Oh Hey, It's August

Summer has come and gone. We just finished the first week of school. I have to say, it was a really enjoyable summer, and the first one we really got to spend together as a walking family of three (Olivia couldn't walk her first year and Michael was gone last summer.) Between two trips to Utah for family, camping in Georgetown, family coming to enjoy Montana's beauty, and billion fishing trips, it was the perfect amount of busy and restful. 

Our dear Wards were gone for the summer with an internship in Absorkee, so we got to go fishing and camping with them as well. It was a great little Father's Day weekend for Michael, who also got his XBOX, so he was a happy camper. We went out to breakfast at a cute diner and then went to Fishtail. They are finally home and it is popysicle and dress up parties nonstop.

Michael was able to go out and visit his thesis area a few times. During one of his trips, Butte had a true Butte celebration of Evil Keneival days. It was pretty epic.

We frequented the farmers market a few times and LOVED the fresh fruit and salmon. The baked goods were kind of meh. 

Michael has been called as Sunday School President and I am still the Relief Society Secretary. Olivia is still rocking nursery and loves her Sister Frank who is also my Visiting Teaching companion. She is in her 80s and I LOVE getting to spend this time with her. 

In May we went down to Utah for Mama Vineyard's surprise party. It was so much fun! The following month we also went to Utah for Gammie Camp, which was also amazingly fun. Our next Utah trip is planned for December break, which is bitter sweet. 

Nicki and Camille both had babies within a few weeks of each other and I just want to love and cuddle on them! 

It is CRAZY to me that the summer is gone. I think we have finally established ourselves here in Butte. I am participating in a local No Excuse Mom group that I love. We are running our first marathon together this week. Olivia is still as cute as every. She officially sleeps in a big girl bed and is just so grown up in breaks my heart. I am so lucky to be her mom. 

Life is crazy. One day you can feel like everything is just peachy, and the next you can be stuck on your arse thinking where the heck am I? It is through those butt kicks we learn the most. I have had some dark days the last few days where I had lost hope and confidence in everything and everything around me. I was scared. I was lonely. I felt pathetic... every way that Heavenly Father would never want me or any of us to feel. I was able to talk through and cry out a lot which helped me realize that I am a daughter of God, and He loves me, Catherine Renae Vineyard. When we pour our hearts out to the Lord, He does listen. He cares. 

I was reminded of a quote from Frozen (don't judge, I've only seen it a billion times) where it says: People make bad choices when they are mad or scared or stressed which is SO TRUE. When we feel loved, valued, and cared for, we can be who it is we were meant to be at our fullest potential. We can do what is expected of us and more, all because we value ourselves and feel valued by others. I want to instill that into Olivia. I want her to know her value and her worth. We watched a video clip at church today about a woman who had MS and for seven years the men in her ward would come over and get her set up in bed. Every single night for seven years, and counting. It discussed about how these men never saw an end in sight, how they constantly looked for other ways to get out of it. BUT, they stuck with it in the end. This lady was alone, her husband left her once he found out she had MS. Her sons could only do so much and needed help. There was a clip of her talking about how she appreciated them helping her and how she felt like she was of value. She didn't feel brushed aside or ignored. She was loved! We all are loved and we are all of value. 

Read your scriptures. Say your prayers. Pay your tithing. Do all of these things even when you are afraid or don't feel like it is doing anything. It is. Talk to your Heavenly Father about it. He will help you, all you have to do is turn to Him.

January Thus Far

Man, life is crazy sometimes. After coming off the long high of being down in Utah with friends and family for almost an entire month, we found out that the internship program with Murex was cancelled completely. So.... that's great. As soon as we got the call, Michael and I both were at peace with it. There was no freaking out, tears, or swearing. It was just a "well, that sucks. Lets look for the next one," moment. (There has been freaking out, tears, and swearing since, but hey, we are human.)

But back to the main point, we know that it will all work out and we KNOW that it will be a great summer and Michael will get great experience. We just don't know when or how that will happen, and that is the part that somedays drive me insane. Dang having to remember to have faith and patience. But all teasing aside, I am looking forward to how we are going to be spending our summer. 

