois...I would of loved to see the pageant that they present this time of year! I waved goodbye as we drived by. Jeff also took a road he doesn't usually take and we got lost for a moment and had to get our bearings, we finally found the highway that took us to Spingfield, Illinois. We are going to drive the rest of the way to Cullman, Alabama today. It is nice and cool here so I'm hoping it stays that way.

Well were not too far from Lincoln, Nebraska and we are staying at Comfort Suites and it just opened so it is a very nice place and has all the "new" smells. We are traveling north on interstate 80 back to Alabama. We are on our second day and we will have a long drive ahead of us! I just ate my breakfast and sitting down on their computer in the lobby and checking out facebook, etc. They had a room where we could bring our dog in the room, so Teddy got to sleep in the room with us. We will probably run into some thunderstorms and rain on the way back.

Well it's been a long day today. We were finishing packing all our belongings and storing them in the storage building and getting our car loaded with all sorts of stuff. We are in Evanston, Wyoming and it is so cool here, the weather is gorgeous and I hope it stays cool on our long trip back to Alabama! I had a bad headache tonight and Lauren wasen't feeling her best so I'm glad we stopped for the night. I took some tylenol and hopefully that will help. I'm not really looking forward to a long trip with three kids and a dog. Teddy, our pug, is taking the long trip back with us. He has been on the long trip before when he was a few days old but he is a lot bigger now.

The pioneer day parade down our street.

Today I took Lauren to Logan, Utah for an orthodontist appointment. I love the beautiful mountains through the canyon driving to Logan. We are still in the process of getting all of our stuff packed up and into the storage building. Jeff's uncle Steve is going to come by for a visit for a little while. We are trying to decide what route we want to drive-South, North or middle-my brother Daren lives in Albuquerque, NM so it's a stop on the way to Alabama but I also thought of going north and going to see the Nauvoo pageant. It might also be cooler in the north so we need to make a decision soon. I'm not really sure when the day is going to be but soon.

Forgot to put this picture up. Goodbye Saratoga Springs, Utah!

Here is a picture at the park down the street in our neighborhood at Saratoga Springs, Utah. It's beautiful here and I will miss my walks in the evening with the beautiful views! Hopefully one day we can return here to visit or live again.

Well this week is moving week! We rented a storage building to put all of our stuff in until we can haul it all back to Alabama. I have been getting slight panic attacks again and I'm hoping to not go back on the medicine. That hasen't been to much fun but I try to deal with it the best I can. We will be packing things up and moving everything to the storage unit this week and then driving our van back to Alabama. We are going to finish building our house and get the kids enrolled in school there. Hopefully it will be a good move and things will go smoothly.

We may be moving by Thursday. On Monday we will start packing things up and moving them to a storage unit. Our honda is acting up again, something with the starter or electrical--will have to get it checked out again by a mechanic. It was a very hot day here so we stayed indoors most of the day. Jeff took Heather and Trey to the park this evening. I will take with me some great memories of living here in Saratoga Springs, Utah and living close to my brothers and sisters for a while. I will miss my family but hopefully will get to visit them often or at least once a year or so. I will probably take more pictures of this area before we move. Lauren has an orthodontist appointment in Logan on Wednesday so I will be able to visit with my parents before we go back.

Stayed around the house all day, I let my daughters fix dinner tonight and I'm hoping they fix it more often to give them more experience cooking. I have a messy house tonight and will probably do a lot of cleaning tomorrow. Lauren has an orthodontist appt. in Logan on Wed. so that will be fun to visit my mom and dad. My mom has bad asthma so the air in Logan, Utah hasen't been good for her, so my parents have been going to Bear Lake and other places where the air is better.

Well Jeff's annual training is off because they couldn't do it right away--it starts in 30 days and we want to move by then. Jeff is working on paperwork trying to get his transfer going to the other unit. We will probably be moving next week sometime. I made homemade wheat rolls today and I had pumpkin so I decided to make some pumpkin pies--kind of strange making it in the summer but it tasted good. We went and walked near the lake this evening and it was fun looking at all the boaters and jet skis in the water.

