Pay it forward

Pay it forward

This is how it works..... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. BUT, in order for you to leave a comment on my blog, you have to post this on your blog first. (That means that sometime during this year you will send a gift to 3 people as well.) Get it? So, the first 3 people to comment on this post will be the lucky ones.

Adventures

Going to Tonopah to apartment hunt was very insightful. Every time we told anyone we were moving to there, they would get this shocked look on their face and then tell us that there was nothing there and by nothing they meant not even grass. I have to say that this concerned me. Luckily, when we got there, we were pretty happy. It is definitely small (only like 2500 residents) but they have quite a bit of commerce. Tons of gas stations, grocery options, saloons (yep, I’m serious), and restaurant options. A family from Overton has actually lived in Tonopah so they set us up with some of their friends that still live there. One of them happens to be the bishop of THE ward there. I was a little disappointed to find out that there are only 60 active members though. After thinking about it for a while and seeing quite a few missionaries, I have decided that the church situation will be a great adventure. The really exciting thing about the town is that rent is so dirt cheap that we are going to be able to rent a house! Yeah! We have turned in an application on a three bedroom, one bath home and hopefully we will hear back soon. Hopefully it will be really soon because we need to move this weekend or the beginning of next week. So the wheels are in motion! Once we found the house, we decided to drive back to Delta instead of spending the night. We left after sun down which gave us great insight Tonopah’s star gazing. The place is supposed to have the darkest skies in the whole U.S. They aren’t kidding when people say that. It was so dark that you could not tell when the mountains ended and sky started. There were deer crossing signs everywhere and it really freaked us out because you can’t see ANYTHING outside the headlight range. Maybe it would have better if the moon was out. And by the way, Route 6 has the nickname of the loneliest highway, which is also an accurate description. In five hours we only saw one semi in our lane and we only past 4 cars going the other way. The only town we went through was Ely. All in all we had a 4 hour drive to Tonopah, a 5 hour drive to Delta, and spent at least 3 hours driving back and fourth around Tonopah. We are so sick of being in the car. The awesome thing is that Rees took it like a champ. He only fussed off and on about the last two hours of the trip and I think that was mostly because he wanted to sleep in his crib instead of the car seat. Did we get lucky or what?

Here's the skinny

I am at my parents house and time is hard to come by. Here are the basics.

BENJY GOT A JOB!! We are moving to Tonopah, NV in two weeks so Benj can take a job as a corrections officer. YEAH!

My Great Grandma has passed away. The funeral is tomorrow. We have to sing :(

My little brother Hayden is a rock star. His varsity basketball team is in the division championship game tomorrow.

Shout out to the new mommy and daddy Hilton. We are so happy for you!

Details will follow later.

The Magic Day

This magic day will be February 20th. I will send the blog invites out then. I LOVE hearing from everyone.

Maybe I should lay off the cough syrup

I think I missed my calling in life. I’m not 100% sure but I think it’s close. The annoying thing is that it doesn’t really matter at this particular moment but it is still driving me nuts. I feel like I have to decide right now. Here is the dilemma. (And please don’t laugh at me. At least don’t laugh too much) I want to be both a nurse and a cosmetologist. Here is why I think I missed my chance. I can still do one but I don’t feel like I can do both. I’m past the stage of life of complete freedom (you know, your time is only yours). I couldn’t dedicate my time and money to train for both and still feel like I am being a good wife and mother. I am to the point in life that when I go back to school it is going to be for a nurse (most likely). Cosmetology just doesn’t seem age appropriate anymore and yet it would be soooooo much fun. But being a nurse would be such a better job and lets be honest, it pays a WHOLE lot more. Not to mention medical careers are almost always in demand (of course I always thought that about construction too). I thought that maybe writing this all out would help me decide on what to do, but it really didn’t.

Reeses Pieces Butter Cup

Name and Meaning: Rees-As far as we can tell, there is no meaning but the name is welsh. We have decided for our benefit, the name Rees means peanut butter cup :)

Age: 14 months

Nicknames: Sugar Puff, Reeses, Reesie

Favorite Activities: Pushing buttons, emptying drawers, throwing water (well, throwing all objects actually)
Favorite Foods: Bananas. If he hears anyone even mention the word bananas he will haul tail over to beg for some.
Least Favorite Foods: Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes in all it forms. He dislikes sweet potatoes so much that he is even leary of eating anything that is the same color as sweet potatoes.
Favorite Music: The Indian Chief Song, Wheels on the Bus, Leona Lewis (yes, you read that right) and Little Birds

Favorite Toys: Flashlights, his big Dump truck (and the little ones too), and anything that he is not supposed to play it.
Favorite Books: Farm Animals, Nursery Rhymes, my Scriptures (of course he doesn't like my scriptures for reading or looking at. He likes to try and an rip out all the thin pages)

Favorite Item of clothing: His shoes from Uncle Hayden, his space ship pajamas, his animal vest (it has hair on it and the tigers mouth open, he loves to play with it) and I think he really likes his clip on tie for church. Maybe I just like the tie. It entertains him for like 10 minutes while he tries to take it off.
What makes him happy: Splashing water, mooching food from people around him, music, taking toys from other kids (he gets this look on his face like he has won a prize), and his pacifier

What makes him unhappy: when I take things from him (he does this REALLY dramatic tantrum), having to fold his arms to long, being in his car seat
Funny Words or Phrases: Yup and Yes. He says those to everything you ask him. He has also gotten really good at repeating everything we say using the same tone (the words aren't clear yet). In reality, the kid doesn't use his words that often, he actually sticks to signing. And his signing in really good when he gets upset.

Rees would like to tag Kevin J (Esther), Preston C (Jenny), Dallin H (Lara), Milo S (Abby), and Jordan (Kristy)

Isn't Rees' little tie so cute? I stinkin love it!

Quick run down...

...of the last 10 days.

We headed to Vegas. Benjy tested for Tonopah Corrections. We will see how that goes but we think it went well. I got to see a bunch of friends. We even got to have a bunch of game nights. It was so fun to see everyone. We even got to see Garb's new home (which once again Garb, it is gorgeous!) We were able to see Hayden get to play a couple of basketball games. He is quite the rock star player. He wanted to make sure Rees was dressed appropriately for his games so he got Rees the cutest Christmas present. It was a pair of little Air Jordan basketball shoes. Rees was so cute in them that he definately didn't embarress Hayden in the least. He was so cute in them that Hayden may be at risk of loosing his girlfriend to Rees. Rees LOVES her! When Megan was coming up the bleachers, Rees about had a heart attack trying to get to her. We also got to see my Grandpa and Grandma Cooper for alittle bit. Yeah. We had a Super Bowl party that was fun but would have been better if the Cardinals would have won. Poor Cards. Our life has gone down hill since the game. I have been at deaths door since the game. I am hoping that today will be the last sick day. (btw-Mari, I was thinking about your post from when you were sick. The update about you salting your self is the only thing that makes me smile)