2014 In No Particular Order

Drum roll please. Here is the list of top 10s for each of the Vineyards in year 2014. 

Michael

1. Got his first Geology job in North Dakota and made bank. 
2. Getting into grad school at Montana Tech.
3.  Sold the Mazda. 
4. Sold Mitt the motorcycle. 
5. Bought Vicki the Honda Element. 
6. Moved to Butte, Montana.
7. Traveled A LOT.
8. Get to go to school for free. 
9. Got a job working with 3D printing while in school, thus the free part. 
10.  Learned how to cook for himself and is quite good at it.

Catie

1. Moved out of Utah! Living in Butte has been wonderful to us and we love our little adventure. 
2. Grandpa Dee's passing and funeral. I am so grateful to have that man in my life and am at peace knowing he is with Grandma Ila again in a better place, eating all of the gummy bears his heart desires. 
3. Was a single parent for three months. This could not have been possible without the awesome support system we have. Our families outpouring of love and generosity made these months bearable. 
4. Went to Hawaii with Olivia and babysat the Canlas kids for a week. 
5. Worked full time with iCentris and adjusted to working remotely all the time. 
6. Was called as a Secretary, in RELIEF SOCIETY, and love it. Who woulda thought?
7. Hosted Gammie Camp 2014 at Mooder's. The sleepover, homemade root beer, fireworks, and giggles were a hit.
8. My baby turned 1! I can't believe how fast the time flew yet it feels like she has always been a part of our life. Little cuddle bunny has stolen all of our hearts and we are so lucky to be her parents. 
9. Went to my dear Kayla Marie's wedding in Arizona. It was my first overnighter-out-of-state-leave-my-people-alone trip. I had a ton of mommy guilt going, but it was so great to see friends I hadn't in years. 
10.  Getting into grad school after a year of waiting. Though Michael is the one going to school, I like to think it was a joint effort. It is crazy how everything aligned together so we ended up where we needed to be, from our trip to the temple telling us to go to grad school instead of starting our ranch, to Michael getting his job in North Dakota, to actually getting into grad school - it has been one heck of a ride. 

Olivia

1. Turned 1 and celebrated with a cupcake in a hotel room in Butte with the parentals.
2. Says "oh NO?!?" and it is super cute. 
3. Loves dogs - gowgs, sharks - showks, and fish - shish. Max is affectionately known as Mac.
4. Grew more teeth. Only one more year to go. 
5. Went to the ER for a dislocated elbow, also known as a nursemaid elbow. 
6. Went to Hawaii. 
7. Tricked us into thinking she would sleep through the night for a week and then reverted back to her old ways. 
8. Gives hugs and kisses without being asked. If you are lucky, you will get a closed mouth one.
9.  Learned how to walk. She actually skipped walking and now just runs everywhere very determined like. 
10. I'll Love You Forever and Bye Bears, Bye Bears are her favorite books; she loves walks in the stroller, playing in the snow, and going up and down her slide over and over and over. 

Family Goals for 2015

1. Get Olivia sleeping through the night and at nap time without a bottle. 
2. Get healthier by eating better and training for our MARATHON in September. 
3. Internship in Houston for the summer, go Cowboys. 
4. Save up for our Peru trip in 2016. 
5. Continue daily family scripture study, prayer, and weekly family home evening. 
6. Kick the 2nd and 3rd semester of grad school's butt. 
7. Explore more on the weekends. 
8. Be more kind and loving to each other and those around us. 
9.  Pay off the Element. 
10. Camp more.

The Goings On

I am a list person, so rather than being eloquinet and writing a lovely post, I will just make a list of what has been going on in our life.

