Its been a long time since i've blogged.

Wow, its been 4 months since I have blogged. Has not that much really been going on in my life? Well in June I graduated from massage therapy school at SCC. Unfortunately, during the last quarter of clinic, I realized that doing massage is too strenuous on my back, even with the proper body mechanics. So now what, I just wasted 1 year of my life going to school for something that I can't even physically tolerate doing part time? I will still do massages out of my home. I plan on taking the national exam in the fall. Why wait? Because it costs $300 to take the darn thing and I won't have that kind of money until next quarter. Next quarter? Yes, I'm still going to school. I feel I'm turning into the perpetual student. I will be in the vision care tech program at SCC. The program is 3 quarters and will give me rare skills that are desired in the vision field. I will be trained in several jobs from working in a lab making the lenses, to fitting people for their glasses/contacts. I'm very excited about this and can't wait for September 21st to get here. So that is whats going on with school. I tried to find a job for the summer but in this tight market, was unable to find something, even temporary.

Last month Jackie was baptized. My Mom, brother Jake, and my sister Sonda and her family were able to make it. My step-dad had just started a new job and wasn't able to make it up from Utah. Jake baptized Jackie. She was so beautiful (see my facebook for pics from the day). It was such a special day. Both of my kids have been baptized now. That much closer to being an eternal family. Jackie is such a good example to me, she will pull out her scriptures all the time and read from them.

Jason gets to start school early this year. There is a program called jump start for special needs kids. He starts on Monday, its only for a couple of hours 9-11:30, 4 days a week. This will be so good for him, when the rest of the kids start school, he will be ready for a full day. I can't believe he is going to be in 4th grade and will be 10 next month. I can't believe I've been a mom for a decade now. That thought literally scares me, my how time has flown by. Only 8 more years and he will potentially be out of the house.

I've given up on the whole dating thing. In fact, I'm not going to date for a while. I seriously doubt I'm going to meet someone that is the right one for me in Spokane. There are a lot more options down in Utah. I'm thinking about moving to Utah when I'm done with school. Of course I would need to seriously think about this, including fasting and praying. I would be moving the kids away from their dad, which would mean I'd be a full-time mom. I know all you moms are thinking full-time isn't that bad, but I haven't been a full-time mom for 4 years now. Mothering isn't something that came naturally or easily. Its been 10 years and I just now feel like I'm getting a hold of the whole parenting gig. This has included many self improvements along the way.

I've been so bored/boring this summer. I really can't wait for school to start back up so I'll be in my comfort zone again. Being in school really suits me.

Seattle Trip

Just want to share a few pictures that I took on my trip to Seattle with Misty.

Clacie and Mike's Reception

Pinewood Derby

So I forgot my camera for the actual event. Jason came in 2nd place each run, except for one he came in 1st. He came in 5th out of 14. Which I think is great considering he did most of the work on his car himself. There were cars that you can tell the parents did everything. I had no idea how competetive the fathers are about the derby cars. Jason missed going to the "finals" next month by one place. The most important thing is that Jason had fun no matter how his car did. He is very proud.

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Audriana and Isaac's Reception

This was the kids first wedding reception and I'm of course very proud of their behavior. They not only went for the sweets on the table, but the fruit as well, lol. Audriana looked beautiful and the decor was really nice. Its always fun when two people start a new life together. I wish them all the best. Isaac has one eye closed, I would have taken another pic, but I was holding up the reception line, lol.

Cub Scout

I have a cub scout in the family. Jason is SO excited and has wanted to do scouts for over a year now. I wasn't able to do scouts before this quarter because all my massage classes in the evenings. However, I have Wednesday nights free of class this and next quarter. Wednesday nights happen to be when the scouts meet. Although I'm not thrilled about sitting around for an hour while he goes to scouts, Jackie and I can go to Misty's since its just down the street and hang out there. Anyway its worth it to see the joy and confidence that Jason will get from participating in scouts. The first picture is his first night going to scouts, we didn't have the shirt yet. The second picture is him in his new scout shirt.

(I don't know why they are cut off on the right side, I tried to fix it, but couldn't)

Kids do and say the cutest things

Have I said that I love my kids? Well, I really do love my kids. Jason just randomly said the funniest and sweetest thing the other day. We were all just watching tv and he turns to me and says "Mom, when I have 2 million dollars, I will buy you 2 or 3 new cars ok." How cute is that? Jason has his challenges in life, but he was blessed with a loving and caring heart.

When I got to class today, I was getting my pen and highlighter out of the pocket on the outside of my backpack. I saw a folded up piece of paper that I did not recognize. On the outside it said to Mommy from Jackie. I opened it up and saw that Jackie had drawn me a picture. Guess what the picture was of? Moab. That cute little girl knows that I think of Moab every day and wanted to give me a little piece of it. It was actually a good picture with the sun setting behind balance rock (the kids favorite rock formation).

I'm such a blessed mom.