Goodbye 2012

Here we are again.  It's the end of another year.  This is the time when we look back on the previous 365-ish days and see what has changed, for better or worse.  For our family, 2012 was a big year! It was filled with firsts, accomplishments, changes and adventure. 

In January, Jonah turned 8 years old and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Also in January, I caved and we got a dog.  He's a miniature schnauzer named Henry.

In February we took the kids on their very first trip to Disneyland!  They still talk about it at least once a week and we can't wait to go back. 

In August, I finished up the last semester of my Bachelor of Science degree in Family Life Studies.

 Also in August, we moved from Magna to St. George.  It was a hectic, whirlwind of a move, but we made it and we really like it here. 

And in October we added sweet Abram to the family!

It really was quite the year.  Looking forward to 2013, we really don't have any grand plans like we did for 2012.  Nate's parents gave us a National Parks year pass for Christmas so we'll be exploring as many as we can.  Other than that, the plan is to just go with the flow and enjoy this beautiful, crazy thing we call life. 

Happy New Year!

Abram's Blessing

We had Abram's baby blessing this last Saturday, December 29th.  Rather than bless him in sacrament meeting, we decided to do it at the clubhouse here at our townhouse complex.  It was really nice to have our family and some friends there and to be able to visit immediately afterwards.  Nate and I were really surprised and touched by how many came to show their love and support for our family.  Those attending included: My mom, my sister Sarah, my dad and step-sister Allie, Nate's parents and sisters, his brother Andrew, Grandpa Barnum, Uncle Dean and Aunt Kat, Nate's cousins Micheal, Elizabeth, and Rebecca and their families, Uncle Dan and Aunt Julie, Bishop Jones and his wife Jean, and our friends the Hightowers. 

Abram looked so handsome in his little white outfit and he was in a great mood!  Nate gave a sweet and simple blessing and then we all had some food and did some chatting. 

Four generations of Barnum men.  From left to right: David (Nate's father), Nate holding Abram, Andrew (Nate's older brother), and Odean (Nate's grandfather)

This one's a bit blurry, ugh.  This is our little family with our parents, siblings, and Grandpa Barnum.

Our handsome boy! 

Proud parents!  Can you tell that Nate was a little tired of having his picture taken?  This is his "take the picture so I can stop smiling" smile. 

Making the cut!

Jayne was born with beautiful, naturally curly hair.  As it's gotten longer, the curls are just at the bottom and it has gotten more and more difficult to comb out.  Since our little wild woman doesn't like to have her hair braided and barely lets us put it in a ponytail, the tangles can be quite a challenge.  I've put off cutting her hair because I really didn't want to see the curls go.  She gets so many compliments on how beautiful her long, curly hair is. 

However...fighting with her every day to try to brush it out was getting exhausting for both of us.  So, the other night after her bath we were sitting down to start tackling the tangles. Jayne started crying and I looked at the mess of hair before me and finally decided that enough was enough.  I asked Jayne if we should just cut all the tangles off.  To my surprise, she said yes! 

We put her hair in a low ponytail and I chopped it off.  I did my best to make it even.

The next day, we went to Great Clips and had them clean it up and add some layers.  Jayne loves it!  No more ratty tangles!

Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful, laid back Christmas.  As per our policy, we'd stayed home on Christmas Day.  It wasn't hard to do now that we live farther away from family.  The kids all got plenty of fun gifts, including new bikes, and we enjoyed a surprise visit from Nate's brother Tyler, his wife Rebekka and their son Quinn. 

Nate worked hard to get the bikes all put together on Christmas Eve.  We had a close call when we couldn't find the right size tool, but after some digging it turned up.  Phew! 

Jonah with his new bike.  This kid loves to ride!

The girls have matching bikes.  Neither of them has learned to ride a bike before, hence the training wheels.

Lilly asked for a "teddy bear as big as me!"  I think the one Santa brought is pretty darn close.  She named it Giant and drags it all around the house to cuddle with.

The kids with their cousin, Quinn.  Yes, he is their only cousin.  Since Tyler is in the Army, we hadn't seen them in about three years.  The kids had a ball playing together and Nate and I loved visiting and catching up with Tyler and Rebekka.  I wish I could say that it won't be another three years before we get together again, but they're moving to Maryland in a month or two and they'll be there for a few years. 