1. We are settling into our grove of school, work, family time, and church callings. Things are crazy busy, but good busy. 
2. I was called to be the Relief Society secretary last month. I am working on focusing on the sisters rather than how uncomfortable Relief Society makes me and still have a ways to go. I am happy for the opportunity though and how it will help me make new friends.
3. We went down to Utah last week for the weekend to have a fun, family packed adventure. It was so good to be with all of the Vineyards and have all of that cousin time! 4 years ago there was not a baby to be seen, now there are 6! It is so cute to watch them all together, and again, I think I get to win best aunt award with Henry. Man that kid is cute. 
1. While on the trip we.....
2. Found out  Michael doesn't have cancer behind his tumor ear. Bendiciones!
3. Michael hung out with his brothers and mom while Olivia and I napped and worked at Mama's
4. We had a delicious dinner with skillet potatoes... which reminds me I need to get that recipe. 
5. Lexi and I had a Target run. It was magical.
6. We had brunch with Mooder, Jerry, Sue and Bubba. It was quite delicious and fun.
7. We went to Jdawgs
8. Michael and the gang went to a BYU football game that we lost. 
9. Olivia and the cousins had a blast playing with chickens and Max
10. We had a true Vineyard meal before we left
11. We took family pictures in Rexburg on our way home
4. Michael got an A in his crazy hard ridiculous class with the horrible teacher. Das ma hussband
5. Olivia and I have made some friends with our next door neighbors, Logan and Kimberly Ward. They have two little girls Addie and Avery who are just the sweetest. It is nice having someone in our same situation and in life who we get to share babysitting with. They really are so nice and I am excited to become better friends. 
6. Grandpa Dee passed away quietly a few months ago. Olivia and I went down for a week for the funeral and got to spend time with the fam bam. It was quite enjoyable and great to celebrate Grandpa's life. We also did sealings for our family. I was able to do the work for Hattie to be sealed to her parents. I also was able to do her initiatory a few years ago. I felt her spirit there so strong and knew she was happy we were doing her work. I also had the feeling that we are going to name our next daughter Hattie Marie. Hattie after her and Marie after Callie and Christy Marie. I twas a great feeling. 
7. Olivia is sleeping much better through the night, woot woot! Each night is an adventure, but man I like getting more than four hours of sleep at a time.
8. I have been subbing for Rayne while she is on vacation and handling her two clients. I have learned the following the past two weeks. 
1. I love my job when I get to do my normal routine stuffs
2. I love that every once in a while I get to deal with clients and work work work
3. I am grateful that those once and a whiles are few and far between
4. I am grateful for this position and how great it works with our life. I am however looking forward to not working anymore once Michael graduates. 
9. Michael got an internship with Murex! We go next summer for the whole summer and it is going to be HOT! But great at the same time. We are so excited. Michael's hard work is paying off.  He is such a hard worker!

1. Olivia is going to be a dog for Halloween and it is going to be pretty epic. She is obsessed with dogs. OBSESSED I tell ya. Every animal is a dog. Dog! Dog! But it sounds more like DOAG! DOAG!

Say your prayers, read your scriptures, pray for those around you and pay your tithing. 

Count Your Many Blessings

We have been in Montana about two weeks now and the huge life change we have made has finally caught up with me. Olivia is teething which is its own can of annoying worms. I miss my people! I love that Michael, Olivia and I are all together, because that is what matters most. I miss though that I can hop in  car and see friends and family whenever I want. I miss that Olivia has friends who she loves and who loves her back. I miss my grocery stores and Target. I miss having baby sitters who I trust. I miss having a baby on a schedule that was reliable. And lets be honest, I miss In-N-Out.

While I know I am still in a transition and that things WILL get better, yesterday and today just suck. (I better be starting my period soon to help explain all this crying) To top off an already crappy feeling, my phone dropped in the toilet. To get a replacement, we have to drive hour away and spend money I don't want to. Ugh. 

I am nervous about making new friends. I feel like I am in high school again needing to fit in. I don't want Olivia to be affected negatively by not hanging out with kids her age. She misses her Anderson boys and Adders, you can tell. This fear causes a whole lot of mommy guilt, which is the hardest thing to deal with. (We have some daddy guilt going on as well). This guilt is the most consuming thing I have ever experienced. We only want the best for our daughter, and having a vision of what "the best" is makes it so our efforts seem to fall short. I know Olivia knows she is loved and cared for, even when she is up for hours in the middle of the night, but that constant pull and worry of not being good enough is draining me. 

