Some New Years Resolutions are fun to keep

It has been so long since I have updated I thought I should put down a few of the latest happenings in our crazy life. When setting my New Years Resolutions I had very good intentions with all of them and added one last one more as a wish/hope than a resolution but it turns out that is the one that has stuck and one of the few that last all year. I put down that I needed to find a husband, and guess what...I found the best one out there :). DJ proposed on June 26, 2009 and of course I said and enthusiastic yes. With my whole family and a good portion of his down in Moroni for the Mormon Miracle Pageant, we had a family party that turned into and engagement party. I could not have been more surprised! As we had discussed things over the preceding weeks he had assured me that if I was patient I would have a ring by July of NEXT YEAR! That seemed like a long time to wait to me but I knew he was worth waiting for and so I was shocked and joyfully surprised when he gathered the fam around and got down on one knee. I think that ranks in the top ten best moments of my entire life. I must have done something right somewhere along the way to deserve someone as great as my sweet DJ. He makes me laugh and my hearts smiles everytime I think of him. The kids love him more each day and are almost as excited as I am about us getting married. Now we are just trying to figure out all the details of where to live. We are hoping to get married on New Years Eve since that is the anniversary of the day we met (aaaawwwww). Some dreams really do come true :) <3

It was a bouncy ball after all!!!!!

The parable of the clogged toilet.....So Collin got a boucy ball from school for some reason I dont remember. Later that day I hear he and Jaxon playin with it in the upstairs bathroom cuz it will bounce ALL over the room and in the tub and everything. They were havin so much fun and the suddenly the fun stops. Hhhmmm I thought to myself, odd that they would stop playin so abruptly but it must be that they are such sweet angels that my shouting "stop bouncing that stupid ball or I will go insane!!!" must have finally sunk in. Well not too long after that someone yells from the bathroom that the toilet is plugged. This is not an unusual occurance after Hunter has been in there so I grabbbed the plunger that is usually on hand for just such occasions. When this didnt work, I set it aside cuz we had somewhere to be (as ususal). The next day someone not knowing the problem used the facilities AGAIN and then we had a real problem! This is when it started to go down hill. I started thinking back to what the problem could be and remembered the boucy ball. I called Coll and Max in and asked them if they flushed the bouncy ball and Collin said "no, well it wasnt really us that did it....but I didnt see the bouncy ball go in" Well I asked where the bouncy ball was now and after they looked at each other they both just shrugged thier shoulders looking very innocent but with eyes as purple as pansies! (If you dont know, my kids think that when they lie thier eyes turn purple :) lol ). Well I started asking around and I asked my home teacher, the elders quorum pres, my neighbors, and various family members who shall remain nameless (but you know who you are!). EVERYONE told me "no- it cant be a bouncy ball....bouncy balls wouldnt cause the problem. Some tried to snake it, others tried to plung it, most just said I was gonna have to call a plumber. Finally I just turned the water off and duct taped the lid closed so no one would use it. So we had a perfectly good bathroom that could not be used. Well it wasnt perfectly good cuz the bathtub didnt drain either. :( But it became a completely wasted room in my home for the past 3 months.

Enter the hero of our saga.....DJ aka - superman :D. We were talkin about what we could do over the weekend since I would not have any kids around. I told him I knew a really fun game we could play...it went something like this "Hey Deej, I have a great game we could play called 'fix my toilet" "Well uh Marilyn, that sounds like a lot of fun but I was thinkin of a movie or something, but since you are so adorable and just that much fun to be around I would play whatever game you want, and maybe when we are finished with the bathroom I can clean your house and do the laundry too, while you eat bon bons and watch movies then after I will peel you some grapes and rub ur temples!" Well - Ok maybe the conversation didnt quite to like that but the end result was the same. DJ came up this weekend and after running all over town finding what we needed to fix everything (cuz being a girl I have no tools) he set to work on not just one but TWO toilets. Ya see the toilet in the master bath had its own set of issues mainly involving tremendous amounts of water and swooshing noises every 30 seconds or so. After fixing my bathroom he was then able to pull the toilet off and try to figure out what was causeing the problem. Well he didnt really believe me that it was a bouncy ball either but guess what!!! In the end everyone should have just listend to me!!!! IT WAS THE BOUNCY BALL! Second only to my feeling of vindication was my joy and relief that the bathroom was once again usable.

Although he doesnt wear glasses like Clark Kent, I am pretty sure there is an S on his chest somewhere cuz in my book he is totally Superman. Maybe if I ever catch him with his shirt off (after we were married of course :P) I will see the S and under his pant he is wearin tights....hhmmm ok that would just be wierd. I cannot tell ya how happy Iam that he is just that handy and awesome! That isnt even all he did this weekend but if I listed ALL the things he showed me he was good at this weekend all the other girls would be jealous and might try to steal him away :), so I will just leave it as THAT BOY HAS SKILLS!

Thanks a bunch Deej - ur the best.....if you keep spoiling me like this you will end up stuck with me for good, so watch out! <3

What a ride!