Aunt Rachel sent the kids some new slippers for Christmas.  Jonah was particularly excited that the slippers so perfectly match his new pajamas!

Abram got lots of fun new toys! This cute elephant is also from Aunt Rachel. 

Lilly and Giant, love at first sight!

This picture about sums up our day.  I just love watching the kids play together.

Teacher Gifts

So, you know how lots of kids, well really it's probably the kids' moms, get their school teachers cute little gifts for Christmas?  They tend to be handmade or a gift card or something thoughtful.  Well, I've never really been one of those moms.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my kids' teachers and am so grateful for what they do.  I've just never been the type to think ahead and get or make something for the kids to give them. 

Well, it was the night before the last day of school before Christmas break.  It's bedtime.  The kids are ready to go to bed, they're just waiting for me to finish feeding Abram and then it's off to sleep.  Jonah and Lilly are in the kitchen getting crafty, as they often do, when I hear the following:

Jonah: "Let's make something for our teachers for Christmas!"
Lilly: "Okay."

About ten or twenty minutes later they emerged from the kitchen, faces beaming, so proud to show me what they had made for their teachers for Christmas.  Are you ready for this? 

Lilly made this beauty.  It's Sacajawea with pencil arms. Yes, her dress is made of toilet paper and parts of a plastic grocery bag and the pencils are Halloween ones.

Jonah made a fish in a fishbowl.  He suspended the fish from the lid so that it would look like it is swimming, but there wouldn't have to be any water in it.

Part of me was screaming, "You can't possibly let your kids give these to their teachers for Christmas gifts!  Not when they'll be getting all kinds of lotions, gift cards, and cute little mugs with apples on them! You're such a slacker mom!"

 But then I realized that these are the best kinds of gifts.  Something they thought of and created all on their own for someone they love. 

Lilly proudly put a bow on top of Sacajawea and presented her to her teacher.  And because she has such a wonderful teacher, Lilly was told how beautiful the doll is and how thoughtful it was of her to make it.

  Jonah, on the other hand, decided at the last minute that he really just wanted to keep his creation.  He has a wonderful teacher too, but sometimes you just can't part with your really cool fake fish in a jar. 

Christmas lights on a Sunday night

Last Sunday evening, we decided to take a little stroll around the town square by the library and enjoy the Christmas lights.

Jonah's Christmas Play

At the kids' school, the entire third grade put on a Christmas program.  Jonah's part was a "reindeer rapper".  His group did a little dance to their song "Hip Hop Reindeer".  The program was called "North Pole Diaries".  They performed twice at school, once for the afternoon kindergarten classes and once for the rest of the school.  They also did a parent performance last Wednesday night.  We got there early enough for front row seats.
It was fun to watch.  Jonah is a very serious performer and I don't think he smiled the entire time.  He gets so focused on remembering the words and doing the right actions that smiling just doesn't happen.  I tried to get a video of his song, but Abram started fussing and wiggling. Nate was working and I just don't have enough hands!
I did get a picture of him in his costume. 

The girls wanted to take a picture on the stage.  This was the day after Jayne's tonsillectomy, hence the pajamas.  

After the program, we got some ice cream cones and headed over to pick up Nate.  Jonah was so proud of himself and his classmates for remembering all the words and doing so well. I was glad to finally know where all these strange songs that my kids had been singing for the past few weeks had been coming from.  Jonah sang them so much at home, that the girls knew all the words too!

