Coast to Coast Trip part 1

I am here playing catch up again! We made our big move from Arizona to Virginia and so far we really like it! The trip across the country was long and fun at the same time.  We tried to stop and do things here and there so the girls could run around and have fun.

Goodbye Arizona! To be honest there are not many things that I will miss about Arizona. But I do miss having a garage! This house was good to us though and brought many happy memories! It was 117 degrees the weekend we packed up and left.  I will NOT miss that heat....although humidity isn't much better!

First stop on our trip we went to California.  We stayed with my brother Jason and his wife Whitney! We also got to meet up with one of my best friends Alex and her family for some great beach time!

 Keira was not a fan of getting wet and then getting in the sand.  She was very distraught that the sand wasn't coming off her wet body! Poor baby!

Jorgen looking for some good waves to play in!

Once Keira dried off she actually liked playing in the sand.  Neither one of the girls wanted to get in the water again.

The England's!  It makes me so sad to think that we live on opposite sides of the country from each other now! Maybe one day we will actually live closer to each other.  I miss this girl way too much!

Jess is trying to run away from the water! It was too cold and came in too fast for her!

Next stop....back to Arizona!

I used to think....

I used to think that I was a kind and patient person, one who didn't get upset very easily and just kind of went with the flow.  This was before two wonderful little ladies became part of my life.  Now I KNOW that I am neither patient or very kind.  This has really bothering me the last few months as I feel like all I do all day is stop fighting, entertain whining children, try to be consistent with a routine and clean up mess after mess after mess after mess.  So I am going to follow the example of a friend and turn my gripes and complaints about these days into a thankful post.

1.  I am thankful that I have two amazing daughters who love me and show me everyday, even if it is just one little kiss or hug or even a great job mom because I went pee in the toilet.

2.  I am thankful that all I have to get upset with is that they don't eat as much of their dinner as they should or that they throw all of their clothes out of the dresser again or that they dump all my nice lotion onto the floor and roll around in it.  I know that one day I will have a lot bigger issues to worry about.

3.  I am thankful that they want my constant and undivided attention.  One day, probably not that far away, I will not be front and center in their life.  I hope that I can build a solid relationship with them so that they will still want to come to me with their problems.

4.  I am thankful for the opportunities that come up and we can talk about Jesus and they get so excited.  It makes me want to try harder to live better and closer to my Savior so that I can be as excited as they are whenever they see a picture of Him or hear His name.

5.  I am thankful for the opportunities that I have to constantly be reminded about what is important in life.  It doesn't matter how clean my house is or what grades I get, but what matters is that my children know that I love them with all my heart.

6.  I am thankful that these girls show me where I can improve in my life.  It helps me to draw closer to Heavenly Father as I see my weaknesses and yearn to turn those into strengths.

7.  I am thankful for the blessing it is to be a mom.  My heart and capacity to love have truly grown because of it.

I read something the other day that said, "The days may be long, but the years will fly by." I am so happy for this time in my life to really focus on raising these two beautiful little girls.  I am so thankful that I have an incredibly loving and wonderful husband who helps me in every way he can....like taking the girls to the store with him so that I can have 15 minutes of quite time to write my thoughts out and calm down after a long and hard day.

As I finish this up I am sitting here weeping as I am reminded of how much these two little girls mean to me and I truly hope and pray that I can learn to have more patience and show them more love each and every day! I love you Keira and Jessy! :) Thank you for letting me be your mom!

Christmas Break Fun

Jorgen had two and a half weeks off from school for Christmas Break.  We spent a lot of that time just relaxing and hanging out with family and it was so nice! When we were in Tucson we did get out and do a couple of fun things!

 We went to the Pima Air and Space Museum and it was really cool.  Technology is amazing and it is crazy to see how far we have come.  The girls enjoyed it for the most part.

 Neither one of the girls wanted to sit in the stroller and Scout didn't want to walk...so it worked out great.  Guess he liked Jess pushing him around in her stroller a little too much!

 A couple days later we went to the Desert Museum and it was so much fun! The girls loved it.

 The suckers that I brought had nothing to do with keeping the interested in the animals and quiet in their seats at all....he he he! 

