Jason's wedding

Back during the weekend of Valentine's day, my oldest brother got married in Boise. I flew out early Friday with Kort while Clay stayed in MN for his work annual meeting. He flew in late that night.
It was so nice to finally see my family again! It had been almost a year since I had seen any of them. Janelle's boy, Wade, is almost a year and last we saw him he was 2 weeks old! It had been too long.
Janelle picked me up from the airport and we headed to the mall.

We met up with Daisy and her family to catch up. Then mom, dad, jake and jordan showed up. Later that night, we went to the rehearsal dinner at Barbacoa. YUMMY! This is one of the coolest places I've eaten. It's on the pricey side though, but it was spanish like, with like white antler chandeliers, paintings on the ceiling, etc. They had these super yummy mini bite tacos that were to die for! It was a fun night. Too bad Clay wasn't there for that.

Saturday Clay and us just went shopping and ate at Red Robin - we've missed that place :) Then we headed off for the wedding. You'd have to know my brother to understand the decorations of his wedding, etc. Him and Violet are perfect for each other. It was a fun night. So nice to be able to joke and laugh with my brothers and all my family. Everyone was there except Jared. The last time we were all together was when Janelle just barely got home from her mission. And even then, a ton has changed in our family with subtractions and additions. We're hoping we can all celebrate Christmas together!

We stayed at Janelle and Tom's house in Parma that weekend. Sunday, the two of them got to speak in Stake Conference and they did awesome! Tom is the only Seminary teacher in the area and teaches in Parma, ID and then across the border in Nyssa, OR. They're the bomb {dot} com family.

We did a late celebration of Kort's birthday and a month early one for Wade. They were so cute playing with each other over the weekend. I already miss them :(

chocolate

I am going at least until the end of March with NO.CHOCOLATE. If any of you know me, I love, love, love me some chocolate and any type of sweets. This is going to be hard for me. Family is doing a weight loss challenge. Don't think I'll win, but I could lose some ell-bees (lbs). Nursing definitely kept my weight down and now it's been creeping back up. Ahhh! I'm going to try and do a couple of 5ks here within the next few months so I better kick my butt into gear. I'll let you know how I deal with this terrible loss.

Caught in the moment

This week, I found myself living a little more "in the moment". Most days I just try and get through it, hoping Kort will be happy, take good naps, that I can get dinner cooked, and Clay will get home early enough for us to have time together before going to sleep. I'll admit, I probably waste too much time on the computer throughout the day. Really, that's about all there is to do in this hotel room, other than the tv and maybe, just maybe, a small craft project that can easily be packed when we move next. With that being said, I don't give Kort enough one on one time. He really is growing up too fast. He jabbers constantly, especially when we go places. I don't care if people give weird looks or if they're annoyed. I love hearing him "talk" to me. I love this little guy. These past couple of days, I've dedicated myself to him and just sat on the ground playing with him. We've gone shopping, swimming with a new friend, and played in the hallways where he has forever to walk! 

Clay and I had the opportunity of speaking in church last week. I haven't given a talk for at least three years. I wasn't nervous or anything. I was happy that I got to dive in and really study to prepare. That really got me thinking what I've been neglecting in my life. I've just been going through the motions. With moving so often, this is my time in life that I have the chance to be a better person, to be a good example, and to really find out who I am. I am beginning to really understand how the "newbie" feels, the girl sitting by herself, no friends, yet faithfully still attends church because she knows it's true. I couldn't do this all without the knowledge that I have, the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. It makes me want to try harder. To do better. So this is me, challenging myself, to do just that. I need to get out of my bubble. I have become much more of a reserved person than I was in High School. Maybe reserved is an understatement. I think Clay and I have switched personalities. He was the quiet guy vs. me the outgoing girl in high school. Now it's just the opposite. I don't know if being a mom will do that to you, but regardless, I guess it's something I need to accept, yet work on to continue staying active and somewhat social. 

This is just me rambling on, once again. I'm hoping to print my blog out sometime this year, so I guess I'm glad that I write all my feelings since I haven't kept up on my journal since I got married. I'm just so grateful for the men in my life. I couldn't do { life } without them.