Camping - fish hatchery

The fish hatchery was maybe a mile from our camp ground. So one day we took Hayden there. He loved it. They have so many fish there in all sizes. There is a lot of work that goes into getting these fish raised for people to be able to go fishing for them.

We found a couple fish that jumped out

Hayden looked so small on this log

Camping Labor Day Weekend

We went camping with some families in our ward. We went up Thursday and came home Monday. We did a lot of little things but my favorite thing to do is sit around the camp fire and just talk and tell stories with others. We had lots of fun, laughed a lot and got to know each other more. We didn't want to come back to the heat and reality. We went camping at Airplain flats which is off of Young Rd Between Payson and Heber.

After getting to the camp ground Hayden helped Aaron and Brother Lawes get wood. He loved to help out with the fire and Brother Heller and Aaron helped him chop wood. He wanted to do it so bad. Its hard to convince Hayden he needs to wait until he is older to do it by himself.




Our camping spot

Sunday's Rain

Hayden and Marlie in front of our camper

Some of the trees had these huge spider webs. When Hayden saw them he thought Spiderman did them. He said there is no way a real spider could make these.

Weekend visit with Emmie

So its been a month now of visits. We were told we had to do that before she could live with us. So the foster mom and I have been calling the case worker to ask when she can live with us and the casework is out of town. I emailed her today also asking what happens next and told her how well things are going when Emmie comes to visit. Hayden and her get along great and she really likes Aaron and I too. So we are ready! Hopefully it will be soon! She stayed with us this weekend. We didn't do too much but hang around the house. But we still enjoyed having her around.
Hayden showing Emmie what her new baby Elmo does. My friend Cortney got her the Elmo baby and she loves it!


Trying to get some more pictures of Emmie. She hardly ever smiles for the camera.

Classy Closet

We just got new built ins for our closet and I love them. It makes a huge difference. The builder of this house gives us this closet as big as some peoples bedrooms but they didn't put much in it so it was such wasted space. One day we may add even more things like this to the closet if needed but we are glad to get at least this much done. Now its time to fill it up with junk!


BEFORE


AFTER

Ward Campout

We went to our ward campout this last weekend. It was a camping spot between Payson and Heber. The campout was Friday and Saturday but we went up Thursday. We got there to find several families came up early too and as even the night came more families kept showing up. Saturday night all the families were there and we had a fireside around the fire. The Bishop had us talk about family traditions as our ward campouts have come fun traditions for us. We had a blast that evening staying up late playing some games with other adults in the ward. The next morning we had a breakfast and played volleyball. My favorite part of it all is getting to know people in my ward better. Each Sunday and activity you only have so much time to talk and get to know each other so camping together really give you a chance to talk and become better friends. I left feeling good about the relationships that were made stronger. Even with Hayden he had a blast playing with all the kids and getting to know them a lot better too. This camping trip has built up my testimony. I know we are meant to live where we do. We at first never wanted to move to Queen Creek but had a strong feeling to. Selling our house was a risk in this bad market but it sold pretty fast, we love our new house, we love the neighborhood and we love our ward. This ward, neighborhood and community is awesome at caring for one another and I feel blessed to be around it all and raise my kids here. When I think about this community and all that's involved I feel the Spirit so strongly and I am so glad we moved here.

Why the name Emmie???

Some people have asked why the name Emmie and there is a story behind it so I thought I could blog it so it can be added to our journal. That way Emmie knows the story when she is older in case I forget the details. This isn't some awesome story just a long story where it proved to us Emmie was meant to be the name of our little girl.

1st off I wanted to name our girl something else. Aaron didn't like it and wouldn't' give in. Once I saw the picture of the little girl we wanted to adopted I then realized that name I wanted wasn't meant for her. That name didn't fit her at all. So I knew I had to think of another name. This was hard for me because I don't really like any girl names that much. I love boy names and I could think of tons I would love to use. So for a few days I would think of names I liked in the past and would ask Aaron what he thought. He suggested Emma because its a family name but I didn't really want it for this girl. I told Aaron one thing that stuck out to me is this name I liked in my early 20's. I used to watch a show on Lifetime where this women's name was Marie Elizabeth but her friend called her M.E., her initials for short. So when I was in my early 20's and not even married yet I used to think if I had a girl I would like to name her something with those initials and call her M.E for short. Well I started to think of that again and realized I couldn't do that because her middle name has to be Lynn because of tradition and it being my middle name too. So I started to think what if her name was just Emmie. I kind of struggled with it even though I couldn't get it out of my head. So one night in bed while I couldn't sleep I kept thinking about it. I didn't want to name her something that sounded made up. So I fell asleep and woke up a little while later not feeling good. I got up and started to read a magazine. I flipped to the back and saw advertisements where you could buy personalized items. I saw a bright green shirt that read "Emmie!" I was so shocked but excited to see it was a real name. So the next morning when Aaron and I woke up I showed him and told him I think its meant to be. So a few days later I was at my mom with several women in my family. I told them I wanted to know their opinion and told them the name. They all liked it so it made me feel better about it even more. A week later we were at a funeral and after the funeral we were outside. A lot of the kids where running around and this little girl ran by me and her mom yelled for her and called out her name "Emmie!" Again I was shocked but excited to here it out loud because the more I heard it around the more I liked it for sure. To even make sure I heard the name right I asked my sister in law Heather what that little girls name was (because I knew she was apart of her family) and she confirmed it was Emmie and also said she was adopted. All I could do is laugh because there was just too many signs to ignore. Since then I have seen about 4 more Emmies out there either from someone in a magazine, TV or a child someone else knows. So again those have been great for me to see and hear because it made me feel good about my original choice. I liked it but was scared to name her something weird that people could make fun of or kids make fun of. Then came the question how to spell it. I didn't want to do Emmy like the awards, I didn't want to do Emme because Jennifer Lopez just named her daughter that. So I went with the first spelling I saw in that magazine that I saw in the middle of the night. So that's the story behind the name EMMIE!

Bows

I wanted to do a post to show off these cute bows and flowers my sister has made me for Emmie's hair. She made me several a few weeks back and then her and I went to Hobby Lobby with some outfits in mind to match. She did a great job making them look so cute. I had no clue there would be so many but I am sure I will use them all. I am excited for Emmie to wear each one of these. To make sure they stay nice I clipped them to a long ribbon and pinned it to the wall. Thanks Sara!!!!

While shopping at Hobby Lobby for hair stuff I thought this peacock would match Sara's outfit. Yah, we thought it was a bit too much too. Who knows it might be in style someday.