I love MOVING.....

only when I get to move back into my home. I never thought I'd say I love MOVING, but the closer it gets to our moving back HOME date the more excited I am to load up these boxes. If any of you want to lend a helping hand or two, we would LOVE it even more! We'll keep you posted on the exact date.

Change.....

It's been a long time since I've written about our families hustle and bustle so I figure it's about time. A lot has happened since my September post. We enjoyed the wonderful fall that Colorado has to offer. We enjoyed spending time with one another and making new friends. The one thing that we as a family didn't enjoy was being soooo far from home. We missed all of our Arizona friends and family so much while we were gone. I couldn't continue working as a police dispatcher for Littleton PD after my car accident. Things just weren't working there for me. So I quit my job and found myself in the job hunt. Having found nothing there I decided to go for a visit with the children to AZ just in time to celebrate the one year anniversary of Jeremy's passing. I couldn't bare the thought of missing out on that special time. Eric was still in school and working at a mortuary so he stayed behind in CO. I opened up a can of worms while in AZ and the children expressed great desire to return. They stated how much they didn't like leaving AZ. I was a bit worried on how Eric was going to take the news. It turns out that all was well and after prayer, and family council we realized we needed to move back to AZ. We did have a few hurdles to jump through in order to do that. First we needed to break our lease and pray new renters would take over (which they did) then we needed to scrounge up some money which we didn't have any of. The move to CO broke our bank. Thankfully we have family that love us and help us enough to get us back on our feet. I moved back to AZ with the kids in November and Eric stayed in CO to finish off his semester of school and his two weeks of work. He joined us the beginning of December which I was forever grateful. Life as a single Mom is NO fun at all. My parents were gracious enough to let us live there with them. In the meantime I began looking for work. I was lucky enough to land a job at an Elementary School so I have the same hours as my kids. We found a good home to rent and are able to rent month to month so that whenever the renters move out of our home we can move in. It's a whole lot of moving in a short amount of time. I don't recommend it at all. One more move and we will be done for good! Our home in North Mesa is just the right size for our family. We have remodeling plans for the home as soon as we get back on our feet. We are all thriving here in AZ. The children are enjoying being back in their old schools. We all just love being home and back with our ward family. Eric has found himself with a full load of school and doing really well at it. He is really enjoying this new phase in his life. He has found a love for learning and is really looking forward to a job in the mortuary industry in the near future. Eric is back working with the deacons in scouts. I am serving in the humanitarian area of our church. I have decided to set some new goals for myself. I HATE doing it, to be really honest but it needed to be done. First I am NOT wasting anymore seconds of my day on Facebook or any other forum like it. I have a very addictive personality. With that addiction comes a very lazy attitude about getting any task done. It was just easier for me to sit in front of this silly computer and play games and chat than to be a Wife, Mother, homemaker, and friend. My marriage went to pot, my mothering went to pot, my house was seriously a pigstye, and my friendships went to pot as well. It is hard for me to admit all this but it's true. True enough that I hated myself for doing it, but didn't have the will power to do it. So yesterday I did it. I am having myself a much better day already. So here is my first blog post of the new year. A new beginning for me, for my family, with lots of CHANGE!

PS Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad, I think that's 36 years worth! :) I love you both!

In Loving Memory of.......................................................

Due to inflation costs I must say goodbye to my dearly beloved. I've always proclaimed to be a "Tide" girl but I must say that money and referrals talk! A good friend of mine told me that her cousin makes her own laundry soap. I thought at the time, ya right, like I'm going to be a pioneer in the 2009's. Well I'm here to say that after talking to people about this home made laundry soap it is WORTH it. My sister in law Cicily is the one who gave me the recipe and she told me it's great soap, clothes come out clean and they smell good. So I decided I have 10 bucks to loose if I don't like it. Instead I now have a 5 gallon bucket FULL of soap that should last me at least 6 months, maybe even more!