Jayne's Tonsils

On Tuesday, December 18th, Jayne had her tonsils and adenoids removed.  You may remember the lovely abscess she developed in her throat during a particularly nasty bout with strep that landed her in Primary Children's Hospital for four days this past July.  Since then she has been sick several times and often complaining of a sore throat. 
We decided to take her to an ear, nose, and throat specialist who was recommended to us by some new friends in the neighborhood.  She wasn't sick on the day of her appointment and the doctor said that her tonsils were huge and he could only imagine how large and sore they'd be when she was ill if they were that big when she was well.  He said that she was sort of on the fence as far as absolutely needing a tonsillectomy right away.  He recommended it, but also said we could wait it out and see how she does for the next six months or so. 
With Nate's history of illnesses and his experience with waiting to have his tonsils removed until he was an adult, we decided to just go ahead and have them taken out now rather than have her endure more sickness.  Plus, if we're being honest, we've already met and way exceeded our $3000 deductible for this year and figured we should do it now when it will be the least costly for us.  Knowing our luck, a few months into the new year she'd be sick again and we'd need to get them out. 
I accompanied Jayne to the surgery center that morning.  She was the first on the schedule, so we had to be there at 6:45AM.  We'd talked about the surgery and my mom had sent a really cute book called "Goodbye Tonsils" which we had read several times.  The thing Jayne was worried about most was the "poke" when they put in the IV.  She was so relieved to find out that they wouldn't be putting the IV in until after she was asleep. 
The whole surgery took about 30 minutes and we were home by a little after 9:00.  Jayne did great with her recovery.  She hardly fussed or cried at all.  She was just tired and wanted to be held. 
Now, almost a week later, she's doing well.  Her throat still hurts a bit, but as long as we stay on top of her pain medication she does great.  She's getting tired of "soft foods", but we're holding out on the crackers and pretzels for a few more days at least. 

All ready for her surgery!

Resting at home.  Grandpa and Grandma Barnum and Aunt Emily came to visit and brought her this soft, cuddly teddy bear.

Fun in the snow

Now that we live in southern Utah, winter is an entirely different ball game than what we are used to.  We only need coats in the early morning or late evening.  We no longer own a snow shovel and can get in our an in the morning without spending 20 minutes de-icing it.  While Nate and I are thoroughly enjoying this warmer version of winter, the kids are missing the snow. 
Of course, for them snow is all fun and games.  They play in it, make snowmen and snow angels, and even enjoy helping clear off the vehicles and the driveway.  So now that it's almost Christmas, they have been asking about playing in the snow.
 Last Sunday we decided to take a drive to Pine Valley so the kids could play in some snow.  It took us a while to figure out where we had packed away all of the snow clothes, hats, and such.  It was a beautiful drive and the kids had a great time playing in the snow. 

This look says it all.  Nate simply does not like snow. 

These three on the other hand.....LOVE snow

Jonah taking aim at me with a snowball.  He used to love bombarding me with snowballs while I tried to shovel the driveway.  Of course, I always retaliated. =)

The girls tried to build a snowman, but they ended up with more of a snow "mound"

It was great to be able to go play in the snow and then come home where it's not quite so freezing cold and there's no driveway to clear.  It also helped us get a little more in the mood for the upcoming holidays. 

All I Want for Christmas....

Lilly is sporting a new smile these days.  She has been in a tooth-loosing frenzy these last couple of months!  When she noticed her latest loose tooth, she came to me and said, "Not again! I'm not going to have any teeth left!"  Luckily, new ones are already starting to grow in. Until then, she can sing that age-old classic, "All I Want for Christmas is my two front teeth!" and maybe the two on the bottom as well. 

Giving Thanks

I know I'm a little bit late to be posting about Thanksgiving.  Better late than never.
We spent Thanksgiving Day with Nate's parents and sisters in Las Vegas.  It was a nice, peaceful day.  I even got a little nap on the couch while the kids played outside and Nate chatted with his parents.  I'm pretty sure part of their conversation centered around my lovely snoring.  I would be embarrassed, but I was exhausted, couldn't keep my eyes open, and was just overjoyed to get in a little snooze. 

The kids had a great time riding around on tricycles and the scooter.

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  I'll try to keep the list to a readable size....
We are thankful for:

• Our Home---We are loving our new place here in St. George.  I'm thankful for the little luxuries that we now have that we didn't have before like a garbage disposal, pantry, ice maker, and air conditioner.   
• Each Other---Every day I look at my little family and thank the Lord for sending them to me.  
• Nate's Job---With so many out of work and struggling, we are truly blessed to have an income that meets our needs
• Family & Friends--- So many loving people surround us and bless our lives every day
• Education--- I'm so grateful that my children have a love of learning.
• Our Faith--- As we go through life's ups and downs, triumphs and challenges, we are increasingly grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for our Savior' Atonement. We rely on our faith more and more as we raise our family and progress in our own personal spiritual journey.

