Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. ~Virgil A. Kraft

SPRING!!!! I love Spring. The weather is perfect. the grass is green again. No more cold. I can even deal with the rain and the wind if I get to see sunshine and feel the warmth every couple of days. It seems that the winter was going to last all year long. I am so glad to see it gone. Fingers crossed it is Idaho. I transplanted these tulips 2 falls ago and I thought that they were never going to bloom. I think Nate was hoping that if I would see some results with my flowers I might get more excited about planting flowers. Although it was nice to see them finally bloom I still feel the same way about flowers. Very pretty to look at but a waste of money. I know I am horrible.The blossoms on the trees at the park were pretty too.Last night I took the kids to the park so that they could ride their bikes in this great weather. My friend met me there with her daughter Evie. The kids had fun riding around and using the scooter. They even went exploring (the big great dane that followed the kids around every where made me feel a lot more comfortable letting Ella and Evie out of my sight). The kids ran around for about 2 hours before they decided that they wanted to go home. Plus bonus I got some face to face adult conversation in!Ella would climb this rock and then yell "I am the king of the world." I guess she doesn't realize that she is supposed to be the queen and not the king. Oh well at least she is still young enough to dream big about conquering the world!

Tyler

My Tyler what a funny kids he is. I just wanted to show you what he has been up too. Yesterday we were watching Signs. I had told him that it was going to be scary and that he probably wouldn't like it very much but he thought that he was man enough to handle it. But in the end, the scary music and jumpy parts got the best of him and he had to leave the room. It probably didn't help that as the moment was getting more and more intense and just as something scary was about to happen I screamed and everyone that was in the room jumped and he started to cry. Oops I did feel bad about that.

You can see how he was as the movie got more and more intense.

He also had a report that was due this week. He decided that he was doing to do it on Merriweather Lewis from "Lewis and Clark" We had to rush and get it all done Thursday night because I was supposed to be leaving for Utah on Friday to help my mom after her surgery. He did a great job on his report and decorating his guy. I felt really bad because when I didn't end up going I forgot to tell him and he ended up sleeping at his friends house. They picked him up after school and I picked up Ella that day so I gave him a big hug before he went to his friends house and asked him if he brought home his book so that we could finish the report over the weekend. He told me yes and that he was worried about getting the report to school on Monday because it was at our house and not with him. About a hour later I got a phone call from him worried about his report and I kept telling him that it was OK that it wasn't due until Monday and he could hand it in then. What I didn't realize was that I didn't tell him that I was going to be home so he thought that the report was stuck in the house with no way for him to get it. When I finally told him that he gave a huge sigh of relief and got off the phone as quick as he could. Poor kid had to worry about that for a hour. Sorry Buddy.

Ella is the VIP in her class.

This week Ella is going to be the VIP in her class. She was sent home with a paper to make a poster of herself that will be hung up in class for the week. She gets to stand up in front of the class and tell them all about her poster. She got to decorate it however she wanted to. Some of the things she wanted to tell her class is her full name and birthday. Her favorite animal (which is a deer) That she likes to play games especially skipbo and uno. That she loves her Aunt Joy. And she wanted to let everyone know that her daddy is in Iraq right now. She also put on her poster a picture of her family and some of her artwork. She is my VIP all of the time. Great job on your poster sis!

The end of our trip

One day while we were in Utah my dad took the kids up to the canyon to walk the dogs. Ella really wanted to go but my dad thought that maybe she was too small to keep up. He ended up telling her that she couldn't go. She came up to me and said "Maybe if I show Grandpa my big eyes he will let me go." How did this girl figure that out already. Seriously are we just born with that instinct. What a smart girl to put that together. She has been doing it for years but to hear that she is actually using the "big eyes" to manipulate a man. Wow good on ya Ella. Regardless to say that they didn't work on Grandpa. Of course he refused to look at her with her big eyes and hands clasped together begging. If I looked I don't know if I could of refused eitherLater that week my dad did end up taking her with him up to the canyon. She kept up with him just like she said she would. On the way down from the canyon she was holding Grandpa's hand and getting a little nervous because Natalie was too far ahead of them for her comfort. She started to say to Grandpa "Grandpa Natalie is to far ahead.... She needs to come back.... She is way far ahead of us.... Grandpa Natalie is really far away." Grandpa just told her that Natalie just had extra energy that she is trying to get out and that she was more then welcome to run up and catch up to Natalie and walk with her.

