Update

We are here! We have been in Nebraska for almost 3 weeks now. We love the house and the ward is great. We seriously didn't walk down the hallway without everyone stopping and introducing themselves. Here's a little update on the rest of it.

(Brenner Loves to get into things, cabinets, eggo boxes etc...)

We got into Nebraska the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Wayne flew out Monday morning for the whole week. Our stuff arrived Wednesday. Parker started school that Wednesday as well. We ran around like crazy finding him a winter coat and gloves and such, but he made it. We made plans to get a Christmas tree and put up our lights for that Saturday. That didn't happen. Friday night an ice storm rolled in. Thankfully it started to melt off by late that afternoon and it was pretty clear on Sunday to head to church.

The next week Wayne had to take a quick two day trip and when he arrived home on Tuesday he wasn't feeling too great. Wednesday night we rushed to get a Christmas tree because another storm was forecasted for the next day. Then the tree stand broke while Wayne was trying to put it up. The next day snow started about the time I took Parker to school. By the time I needed to pick him up there was about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground. Since I had no choice, but to leave and pick him up I headed down our steep driveway only to get stuck on our slanted road. After sitting awhile I called Wayne who happened to being coming home sick and was able to pick up Parker. Wayne wasn't able to make it up the driveway either, so we parked and started shoveling, Wayne is such a good shoveler. Our backs paid for it later and Wayne got even more sick. We shoveled just enough to get the cars in the garage and that was it. Wayne was so sick he stayed home on Friday and actually stayed in bed all weekend. So our poor Christmas tree just sat in the garage until Saturday night when Wayne pulled himself out of bed and set it up for us, what a great Dad! (he was leaving on another week long trip Sunday night, so that was his last chance to get it up before he left).

(bike riding not quite the same)

This past week started with us shipping Wayne off Sunday night (thanks to a blessing he received, was feeling much better by flight time) but unfortunately the fog was too thick to land in Columbus, so they flew back to Chicago and he spent the night in the airport, made it to the place he was going around 9AM Monday morning and then lead a seminar at 1PM with no sleep at all, again, what an amazing man! As for us here, another ice storm hit us Monday night, thankfully school was canceled and I didn't have to get out in it, but I did have to start shoveling...again. Thankfully we have some friendly neighbors, and one of them helped me with salting the driveway, since we didn't have any. That helped a ton. We decorated the tree...finally...this week and I'm trying to finish up Christmas shopping, everything is a bit chaotic this year...but we're getting through it all.

(gearing up for more snow)

All in all it's been a crazy few weeks, we found we were totally unprepared for winter again. After living in sunny SoCal for the last year and a half, we got a little spoiled. Now we're readapting to the snow. We have good health...mostly, the weather change is wreaking a little havoc on our systems right now...but we're good. It's also so nice living as a family again...even though Wayne has had to be gone two of the three weeks we've been here, he's not traveling again until after the first of the year. Did I mention that Wayne is just awesome? An added bonus, we found a renter for our house in Cali, they're moving in after the first of the year, but went ahead and paid December rent to hold the house, what a blessing that has been. Hope to hear from you all soon.

(You can probably tell where I (Wayne) took over on this post...had to put a few plugs in there, but just wanted to point out that my wonderful wife has done so much to turn this new house into our new home and single handedly at that. Since I have been gone so much, she had to get Parker in school, deal with the movers, do all the running around that occurs after moving across the country of shopping and such, unpacking and organizing everyday and all while managing three little boys. Just want to let her know I appreciate all her hard work!!! Thanks Honey!)

Two Houses....

More like two mortgages. Ahhh! After more than two months of waiting and stressing, we found out we could not afford to sell our house here in California. So after much discussion and prayer we decided renting it out would be our best option. So Wayne closed on our house in Nebraska tonight and we now have two houses.

This is our house in California.

And this is our house in Nebraska.

And just for Niki, here are a couple of pictures of our basement in Nebraska. Our home theater system.

And our wet bar and game table.

We leave in just a few days for a road trip to Nebraska, stopping in Utah for Thanksgiving. The last few weeks have been a blur of decisions and changes, and I'm glad it's coming to an end. I am somewhat nervous about everything, but this whole experience has really strengthened my testimony in the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We feel very guided through this all, and we have faith it will all work out in the end. And I am SO excited to finally be a family again!