So for under 10 buckaroos Eric, myslef, and the kiddos made our own detergent. First you have to go to Home on the Pot, otherwise known as Home Depot and invest in one of their posh orange buckets with the lid for 2 dollars! I know it's quite expensive. Then you go to your local grocery or Wal-mart store and buy Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, Borax, and Fels Naptha.
Then you follow the directions: I just grated the bar of Fels Naptha into some water.Once the bar of soap is dissolved you add the other ingredients:

Then you pour mixture into the orange bucket! You have to wait 24 hours before you can mix the soap. I found mixing the soap the funnest part. It feels WEIRD! But it smells CLEAN! The next day you can use your soap. I use the regular tide cap and fill it full and my clothes are just as clean as they were with the Tide. Hooray! I'm a pioneer.

Here is the real recipe:
Ingredients:
1 whole bar of the Fels Naptha grated ( I just use an old cheese grater)

1 1/2 cups Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

1 1/2 cups Borax

All of these can be bought at Food City, or Walmart on the detergent isle (down low on the shelves)

Directions:
Mix grated soap and 12 cups of water until melted. Remove from heat. Add other ingredients and mix until dissolved. Pour 8 cups of hot water into the 5 gallon bucket. Now add soap mixture and stir. Next add 2 gallon plus 12 cups of cold water and stir. Let sit for 24 hours and then mix up. After 24 hours the mixture forms a gel like consistency that needs to be separated. You can use a whisk or spoon but the best way to do it is get your hands in and break it up. It will look like egg drop soup when it is done. Very weird consistency but it really works great!

Give it a try my fellow bloggers, you just might love it too!

Labor Day Fun!

We decided to start a new tradition for the "YoungLowes". While Eric was growing up his family always went to Devils Head and cooked an early morning breakfast and then went on a hike up to the lookout tower. So since we just moved to CO we decided to give it a go for our little family. Our kiddos love to hike and climb so we knew they would love it. We found many surprises along the way.

First the drive up to devils head is about 40 minutes from our house. It is a dirt road that is curvy and so Olivia got car sick. Any time we are on curvy roads she gets sick. Poor little girl! She didn't throw up, luckily, but complained about her tummy hurting.

When we got to the picnic table area we were surprised that on a labor day weekend there weren't more people there. We went ahead and got set up for cooking a yummy breakfast, while Derick our "piro" son started a little camp fire to keep us warm. It was a whopping 48 degrees when we first got there. We made bacon and eggs, had orange juice, hot cocoa, and apple cider. It was all delicious!

After cleaning up breakfast we loaded everything back into the truck and began our hike. Eric and I hiked this same hike when we went to CO on our honeymoon. Neither of us remember the hike as being difficult at all. Man, what 14 years of marriage and 4 kiddos will do to your body???? The beginning of the trail tells you that it is 1.4 miles up to the top. That doesn't sound so bad now does it? Well let me tell you, it isn't bad, it is TERRIBLE! I want to do this hike once a week so that I can keep myself in shape, it is a gorgeous hike but dang, when you're out of shape you can't even enjoy the scenery.I think we have more pictures of me parking my rumpous on the benches and rocks than we have of me hiking but I'm here to tell you I hiked the whole thing! It was refreshing to make it to the very top. Scary climbing the stairs to get to the lookout tower, but awesome being up on top and seeing the whole mountain range below, it is breathtaking.Another big surprise was the infamous, "You're half way there sign"! Let me show you how I look at halfway, don't forget that I was barely recovered from the auto accident, and I was developing a nice cold, ugh!On our way up to the tower the kids started finding ladybugs, not one or two of them, but MILLIONS of them. They were on the rocks in big clumps so it actually made the rocks look red. They were also covering a camera post and shrubs. The kids had a good time playing with them and carrying them. Climbing down the stairs was scary for me, but I just kept telling myself there was glass surrounding me. I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to heights.Here we are at the very top of the look out tower. Can you guess whose missing? She didn't want to be in the picture. Kids will be kids!