Ella responded to this by saying, "Grandpa once when I walked slow you stayed with me. So now that you are walking slow I will stay with you." What a thoughtful little girl.

It took many tries to get a good shot with Grandpa.and this one ended up being the best.

On Monday morning I woke up to this outside...

It made an easy decision for me. I would not be leaving Utah like I had planned. The kids were all bummed. As a matter of fact Ella told Joy the day before that if she had to stay in Utah one more day she was going to be home sick. Regardless to say. She was homesick. We were all a little homesick. We ended up hanging out with Joy that day and prepared our bags to leave the next day. Needless to say Tuesday was not a very good day to leave either. The weather was not cooperating with us at all. When I told Natalie and Nichole they both started to cry. Ella whined and Tyler cheered. He was not ready to go home yet. We waited one more day. And when Wednesday finally rolled around we hopped into the car and took off for home. The trip was uneventful which I am very thankful for. With the exception of when we stopped in Bountiful to pick up cookies at Cutler's Cookies (If you live in Utah you have to go there and just try a cookie. The Almond and Lemon ones are Divine). Pretzel jumped out of the car and started running around the parking lot barking at people. Now this parking lot isn't very big at all so I thought that she might actually run into the busy road and get hit. The people that she was barking at was very nice about it but it took her running around the van twice before she would get in. The people at the cookie store were very nice to box us up some wonderful treats especially since they had been open for a total of 2 minutes and they had to run back and frost some of the ones that we wanted. Overall it was a wonderful trip to Utah and it has made us all very excited to spend the summer there.

Good Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Easter. Bad Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Christmas.

Because I couldn't celebrate Easter with Nate, I decided to do the next best thing and celebrate with my family in Utah. We had a great couple days of Easter celebrating too. It started the Sunday before. We went to Nate's parent's ward for church. They had an Easter program for their Sacrament meeting. It was very nice to feel the spirit testify to me of that The Savior LIVES!!! The kids got to wear their new Easter clothes to church. I don't always get the kids Easter clothes but usually it falls right into the time when they are needing new church clothes anyway. So it is a great excuse to get them.Then the following Saturday we went to Grandpa and Grandma Swenson's for the family Easter egg hunt. My kids have always enjoyed going to it. There was such great food there and Grandma made her yummy cinnamon rolls. Each of the kids found a prize egg and each one found an egg with money in it. I would guess that there were about 55 people there that day. The kids have a great time running around with their cousins and of course collecting all of the candy.The next morning was Easter Sunday. This year my big girls helped me stuff eggs and my parents helped me out by hiding all of them. The egg hunt took longer then usual because the Easter Bunny hid them extra well this year. Every year the Easter Bunny marks the eggs with my kid initials so that everyone gets the same number of eggs. This year each kids got 18 eggs. Ella's last egg wasn't found until several hours after the hunt was declared over. The kids enjoyed their baskets this year. Most years the Easter Bunny just gives the kids a few candies in the basket but this year it came with a prize as well. Tyler got a book, Natalie and Nichole got a shirt and Ella got a badminton set. I think the Easter Bunny over compensated for Nate being gone.

We had a really nice dinner together as well. Rock, Meagan and Joy all came to eat at my parents house and to say we had a feast is an understatement. It was like Thanksgiving Dinner all over again. But the food was wonderful. I was responsible for dessert so I made the little chick cupcake. Tyler loved it so much he just couldn't get enough and had to shove his face right into it.

"Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.”-Julia Cameron

The kids and I went to Utah for spring break. Since the kids got out of school early (11:30) on Thursday and Friday I thought that it might be a great time to surprise my parents and show up to their house a couple of days early (they know how we don't like having the kids miss school so they thought that I was either coming Friday night or Saturday morning). The only one in on it was my sister and thank goodness because it could of ended with us being surprised when not a soul was home. We left the house around 9 a.m. and we were very lucky because there was not a blue sky to be seen. It was all gray and gross looking outside but we did not run into any bad weather. Just before arriving at my parents house my sister called me and asked where I was. I was then told that my dad and her were getting ready to go for a walk and she needed to know how long she needed to stall him. I told her to tell dad that one of her friends was going to drop something off that she had left in her car. My dad was not thrilled with waiting because that particular friend of my sister is know for being slower then slow. My dad asked her what color and kind of car did she drive. Joy said a green trick. As we were pulling up (they we waiting outside for Joy's friend) my sister said I think that's her and my dad said that's not a green truck and my sister said no I really think that's her. My dad said THAT'S JESS! and shook his head. We did it we pulled one over on my dad. My dad then called my mom and told her that he had a surprise for her and we all yelled SURPRISE!!!! and he said the kids are here. It was so fun surprising my parents like that.

The next day was my mom's day off so we went shopping of course. The kids picked out their Easter clothes. Then we met my dad for lunch at this really yummy Italian sandwich place. I had a pepper steak sandwich and instead of provolone cheese it was mixed with cream cheese. While at lunch it started snowing. And that is when all of the snowing started.

The next day we went to see Nate's parents and hung out with them for a little while. It was great to catch up with them. The kids love spending time over there. And on Sunday we went to church with them and had a very nice Sunday dinner.

On Monday I hung out with my sister at the beginning of the day and then went to lunch with Nate's mom, grandma, aunt Jill, aunt Shannon, and his cousin Amy. We laughed and had a great time. Amy was watching this group of ladies there had to be like 20 of them and she was telling us how there were always the same people in every group. The women who doesn't shut up (which she said was her), The women who just sits back and listens (Nate's cousin Heidi) the women who always has to ask what did you say (that's grandma) and the women who goes and thinks the entire time why the hell did I come (she said that was me) It made us all laugh.

Later that day we went to see How to train your dragon. Super cute and I totally recommend it to everyone. We watched it in 3D. Ella and Tyler really enjoyed the popcorn and ate all of it before the movie even started.

Ella stuffing her face full of popcorn. Joy, Tyler and Ella with the 3D glasses on.I found this funny list at my parents house. When I first saw it I thought that my mom wrote it. Then I talked to Nate and he said that he did it. I didn't believe him at first until I saw the handwriting. It is his. He is sooo funny. It says THINGS TO DO... #1 Fill out to do list.Tyler also got his shaggy hair cut off. It is always so nice to see him without all of those long locks. I actually like him with long hair but his doesn't quite do long like other boy's do so it doesn't get to be long for very long.Tuesday we went to Grandma Swenson's house and she made her amazing scones. I think I ate 50 of them. I went out and looked in grandpa's barn when I was there he has some of the coolest antiques. We hung out with Grandpa and Grandma for a few hours then went back to my parents so that the kids could go walking in the Canyon with Grandpa.

On Wednesday it insisted on snowing AGAIN! They were the biggest, fattest, flakes I have ever seen. It didn't snow for very long nor did it really stick to the ground. But I did make the kids go outside so that I could get their pictures in the snow. Which you really can't see all that well anyway. The little kids had a primary activity that they went to that day. It was about conference. And later that night the Big girls went to Young Women's. They learned First Aide for girls camp. I went up to SLC with Nate's cousin Mindi. The weather was yucky up that way and the roads weren't that great. We both had to look for road signs because you couldn't really see that well in front of you.

On Thursday Joy and I just hung out at her house most of the day. The kids went to Spend the night at Pam's house and I spent the night with my sister. It was great to have a break from the kids and be able to know that they are safe at their Grandma's house.

Friday I went with my mom shopping and we picked up all of the stuff that was necessary for Easter. We went to the mall and then we met my dad for lunch. It was great just spending some time with my mom.

"Do not threaten the supreme giganitc overlords. We do as we please." from Brandon Mull's Grip of the shadow plague

On March 24, the kids and I went to Boise to meet Brandon Mull. He is one of my favorite author's He wrote the Fablehaven Books. They are amazing books. What an imagination he has. He was holding a book signing at Deseret Book. We waited in line to see him for 2 hours and by the time that we got to the front of the line Ella was saying "I don't want to see the Author. I don't want to see the Author." But was very happy that she did. He was very nice and signed 2 books for us. He personalized each one. He talked to each of us and thanked me for Nate's military service. He said that one day he would like to meet him. Boy is he going to be in for a shock when I just show up to his front door with Nate one day and say "what you said one day you would like to meet him. Well here he is. Can we come in?" I am very envious of people to write because I would very much so like to have that talent.