There is a hymn that talks about when you are discouraged, just count your blessings. It has been playing in my head all morning and I know that Heavenly Father is helping me and my little family to get out of this funk. If we focus on the bad, scary, and annoying, that is all we are going to see. Michael and I have been so blessed this past week, it is ridiculous. So here is me choosing to count my blessings. 

1. We are together as a family and we love each other very much
2. We have a baby who is growing teeth, which is a miracle on so many levels
3. Michael got an assitantship just by being in the right place at the right time, literally, yesterday. A man walked in and offered him a job that will not only pay for all of his grad school, but offers a semester stipend as well. Did you read that? We are going to grad school for FREE. Our debt is not going to be tripled in the next two years. WHAT A BLESSING!
4. I have a job that helps me fill that spot in my life
5. We have a roof over our heads and yummy food on the table
6. Montana weather is beautiful. We fell asleep to a thunderstorm cuddling. It was magic. 
7. We have an amazing support system who loves us and knows us, even from afar. Facetiming, phone calls, and texts are wonderful things.
8. We have the power of the priesthood in our home and are able to use it at a moments notice. 
9. Olivia slept from 6pm to 5 am and then 7:45 am after a bottle the next night following her horrible night. That is a Christmas Miracle people.
10. Most importantly, we have the Gospel and a loving Heavenly Father. He takes such good care of us and love us so much. I can feel His love as I type this and am grateful for the gift of the spirit and the assurance that it brings. 

We Live in Montana!!!

 We officially live in Montana now, just ask the UPS man. I am pretty sure in our first week of living here, we have already had 5 packages delivered

We are loving it! We are excited for the opportunity we have here and the new experiences we will make. Most of all, we are happy just to be all together again. 

The week prior to the move, we had A LOT going on. Michael was expected to come home on Wednesday, but didn't get here until late Saturday night due to one teeny tiny bolt coming off of the Mazda, which literally took 2 seconds to fix. He made it home safely and we were off onto our checklist of things to do before the move. 

 Olivia and I had some fun in the pool with Christy, Ben, James, and Mama for Pioneer Day. Later that evening, we went to Mooder's and snapped this cute photo.

 Olivia is adorable.

 Callie and the twins came into town. There were lots of giggles, shopping at the Distribution Center and Ikea, and a visit to Grandpa Dee. Padre also came into town so we snapped this last Father/Daughter picture we will probably get for a while. 

Second Sunday got moved to Fourth Sunday, so we snapped a sibling/Mooder picture. I was trying to tickle Sue and Beal to get them to smile, but unfortunately it ended up looking like I was trying to grab Beal's front butt. Mooder also has some pictures of Michael being a creeper in the back ground that I need to get my hands on.  

Monday night we had a wonderful BBQ at the Poole's. It was such a fun send off with so much love and yummy food.

Our empty place. We fell in love here, made a home here, and brought our first baby here. Also, I look contorted. I was going for the all cuddly look but failed. 

We had so many family and friends come to help us pack up. I was overwhelmed coming back from picking up SLAB to see who all showed up. It was a great feeling. 

 These ladies. Man, we are lucky to have them. They stuck with us till the very end getting the condo cleaned and packed up. 

 All packed up and ready to go! Why not take a prom picture in front of our moving van?

Sue was our last goodbye before leaving Utah. It was also probably the hardest. We all are so blessed and lucky to have our Sue. 

 Driving a 20 ft moving van that was towing our Element was the LONGEST RIDE EVER! Olivia fared pretty well, but had her moments. She knew when to turn on the charm to get out of taking a nap by petting Michael's arm or hugging my head. UGH, she is too cute. 

I have a billion more things to catch up on on here, but it is a start! Howdy from the Big Sky State!

Summer Lovin'