Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!! Things have been a little crazy this season so we won't get around to neighbor gifts, and didn't send out many Christmas cards.  So here is a digital Christmas card for all who would like to see how our family is doing. 

 2013 started like any other year. We kept ourselves busy with our little family and church callings. Jon worked at Argosy University as the HR Generalist and I worked part time as a Home and Hospital Teacher. In June our world turned upside down a little. Jon was informed that he would be loosing his job due to a restructure in the company. Almost exactly a week later we found out we were expecting our 3rd baby due in February. We had planned this baby, no surprises for us. We felt very strongly that it was time to expand our family and couldn't shake the feeling. But we couldn't have planned what happened with Jon's job!

Jon was able to work at Argosy until July then we had the joy of having Jon home full time for the summer! We didn't love not having a job, or the stresses that came along with it, but we tried to make the best of our time with Jon home. We all loved all the family time we had! After about a month with no leads Jon was contacted by a former boss at Argosy and asked to apply for a job with Argosy in Atlanta! Things seemed to go really well and we thought for sure we would be moving to Atlanta. (Which Anna was very excited about since that is where she served her mission). But after a final interview we heard nothing back, and still haven't heard anything. With the new baby coming we are glad to be staying close to family, but were kinda bummed we didn't get to move and have a new adventure. So we continued the job hunt. Over 150 jobs applied to, and 13 interviews later we were getting a little discouraged.

At this time we would like to send a HUGE shout out to all those who prayed for us, encouraged us, and helped us through this hard time. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many good people! Thanks for the kind words, smiles, prayers, meals, baby clothes, and so many other things. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You helped make a hard time bearable. 

At the end of September Jon got called for yet another interview. We had hope, but at the same time weren't expecting much. They soon asked for a second, and third interview! Then the blessed day came when Jon was offered a job! Hallelujah! Jon is now working at GlyMed Plus as the HR Manager. It's a skin care company in south Provo. It's a very different field than he was used to, but it's a nice change at the same time. We were able to get a similar salary to what we had and feel very blessed. 

In the meantime...

Torbin turned 3 in August! He is our little ball of energy! He loves trains, tractors, and asking how everything works! He runs everywhere and never seems to get tired. He loves reading, playing outside, visiting grandparents houses, teaching little brother all sorts of tricks, and watching shows. He started preschool the first week of December and is loving learning and is very smart! Torbin also potty trained like a champion in November and is growing up so fast!!

Zachary turned 1 in May! He started walking right before his birthday and soon began running everywhere with Torbin. He's been working on filling his mouth full of teeth, but it's a slow process. He loves to talk and tell stories even though we don't know what he means most of the time. His words are becoming more and more clear and he is quite the little communicator with his gestures and few words. He is Torbin's shadow!! He loves anything Torbin does and has been indoctrinated to love trains and tractors. But he also loves pretend play, reading, and eating! He eats like a teenager and defintiely gives us a run for our money. 

Baby #3 is doing well and will be a GIRL!!! 

We are excited for a new dynamic in the house, 

but a little nervous too. Her expected arrival is 

February 22nd and is coming very fast!!!!! 

Anna is trying to survive being pregnant and being a mom of 2 crazy boys. She loves staying home, but thinks often how it would be easier to teach high school again! :) We're blessed that she can stay home and though we may feel poor when it comes to money sometimes we are so rich with all the blessings and joys we have in our life. 

We hope this year has been good for everyone and here's to a much better 2014!!!

Zachary's Blessing

So, I'm very sick and have been banished to the couch to "rest"... I don't do that very well, so I'm going to work on my to-do list, in a restful sit in front of the computer kind of way. :)

Back on August 12 we blessed our sweet Zachary. Jon and I also had to speak in church that day (which was not fun, but I guess that's what you get when you don't bless your baby on a fast-sunday, and your husband always says yes to the bishop...) so it was all kind of a stressful blur. Though stressful it was still an amazing day. It was Jimmy's birthday, and he got ordained an Elder that morning, just in time to be a part of Zach's blessing. Thanks Jimmy!! Thanks to all of our family who came clear down to the middle of nowhere to be there with us!

 Torbin doesn't like crowds, so he was outside fixing the lawn mowers. :)

 Zachary and Dylan, buddies, 1 month apart

The Zoo!

We've been wanting to go to the zoo with Torbin for months and we finally did it!! Torbin loved the sea lions especially. He was very sweet and here are a few picture highlights. :) 

 Looking at the monkeys.

 Believe it or not, he loved the elephants! He just really doesn't like posing for pictures.

 Another failed pose.

 Jon is such a good Daddy- always jumping in to try and show Torbin the ropes.

 His favorite spot, watching the sea lions. He kept asking "Where is?" and would get the biggest smile when one would swim by.

 Unintended bear claw picture, but at least we can see Torbin's face.

 Yay! Our little family of 4 on the train at the zoo. It was hot and we were all sweaty and exhausted, but we had fun. It's fun to do things now that Torbin is old enough to react. We're growing up. :)

Our sweet Zachary and his Elvis smile.