Ella's day with Peety

In Ella's kindergarten class the kids take turns picking out a puppet to take home and journal about. It was Ella's turn and she picked out Peety the Parrot to take home with her. They had a great adventure together. They rode the bus home and played outside. Peety got to go for a ride on Otis. They had dinner together and built a fort too. The next day they ate breakfast together and watched t.v. They read a book and Ella showed him how many words she can read. Then he rode back to school with her on the bus. Then Ella got to stand in front of the class while Ms. Ytuarte read about her adventure. We had fun with you Peety. Until next time.

Chance makes our parents, but choice makes our friends

I called my dad the other day and asked him when he was going to come down because his honey do list was getting long. So the following Friday I had a conversation with my dad that went something like this

Me:Hey daddy what are you doing?

Dad: Just at work. I tried to talk your mom into coming down this weekend but she said no.

m:what? she did. Why didn't she want to come?

D:I don't know why don't you call her and ask.

Then I called my mom and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Dad said that he tried to talk you into coming down this weekend and you said no.

Mom: ahhh he said that we should and I said are you sure you want to? and then he said we better not.

Me: That figures.

To which I hung up her and called my dad

M: Dad mom just said that you were the one that didn't want to come.

D: I guess I did say that.

All of this happened while I was on my way to my Physical Therapy appointment (p.s. the last one I have graduated from PT. I am almost 100%. The Physical Therapist also confirmed what I knew all along. I don't have great balance even with 2 good legs) While I was in my PT I missed my dad's phone call so I called him back.

D:Hey are you busy this weekend

m: Not anything that I can't cancel

D: Okay we will be leaving here in about an hour.

Sure enough by 11:30 they were on their way to spend the weekend with us. It was a great way to get my mind off of things (my anniversary). My dad also spent many hours under my smelly kitchen sink and fixed a really bad leak that I had under there. So he checked off one thing on my honey do list for him. Tyler also helped him with the plumbing. It only took us 3 trips to the plumbing store here in town and a trip to Home Depot in Boise. But mission accomplished.

My mom hung out with the kids and she let Ella dress her up in her headband. Isn't my mom so lucky to be able to wear such a fashionable head band. Luckily she didn't have to go out in it. We also went to Donnie Mac's trailer park Cuisine. It was fun.

Knowing you will be with me in all my tomorrows, makes my today so wonderful.

Nate and I celebrate 13 wonderful years being together. I can't say that we didn't have tough time's but all of the tough times have made us stronger and happier. My love for you extends across oceans and land to be with you every night. I wish we could be together to celebrate our anniversary. I remember on the day that we were married the nervousness that I felt that was accompanied by my great joy to be married to such a great man. Three years later we were able to get sealed together in the Mesa, Arizona Temple for time and eternity. I am happily married to a man who is a hard worker, a loving father, and most importantly I know that I can tell my kids to "Follow their father" Because I know that he respects and holds the priesthood and with Our Heavenly Father's help he won't steer them wrong.

My heart aches for you every night but I know that you are doing the right thing by protecting our country. Be strong and know that you are loved. Babe, here's to eternity together.My wonderful husband got me this cute necklace. It has the degrees and minutes of the location that he is at. I now have him with me at all times.

It says N 35 degrees 30 '0" E 44 degrees 24'0" KOTX. With this necklace came a link to put my story on a google map so that everyone who bought a necklace to see everyone Else's story. Here is the link I had fun reading what other people wrote.

This is what I wrote:

My husband, Nate is deployed to Iraq for the next 6 months. He is going to miss many holidays and birthdays. He is also going to miss our thirteenth anniversary. He got me a necklace with the minutes and degrees on and now I have a little token of where he is and his love for his kids and me. I am so proud of my husband for defending his family and his country. I love you babe. You are my life. Jessica