The past month has been one adventure after another. As a family we have gone to the Draper temple open house, Bear Lake, Chucky Cheese, and while the kids are with Josh I have been down to Moroni a few times. At the temple open house I realized exactly why they dont let kids into the temple! WOW what an experience. It was a little crazy tryin to keep track of 7 kids without talking and trying to keep them from talking too. DJ and I loved seeing the different rooms of the temple, it is prob the only time I will get to see the mens dressing room and the only time guys get to see the Bridal room and womens dressing room :). The Celestial room was especially touching and brought tears to my eyes as did the sealing room. The kids however thought the cookie room was the best of all! Try explaining to Collin and Jaxon that when you go to the temple they dont really have a cookie room at the end of the session. I guess it is just that much more incentive for them to actually get there someday if they think there are treats. Especially Jaxon who STILL wants to go back to nursery where they have toys and snacks! (hhhmmmm cant say as I blame him, sounds pretty good to me!) After the temple we all went up to Bear Lake for the weekend where DJ's sister had a timeshare she let us use (Thank you Mary!) That was quite the experience. I am not really sure how to put it into words. Hunter spend most of the weekend trying to find someone to argue with. At the end he tells me with exasperation "What is wrong with these people, no one ever gets mad and no one will argue with me!!!" Miranda had an ear infection all weekend and finally DJ and his bro in law gave her a blessing. Turned out her ear drum was continually rupturing and healing every 8 or 9 hours. Collin did NOT enjoy the one bite rule and is now officially opposed to oranges:) Tanner however, ate several new foods and with the right incentive we realized he will eat most everything. Savannah was somehow attached to Austin like a shadow and they had a great time sledding and swimming. Jaxon and Coll had a ton of fun swimming and a tubing. Overall it was a lot of fun but a somewhat exhausting weekend. The good news is that even after the kids were at their finest DJ still came back! What a trooper! DJ came up here this weekend because I ended up with the kids again, and we had a much better weekend. We went to Chucky Cheese and OMGosh! That place is a ZOO! The kids had a blast playin game after game. For a mere $60 we were able to take home 3 slinkys, 15 suckers, a big beattle, a squishy ball (already broken) and several other items that are each worth about 15cents. The pizza was awful and the prizes worthless so Im not sure it was the best deal economically but we did all have a great time. DJ came to church with us and introduced himself as my bf in preisthood so I guess the gossip is probably makin the rounds lol. The kids said that someone already has asked them if we are getting married! How news travels (and morphs) fast! After dinner, horsey rides for the kids, and a little extra sugar, DJ left for home :-(, but next weekend hopefully will come soon. Its Valentines day this weekend and it will be nice to have a valentine this year - especially one who is so great to me and the kids. HHHMMM I wonder what I should get him???? Maybe a bridal catalog and ring advertisements?....nah dont wanna freak him out. Kinda wanna keep this one around, so we'll give him some more time to adjust and absorb the chaos that is my life! :D

After the trial of your faith comes the blessing - I love blessings

Since I knew that news travels fast, and I took him up to meet mom and dad, I figured I would throw something out here about the goings on in my life. If anyone has talked to mom or any of my kids (or me for that matter) you probably know by now that I am dating someone who is pretty amazing. His name is DJ and he lives in Moroni - ya its past Nephi and out there a ways. I met him on NYE at a dance that I totally wasnt going to go to, but got talked into attending. He works in IT and also a firefighter and EMT down there. He is amazing with my kids and has even gotten Tan to try a few new foods (WOW!). We have so much in common it is a little scary. He is #6 of 10 same as I am, and there are 6 boys and 4 girls in his fam, his son Austin and Hunter share a birthday Nov 19 and are both 15, we both love to camp and travel, photography, and the list goes on and on. He is so incredibly good to me it is amazing - even brings me diet coke and Krispy Kremes...he definitely found the way to my heart! The best part is that I think he kinda likes me too!:D We have only known each other for 20 days now but it has been possibly the best 20 days I have had in years. If it is all just a dream then please dont pinch me and wake me up...just let me enjoy it for now lol. I dont know what all the future holds but time always tells, and I am sure it will in this case as well. DJ ur awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our New Years Resolutions

Hunter - Ummmm well Hunter is now in bed cuz he just kinda sleeps a lot. Maybe we will pick his goal for him to be 1) Attend FHE with the rest of us 2) Keep a clean room 4) Make freinds with Miranda 5) Finish basement and move down there. Now if he wants to renegotiate we will amend at that point :)

Tanner - find my phone (ok that one could take at least a year if it is in the toy room so let pick one that is actually attainable!)... 1) Get a job to earn money 2) Finish a book 3) Make a video and post on Youtube. 4) Get one report card with straight A's 5) Help finish the basement and move down there

Miranda - 1) complete one task in each value in YW personal progress 2)Get at least 2 report cards with all 4's 3) Start research on writing a book

Savannah - 1) Read the entire Book of Mormon 2) Read the Twilight series 3) Start collecting something

Collin - 1) Join Jr. Jazz and learn to play basket ball 2) play on a soccer team 3) learn to swim 4) Stay up on New Years Eve till midnight 2010

Jaxon ok well all Max would come up with is to work at a Pizza store and then just do nothing hhhmmmm maybe we will try more later with some ice cream incentive lol.

So those are the goals for 2009...I guess we will see how far we get huh? So far though this New Year has been the best for a really really long time. New Years Eve was surprisingly great with an unexpectedly wonderful beginning to a new year. I guess we will see what the rest of the year brings...the test of time always tells. So for now I just keep hopin that it all really is the beginning of a great year or maybe a great beginning of the rest of my life.

Some fun pics of snow day