Eldon 11 Months

August 19th Eldon was 11 months old. Times sure flies by. He had his first haircut a few days before he turned 11 months. That did not go well. He didn't like holding his head down much. The spoon picture - well he had been getting molers this month and bits his spoon when we feed him. Don won't feed him because it is such an ordeal to get the spoon back. I just think it is cute : )

Knick

Was I not suppose to eat your cucumber plant?

On July 24th Knicker joined the family. His birthday is April 12, 2010. He is a shiatsu/rat terrier mutt. So still just a little guy. He loves to chase the boys and catch them by the pant leg and chew things do shreds. He loves to pull weeds (and my plants). He also is really good at digging holes. He has one that is a good foot deep that he works on all the time.

Eldon 10 Months

On July 19th Eldon was 10 months old. Such a big boy. He is cruising all over the place and standing up to furniture to walk. Still not ready to walk though.

Texas Year Anniversery

One year ago we entered the state of Texas. I wanted to do a post saying some things I have learned over the past year. From one of my favorite movies comes, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." I have felt that way many times this last year. My trials didn't kill me they made me stronger and I like to reflect after each trial to see what I have learned. So I have learned:

1- I can survive over 115 degree humid weather, with no AC & it won't cook the baby inside me.
2- I need to read EVERY WORD of EVERY contract I sign, who knows what is really in it.
3- I am a lot stronger than I give myself credit for.
4- I have learned I can give natural birth to a child.
5- I learned how spiritual natural birth can be & the instant bond it creates with the infant.
6- I gained a new respect for family and the support they can give even so far away.
7- Don & I learned to truly communicate. We were good before, but when you are all each other have, you learn really quick to be united and talk things out.
8- I gained a testimony of food storage. Have it! Who knows when you will need it.
9- My faith in my Heavenly Father's plan for me, grew immensely as I learned to rely on him for EVERYTHING.
10- I learned the importance of temples. Dallas is two hours away. But going is so vital to a happy home, the sacrifice is worth it.
11- I learned the basics of putting up sheet rock.
12- I have learned to be self-reliant spiritually. I struggled, but did learn to be happy no matter what was happening and who was upset.
13- I learned how to plant a garden (still not awesome at this)
14- Although I learned I am strong, I also learned my body has limits and not to push it.
15- I learned how to cook all over again at a different altitude.
16- I learned to make my own laundry soap.
17- I learned the difference between needs and wants.
18- I learned the in-and-outs of buying a house.
19- I learned no mater where you live the gospel is true.
20- I learned to be humble and except help sometimes.
21- I learned the value of friendship.
22- I learned that I can find great joy in being a mother.
23- I learned from the people here to just relax sometimes.
24- I have learned to identify many insects, snakes, and spiders. Including the brown recluse.
25- I have learned that love really can solve so many things : )

My time is up, but these are a few of the priceless lessons I learned this year. I am sure I will forget some and have to learn them again and again. After all I am just human.

My Dog Pepper

After 13 years my little dog Pepper finally went to heaven.
I got her for my 13th birthday from the pound. She was two years old and had been severely abused by her previous owners. She had several ribs that had healed incorrectly. Her windpipe had been crushed, making it hard to breath at times. Her hip also had been injured and fell out of socket when she ran. I saw this little dog in the window and knew no one else would want her. They said she was being put to sleep the next day. So I took the ugliest of the bunch.
She was always a very loving dog licking my tears when I cried and seeming very concerned. She never bit out children unless she was approached while in her bed, her safe spot. She even would act as if she was going to bit, putting her mouth around their arm or leg, just letting them know she didn't like what they were doing.
Father's Day morning nothing was out of the norm. She ran with me to get Eldon up and then ran back down the hall to go to her door. When I came out of the boy's room she was laying in the hall. It looked like she was trying to itch her ear so I bent down to scratch them for her. But I realized she was not okay. He breathing was really labored and her eyes glazing over. I continued to stroke my little dog, her chest filled then all the air went out. It was very peaceful and appeared painless.
She was buried under out tree that night in her blanket, in a box. We all said some words about her and covered her. She now rests in our backyard awaiting the resurrection.

The boys were her care takers. Bryson got her food, Jaron the water. Bryson woke to go check on her and asked where she was. His major concern was that we no longer have a dog. His request is a brown dog. He still remembers the lesson we had a Easter about the resurrection and talks about Pepper coming back to life often. Jaron was a little sad, but also has a lot of faith in Heavenly Father's plan, even for our pets.

We love ya Pepperoni, thanks for being such a great dog.

Eldon 9 Months

Our little boy is growing big, eating everything in sight, and now almost 10 months. He is crawling all over the place and yelling (talking) a lot too. We love our big Teddy.

Summer in Texas (June)

This is our friend the rat snake : ) When going outside he was on our window. They are climbing snakes and do bite, but are not poisonous. Not a fun surprise.

Before the fire ants Bryson's encounter with fire ants. His hand and feet were just as bad. Poor boy. We were so happy playing in the long grass, but could not see the ant pile. They both know to stay away from ants, but the ants you can't see are hard to avoid.


For enrichment we made pillowcase and donated them to a hospital. Here are my efforts. If you want to do some good just Google million pillowcase challenge. It has patterns and things. I had fun using material laddies from the ward donated to make the pillowcases.

Eldon 8 months

He is always pulling his hair and ears. I thought maybe he had and ear infection so I asked at his 6 month check-up, but nope, he was fine.
I loved this picture they are all pulling unique faces. I think Eldon likes the feel of his teeth on his tongue. He rubs his teeth with his newly found tongue often. Also sticking his tongue out and blowing spit bubbles is anther one of his favorite pasts times. Brothers don't understand why Eldon can stick out his tongue and spit and they can't.

Over the last month Eldon has really started doing a lot of new things. He officially rolls all over, and with the intent to roll. He is developing a good pincher grasp, getting that food in is very important. And new to the list . . . he started crawling, finally. Here is a video to prove it. He is such a good eater, eating anything you will give him. No one is allowed to eat in front of him without sharing. He will eat and eat until he throws up actually. Just because he cries to eat doesn't always mean he needs to, kind of odd I think.

He really is not my little baby anymore which makes me sad, but I am excited to have him doing new things and developing a personality.

What is up?

Our computer has been gone for two, maybe even three, weeks. A nice guy in the ward was fixing it for us on his down time. He gave us one to borrow so we could do e-mail and things, but I didn't want to download pictures onto his computer. Anyway it is back now.
Don and I are both loving our calling teaching the 12-13 year olds. It is giving us time to discuss basic concepts of the gospel together, which I love.
Don is still with FedEx working now just 30-40 hours a week. We have decided that it would be best for him to get certified to teach. He is going to do 80 hours of coursework and then take the tests the end of June. This is the soonest the tests are offered. He is really motivated to get this done and I think it will be best for our family. He loves working with kids and is good at teaching.
The family time has been wonderful and I love having him here to do things with and help me. Right now I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom. It is a really tough job, but I think there is nothing more important that raising strong priesthood holders. It is so nice to be able to be home all day without the world crowding in on my life.