Twin Falls, Idaho

We can say it offically.................

We are moving to Twin Falls, Idaho.

Home of the Shoshone Falls

And the Twin Falls Idaho Temple

While Joel & I were in Twin Falls, we were able to find an apartmennt for us to rent. We were really scared of what we would get for our budget. Remember, our current home is over 2000 sq feet/4 bedrooms and we are downsizing to half of that. Literally, 1000 sq ft and two bedrooms. That is a whole story all in itself for Joel, lol.

Our rental manager, Shelley, is amazing and worked super hard on making sure we found the best place for our family. She was able to give us every things we had listed and in the school boundary we want Eden to attend.

We also were able to meet with our employer. Initally, we were actually hired over the phone and they said to just come in and sign the paperwork when we came to town and tell them our start date. Yeah, that definitely does not happen everyday! But, after looking around and speaking with other employees, we feel it's a great place to work. We are scheduled to start by the beginning of July. We've planned our moving date for June 19th.

But, I won't even get into how I feel about packing........

Just Taking Note

So, I've decided that I need to be more diligent with my writing. I've been writing in a personal journal and blogging online but decided it is time to combine for the most part. I will keep my very personal entries in my private journal, but will keep most updates on my blog and just print off regularly to keep in a journal.

This entry doesn't have a lot of explanation but wanted to keep track of the last couple weeks. We've accomplished a lot and don't want to miss anything as I expell on them later.

Our last 12 days:

Wednesday, May 23rd - Eden went to visit Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Devin. He stayed 7 days!

Thursday, May 24th - Sheetrock, plaster & taped our downstairs bedroom and did laundry. 

Friday, May 25th - Mowed the yard (3 hours), organized the garage and stacked wood.

Saturday, May 26th - First day of Joel's 10 vacation from work! Worked outside on the garage again, attended the local flea market & had dinner with our neighbors. Packed for our "mini-vacation".

Sunday, May 27th - Enjoyed our Sabbath with church & some quiet time.

Monday, May 28th - Started on our journey to Twin Falls. It took us 8 hours in the car and a TERRIBLE pass. (Not looking forward to taking the U-haul over HWY 93.) Checked into Motel 8 about 6pm, went to Shoshone Falls for a picnic dinner.

Tuesday, May 29th - A busy day! We met our rental manager and saw 5 different homes/apartments in Twin Falls. We also met with our employer and did all of the basis paperwork. Went to dinner at Golden Corral.

Wednesday, May 30th - Time to pack up and head back home. It took us about 9 hours to get home this time. We stopped and enjoyed a burger at a local stop on the way and also Lowe's. Got home about 5pm and immediately started staining the back patio a dark walnut color.

Thursday, May 31st - Woke up at 6am to get on the road and pick up Eden in Plains. So excited to have him back with us. (It was lonely without the little guy!) We continued staining the deck, finishing the inside stairwell (stain & edging) and painting the ceiling of the downstairs bedroom.

Friday, June 1st - Sealed as a family for all eternity. Had dinner with John, Donna & Emiley Rios and Justin Leonard at Tomato Street. (It was John & Donna's anniversary too!)

Life Is Wonderful

My goodness what a great weekend we had at the Nelson landing!

We've been so lucky to receive all the great news lately. So, in case you're wondering; here it is...............

We ArE gEtTiNg SeAlEd!!!!!!

Yep, that's right! I am one of the luckiest girls alive. Then even more blessings came! Saturday, I went to check the mail and we received a mailing that had been notarized & approved by the courts to have permission for Joel to adopt Eden!!! We hadn't told many people because the process was taking so long and didn't want to jinx ourselves with telling people what we were doing. But, it finally came - YAY!

How do I even express how I am feeling right now? Overjoyed, elated, thankful - so many words could be used right now. But ultimately, I feel so thankful to Heavenly Father for the blessings he has given my family the past two years. He has brought Joel & I together as one. 

So, to top today off Joel & I were able to submit the adoption paperwork for Joel to legally adopt Eden as his own son. Eden is SO excited. His only silly question about the entire thing was now that he is getting Dad is he losing me. My heart just melted when he asked & I started crying. (I'm a cry baby) and told him no, he was just now getting everything that Heavenly Father wants him to have. Eden got so excited, he started crying too! I just love these special moments. We were able to set a court date for May 14th @ 9am!

YeS, oNlY 3 mOrE wEeKs AnD wE wIlL bE aN "oFfIcIaL" fAmIlY!