The hike down was a BIG surprise! It wasn't hard at all, you pretty much just start walking and next thing you know you're at a slight jog because it's so downhill! It was funny hearing little Zach right behind me saying, "Slow down Mom it's hurting my tummy". Poor kid!

All in all it was a great Labor day, we labored much and enjoyed the day!

Bye Bye Sienna

Our mini van is no longer. :( We are all sad to say goodbye. Well most of us are sad, Eric has his heart set on a new vehicle. I was driving to get my hair done on Aug. 25th and a lady pulled out in front of me to make a left had turn. She didn't see me and nailed me. I am still not able to go to work. My neck feels so much better, this is what it looked like right afterbut my left lower teeth, and left arm & hand are still giving me fits. My work doesn't want me back until I can be off the pain meds. I am getting aquainted with a new dentist, and new docs really fast. Yesterday I went to the dentist to figure out why my left jaw is killing me. I found out that the tooth I just paid all the money on for a root canal and new crown was injured. Not fractured but sprained. What??? A sprained tooth? Leave it to me to have weird things happen to. So if I don't take IB profin every 4 hours I am dealing with some intense pain. The dentist is thinking if I take this antibiotic and give it time to heal it will tighten back up and get rid of the infection that I have. I hope he's right! As for my left hand. I had more xrays taken yesterday and there are no breaks. So now I have to have an MRI of the hand so they can see why I have all the pain I have. It is so weird I can make a fist with no pain but holding things and using it hurts like no other. Yesterday I folded the white load and man was my hand killing me. Note to self, don't ever get in another car accident again.

So here is the new car I'm dreaming of driving, it's a little bit different looking but I LOVE it. Eric drove one the other night and he said it drives really nice. It is roomy inside and has all the features we want. Now to find one in our price range.

Pork anyone???

So I couldn't resist posting this so we can remember it for years to come. This is one of those family dinner time funnies. In our family we try to insure that the children are not antagonizing one another. Or making fun of each other for their differences or weaknesses. At any rate kids will be kids.

One of our kiddos loves pigs. Pigs are of the utmost importance to this child. So important that within this past year if the child knew the food we were eating contained pork. They would not partake. So yesterday was Sunday and Eric being the good father he is prepared our Sunday dinner. He made a delicious pork roast with all the trimmings. We were about 3/4 into the meal and ALL enjoying it very much, when one child turns to the pig loving child and states, "You know what you're eating don't you? That's PIG"! So the pig loving child promptly spit out all the food from their mouth and ran out of the room. The rest of us just sat with our mouths gaping open at how fast the topic of conversation had turned from discussing our Sunday lessons to complete anger and despair. Eric and I excused the child that provoked the situation. The rest of us continued eating our lovely "roast" dinner. Well all of us, except the pig lover that is.

The Big MOVE!

This is what our house looks like all emptyIt is a sad sight for me, once all of our pictures came off the wall it wasn't home anymore. We will miss the home quite a bit, luckily it's still ours. This is what we looked like on the road to ColoradoWe had to park on the street in New Mexico when we stayed over night in a hotel. We were quite the long train. It was an easy move despite Zach and I having to watch Eric and Derick in the large Uhaul sway back and forth. It also was pretty scary when suddenly the trailer I was pulling would start fish tailing. Somehow I always managed to pull out of it. Luckily for us! We arrived in Castle Rock, CO the next day and we were so anxious to see the inside of our new home. We rented it sight unseen, except for a virtual tour. Luckily the home was exactly how we pictured it and so we are happy.We have the kids registered for school, the elementary kids start August 18th, they are on Track C, and Kimberlee starts school on August 10th. I was offered the job with the City of Littleton and start Wed. Aug 12th. We are all happy to be here and are settling in quite nicely. Things are so much less expensive here and with the cooler weather we feel blessed to be here.