 Jorgen did really well too....he really loved the animals! :) 

Christmas

I love Christmas time! It is so special and I just love it! Jorgen and I were talking about how we have many different things just set aside for Christmas.  We have special decorations, traditions, foods, and even special dishes. Christmas is supposed to be a special time, not to just open presents, but to think about our Savior.  This year I really felt as though I drew closer to my Savior more than any other Christmas.  Maybe it is because I am a mom now and thinking about baby Jesus brings an overwhelming feeling of love and joy to my heart.  I just wanted this Christmas to last forever, but I guess I can always try to carry the spirit of Christmas or, Christ, in my heart at all times.

Making a gingerbread train with Daddy 

 Egg nog mustache.....We all sure love egg nog in our house! I even made my own this year and it actually tasted really good! I can't wait until next year to make some more! :) 

 Decorating the tree...It didn't stay decorated for long...good thing our decorations were made out of felt...it will still be a few more years before we bring back out our nice decorations!

 Keira liked wearing the tree skirt more than she liked seeing it around the tree....remind you of anyone (kiki?) 

 On the night before Christmas Eve we went over to Jorgen's brother's house to have a nice dinner and see Santa....Keira wasn't so sure about Santa...

 Neither was Jess

Christmas Eve we went down to Tucson to spend Christmas with Jorgen's parents.  We had so much fun and the girls were sure spoiled by both grandparents....I mean Santa...for Christmas.

Making Christmas Crepes with Gammy! 

Pushing around Scout in her new stroller! 

It was so fun to spend time with Family! We are so blessed to live close by so much of our family! It is going to be hard moving so far away from them! 

Thanksgiving

So I decided that it would be too long to put everything in just one post so instead I decided to make 3 different ones for each holiday.

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house.  We felt as though we were real grown ups having my whole family to come our house! It was an absolute blast! It went by way too fast though and I miss them all terribly! Maybe next year they can all come to DC and visit us again! :)

Keira and Jess with Aunt Jenny! 

 Thanksgiving Dinner! 

Making our Black Friday shopping plans....Sad to say that Jorgen and I didn't even buy anything.   

My beautiful, amazing sisters! I love them all so much! (Jenny, Me, Kristi, Whitney, Ashley) I am so lucky to have so many sisters! They always make me so happy and are all so positive and uplifting! I am so proud of all of them and what they are doing with in their lives! I am truly blessed to have them in my life!  I think that everyone needs a sister! :) 

 We went to see the lights at the Mesa temple! They were beautiful.  We all made fun of my dad for trying to take pictures in the dark, but this one turned out really well.  Too bad he wasn't in it!

Like I said it went by way too fast and I miss them all so much! Thanks for coming to our house and spending a wonderful holiday with us! I am truly thankful for my wonderful family! 

Catching Up

I know that I am way behind in doing this, but I am finally doing it. The past few months have been crazy busy at our house.  It seemed as though one holiday rolled into the next this year without any break!  I was also taking two classes this last semester and that kept me very busy.  I am happy to say that I have passed both of them and now I am in my final semester before I graduate! I can't even tell you how excited I am.

Halloween

 Keira loved carving the pumpkins...well she enjoyed playing in the seeds more than actually carving, but it was still fun.

We just went around our little neighborhood to take the girls Trick or Treating and they had alot of fun.  At first Jorgen and I were a little disappointed because most of the houses in our area turned their lights off and didn't want to give candy to our darling children, how rude! Ha! But the houses that did give out candy made up for it by giving out handfuls of candy.  Keira called it "Tricker Candy" 

 Jorgen testing their candy to make sure it wasn't poisoned...

Snow White!

Our New Home

Jorgen's medical school offers a unique opportunity for its students.  During the last 3 years of school we get to spend it at a Community Health Center.  There are 11 different sites throughout the country associated with his school.  Today we found out where we will be going.

This has been a very long and drawn out process.  It has caused us some sleepless nights and lots and lots of prayer! We have felt like we could be happy at most of the sites that they offered.  But when it came down to it we really felt best about one place!!!

And that place is:

WASHINGTON DC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (we are hoping that if Romney is elected today that he will just let us stay with him for free!!! haha! I am sure he is all about helping out poor medical school students)

We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! We really feel like we are so blessed to be able to be spending the next three years in our nations capital.  There will be so many fun and crazy adventures that we will get to experience.  We can't wait!

It will be hard to move so far away from family and friends, but just think of all the fun we will have when you all come to visit us!!! :)