Two Weeks

Today Abram is two weeks old.  I'm not gonna lie, it's been a long two weeks.  All of the adjustments that come with a new baby really take their toll and with this being baby #4 there have been lots of adjustments all around and much less time for catching up on sleep.  Abram is doing really well.  He's awake more during the day now and it's fun to see his wide eyes taking everything in. 
I keep having to remind myself that it's only been two weeks and I still need to take it easy.  I've overdone it on a couple of days and I definitely pay for it the day after.  Nate has been taking a few extra days off work which has been a huge help.  I'm so grateful for all he does. 
So, without further adieu....let's get to what people really read posts like this for....the pictures! 

One Day Old

Two Weeks Old

Halloween Fun

As you can probably tell, we're playing a bit of catch-up here on the Barnum family blog.  Halloween was last week.  With the holiday falling just five days after Abram's birth, I was glad to have my mom and sister here to help out with the kids' festivities. 
We carved pumpkins the night before and the kids all wore their costumes to school. Nate was working all day. My mom and Sarah took Jonah, Lilly, & Jayne trick-or-treating. They came home with just enough candy, not a huge bagful for each of them, and they all had a great time. 

Jonah really enjoyed getting out all of the pumpkin "guts"

Jayne and her pumpkin

Lilly the Fairy, Jayne the Princess, & Jonah the Ninja all ready to go trick-or-treating

I sure do love all of my cute little Barnums!

Abram's Arrival

On Friday October 26th we welcomed the newest member of our family into the world.  Abram Odean Barnum was born at 4:29 pm.  He weighed in at 9 pounds even and is 21 inches long. Jonah, Lilly, & Jayne all adore their new little brother.  They love to help take care of him, especially Jayne. 

Abram is a well tempered baby.  He must have gotten used to all of our Barnum family chaos while in the womb because he can sleep through the kids running around the house and Henry barking at anyone who comes within thirty feet of our front door.

We're all in love with our new addition and so thankful that he arrived healthy and well. 

Jayne is Four!

Last Friday was Jayne's 4th birthday.  We spent Thursday celebrating because Nate had to work all day Friday.  At Jayne's request, we played at the park, had lunch at McDonald's and then had a movie and pizza night at home along with cake and presents.  Jayne received lots of phone calls from family and birthday cards and packages in the mail. 
A few fun things about our Jayne....

• She loves to wear dresses and skirts and put on fashion shows
• Jayne loves to sing!  Right now she really likes to belt out Beyonce's song "Single Ladies" while we're driving in the van.  I need to videotape it one of these days.  
• Jayne loves preschool and is always so excited to go every day
• She "reads" to me every day and likes to play school.  
• She recently developed her first crush on an 11 year old boy named Connor who is in our ward.  He helped all the kids with their lines for the primary program and she hasn't stopped talking about him for the last two weeks.
• Jayne is a great helper around the house.  She loves to do the dusting and help me clean the bathrooms.    

                    Jayne is such a spunky and happy girl!  Our family wouldn't be complete without her.

Happy Birthday Jayne!

37 is almost 40, isn't it?

Today marks the end of our 37th week of pregnancy.  It's also the beginning of the longest part of pregnancy.  While, in reality, we're so close to the end, this is the time when actually giving birth seems farthest away.
 Everyone you meet asks you when you are due and makes comments about the size of your belly and how you're obviously "ready".  You start to see the doctor once a week whereupon they check your cervix and give you the good news that you've started to dilate and labor could be "just around the corner".  From experience, I know this to be total bull.  How much I've dilated really means diddly squat at this point.  With Jayne I was at 3cm for 3 weeks.  I tried all of the little tips and tricks for starting labor because my doctor kept telling me that I was right on the brink.  All I needed was that little extra push.  Three weeks later, she still came via induction. Who knows when my body would have gone into labor on it's own.
 I think doctors should really be forbidden from telling a very pregnant woman that it could be  any day now.  For all they know, it could be weeks.  I'm finding that these weekly doctor appointments are little more than an annoyance and that the lovely cervix check just makes me feel like crap the rest of the day.
This being my fourth pregnancy, I've noticed that each pregnancy brings with it one new symptom that I never had with the previous pregnancies.  With Lilly, it was near-crippling sciatica.  With Jayne it was heartburn spawned from the fires of Hades.  With this pregnancy, it is pregnancy induced carpal tunnel.  I didn't even know this symptom existed.  It reared it's ugly head with a vengeance over the last couple of months.  My hands are numb and tingling most of the time and usually reach the painful, can't-grip-anything-if-my-life-depended-on-it stage during the night.  Combine that with at least hourly trips to the bathroom and sleep has become a thing of the past.
Wow.  This post has really turned into a pregnant lady vent fest, hasn't it? Oh well.  Pregnancy is no picnic and I for one and so very ready to hop off the train.  

