HOLIDAY PICTURES

Karson, Kaeden, & I at our ward's Trunk or Treat

Bryce, Karson, & Kaeden handing out candy

 Karson and his new "big" firetruck from Santa

 Me and my new, warm blanket from Bryce

(Thanks Honey!)

 The boys getting ready to see what Santa brought this year....

(sorry, Bryce, but Santa didn't bring you anything)

Kaeden and his new "play" vacuum from Santa

(also featuring his favorite bucket he likes to wear on his head)

 Matching Boys! Karson loves to match his brother.

 Karson playing in the snow

(Supposedly it rarely snows in TN...we have received about 2 snowfalls a week since December)

 Kaeden about to enter the snow

(His favorite thing to do in the snow - eat it!)

Kaeden and his hair-do

(He also gets a kick out of my "touch" light)

NEW YEAR

Well, here we are....the start of 2011! Looking back on the year 2010 - we see how many blessings our family has been given.  Here is just a selection of what we are thankful for:

• Bryce's employment with the VA.  They have been wonderful!
• Our 2 incredibly cute, caring, healthy children
• The opportunity that I get to stay home with them
• The opportunity that Karson gets to attend pre-K
• The blessing of living in the United States
• A home where we can raise our family and spend time together
• Family, Friends, & the Gospel

I know these sound like the standard, cookie-cutter things to be thankful for...but we truly are!  Having been through tremendous trials over these last few years has helped us appreciate the abundance we have been blessed with now.

Just an update (since it's been forever) on our little family...

Karson is still attending pre-K at a local church.  He loves it!  He asks if he can go to school everyday.  And I tell him just to wait until fall when he can attend kindergarten and go everyday.  We are both really excited for that time to come!  

Kaeden is 180* degrees from Karson.  He will be turning 2 in a few months and is into everything.  Not only does he think that the rocks, leaves, bugs, and chewed up gum (on the ground), is free candy from the sky...but he loves to throw anything and everything and definitely keeps me on my toes.  He can be very aggressive and independent, but also loves to kiss every stuff animal he sees (yes, being at stores now takes twice as long).

Bryce is still working with the corporate offices for the Veteran Affairs.  Even though he travels frequently (he was able to see the White House last week - just the outside), his job has been wonderful!

I am always busy with the children....but also stay busy with reading, cleaning, and hanging out with friends.  I just finished reading the 'Work & the Glory' by Geruld Lund - they were amazing books!  I highly recommend reading the series - it has given me insight to all the hardships the early saints endured and has also helped me with my church history.

I am now getting ready for my American Idol season.  I was never a big fan until 2 seasons ago...just decided to watch it one day and now Bryce and I are both hooked.  I don't think it will be the same without Simon - somehow I found a soft spot for him.  I hope it's just as funny though.  Try-outs have got to be one of the best parts of the show!

NASHVILLE, TN

Well, here we are! We moved to Nashville, Tennessee back in mid-May of this year. Bryce accepted a job working for the VA Hospital's Network Offices (called VISN) back in April. His job has been wonderful and it's a great oppoturnity for him to gain experience and help serve the veterans of this country.
Along with this change came the reward of letting me stay at home with the children. I know they are truly grateful that they get to have mommy at home (not that having daddy was too bad) and getting to enjoy everything that mothers offer! Karson turned four a few weeks ago and is starting pre-K in August. He is a great help to me with all the chores and with taking care of Kaeden. Kaeden turned one back in April and is still NOT walking or crawling. Instead, he has discovered the method of scooting around on his bottom to get around everywhere. It would not have been my first choice for him, but then again, it works for him and his pace! I do think walking will come within the next month or so - he is so close. We shall see.
Other than the normal daily rountine, things are going great and smooth here in our new place. We are truly grateful for Bryce's job - especially in this spiraling economy. These last few years have been quite an emotional roller-coaster ride but things are looking up! Thank you for everyone's support and prayers.

PS...I will post pictures of the kiddo's shortly. I have to download all of them off our camera and organize it before uploading (I only have about 200 pictures on the camera currently - shouldn't take too long, right?).

UNEMPLOYMENT

Over the past several months, Bryce and I have been able to reflect on our lives and determine what matters most to us. Back in May of this year, Bryce graduated with his Master's Degree in Hospital Administration. We were both very excited and thrilled that our "poor student/college days" had come to end. We were both anticipating the new working world and finally being able to make some money (paid holidays....uh hello....sign me up) and not pay it out continuously for tuition. If we had known the events that would have transpired after graduation, Bryce and I would have been shocked and speechless, to say the least. Back in January of this year, Bryce had been applying for jobs/fellowships to have lined up for after he graduated school. We believed he would land a good starting job and transition smoothly from school into career. At this time, the economy wasn't doing so well and there was always talk of a recession. Anyone who had money invested in the stock market typically wasn't doing so well with their investments. Bryce and I use to joke that was one nice thing about having no money--we had NONE to invest, so that was one positive about being students and therefore, the recession did not have an effect on us. For the first several months, we sat there laughing, yet grateful that being poor actually had worked to our advantage and we were glad we hadn't felt the effects of a lagging economy on our pocketbooks. I guess we spoke to soon.

After applying to numerous jobs (and I mean numerous...about 30 each month since January), Bryce had some interviews but nobody was really hiring. In fact, most companies were doing the opposite and either firing or laying people off. Things that were starting to come his way were soon canceled or changed because of the poor economy. We kept telling ourselves that we were sure we'd know something official by March. March, April, and May came and went with no success. We told ourselves that surely we would know something by August. June flew by and during the month of July, Bryce was finally going to be offered an outstanding position at a company--but that, too, ended up falling through the cracks.

As you all know, we are now approaching the end of August and we are still facing unemployment. It has been quite a test and trial of our faith and a very difficult last 5 months. We've had a lot of up's and down's, but along the way, we have been forced to try and see the positive in every situation. We try and still count our blessings that we have food to eat and a roof over our heads. We have learned to scrimp and save more (if that were even possible after being a poor student!) and to trust in the Lord. We have learned many lessons throughout these past months, but one of the biggest ones, was to not judge people or their situations. We all have our battles we must face and most of us are all doing what we can to make things better.

As of right now, we have some potentially good leads with jobs. Bryce has continued applying everywhere (we've also been applying to lots of places out of state), that we have even consented to move to Wyoming if we had too. Hopefully, something will come about from his hard effort and networking. We have been open to anything and our grateful for those who have helped us along the way. We continue to pray that here, soon, we will receive a job offer.

PICTURES

Now that I've been a mother of 2 for over 3 months, I would like to share some pictures I have taken along the way. Things have become more settled with our schedules and we are starting to have some order back to our household (which I love order & routine)! I have taken so many pictures, that I call myself the official paparazzi of 2 adorable kids. They have had the camera in their face so many times, that I'm sure they think they're famous. They endure the flashing lights well--but as any mother can attest to--our little ducklings are just too cute to pass up on capturing those special occasions. I always have the camera ready so I don't miss a moment or milestone in their life.

Kaeden & Karson matching for the 4th of July

Karson at the Memorial in OKC

Kaeden in his bear pajamas

Karson--a boy after his mother's own heart

Kaeden--like I said, this boy came out holding his head up