Out at the Stables

before i get out to the horse the other day we had a tour of Albertson's with some friends and this is Tori showing us how she decorates a cake.  They make at least 50 cakes per day.  Wow!!  We also went through the fridge and freezer section.  Their freezer is -20 degrees.  So cold!!  Anyway it was a fun Field trip.

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So I got some pictures out at the Horse.  The boys love building forts and shelters from the Wyoming wind.  

Our Cutie Pa Tutie!

Us pregnant ladies :)

It was so fun while I was brushing her I saw the baby kicking and doing somersaults or something.  It was cool.  She is full term in a week and then anytime after that we will have a foal.  We are hoping everything goes well.  

King of the straw stack 

Protector of the straw stack

I have warned the boys about rusty nails so hopefully we don't have any mishaps and get any rusty nail boo boo's.

It snowed that morning but then the sun came out melted it all away which means a lot of mud :)

She learned that this makes a nice seat from mommy.  Such a funny Girl!

Yeehah!

Hello Horsies!

We will be renting the pen next to her as well starting next Tuesday and we will combine both runs.  It will be fun!

March into spring....

Even if we have to March through a blizzard or two to get there! :)

Yep that is spring in Wyoming.....Crazy.  This morning it is snowing again.  Last week we had a blizzard that was the worst I have seen all season.  There was about 20 feet visibility and the wind was blowing so hard.  You would have areas of bare grass and then areas, like my driveway with a 3 foot drift..... nothing a little 4 wheel drive can't handle then the following day was spring and 50 degrees and sunny and the wind wasn't too bad either.  I worked on more things in my garage that day.  Then 2 days ago it snowed another 3 inches.  At least we are getting moisture.  You can sure see mother nature itching for spring though when you start seeing the grass turn green but then it is quickly covered in snow again....Eventually, Wyoming will see spring or maybe summer and they will just get glimpses of spring :)

We got out and played on a few of those nice sunny days and enjoyed that.

here are some pictures.  This is near our house a lake park on base...

nothing like an uneasy mother on a dock surrounded by ice with her kiddos....I am not a fan of ice and lakes and thawing out... Too scary!

pretty

Another exercise or a convoy preparing for a transfer of 'goods' from our base to another site.....

Seasoning our cast iron that we are loving to cook with.

Out at the stables on base..... Get a good look.  This is what Wyoming looks like where we are....Rolling hills of grass and no trees = Lots of wind! 

Playing in the pasture

My little girl joining me for a early morning wake up call...I am glad I got her to go back to sleep...

for a little anyway :)

My sister Cathi found this and I LOVE it! 

This is how Arya paints with water colors.....  She loves sticking her face down into the paint and thinks it is so funny :)

We got a pony tail!!!  Her first one.....ok maybe we will wait a little longer to make it nice.

There is a farm and ranch store here called Murdoch's and they had their baby chicks and ducklings for sale for spring.  It was so fun to see them and hold one :)

So you see Gideon in this picture....Where's Bridger?  He is buried under playground rocks from his brother..  At least he's enjoying it. :)

For some reason Rapunzel's dress is a hat now.....

St. Patties day and following those little green feet to find a special treat bag for them all.  They enjoyed finding them :)

Pictures of our blizzard while I was out feeding Haidas at the stables....I didn't want to get out of the car.  BRrrrrrrrrr!

Arya enjoying playing in the freshly laid sawdust in Haidas' pen

Nice little seat by the water trough... Joseph got these pictures of her... So cute!!

The boys love playing behind the stables and build forts from scrap wood and old straw bales and tarps out there.  I will have to get a picture the next time we go out.

What?!.... Us girls are just enjoying ourselves....while dinner cooks :)

The boys have the states almost memorized with a song we have been doing that we got on line.  

The map song

This is how he feels most days... Ha ha!

She's cuter!

These are my cute kiddos waiting for daddy to come home from a meeting at church to take us to church.....It was 9am by the time we got a ride (which is when church starts) but at least we were all together for this Sunday.

PS: I just love Arya in her boots and dress...

Well it has been a bit of a roller coaster of information lately on our 'palace chase' application (the going into reserves from Active Duty).  We sent in our application around Feb 18 and on the 7th of March we had a colonel sign us off for the Spokane Washington base.  But our recruiter was having computer issues and just saw the place taken but a few days later realized it was us who had taken that place.  He says it never goes through that fast and rarely ever gets signed off by a colonel.  So that is a good sign right?! :) So this is the first step and so far is good.  What does this step mean?  What we applied for is a special program where you can live out of state from your home base (Spokane Washington) and the typical one weekend a month, two weeks a year is all consolidated all together each year so we can Live in Idaho and once a year Joseph heads up to Spokane Washington and spend almost 40 days up there doing Security Forces and is off the hook for the rest of the year (of course that is if there are no deployments or special exercises.. etc...)