Excited About Extension

For my senior capstone project this past summer I worked with the Utah State University Cooperative Extension Program in Salt Lake County.  Extension is a program that has been around for over 100 years and works to extend the university to communities throughout the state.  USU has an extension office in every county in the state of Utah.  The program offers educational classes and activities for little or no cost to the communities it serves.  The goal of these programs is to help enrich and improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.  Some of the projects I was able to help with over the summer included:

• A Money Camp for an elementary school in a low income area.  We taught the kids about earning, spending, saving, and borrowing.  Then they got to participate in a marketplace where they were given a career and an income and had to go to different stations and purchase necessities as well as entertainment and recreation while staying within their own income. 
• Aging Services Fair---Getting the word out to seniors about services and classes offered by Extension
• Babysitting Day Camp---A three day camp for youth that taught babysitting skills such as child nutrition, child development, safety and first aid, infant care, and games and activities to use with children when babysitting.  All of the kids got to make their own babysitter kit to take home with them. 
• Conflict Resolution for Couples Class---This was the class that I designed and taught in my own community.  It focuses on helping couples recognize that conflict within a relationship is perfectly normal and learn how to manage and resolve conflict in a healthy way.  

Extension also does nutrition and cooking classes, gardening classes, sewing classes, and much more.  
I was very impressed with the Extension program and loved working with them.  Before this past summer, I really had no idea that this program was out there.
Last week I contacted the head of the USU Extension program here in St. George to see if I could get involved in the program here.  As you probably know, I'm not in the market for a full time job, but I was hoping I could help them out on a sort of flexible, part time, volunteer basis.  
Yesterday I met with Carolyn, head of the program here, and she said she'd be thrilled to have me teach a marriage enrichment class once a month and help plan and teach a workshop at their marriage celebration day that they are holding in February.  She had contacted my supervisor up at the SLC Extension and apparently she had nothing but great things to say about me and the work I did with them this summer  (Phew! I confess I always worry about what others think of my work). 
The marriage class is held every Monday night and dinner and childcare are provided free of cost.  There are a few different people who take turns teaching the class, and I'm going to be put into the rotation.  I don't teach my first class until January.  Carolyn is having surgery on both of her knees around the first of November and so she's cleared the program's calendar from now until January.  How perfect is that?!  With our baby due in the next month or so, I'll have a couple of months to heal and adjust and then dig right in.  Plus I can just develop my curriculum from home and attend a meeting once in a while.  I will be compensated for the nights I teach, but not much, which is fine with me because I'm more interested in simply being involved and keeping my skills up to date. 
Anyway, sorry for the extra long post, but I'm really excited about how this is all working out. 

Buses, babies, and all things Barnum

We'll start with the bus.  This week, we decided to have Jonah and Lilly start riding the bus to school.  This is an entirely new experience for them because we've always lived within a half mile of their schools and either walked or drove.  They've each ridden a school bus once or twice for field trips, but never every day to and from school.  I'll admit, I'm not exactly a huge fan of bus riding, but I blame that on some lovely bus experiences I had when I was growing up.  I really hated riding the bus.  Really. 

We figured we'd give it a shot with Jonah and Lilly to help save some gas and time.  Plus when the baby comes, it will be nice not to have to put him in his car seat to take them and pick them up.  I'll already have to do that to take and pick up Jayne from preschool and Nate from work.  But, that's what happens when you only have one vehicle. 

Anyway....back to the topic at hand.  The kid were a little nervous at first, but now they are bus riding professionals.  They have assigned seats on the bus and are starting to make some new friends. I'm actually surprised at how easy the transition has been for them.  No drama, no trauma, no tears.  It kind of makes me think that something was severely wrong with my own bus riding experiences, but that's a subject for another day. 

