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'