Heavenly Father has been so amazing to my family.  I am so thankful for them that has been given to me on this earth and will remain with for eternity. I cannot wait to set our date and be sealed as not only husband & wife but a complete eternal family.

Things I Should Be Doing

I should be doing more than just sitting at the computer typing my blog

Like..............

washing & folding laundry

doing dishes

moving the lawn

making beds

scrubbing the toilet

take a shower - don't worry I took one yesterday!

painting the downstairs bedroom

but, like I said; instead, I am here on my computer.

It's a quiet day. Eden has went to Devin's house to celebrate his birthday this weekend. This is two week in a row he has went away for a few days. Mommy is definitely not liking this.

Love, Staci

Time 4 Learning

A few weeks ago, I came across a great site: www.time4learning.com. Didn't think much of it besides that I realized it was a fun site for kids to do activities and get some help with their learning. I wasn't amazed that it was $19.95/month. Don't get me wrong! There is nothing wrong with paying money to help your kids learn, but there are so many free sites I thought I could find a better one.

But, I have to admit I was wrong. I enrolled Eden just last week for Time 4 Learning. After a lot of researching the site and reading "pros" and "cons" about the site, I thought this could really be for us. So I enrolled Eden and away we went.

I had him work on 5 lessons on Saturday. He was really enjoying it and actually starting getting upset when I said we needed to go outside and water the garden! Man, that really impressed me. Then today, we began our 1st real day of T4L. It went amazingly well. Since we have been homeschooling this year anyways, I wasn't sure where to start. So why not the beginning? I've figured it out to where he will do 5 lessons in Language Arts & Extension Language Arts, 2 in Math every week. 1 Science, 1 Social Studies and Art every week, as well as his daily independent reading, Music, Scriptures, and outside play. Then he doesn't have a chance to have missed anything.

And, I love the way that they implent their curriculum. It's all narriated nicely and very clear to understand. If you have questions, you jump on the forum page - free with enrollment and ask your questions. They get answered quickly and very throughly - I've already asked a few. Also, they have great ladies that work up in their office and have answered my questions quickly and precisely. None of that sales stuff like "since your a member, you are eligable for....." I hate dealing with that garbage.

The other great thing about T4L is it's not just for homeschooling. It's used an an after school program, extra learning, or just plain fun gaming for children up to 8th grade! All in one site! I've already recommended it to my sister and a very good friend thinking of homeschooling in the coming years! Check it out.

www.time4learning.com

or

http://www.facebook.com/#!/Time4Learning

Happy Autism Awareness Month!

So, if you haven't guessed.... April is Autism Awareness Month. The official day is the 2nd where national "Autism Walks" are hosted and millions of dollars are donated for the very cause. It's such a heartfelt month for me. Eden has Asbergers aka Autism Spectrum Disorder and it's been a blessing! Once we found out what was going on in that big beautiful brain of his, we knew how to handle it.

So, to show my support for Autism Awareness, I wore my blue yesterday. Today, I headed down to our public library and read with children. This month the library is sponsoring children with (all) disabilities with a free boook if they attend a reading session. Eden wasn't able to attend because he is visiting grandma and grandpa this week. We will take him next week!

So, I've decided to celebrate the month by posting a new picture and fun fact about Autism Spectrum Disorder on my facebook page for everyone to learn something!

~*Lovely*Saturday*~

{I LOVE SATURDAYS}

Can't say enough about them! It's so nice to just have a relaxing day at home and not have any week long commitments anymore.

Our usual Saturday:

1. Wake up & visit with my hubby (He works night shift).
2. Lead Eden in his chores - Laundry pickup, feed dogs, garbage, make bed, brush teeth, etc.
3. Breakfast Pancake Party - yep, every Saturday!
4. Play imaginary ninjas or police officer.
5. Clean up the house for for Sunday.
6. Make Lunch.
7. Prepare & study our lessons for sunday school, primary & rs/priesthood the following day.
8. Eden picks a flick for family movie night!
9. 30 minutes of reading for Eden.
10. Clean house for a lady that has hired my assistance.
11. Water my indoor plants. Prepare outside soil for planting.
12. Make Dinner - usually pizza, tacos, burgers, etc. - We lay a blanket out downstairs and enjoy dinner with a movie every Saturday.
13. Bath/Shower.
14. Family Scripture study/prayer.
15. Bed!

Wow, it's amazing how I said before that I don't have a committed schedule for Saturday. I guess I fibbed! It's amazing all the "little" things we do and I never realized it before.

Well, here is to a productive day!