No More Softball

Saturday was our last softball game here in California. Wayne started playing in the league last summer when we moved here. (At the time I was 6 months pregnant and couldn't participate.) He played in a mens competative team over the winter/spring time. Then he began managing our team starting this summer when I joined in. Our team's official name was the Paralyzing Pirates, but mostly we were just called the Pirates. Our team was mostly made up of people from our ward, including three couples with Wayne and I. Then this past season we knew we would be moving, so Wayne turned the management over to another guy on our team, and we were put on as subs. We came in second our first season and 3rd/4th (we didn't play for the official position) this past season

Wayne played first base.

I played second. (Not a good picture, but "00" is me.)

This is me waiting on first base.

Wayne catching a ball at first.

Our team--this past season. (Most of them anyway.)

It was tons of fun and we are going to miss it. We hear Nebraska has an adult kickball league. Guess we'll have to try that out next.

Halloween Pics

Okay, so they're late. But it's not Thanksgiving yet, so I'm doing okay.


Aiden was a lion, Brenner was a pumpkin, and Parker was a Dinosaur.

If Aiden's costume looks familiar (and a little tight) it is. He wore it last year and when he saw it hanging in the closet he refused to be anything else. I've learned in this time without Wayne that I need to pick my battles carefully--especially with Aiden--and this was one not worth fighting for me. Parker and Brenner both have costumes that are too big which probably means we'll see them again in the future. (No one saw them in NE yet.)

I'm Tagged

So I found out that there are fun things that people do to help make blogs more fun. Playing tag is one. My friend Niki tagged me, so I'm now supposed to tell 6 interesting things about myself. Do interesting and weird mean the same thing? You decide.

1. I'll use an interesting fact Niki and I have in common. I love to sing--and to expound, I love music. Music and singing can change my mood and attitude very quickly. I love musicals and I'll put them on while I'm cleaning and sing along. I sing loudly in the car when I'm driving. And sometimes I'll just sit at the piano and play and sing to relax. I sang in a chorale group in highschool and it was a lot of fun. Christmas and patriotic music and songs are probably my favorites. Last Christmas I got to sing a song with my mom, her friend, and her friend's daughter. It was really special for me. I actually tried to sing a duet with Niki at church, but the scheduling didn't quite work. She has a great voice!

2. I like horses--really like horses. When I was small my dad would take me to the family feedlot with him and I would get to ride a horse with an old cowboy there. I had a horse in 4-H when I was about 9 or10. And I used to go riding up and down our ditch banks with a girl down the street. When I was a kid my parents would give us a new ornament every Christmas for the tree. Usually they reflected our personalities or interests. More than half of my ornaments are horses. The books from when I was a kid are about horses. I wanted to be a cowgirl when I grew up and have a farm or horse ranch. "Oklahoma" was/is one of my favorite movies because it combined cowboy/horses/music altogether. The Snowy River movies are all time favorites too. And recently the new version of "Flicka" has made it on the list.

3. I sort of collect John Deere shirts. John Deere is more for farm equipment, but for me it symbolizes the dream of a farm life that I always wanted--plus I like the logo. I have two white ones with different logos, a green one, a pink one, and a brown one. For Christmas I'm asking for yellow. They don't just sit in a closet either. I wear them all the time. They comfortable, which fits my style, and like I said I like the logo.

4. I like to decorate cakes. I took a decorating class a few years ago and it was tons of fun. I always do fun cakes for my boys for birthdays, and earlier this year I decorated a cake for my friend Niki's son. I still need a lot more practice and I can't do all the techniques, but I have lots of fun with it. I think it would be fun to some day sell custom cakes or learn to do wedding cakes. I can't sew so I can't make a wedding dress for a daughter (if I ever get one :-)), but it could be fun to do her cake.

5. I love to swim! If I could, I would live in the water. I love the sound of water and the feel of the water as you push through it. I love the smell of the chlorine especially after a good work out. It's something I can't describe. In high school I would get in my truck after swim practice still wet and get my cloth seats all soaked in chlorine water. So all during swim season my truck would smell like chlorine. It was great. I love swimming long distance. In high school I was league champion junior and senior year in the 200 (8 laps) and 500 (20 laps) meter swim. I love to just get in a groove and keep going. When I'm in the water, I feel like I could go one forever. Here's a definite weird thing about me, but maybe because it links with my love for swimming, the phrase that Dorey from "Finding Nemo" says has kind of become my moto, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming." The last few months have been somewhat stressful and sometimes I just have to remind myself to keep going and I often will just start chanting, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming."

