Yikes! When did our twinkies get so big!

Every now and then I like to remind myself how lucky we are with the twins growth and development! I can't believe they are going to be 17 months old this month! They are both walking and starting to talk! Mr. Mase has 9 teeth and Gracie has almost 4 (her top left has just barely cut through). Having these 2 sweet spirits in our family has changed us all and blessed us in so many ways! Tanner and Mason are quickly becoming best friends and play together so well! Grace is such a girl, she loves babies, My Little Ponies and ANYTHING girly! They are growing up just way too fast! And to think in a few short months they will both be older sibblings, wow!

Fall Family Pictures

When I look at these pictures of my beautiful family I can't help but get a little teary eyed! I am so blessed beyond measures to have such a wonderful family!

Bug & His Soup Bath...

Last night for dinner at the request of my mom and I J.Paul made fresh butternut squash soup, soooooo yummy! All the kids loved it (twinkies included!) but Bug took it to a whole different level...
I wasn't feeling the greatest last night so after I had my bowl of soup on the couch I decided to lay down for a while, J.Paul was helping Caleb with homework and Tanner who always seems to be the last to finish was still quietly eating at the table or so J.Paul thought! Next thing I know J.Paul is waking me up saying "You are going to want to get up and take a look at Bug"!
What I saw was a HUGE MESS! Tanner had decided to put his hands in the bowl of soup and then smear it all up and down his arms and then proceed to put his hands back in the bowl and then again rub it all over his arms! When we asked him what he was doing he said "wash, I washing.". We allowed it to go on long enough to get a few pictures and a quick video of it then off to the tub he went! While J.Paul was bathing him I went into the bathroom and asked Tanner why did he do that and he answered "its nice! Warm and nice"!
There you have it, he did it because it was warm and nice!!! Silly Buggy!

Back to School Caleb Went and into the Second Grade!

Caleb started school on Tuesday! I didn't think I was going to be so emotional about it but I was! To be perfectly honest I get that way every year!!!! We just can't get over the fact that he is in second grade, he is just growing way too fast!

Eternal Companion

Sunday at church a sweet young girl who grew up in the ward came home from BYU to visit and announce her engagement. As I sat and listened to her tell everyone about how the guy had proposed and showed off her ring I found myself thinking back on when J.Paul and I were dating, when he proposed to me making what was a horrible day one of the best days in my life! The excitment I heard in her voice and saw in her eyes made me smile.
I remember being newly engaged and so in love thinking there was no way it was ever possible to love J.Paul more than I did then...WOW, was I so wrong! With each passing day, with each trial we face (there have been many and I know there will be many more!), and with the birth of each new child we are blessed with I find myself falling more and more in love with him!
I have heard many people say after being married for years how they miss that new & young love that they once shared. Not me, I LOVE how the longer we are married the stronger we become, the more "in step" we become with one another, the closer we grow!
I am so greatful for my husband, my best friend, partner in crime, and most import of all my etenal companion!

1,2,3,4 AND 5 is in the oven!!!

Yep that's right!!!! We are EXPECTING baby number 5 in Feb! I am 10 weeks pregnant! We are very excited about this little miracle!
As most of you know J.Paul and I have never been able to conceive without a little help from fertility doctors! After the twins birth we decided that we were very blessed with the children we had and would not go back in for any more fertility "help"...Towards the end of February we were shocked to find out we had conceived on our own however I miscarried in March. This was a very sad time for us and once again we had an ache in our hearts that our family was not complete but didn't know if we would be able to conceive a healthy pregnancy on our own. Still agreed that we would not seek fertility help we decided we would once again rely on our faith, knowing our Heavenly Father has a plan for us! It took me SIX pregnancy test to convince myself I was really indeed pregnant again! Nervous that this pregnancy would end the same way as the last we really didn't let ourselves believe it to be true until I started becoming tired and sick ALL day which as miserable as it is means my hormones are high and things are thus far good! So bring on the sickness and lazy days, I will gladly welcome them!!!
Originally. we were not going to tell anyone (not even our parents) until we found out the sex of this baby, ensuring by then all was healthy, funny thing about already having 4 kids 3 of which not that long ago...you body starts to show A LOT earlier on! My belly is making it harder to hide these days so we decided we should probably share our news with our family and friends!
In answer to a question a lot of you are wondering, this will be our last! Making this all the more exciting, I am going to enjoy every fun filled visit to the bathroom, every moment of being tired, every ache and pain, and all the swelling that comes my way!

Faith and the Blessings that come from it!

I know, I know! I have not blogged in forever and I have a TON of catching up to do and a TON of pictures to put up, just as soon as I can find the cord to plug the camera into the computer!!!

I am feeling so extremely blessed beyond measures right now!
When we first started to talk about moving J.Paul started to look for work here in the Twin Cities. He applied to so many jobs that we just lost count after a while. Things sort of just fell into place so easily for us to move BUT he had not heard a single thing from anyone about a job here. We continued to pray and as crazy as it seemed to so many people we felt like we needed to move even though that meant living off of our savings until J.Paul found work here...
It is amazing what happens when you have faith... We up and moved thousands of miles away and just did not have a single worry as to what was going to happen once we got here! Once we got here J.Paul continued to apply for jobs but still no calls back, until one day he got a call from a hotel down town Minneapolis. He went to the interview and called me on his way home and said he just did not want "that kind of job" again. By "that kind of job" he meant a job that kept him away from home, unable to go to church every Sunday, a job that limited his church callings, a job that would not allow for family time, no weekends free, missed holidays...However that pretty much is the life of a chef! While he was driving home he decided to stop into this company called Medtronic and see who was in charge of their dinning facilities. He met a man who he must have made quite an impression on because he informed J.Paul that Bon Appetit was the company that handled the food there and also did at a number of corporate facilities in the area ( Target headquarter, Best Buy headquarters...) as well as all over the country! He then took J.Paul's resume and made calls to just about EVERYONE he could think of with Bon Appetit! The following Monday morning J.Paul got a call from someone with Bon Appetit at the Best Buy Headquarters in Richfield wanting to know if he could come down for an interview! Of course he was hired on the spot and in "corporate dinning"!!! What does this mean? It means, Monday-Friday 7-4, NO WEEKENDS!!!! Much better pay with much less hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bon Appetit is like J.Paul said "the kind of company he hopes to work for until he retires"!
For so many people this might not seem like such a big deal but to us this is the biggest blessing we could have ever hoped for! Since J.Paul and I have been married and started a family we have never had a normal schedule, making it hard to have much of a life(personal, family or friends). As of Monday morning our family's lives are about to change in a way we thought would never be possible for us!!
So to you our friends and family I say, I have a testimony of prayer and faith! Sometimes we don't know what the out come will be but as long as we keep our faith and know that our Heavenly Father loves us and does hear our prayers and listen to his promptings we will be blessed!