Happily Ever After

Everyone who know us well knows, my husband and I are two very different people, yet I am still crazy about this man. When he calls me from work, excited out of his mind because it still surprises him that he gets to work with excavators and dump trucks, and he wishes his grandsons could be with him to see it, he makes my heart smile. We recently celebrated 28 years married. My Leslie drew this as one of our decorations for the party (we did have a Barbie theme party for Founder's Day this year)

Left to right: Chelsea, Bowen, Noah, Kinsley, Jake,Seth, Caleb, (Dave the rabbit) Ethan, Jenny (thanks for slimming me down, sis.), Nathan, Leslie (and Bonnie the cat), Miriam, Camille & Gilbert Lloyd. Our family has grown some since my last post, adding a beautiful baby girl, Kinsley

 to Jake and Chelsea's family

and a handsome son-in-law to our ranks, Gilbert Lloyd;

also Camille and Gilbert are expecting a baby boy this September.

What I really want to say today is: This is it. This is what I dreamed of, and maybe every little girl is hoping for when she dreams of marrying a tall, dark and handsome man that will treat her well and have a family together. When I'm falling asleep, and I feel Nathan's toe reach over to touch my leg, because he sleeps better that way, that for me is true, deep, sweet love; perfect contentment. I wish it for everyone. No one is perfect here, not even for one day, but through the mercy of Jesus Christ we repent and move forward. Not all the days or moments are happy: the first picture I posted is two very tired people united after five weeks of missing each other, a very long drive and a crazy car crash

--but he was still alive and we were together, and that was bliss.

Twenty eight years ago, we made sacred promises to each other and to Heavenly Father in the Idaho Falls Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a holy place. We have had divine help and support from this one choice over and over. This is what holds us together and makes the happily ever after possible. Our Father in Heaven has been so good to us. We love each other, and we love Him. I just feel so blessed.

Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! I am feeling grateful and blessed at this Christmas season and wanted to reach out and wish you Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!  Our family has had a monumental change this year, we have moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan! A year ago, I didn’t even know where Kalamazoo was. Now we are trying to settle in and make friends and learn our way around our new city.

We are enjoying Michigan in general. It is such a pretty place! We arrived for the fall colors and bought some produce from a roadside stand in late October. We have taken two trips (about an hour drive) to visit Lake Michigan and it is WOW! I’ve seen my first light houses (there are 150 them here in the state) and walked the sand—yes it was chilly, but loved every minute! Now we are experiencing the first of the winter storms. So far, we seem to be located in a more protected area. Some schools closed last week west of us (closer to the lake), but we were functional all week. We will wait and see how the winter goes.

Nate has had to return to Salt Lake 3 times, for a combined total of 4 weeks. Ugh! That hasn’t been fun to have the family separated, but he is now coming home again from what we hope is the last trip for a while. He has been working hard to finish real estate deals there and preparing our own home to sell. We felt strongly about the timing when we left, but knew it would mean some of this kind of sacrifice to fix what still needed work in Salt Lake.

I have been called to finish teaching out this year of seminary. Caleb is in my class (there are 15 youth on my roles) and we travel 25 min. each morning to hold class at 6 a.m. It is a humbling, and wonderful calling. Nate also has a new calling; he will serve as the Cub master! (Pack meeting, here we come!)

The kids have made friends in the ward, and a couple in our neighborhood, although I’m sure there must be more kids around us, we just haven’t found them yet. We have spent a lot of time cleaning up the house (which had been a rental for some time) and finding furniture to replace all we left behind. We still have a ways to go on that, but we can sit down comfortably now, and we count that a bonus.

I wanted to thank all of you who helped us move! We couldn’t have done it without you! We felt loved and supported in everything by all of you wonderful people! Thank you!! We miss you! It is hard to leave those you love. We have also appreciated efforts to stay in touch with us, like phone calls and letters and emails and even packages. Thank you!!

We hope you are well!  Christ lives! His birth was the glad tidings of great joy! May you all have joy this Christmas! Love, Jenny and Nathan and Family

Grand Sons!

 Long time, no blogging, but super fun friends have joined our family since the last post: Energetic Noah

And his pleasant baby brother Bowen. They are some of our favorite people! We are thankful for them and we love it when they come to play!

