The happenings lately

So we went to church last week but this morning we got a call that church was canceled due to a snow storm coming in. Well it is a good thing Donnelly didn't do this or we would go all winter with out church :) So we are chilling at home and I made some yummy carmel licorice. Really yummy! It is too bad for Joseph though, he hasn't been to church all month due to work and missing our ride and canceling church. Hopefully next week.

On Joseph's day off yesterday he went with one of our friends to go help a member in the ward move to a town about 30 minutes away. He left here 9:30 in the morning and didn't get home till 6:30 at night.....So much for having a day with daddy. It was a long day for him but I told him he would be blessed for it.

It has been snowing quite a bit here lately. I think people really freak out when it does. They shut down a lot of things due to it. I don't think they have enough snow plows to keep the roads clear. So that is why we are bumming it at home. :) We watched the Christmas devotional by the first presidency though and it was wonderful.

Bridger loves to play the bad guy lately and plays with a light saber or is red claw from the land before time series and goes around running after us with his "claws". Bridger is counting and drawing circles really well and loves to sing songs. and He likes to tell us the bunny story. So cute!

Gideon is always asking "what is 8+8 or what is does that say?" So I am looking forward to starting pre-school at the beginning of the year and workinig with him to help him learn to read and get better at math. He loves learning. He always has a new question for me every morning. "what is that dangly thing in your throat?" or "what does your ear drum look like" So we research the topic on the internet and he loves finding out more.

Here is a little tour of our home....The rest will come after a cleaning day :)

Our under the stairs play room

lounge area under there
Our stockings in the dining room :)
A friend was done with this and gave it to us. The boys have been drawing with chalk and crayons all day yesterday and today

We bought our first computer system. A printer, computer and monitor. We are very excited to have it. We are going to use our laptop for our pre-school computer to research, current events and learning games on.

We watched our first movie on our computer last night.....True Grit with John wayne as Rooster cogburn. Good ole' westerns.
This is our weekly schedule. Joseph has a interesting schedule so we worked with it and came up with pre-school days, cleaning days, play days and when we do things. This is our everyday calender that we can refer to when scheduling in other things.
Chilling in the play room

Our Tv, boy dress up :), and train area in the closet

Our pre-school area. We are excited to finish it up
THe lounge in the playroom. Planning on making a tent or tippi in here
The boys bedroom
Their beautiful quilts grandma Jarvis made for them

Our Neighborhood with the snow

My Sillies in front of the window
Gideon's Snow Angels
Go Gideon!

Oh how I love December

So yesterday we missed church due to us missing our shuttle ride because we can't drive our car because or temperary registration expires on friday and I went and got gas here on base on Saturday and when I went to go pay for $20 of gas I ended having to pay German prices which was $42 for gas.....That is like 7+ dollars for a gallon of gas. AAAaahhhhhh!!! That makes me not like Europe. So we came home from the bus stop in our church clothes adn had our own little meeting and devotional on feeling the promptings of the Holy Ghost and listening and being worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. It was fun. Then we chilled and watched scripture stories the rest of the day and played.

The boys watching scripture stories
Me leading the music for our "church meeting"
Me and my boys singing
Daddy and His boys leading another song
Bridger reading scriptures
Me and my boys!
Being silly
Pray, Laugh and Love
Our Christmas tree.... We are adding ornaments everyday that we make. So I will take another photo of it when there is more on it.
The boys marshmollow crafts....Bon Fires!
My nativity scene... The angel, The manger with a star, shepherd and sheep, a donkey, a cow, and mary and Joseph and baby Jesus.....Can you see any of them :)
I love you Grandma and Grandpa!! Jones and Jarvis
Table stuff I got at Airmans attic and I went in my yard and cut branches off of really small bushes to help make my house a little more beautiful.

So we are going to be finally getting our things (couches, beds, stuff) this upcoming friday. I am so excited. I also found out that it has been here in storage since the 23 of November but they don't let you know these things they just expect you to call on a daily basis and figure it out your selves. :P Anyway, So my plan is to hide away all the toys and playroom stuff and on Christmas Eve bring it all out and set it up for them. That should be fun. I am going to make under the stairs a playroom. They love it under there.
So like I said before Joseph is going to be deploying and we are excited for him but at the same time sad he has to go. This is what we have been planning on it just kinda sucks that here the deployments are every 6 months. I guess that is the joys of being over seas .....You are close to where they need you so that means more often. But we will do our best to make it a positive experience for our family. I am planning on coming home for a good amount of time during the deployment if finances allow me to. I will keep you posted on that.
Life is crazy and it really seems like the advisary works harder to make your day go bad around the holidays and when your trying. So we are just trying to stay above the water enough to breath fresh air and not let the bad things pull us down. We are excited for the Holiday season and we have Sssssssssssssoooooo much to be grateful for.

The story behind the pictures!

So we just found out that Joseph is going to be deployed in April for around 6 months to te United Arab Emirates. So all of the pictures are from there. He will be posted at the Al Dhafra Air Base near the capital. So now you know. The maps are of where the country is located and pictures of things in the country. My favorite is the traffic jam with camels. Well that is our news. I hope you all have a good weekend!

Guess: What do these pictures have in common?

family fun bowling

Mommy and Gideon

Bridger was almost obsessed with the return the bowling ball thing. It was so cute!

Bridger Bowling with Daddy

So happy!
Little homie!
Gideon bowling with Daddy
Another happy boy!

Ok so maybe I am just a nerd for thinking this is hillarious but I think our milk has a little bit too much "opinion" especially when our neighbor girl tells my boys that they will get fat if they drink from the red milk.........Oh the things you shouldn't say to old dairy farmers. :)

In matter of mine own opinion I think we might start buying fresh milk from a local dairy farmer.....Yum!! Yes it has more fat than the red one... :)