Thoughts

I guess i don't write much about myself in the blog. This being my family journal, i better include some of my thoughts as of late. I miss the ease of living in a bigger town, but i've adjusted to living here in Challis. I still laugh at the smallness of things, how wicked slow people drive here, how wildlife hangs out in my yard, or how ridiculous i find the grocery store. The ward is friendly, however i haven't really gotten to know too many people yet. Because of the smoke our outings have been limited. Thankfully we are not as bogged down with smoke currently, but the fires are still going so we're not out of smoke season yet. It's been an interesting transition moving here and being at home all day every day with my children. This summer marked the first time in many many years i haven't had a job. I never realized how different it would be to go from being a mom and working part time to being at home full time with my kids. I love being with my children, and they are wonderful; however i'm starting to value the occasional times i am able to get some free time. I have to say that one of my major shortcomings is that my patience can run short sometimes.  I have a loving and supportive husband, family, and Heavenly Father. I'm starting to realize how i need to appreciate the little things and not sweat the small stuff as a mom.
I'm loving conference thus far this weekend. I always look forward to the uplifting and inspired messages. Casey and i were surprised to hear about the age change for missionaries. We went into the discussion of how it would've impacted us years ago, and how it will impact our kids futures. My whole family - Dad, Mom, Brother's, and Sister have been on missions. They have all been a great example to me and i look up to them and their gospel examples. I'm looking forward to watching my children serve missions and hope to serve one with Casey someday.
These past few weeks as the temperature has dropped has brought on our newest adventure of living in Challis. The main heating for our home is a wood burning stove. Up until this week we've only lit it in the mornings, however i can tell fall has finally hit because we have to use it a lot more. (I feel like i'm living in a different era when i haul in wood and try and get the stove going.) Casey has been kind enough to do the fire building; however this week he had to go to Boise for a teacher training for a few days, and those days happened to be our coldest yet. So, i've had to haul, chop, and light the fire each night and get up every few hours to put on new logs (i thought getting up for a newborn was a chore). The stove only keeps part of the house warm; luckily it's the part we spend most of the day in. We have a propane heater, but we can't use it until someone checks it out. (- that along with a few other issues with the house that still need to be delt with by the owner / rental people {sigh} ) For now i've put some plastic on the kids windows and kept us a bit more bundled (especially at night). Hopefully i can get the hang of this fire thing and we can get propane before winter.
Casey is enjoying school. He liked his conference in Boise, but felt some of it didn't apply to what he teaches. The children are doing well, and growing every day. Peter loves finding his hands and sucking / chewing on them. He will only roll when he wants to; and he's starting to sit up more. Kendal is flourishing. As you can tell from the side bar posts about her she has quite the imagination. Her stories are always amusing. She still loves to be read to (she'd sit by me for endless amounts of time with a book if she could), and she starting to become interested in sounding out words with us, and copying letters. I'm so grateful to be their mom.

I love these two little monkeys! Wouldn't trade my life with them for anything.