 Now the second step..  We have to have our application passed off by the rest of the government and military and that is where we are praying a lot because there are a TON of Applicants now with the move of getting volunteers to sign up to get out early... (here is an article that explains it a bit) They had a lot more than they expected so we are really hoping that our application goes through and we will be living back in Idaho by June or July of this year.  We should know by the beginning of May to see if this is going to happen or not.  So we will keep praying and any of your prayers are more than welcome too!

Are horse is full term at the end of this week so that means we could have a foal this week or in the next month :)  We are excited for whenever it comes and just hope the weather is decent and that everything will go alright.

  I am due in about 7 weeks and I am getting to the stage where I would rather be up then in bed because it is so uncomfortable in bed.  I get these leg cramps every once in a while too where my feet and calves will seize up and I have to stand up and push down on my feet for them to release.  My calves are so sore from it today.  It happens as I get further along in my pregnancies and intensifies and only happens while I am laying down... Weird huh.  But we are very excited to bring Orrin Wilder Jones into the Family!

There is so much going on this next month in our families with weddings and baptisms that we really wish we could be a part of.  Enjoy all the festivities and each other.

Gideon likes to look at pictures in his Dinosaur book and draw them and then color them with oil pastels.  He still loves to read and I am trying to find him bigger books that are appropriate for his age that he would like.  So that is my challenge. :)

Bridger is getting better at sounding words out now and enjoys the one on one time we get together.  He loves to play with his sister and loves to be read to.  

  

Arya loves to say hi dad to everyone now...it is her way of saying hi especially if I am talking with someone on the phone.  Call me and you can hear it for yourself :)  She has Wild hair especially when getting up from a nap and she LOVES shoes.  Typical girl right :)

We are reading through Dave Ramsey's book on money makeover and I am enjoying that.  I love his motto 'Live today like no one else so you can live tomorrow like no one else.'  That fits what we will be doing here soon.  I also just finished the Michael Vey series and they were interesting.

This last week was not the funnest for me but the boys sure built up my testimony with their faith.  I love their Faith.  We learned a lot about answered prayers.  We have had quite a bit of little things that have been answered through prayer like finding something when it is lost but here are two examples from this week.

  Monday while out at the horse we did our chores and Arya was getting cold so I put her in the cab while I finished up feeding and when I came back she had locked herself in with the keys.... Not cool!!  So me and the boys prayed that she would be able to unlock the car....She kept pushing the button but the wrong side and just kept locking it.  So we decided we needed a different approach to our prayers.  Before we did that I walked over to some friends that were taking care of their horse (who usually are not there when we are) and we had the idea to call a lock smith.  Well after we called and were waiting I went back over with the boys and they said we need to pray again.  Arya was starting to get pretty upset by this time and so we decided to pray for help.  As soon as we finished the prayer I was inspired to cancel the lock smith and asked one of the people to give me a ride to my house to grab my spare key.  It was a quick 5 minutes there and back and we were able to get in.  I am glad for some common sense to be prayed into me every once in a while :)

Then Tuesday while we were at the library and the day we had a huge blizzard I left my lights on and my battery was dead on our car.  So I hooked up a charger thing we have but it wasn't working and I get back in the car and the boys say 'let's pray'  so we do and right when we say Amen I had friends from story time stop behind me and ask if I needed help.  We got my car started in no time.  It humbles me to know that prayers are answered through others and we just need to ask.  We said many prayers of Thanksgiving that day.  That same day is when we found out that we were accepted with Spokane's base and we had been praying a lot that something good would come from our application and it did.

Prayers work and God Loves us.

Things I am looking forward to in April...

Our baby horse

The boys Birthdays

Our last month of school till our summer semester starts in July

More spring time weather

General Conference

Easter

Getting some dental work done

Organizing and spring cleaning

Hope all is well with you all!  Love ya!

Sunny Days

I love the sunshine!  I have seen more sun in the almost 6 months being here than we probably saw in Germany.  It is beautiful when the sun shines.  I think we are getting used to the wind too.  We played out in it today out at the stables and it didn't seem to bother us so much which probably was because it didn't feel like it was going to give us frost bite. :)
Joseph got to work the day shift this go around for the first time.  He has always done the night shift and I think that made some difference to be on a regular schedule.  His spirits seem a little better too so thanks for your prayers and concern.
I love when you know Spring is around the corner.  One day will be warm and the next will be snowing but it is coming. :)  I look forward to warmer days and a little more green to the palette of the winter browns.
It has been a good weekend and some very much needed naps have happened for this girl.  I really appreciate it when I can.  It was so funny because while I was taking a nap today Bridger comes in put his face right over mine and whispers, "Mom, Can I use your bathroom?"  I nearly had a heart attack he scared me so bad.  Silly boy.
I have been enjoying breaking up each area in my house plan and figuring out function and organization.  That is what I do for fun lately :)
Well nothing much else is going around here except for Beautiful sunrises accompanied by sunny days.  Love it.