6. I prefer white chocolate over regular milk chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I like milk chocolate fine, but I have no strong desire for it. But white chocolate is a different story. My family has a mountain house that has a candy shop down the road from it. We didn't get to go there often, but when we did I would always get a bag of white chocolate pieces or a white chocolate candy stick. Sadly (and thankfully) there aren't that many white chocolate candy bars around. Hershey's cookies and cream is quite wonderful, though. And have you ever tried the white chocolate rasberry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory? That's some good stuff!

So now to tag others. Since I don't know for sure who reads my blog, I'll just guess and hope for the best. I tag Cindy K., Randee G., and Laurie M.

Look before you Leap--or Run

In our garage we basically have a T walkway. From the house door into the garage you can go left to the deep freeze, right to the washer and dryer, or perfectly straight out the garage door to the car. There's stuff everywhere else. Well on Saturday Wayne set up his table saw at the very end of that straight-way. Convient for him, but for a little boy who's not paying attention it's not so great.

Aiden was heading to the car for church and decided to run without looking. He opened the door, bolted straight ahead, and met the table saw face first. Thankfully it missed his eye.

This is later that day when it first happened. It was swollen and bulging out from his face.

Now a couple days later the swelling is down, but the coloring is awful. But like my mom always says when Ethan gets hurt, at least he's a boy. Not only is he proud of the injury, but he will probably enjoy the story that any scar will bring.

All About Brenner....mostly

Brenner turned a year old earlier this month and it seems like everyday since, his personality grows. I thought I would put a spotlight on him and let you get to know him a little better.

Brenner has this strange fascination with sitting on things. Whether it's the kitchen counter, the couch, a drawer, even a pillow on the floor, the kid loves to sit on things. You sit him down and he instantly gets this cute little smile, almost smug looking, that he gets to sit in a cool place. And for the most part he'll sit there happy and content, with little entertainment. And he'll find places to sit just about anywhere.

Laundry basket full of clean, folded clothes is one of his favorite places to sit. He throws out enough to make a place to sit and will stay there.

Kitchen cupboards are his latest discovery.

I walked into his room and found this. He found his pacifier, his bear and climbed into the drawer of the train table. Looks quite content, huh?

Brenner is a very messy eater. (I know, most one year olds are.) He guzzles his milk like he'll never get another drop, and then he pulls the cup straight from his mouth and drops it on the floor. Occasionally the food sees the same fate. It's a constant routine of bending down to pick up the cup and hearing it crash to the floor minutes later. And can you guess his favorite food is spaghetti?

If the food is in reach, he just pours it on the floor and eats it. (His mommy left the cereal in reach one morning, left the room for a few minutes and came back to find this.)

Brenner loves to put his finger in his mouth. Unless he has found a toy to hold onto, or needs two hands to do something, you will often find him sitting, or standing, around with his finger in his mouth.

Brenner loves his Daddy. He was beside himself with joy when his Daddy came home. As soon as we got home from the airport Brenner would only have Wayne. I tried to get a picture of Brenner giving Wayne hugs, but as soon as Brenner saw the camera he would pop his head up. But that's what it has been, love and more love for Wayne.

Brenner loves to smile! And isn't it the best smile!




































































































Brenner has a teddy bear--named Bear (creative, huh?)--that he sleeps with every night........ and nap. It's a trick I learned with my other two--they go to sleep wherever as long as they have their animals.

Parker has Tommy the turtle.

Aiden has Toby the dog.







Brenner also gives high fives, claps when you say, "YEAH!", and is starting to walk--which is quite hillarious to watch. His brothers think he's wonderful--except when he is turning off the TV while they are watching. :-) I obviously couldn't capture all of his fun personality, but these are some good highlights. We're happy he's in our family and we love him TONS!

No Fires Here

Just a quick note for those of you who have been watching the news and are wondering where we fit with the fires here in southern California. We've had three calls inquiring about our safety, so I thought I would let you all know.

