______Eat My Dust Kuwait!!!_____

........So, there I was sitting in my room minding my own business when all of a sudden I find myself moving to a dirty tent with six bunk beds and 9 people... Now, here I am sitting in a rugged trailer trying to get an Internet connection to make this post.

Long story short...

........Our relief officially touches ground tomorrow and I am scheduled to be on a flight outta here on 03 August 2010!!! Yes, Sweets! Happy Anniversary! just wish I could kiss you through this darn "flat screen."

So, tentatively we fly on the 3rd and arrive to stay over night in Germany then home to the UK!!! with no pending detours/problems with flights I should be home and in your arms and cuddling up to a movie in no time...

........I just have about 1 week of work left and then a few days to wait out the plane. Cant wait!

Love you guys and I will see you soon.

Count downs are a *$#@!

Here I am, it is 1:37 am. All I can think about it my husband walking through my front door. yes, it is one of those posts! :) Stop now if you can't bear to read on..I will not be offended.

So now that we are down to about two weeks away from that actually happening I am so excited and so nervous. You know after 6 months you forget what it is like having them around. Doesn't seem possible, but it is. I forget what his hand feels like in mine, what it feels like to cuddle with him on the couch and watch a movie together. I have to cuddle with the sticky, humid, muggy air right now.
I have my irritations with technology. While it is fabulous to see Mike everyday(almost) to speak to him everyday(almost) and to hear how he is doing everyday(almost). :) It annoys me so badly because it makes me miss him all the more. It frustrates me that I can't touch him, that he can't wrap is arms around me and pull me close when I am feeling down. We praise technology, put this last month I have cursed its existence. It is the devil to me and hell to pay not to have what is in this flat screen that glows each night, but can't make anything actually come from it.
By experience I know that this last couple of weeks is going to feel like an extra six months, it is going to feel like a hell has entered my soul and won't move the clock forward. Then I will look back and realize that I actually blinked and it was over. Funny how our perspective changes the moment we are looking at something from a different angle.

I look forward to that angle change...goodnight

Salt Water Taffy

Yummy Yummy in my tummy! My sweet parents made my day with a special box in the mail. It all started when I was having a bummer couple of weeks. It boils down to just feeling sorry for myself and not being able to get out of the rut I was in. I was down in the dumps and felt like there was no salvation in my sorrows. My mom was feeling bad that she couldn't be here to watch the kids, give me a break, and just be here for me. After a few different conversations about this topic over a few days she was saying how much she wanted to do something for me. I responded, "Fine, if you really want to help I want salt water taffy." Well, much to my surprise not only did I get some salt water taffy, I got 6.5 lbs of salt water taffy! That has to make a girl feel good.
I just appreciate the thought that went behind this and everytime I eat one I think of my mom and dad who are willing to do anything for me. They had record timing with getting this box out to me and so I know that they dropped everything to do it. I don't think the salt water taffy helped in the long run, I think it was the knowledge that I have a great support system behind me 100% of the way. Even when I am being childish and selfish they still love me and help me through it! Thanks mom and dad...you guys are my most favorite mom and dad ever!!!! :)

Turning 9 is hard work!!

Mason is nine! I have a nine year old child. That is so strange to me!!! He always loves having his birthday and this year was no exception. His actual gift was on back order and so I had to run to the store the day of the party(because that is when I found out the other thing wasn't coming) and grab some things so that he would have something to unwrap. I was busy with getting some food prepared and still hadn't wrapped gifts. Then I thought, what are the other kids for, geez Hollie! So Carter and Taylor wrapped his gifts and had a great time doing it. They made me laugh when they told me they chose the Princess paper because Mason really likes princesses. It made me laugh that they put that much effort in even choosing the paper. Such sweet children I have.

Really loved the Shake N Go Woody car. If his smile didn't give it away. :)

He also has been on a kick of playing with the shape sorter. He was figuring out the one we have quite well so I thought I would throw another in there to keep him busy. He has enjoyed that everyday since!

Nothing better than the "Happy Birthday" ringing through the air. Mason has always loved this part of the day. We had great friends over who have loved Mason from when he first walked into the ward two years ago. Some friends that got here last year and who we adore. The missionaries came to help us eat some cake after their long day in London. It was a great time and if I do say so myself it was great cake.

Little boys

Brennan was out playing with himself and I thought it was great that he was running little toddler experiments of his own. He had his legs propped up so that when he put the little pole at the top it would roll down his legs. He thought is was very fascinating and kept doing it over and over again! Then he caught he taking pictures and took the lawn mower to hide himself. I love summer and the permanent dirt look to my children.

Sleeping anywhere

Brennan has the potential to crash anywhere now a days. He has decided that naps are over rated, but still has days that he can not help but fall asleep. I can not put him in bed because then he realizes what he is doing, so you just have to let the sleeping dog lie.

Trebuchet

I just realized as I went through the camera that I had more pictures to blog about than originally thought, so this might happen tonight, but more than likely over a couple days.
Carter needed to build a trebuchet for school because they have had an entire unit in school based on Castles. Carter has enjoyed this very much and was thrilled to build his own trebuchet. I had no idea where to start and so we enlisted the help of the missionaries. We opened the shed of Mike's tools and said have at it! Trebuchets are actually based more on slinging something through weights and balances, and so techincally what we ended up with was a catapult. That's okay, Carter loved it regardless. He also told me after that it was fun to just hang out with some grown up boys. :) That kid misses his dad something fierce I tell ya.

I loved that Elder K tucked his tie for safety, good lesson for Carter. Always practice safe working habits!

This lovely trebuchet ended up throwing something about 8-10 feet. Much further than I would have given it credit for. This was one of those projects where you could see whether the child helped or not...I hope the parents had fun! :)
Thanks Elders...you guys are awesome!