Pioneer Trek and Party Hats

The last two weeks have been a blur! After great preparations, these two wonderful youth went out to test their mettle against the Wyoming wilderness. They dress like pioneers and pull handcarts to remember the sacrifice and effort put forth by our ancestors. They both had a very good time. They covered 35-40 miles in 4 days and felt a great deal of accomplishment, though it exhausted them. Now as we drive down the road and see an off ramp that indicates it is 1 mile ahead, Camille always says, "I can walk that."

Last week I drove to Idaho to pick up my Leslie, as her college term concluded and she is on break for several months. (Welcome Home, Sweetie!) While I was there, my grandma Joy gave us a batch of fun hats that she crochets to keep her hands busy. I have to show you the hats, and the party feeling that accompanied the distributing of such a great thing!

Jake and his cute wife, Chelsea. (Welcome to the Blog, Chelsea!)

Leslie and Caleb. Often a crazy duo.

Camille's is yellow with a white stripe, and Seth.

Dad and Ethan. Also my particular favorite photo bombing by Leslie.

and Miriam. 

We also celebrated Jake's 21st birthday this weekend. What he was wishing for this year is that he doesn't have to wait much longer to meet his baby that is due in August.  Yes, people, I'm going to be a grandma! Yay for our family to continue to grow!!!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July this year. Guess who was home for the weekend? Leslie.

 And she is still a bit of a stinker. Look what she and her little sister are up to, even if they are taller than me! Can't turn your back for a minute!

Nice. You don't know it, but there is this awesome mud beauty treatment for your feet.  It causes them to be muddy. A-hem. Glad you could come home, Sis!

We had an extended family dinner at Dave and Tiffany's lovely home. They  live conveniently across the street from a big fireworks show and concert, so we watched those too. Yay!

Jake made sure the cousins all had a little fireworks fun of their own. Grateful for our freedoms. Grateful to those who have sacrificed so much for them. Grateful for a nice weekend together!

Taylorsville Days

We have been attending this fun event for all the years we have lived here in Taylorsville. It always happens the weekend before the 4th and is super fun.

 There is a parade. The longer we live here, the better it gets, because we know more of the people on parade. Sometimes my scouts have had a chance to participate, and this year, Caleb and Ethan carried the banner for the Governor's Award.

Camille's hat and all our fun friends to watch and wave with.

 We have some friends we call our blonde counterparts, because our families are similar in ages and size, but they are all blondes. Hey Baileys! We Love You!

For the last three years, we have watched the live concerts and fireworks with this fun crew.  This year we were supposed to hear Elton John and Billy Joel impersonators, and we did for a time, but a power outage cut the concert short.  No problem we have friends for this.

Except Caleb...he does have a great Bailey friend, but his counterpart was at scout camp. Better luck next year lone wolf.

The good news is that they found a generator so we could focus on some fabulous fireworks, and have music to go with them. Phew.

Move Over

My new house is a place where me and my books can hang out under the trees. :) We made the long anticipated move in mid-March. We have enjoyed spring here with all the colors and new plants.

I spent a large part of April costuming a play that Miriam was in.  I had a great time getting to know the youth and making and gathering costumes.  The play was Shakespeare's As You Like It. (Sorry to those cut off by my questionable photography skills.)

I even had the chance to go to Shakespeare Showdown with them to help and see them put on the play there. Loved that.

Miriam turned 13 this year! Watch out world! Leslie also had a May birthday, (turned 19) but she is at BYU-I and her birthday photos are on facebook.

Ethan just turned 11! Can you believe it? Now the kid who always wanted to be part of a scout troop is! He goes to Camp Tracy with his troop next week.

Summer is in full swing, which for the last many years means that half the family is gone at any one time.  Camille is at camp this week and spent last week babysitting for her cute cousins. Caleb has attended the Big Event scout camp already and the two of them are involved in Trek preparations. Miriam spent a week in Heber with Paul and Nelda helping with little cousins and having fun with them. We miss having a crew around the table and are thinking about taking a leaf out of it, so we don't look so lonely!

I am trying to keep all my new plants watered and saying sweet things to my garden so it will grow. Also keep thinking about that new grandbaby that is on the way in only 8 short weeks! Wow!