We are safe from the fires. The closest fire to us is the Santiago Fire, in Orange County. It is about 20 miles away, but it is 30% contained and the winds are blowing it west--away from us. Driving down the freeway we can see the smoke from the fire down south of Temecula and I'm sure heading north we could see the smoke of the fires up there, but at home we don't see anything. This morning we could smell some smoke when we went outside, so that combined with two days of dust storms from the Santa Ana winds make the air yuck around here, but other than that we are unaffected.

Thank you for your thoughts and concerns. And again, we are fine.

Daddy's coming home!

So my plan for this blog was to have a bunch of pictures of Wayne. But as I started to create it, I found we don't have any good pictures of Wayne. They are all far away, or action shots when you can't really see him. But here's a couple anyway.

Wayne's coming home! And not just for a day. We got an email about the house inpection we recently had and there was a list of demands for us to fix. He told his boss he would need to have an extra couple days at home, and his boss told him to take the whole week and work from home! (Did I mention his boss is great and he and Wayne really get along?) So yeah for us! We get to have Daddy home for 10 days starting tomorrow. Wayne told Aiden last night and now all day Aiden has me singing, "Daddy's Homecoming". You know, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home..." But I feel as excited as him so I don't mind singing.

Joining In

Everyone seems to have a blog today. Just this past week I received an invitation to visit a blog our ward started. I decided maybe it was time to join in. I hope to use this blog to keep in contact with friends and family. And share the fun moments in life. Hopefully I can keep up with it and it will be a useful, fun endeavor.

So to start let me give you all a run down of our family set up right now. After some unforseen changes in Unilever, Wayne just started a new job in August with ConAgra Foods. He is an Autonomous Maintainance Manager--or something. He doesn't really have a strict title. He basically travels around to plants in the midwest teaching, training, and supporting an efficiency program like the one used by Unilever. Wayne is based in Omaha, Nebraska--home of ConAgra's world wide headquarters--so he is there and the boys and I are currently still in Corona with the house.

Parker is now 5 years old. He started Kindergarten in September. He loves it and is very proud of himself for learning 10 reading sight words and being able to sound out words like dog, cat, sit, etc. He is our intellectual. He enjoys learning and picks up on things very well. He can be shy and timid at times, but once he gets warmed up he loves to play. He has made many friends at school and has therefore given me the opportunity to meet new people (moms of those friends). He is very excited about the move back to the midwest.

Aiden is our 3 year old. He started preschool the same day Parker started school. He is our Mister Personality. He is much more our athletic one. He loves to run, jump, wrestle, all the fun boy stuff. Aiden is also very open, warm and loving to anyone and everyone from the first Hello. He's usually very quick to smile and laugh. But when he chooses to be stubborn, that boy is stubborn. You have to use very different techniques to get Aiden to do as you ask.

Aiden is also my big kid. He loves to eat and though he's not fat by any means, he seems to be catching up to his big brother and I am often asked if I have twins.

But despite differences Parker and Aiden are the best of friends. They share a room and refuse to have it any other way. If one gets sent to their room for something, it's usually not long before the other wants to join.

Then there's our baby, Brenner. He just turned a year old last Sunday. (Can you see him holding up the number 1?) He took his first voluntary step the Friday before his birthday. He'll take multiple steps at a time, but doesn't really try to walk yet. He has been a very easy baby from the beginning and continues to be so. He's laid back and mellow. He loves to smile, be talked to and tickled. (Though my mom says it's cruel to tickle him because he laughs so hard.) And Brenner loves to cuddle. He is the snuggliest baby I have had.

Recently he has learned to climb. I find him climbing on anything and everything he can. Just the other day I caught him climbing onto the table.

He also just had his first butchering (haircut) by his mother. I'm stubborn enough to think it ridiculous to pay $12 for a child's haircut. 'Course then I--and my poor children--have to live with what my unskilled hands manage.

As for Marissa, me, I am anxiously awaiting the sell of this house and the find of the next. We have been a seperated family for about 2 months now and I'm ready to be together again. Wayne and I played on an adult softball league this past summer and I have continued to play a little during this fall season. It's very fun. I have also started doing family indexing and find it very fulfilling. Mostly I'm a mom of three boys that keep me on my toes and on my knees.

Since this is my first time messing with the blog, the pictures aren't exactly where I want them, but I'll get it eventually. So tell me what you think of our blog.