Halloween party

While I was away in the mountains, our Ward held it's annual Halloween Carnival and it was a huge success.  Grace went as a vampire ( minus the teeth, those are irritating).  Ben went as a Ninja, and he looked awesome and stealthy and stuff.  Ember went as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and her best friend went as Glinda, in the dress that the two girls wear to the Emerald City in the play "Wicked".  They looked amazing, thanks so much to Hope's Mom for all her hard work with hair and makeup while I was away!

Girls Weekend part 1

This past weekend was our annual girls weekend in Overgaard, and I forgot my camera!  I downloaded one of Cindy's photos from Facebook, and hopefully I'll get more e-mailed to me as the week goes by, but here's a sneak peak at our weekend.

Me, Cindy, Mom, Celeste, and Casen

(Noelle's behind the camera, I'll add more of her later)

Some of our crafts - pumpkin jars, water color pencils and memory albums

Changes

For anyone who doesn't know yet, Austin lost his job on Wednesday.  His position was eliminated at the University of Phoenix, and he was laid off.  He was expecting this to happen once the announcements of layoffs were made, he evaluated his team and determined that he was the most expendable person on it.  That's not a good feeling to have.  So he was expecting this, and if he were his boss he would've made the same choice, even though it was difficult for everyone involved.

He is surprisingly optimistic, which has determined how I feel about this situation.  He talks about this being a blessing in disguise, this could be the thing that helps us get out of debt finally, the thing that helps me quit my job and be a stay at home mom, the thing that helps us buy a house.  Good things can happen, and he believes they will. I am feeding off of his optimism so I don't go crazy.

In the meantime, I am quitting school and going back to work full time for the first time in 13 years.  I have to, in order to get medical benefits for our family.  Austin is going to look for another job and play Mr. Mom while I'm the primary breadwinner.  It's not ideal, but at least we'll be taken care of.

So that's our update.  Wish us luck, keep us in your prayers, and we'll keep you informed!

Feelin' this today

Ember's puppy keeps growing!

 Ember keeps growing too!

Viva Las Vegas!

This past weekend Austin and I took a trip to Las Vegas, my first time there, to watch the PD softball World Series.  I have several friends from Mesa PD playing on the team and I really wanted to watch the games.  Drew & Meganne Young were nice enough to share a room with us, so it wasn't too expensive!  Thanks guys!  And Drew, you pitched a great game, even if you lost every single one.

Austin and I spent one night by ourselves exploring the strip, and for an avid people watcher, it was nirvana. What a diverse place Vegas is!  We had a great time, and I'm glad we went.

The Arizona team, AZ Ablaze, represented by several police agencies in the state.  9 Officers were from Mesa, where I work, so it was fun to "hang out with the guys" between and after the games.

Drew & Meganne were our gracious hosts.  It was Meganne's birthday on Saturday, so she got to celebrate Vegas style at Toby Keith's!

Drew & Meganne

Friday night was our night on the strip.  We walked for almost 5 hours, and my feet were killing me!

 Our Hotel

 Treasure Island

 Inside Caesar's Palace

Maybe I'll visit the real thing someday!

 New York, New York!

 Waiting for the fountains at the Bellagio.  They were spectacular!

My favorite "statue' street performer.  He was funny :)

Here's a few of us watching the ball games, the whole reason we went to Vegas in the first place!

I LOVE ROAD TRIPS!!!