Yay -Jeff can work and do his annual training so that will help us out financially! We will be moving probably closer to the end of this month. The military life can be stressful sometimes. After annual training here in Utah he wants to transfer to a unit in Georgia so he can go through Ranger School. I have been applying for teaching jobs in Alabama and thought of applying here in Utah as well. It's been kind of crazy around here not knowing what we are doing but I'm taking it day by day. It's a beautiful day here in Utah and I'm hoping to get out today some. I'll do some more cleaning around the house and other chores.

Well I have been cleaning my house and trying to pack some boxes up--it's kind of funny because I have windows, doors, and holes in some of my big boxes....Lauren used the boxes to play house with...she very imaginative and loves to write stories but it's kind of hard to pack with holes in them everywhere....I got some smaller boxes at Walmart but I also like to use big boxes. Jeff is working on transferring from his unit in Lindon, Ut to another one in Georgia....I'm kind of sad that they didn't let him do the annual training this summer. Hopefully the new unit will not do that kind of stuff to us! My husband wants to get moving by this week but I'm not sure if that will take place or not.

It's Monday and Jeff went to his unit to do some paper work so I drove him there and I went to the library for a little while to wait on him, he wasn't done when I went to pick him up, so I drove home and cleaned the basement a little while. We have a lot of packing to do and cleaning this house up so it will take a while. I'm not exactly sure when we will be leaving but probably soon so I will just enjoy it while I'm here. We went to the pool for a little while in the evening and had a good swim.

Well it's Saturday and I'm glad it rained a little bit here, our sprinkle system is down right now and our grass is looking yellow so it needed the rain! Jeff is working his weekend duty at the army and we thought he had annual training but he came home and told me there not letting anyone do annual training because they are cutting back on finances so that hurt us financially because we thought for sure he was going to do this in July, it's very depressing. It looks like we will be moving back to our land in Alabama soon. I'll know more details this week I guess. I have been applying for jobs but I need some refrences from people so I am waiting on responses from some people. Hopefully I will get these together soon.

Nice to have my husband home again. He started work for a least a month at his army unit today. Our honda is acting up again so I don't have a car right now but hopefully will get it in the shop soon. Cleaning house and staying around here today. We might go swimming when Jeff gets home from work, that should be fun and relaxing. Camp Williams just down the street has a big pool that only cost a dollar to swim so we like that place and use it alot.

Hello! This morning I wanted to pamper myself and do a spa treatment but I couldn't afford the real spa treatment so I did it myself at home. I did my hair and feet and trying to have a stress free day! I don't know if that will happen.

It's Tuesday and another beautiful day here in Utah! I love the evening breeze and took a long walk in our neighborhood-- I just love the view here. Lauren and Heather went to a friends house this afternoon so it was kind of nice to have a little break from all the kids for a little while. Lauren wanted barbeque again tonight so I grilled hambergers for dinner. Jeff is still in Alabama and I pick him up from the airport tomorrow so it will be nice to have him home for a while. I feel like a single mom a lot because he is gone so much, especially being in the military. My house is constant work to keep it clean but that keeps me busy around here. I have been wanting to work so I have been looking around for work lately and looking into different things. I watched loosing it with Julean tonight and it makes me want to work out harder to lose my weight.

More pictures of our day on Saturday with Dion, Summer and my parents in Sandy, Utah--The plane flew close overhead during the parade. The sunset is God's firework display--the most beautiful!

I had a great time with my kids at Dion's house last night. My parents were there and Dion cooked some fabulous barbeque ribs and Summer had other goodies to eat. After dinner we went to a wonderful parade in Sandy, Utah that was a lot of fun and I took lots of pictures. We then came to Dion's again to eat ice cream and cookies and then went to watch the fireworks in Sandy. It was really cool outside so we covered with blankets and had fun spending time together. Today we went to church and then rested, took a walk, went to the park, had a little barbeque in our back yard, then the kids did some sparklers on the porch. Happy Fourth of July everyone!!!! Today is also my brother David's birthday so he is 40 today!