Now, on to the baby.  We had our 35 week doctor appointment today which included the lovely Group B Strep test and an ultrasound.  Last time I went in, two weeks ago, the doctor said we were measuring a bit large.  So he wanted to do an ultrasound today to check baby's size.  According to the ultrasound, we're measuring two weeks ahead (37 weeks) and 7lbs.  Everything looks healthy and perfect, just a bit bigger than usual.   It could be that my dates are off or our baby boy is just big and healthy, plus I've read that sizing ultrasounds can be off by as much as one pound either way.  I think it's a little bit of everything.  Seeing as how I've never actually gone into labor on my own, even if we are due a bit earlier I don't think it will make much of a difference.  My biggest baby was Jonah who weighed in at 8lbs 9oz.  The girls were both in the 6-7 pound range.  Maybe boys are just bigger?  Who knows?

 I'm also having gazillions of Braxton Hicks contractions which have started the lovely dilation game.  I'm not really surprised that I'm dilating already and I'm not getting too excited about it either.  To me, how dilated I am doesn't really mean much as far as when I'm going to have the baby.  Heck, I was dilated to a 3 for three weeks with Jayne and she still didn't just come on her own. 
From here on out we start our weekly appointments.  Gee, I guess all this means we're actually getting close. Maybe we should buy some diapers or something, huh? 

Pregnancy Update

I had my first visit with the new OB today.  I chose one that was recommended by my doctor up in Salt Lake.  He seems very easy going and down to earth, which I like.  Today we are 32 weeks 5 days along.  Baby's heartbeat is nice and strong.  My blood pressure was a little higher than it has been.  I'm hoping that was just a fluke.  I had pregnancy induced hypertension with Lilly which resulted in being induced a couple of weeks early, but no problems with Jayne. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 

 Dr. also said that baby is measuring a bit larger than normal.  This means we get to have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks to try to estimate his size.  I'm not going to lie.  I'm a bit excited to get to see the baby again.  I haven't had to have an ultrasound other than the 20 week one. I'm not surprised that he's measuring big.  I feel big.  But then, what pregnant woman doesn't, right? 

After the ultrasound, I start seeing the doctor once a week.  I can't believe we're getting that close!  I guess I'd better get on the ball and get things ready around here.  We have yet to purchase anything other than a few clothes and one pack of diapers. Since we got rid of everything baby related after Jayne, we have a lot to do.  I've been such a procrastinator, but I really don't want to be caught without a car seat or a crib when the little guy decides to make his appearance!  Time to start shopping I guess. 

Now that I'm nice and big, people love to look at me with a sympathetic face and ask "How are you feeling?"  I figure they don't really want the laundry list of grievances that accompany this later stage of pregnancy so I just shrug my shoulders and say, " I feel pregnant." 
How do you feel today?  =)

Back to School!

It's September and that means school is once again in full swing.  Jonah and Lilly started school a few days after we moved and Jayne started preschool just yesterday.  Jonah is in 3rd grade this year and Lilly is in 1st grade.  So far everyone loves school. Let's hope it stays that way! 

Lilly and Jonah all ready for school!

Jayne's first day. 

They sure are getting big fast!  Here's to a happy, productive school year! 

We've Moved!

I know it's taken me a while to get caught up on blog posts, but life has been a bit crazy.  One huge contributor to the crazy is that on August 15th we moved from Magna to St. George.  It all happened a bit fast.  Why did we move?  Well, I'll do my best to explain.

Nate has been applying for management positions everywhere from Oregon to Arizona since the beginning of the year and nothing has come through.  Positions in the Salt Lake valley were hard to come by and there was a huge list of other reps vying for the ones that did come up.  A few months ago, Nate applied for a management position at the store in St George.  After his phone interview, he was told that he did a great job and that he was "perfect for the position", but he didn't get it.  When he asked for feedback about what he could do to be a better candidate, the only thing that they said was holding them back was the fact that they hadn't worked with him before and they wanted to hire someone that they "knew".  Weird, I know, but this seems to be a trend in the company.  The higher ups don't want to "take a risk" on someone they don't "know".  Anyway....Nate asked what he could do to be seriously considered for a future management opening and they said he should come down to St. George and work at their store so they can get to know him.