Forlorn

That is how I see my husband walk out of this house and do all he can to keep his head up when he knows he will be gone away from us till the early part of next week.  That is how my husband goes to work.  That is why I pray that things will work out in our future so that we can start doing things that bring him Joy.  We all have different obstacles to face.  Some more than others  This is just one that he faces.  Me and the kids miss him a ton when he is gone but our environment is a good one with laughter and being together.  I wish I could make the same for him, have it be all better and have him find something good about going to work.  He always seems to have at least one conversation about Mormons or the gospel when he is out, so hopefully he is planting good seeds a long the way for others.  He means the world to me and I just pray that something good will come to him today that will lift his spirits enough to help him through the next four days being away from us.  It will all work out for the best someday.

Just wanted to share my thoughts and feelings.  I have a good man no matter what his faults are.  He is good and he is mine and I love him.   

March and My Birthday

Hanging out with our horse Haidas

In Windy Cold Wyoming :)

Caught this the other morning.... I love siblings and moments like this

Happy Birthday to me!!!

My Birthday!  I turned 29!  This is my last year in my 20's.  So excited and looking forward to my 30's.

My Birthday cake made by my wonderful husband and decorated by my beautiful children.

Arya's unique little looks :)

Just after a bath all snuggled up

Arya trying mom's birthday cake and loving it :) 

Breakfast and morning hair

Me and my love on the morning of my birthday

I got a set of  US made cast iron cookware for my birthday.  The first of our many purchases to come for our homesteading experience.  I also got 29 cents all wrapped up as a gift from my children.  So cute!

Going through the car wash.  We got our car serviced and cleaned for my birthday.  Feels good :)

Eating a banana while we vacuum out the car

We were going to go out in the hills on my b-day but it was pretty windy in the afternoon so we got movies adn watched them instead.  After that we went and spent some time with our horse which we are really enjoying doing as a family

Arya loves to be up on Haidas

Gideon writing messages in the gravel letting us know what is coming :)

This is our horse after a much needed brushing.  We have been brushing her every day and she still sheds A TON.  We are also trying to get rid of the lice she has.  I am really looking forward to a warm sunny day where I can wash and scrub her down and put some different kinds of medicine on her to help with her skin from the irritation from the lice.

This is her pregnant belly at 10 months pregnant just one month to go.  

She is really starting to make up for a foal.  Her udder is filling up  I hope everything goes well.  Joseph works away from home for 4 days at a time so it could happen while he is gone and so we have been doing our research so I know what to do in case if he isn't here. 

She looks like she has a black eye from her shedding so much and from the lice.  She is a lot better off now then she was.  I am glad we got on top of it when we did.

The sunset we got for my birthday

These are some fun pictures.

This is Gideon doing a Selfie with a mirror behind the camera.... Guess he wanted to make sure he was looking good for the picture :)

Early Mornings with Arya in the office Area

My Birthday was great and laid back and Joseph did dishes too.  I love that man.  We enjoyed the day together as a family, just what I wanted.  I got phone calls, texts and lots of love from family and friends.  I used a friends money she gave me for my birthday to get some organizing boxes I have been wanting.  I am excited to put them to use and simplify.  Thanks Larissa!  I had a new friend here in Cheyenne, Melissa who is my visiting teacher take me out to lunch.  It was really nice to get to know her better and just have girl time.

We got taxes done and look forward to putting our return towards buying and building a place this summer in Idaho.  I am just doing the final touches on our '1000 sq foot' homestead home design so we can get it engineered and in the works.  I think the trick to it all is only bringing in the house what we absolutely need and that we can fit into the design and the rest will be stored or sold.  I am way excited for this adventure and the lifestyle it will lead.

We had a tragedy here on base this week.  There was a guy who took his life while on duty with a duty weapon.  He was in the TRF unit which is the Tactical Response Force that Joseph was trying out for in Novemeber.  He shot himself in front of 5 other co-workers that are like family.  So if you could all just keep those families in your prayers as they will need them a lot right now.  It is so sad to see and hear these things happen.  Suicide is the top killer in the military.  

I have a month in a half left for the kids school that we are doing then we are going to be focusing on the new baby coming and hopefully moving.  I have a summer unit for them as well and they want to continue this fall doing home school so we shall see what we end up doing.

I don't know if I said before but Joseph just got put in as the Elder's Quorum Secretary at church and I am helping in Nursery till next week and then I will have the sunbeam class to teach.  I am excited for it.

I am anxious for spring now.  I want to organize and de-clutter but also have warm sunny days to spend outside.  I also think about this blog and have attempted multiple times to use those online sources to print off my blog but I have to do each page and there would be hundreds..... So I think I am going to start doing what I should have done a long time ago and that is I am going to start printing out my blog one post at a time adn then when shutterfly or snapfish have their sales I will print off pictures from them.

A friend of mine just lost most of what was on her blog and if that happened and I didn't have it backed up somehow I would be sick.  It is my families journal so I want to give it the time and money to print it out too.

My website gets a little more fun every week with more ideas coming in and more posts that I do.  It is fun to add to it and see it become more of what I want for it. 

Well that is all I can think of for now.  Hope all is well with ya all.