Recently, they had some openings for sales reps, so Nate put in for it.  They hired him 20 minutes after his phone interview because they remembered him from his management interview and were very impressed.  So we moved to work toward better advancement opportunities.  It's also no secret that Magna wasn't our favorite place to live.  We met some wonderful people there and made great friends, but overall, we just never felt that it was where we were meant to be. We also hated the house we lived in.  We had a great landlord, but the house was small and a bit outdated and we had a recurring problem with mold in the basement.

Nate was hired around the third week of July.  I was hoping we'd have until September to get moved, but we were quickly informed that Nate's last day in West Jordan would be the 15th and they wanted him to start here on the 17th.  Nate and I did a day trip to St George to look for a place to live and found a nice little townhouse in a good area.  Then, after a whirlwind three weeks (which included Jayne's hospital stay, swim lessons, selling things and packing things, the camping trip that I posted about and finishing my last semester of school), here we are.  Nate took a few paid vacation days to get us moved and we were grateful to have help from friends and family. The kids were also great helpers with the move.  

So far, we're really enjoying it here in St George.  It's been hot, but we're looking forward to the nice, mild winter.  The kids have been enjoying the swimming pool at least 4 times a week and Jayne and I have explored a few parks.  Jonah and Lilly started school the Monday after we arrived.  They both really like their teachers and made friends quickly.  Jayne will start preschool this Tuesday and is really excited about it.

Nate says that work is about the same.  The store here is a bit more laid back than he is used to.  He's starting to get to know his co-workers and he really loves the heat here.  The poor guy was raised in Las Vegas and has spent the last 10 years in Utah with lots of cold and snow.  The climate here is heaven for him!

Our ward is really nice and both of us have already been given church callings.  I was asked to be the pianist for Relief Society and Nate was just asked to serve as a Gospel Doctrine teacher.  There are a lot of other families with young children here in our complex and we even have a neighbor who is pregnant and due just 4 days before I am.

I'm loving the air conditioning, a much bigger and nicer kitchen, having more than one bathroom, having a door on my bedroom (yeah, I haven't had that in 5 years),  and being able to walk all the way around our kitchen table.  If you were ever in our old, tiny kitchen you know what I'm talking about. 

So, to sum up....we've moved.  It's hot.  We like it here.  We're all doing well.  Anytime you're in St George, let us know. =) 

Camping with the Culbertsons

The first weekend in August, the kids and I went camping up by Strawberry Reservoir with my mom, my sister Sarah, and my brother Jake.  Nate couldn't join us because of work.  We stayed 2 nights.  The kids had a good time, aside from Jonah's middle-of-the-night bloody nose. That was anything but fun.
  As for me, well you probably already know how I feel about camping in the first place (not a fan).  Now remind yourself that I'm pregnant, exhausted, and having to pee every hour or so and then I'm sure you can guess how much I enjoyed it.  (Sorry Mom, I'm just not a camper, but I went anyway.  See how much I love you? =)). 
I'll spare you the play by play of everything we did and just share some pictures and highlights. 

Ready to do some fishing in the reservoir!

Lilly and Jayne had a great time playing in the sand and the water.  Lilly built a castle with a moat. 

Jake brought his dog Kirby along.  Lilly took him for a walk on the beach. 

Grandma Laurie and Jayne doing some fishing. 

Jonah loved fishing!  He got pretty good at casting out his line.  Sadly, we didn't catch anything, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Aunt Sarah made these "safari" hats for the kids and put together a sort of treasure hunt for them. 

Roasting hot dogs on the fire.

My 'Mother of the Year' moment.  After a few hours of sitting in the sun fishing, I realized that while I had dutifully slathered both of the girls in SPF 50, somehow I completely forgot to put any sunscreen on Jonah!  Poor kid was fried!  It was even darker the next day.  My mom had to go down to the docks and buy some aloe from the little shop there.  Luckily it didn't blister, just peeled.  

I asked Jayne what she was doing right before I took this picture and she said, "I just need to relax here for a minute Mom. This is very relaxing."  Not sure how that can possibly be relaxing, but she seemed to be enjoying it. 

So we survived another camping trip.  Maybe next time we can do camping my style, in a hotel or cabin or something like that.   ;)