Unspotted

I love those times when everything you read or study revolves around the same topic, even when you don't try. That's how it was for me last week. Between and Ensign article and preparing for my lesson on Sunday, the overwhelming theme was to keep yourself unspotted from the world. Then of course the spirit reminds you of something you heard once. An old friend mentioned that she had a table in the house that was meant for scriptures only. Nothing else was allowed on the table so that she would always have a place to study. It's a great idea in theory, but in our house, it's hard to keep anything unspotted for long, but I thought we would give it a chance. Since our little one is still sleeping in our room the nursery isn't used much, so it's the perfect place. So we set up a scripture study table. :)  It's helpful because it's a big black table telling us to come study every time we see it, but also it's nice that it is really unspotted from the house so it's always available for it's intended purpose... unlike most other spaces in the house. To keep it clean, I made a little sign, which I think is pretty clever... so I thought I would share. :)

 

 Here's to better scripture study, and striving to be unspotted from the world. It's a constant process, but we're trying. :)

And then there were 4!

  

 Look at us! A family of 4! Kinda weird, but we love it! And we love our little new addition: ZACHARY!

Zachary joined us on May 25 at 2:36 PM weighing in at 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 in.

 He loves being curled up in a ball and has the brightest eyes!

 It was quite the eventful week for us. Zach was born, Torbin got croup, and Jon got pneumonia. It was a hard week. Moments like this, when all 3 boys were asleep was awesome.

 Zach always has his hands by his face, especially when he is sleeping.

 He is SO cute!!!

 Zach's first walk outside with Daddy. We have a similar picture with Torbin.

 I still can't believe we have another baby. But we sure love him!

 We love his sideburns! He is such a little man. :)

 This is not a great picture of most of us, but here we are, a family of 4! We have survived 4 weeks and are more in love than ever.

 

Cami came and took some newborn shots for us. Thanks Cami!

 Torbin is still getting used to the idea of having Zach around, but he loves him and takes care of him. Especially when he looses his bink.

May oh May

 May was full of fun times, but I did no better at taking pictures like I said I would. I just get too caught up in the stress of things, or the fun of things and I forget to take pictures. My goal is to do better... we'll see if that happens.

Jon wanted me to take him to Rio for his 30th birthday and I really wish I could have. but since we are no millionaires I decided to have some friends over and have a Brazilian BBQ instead. Kinda like Rio... ish. :) We had kabobs, rice and beans, Brazilian lemonade, grilled pineapple, little french breads, and good ole' American birthday cake. The food spread was impressive, I'm so bummed I didn't get a picture. but just imagine it being amazing. Thanks to the Elkins, the Romneys, and Heidi for coming by! We're not social very often, but we had a good time. :)

Next we celebrated Jon's birthday as part of a whirlwind weekend of family togetherness. Jon's family was in town from Tennessee and Arizona so we partied like crazy. We had a graduation party and a baby shower, and went to the temple. It was really fun. Jon's party was construction themed and he got a lot of Home Depot cards! He has a lot of plans on how to use them! He's such a cute Mr. Fix-it! 

 Most of our pictures are of just Torbin, so I have been doing better at getting Jon in most of them too. But then I realize I don't have many with me, so here is our attempt at another family picture. Torbin doesn't like to cooperate very well. But he's still super cute! And here I am in all my pregnant glory... 2 weeks left to go... I think it's fair to say I look like a balloon ready to pop!

Mother's Day wrapped up our crazy weekend. We spent the morning with my mom, went to church with them, then spent the afternoon with Jon's family. Part of my mother-in-laws Mother's Day tradition is that we all go and get pedicures. That is always fun, and relaxing! It's nice to be pampered, and to have cute toe nails. It seems to be my parents new tradition to give us a flower pot full of beautiful flowers for Mother's Day. Thanks to them we have awesome flowers on our front porch. :) The best part of Mother's Day is that Jon and Torbin let me sleep in!!! And I got this cute picture of Torbin and I! To have him smile in a picture with me is a little miracle!! I love being his mom!

After mother's day we impatiently awaited to arrival of our little Zachary... more to come of him next time. :)

Bays Busy Days

Is it possible to have a talent of being busy? Because we are really good at it! But the sad thing is that I have been horrible at taking pictures and documenting our lives lately. Good thing we have our planners, because that's what helps us remember what is going on!!! 

At the end of March we went on Dance Company Tour to Disneyland! Jon and Torbin met me there to take care of me and make sure I didn't over do it. Torbin was very cute!

 

 Here we are on the Winnie the Pooh Ride. Torbin was straight faced the whole time, but he didn't cry so I think he liked it.

 Torbin loved the animals on the Jungle Cruise, and in the Tiki Room. He was so cute talking to all of them and making the animal sounds.

 My handsome matching boys! In line we entertained Torbin in line with fruit snacks. He was good at saying "Cheese" and showing off his fruit snack to me. 

 Torbin's favorite ride was in the Bug's life part of California adventure- Flick's Flying something. He was very cute on it!

 A very tired Torbin, Mommy in a wheelchair and cute Daddy watching "World Of Color". Jon made me get a wheelchair so I wouldn't go into labor. :) It was pretty comical. I would push the stroller with Torbin and Jon would push the wheelchair. Amazing. We didn't get a picture, but I sure wish we would have. It was hilarious!

 Torbin's hotel breakfast in bed. I love that mischievous face!

We got home from CA on Wednesday and on Friday headed up to Bear Lake with the Bays to watch conference. It was a whirlwind, but fun. Torbin loved playing on the patio with this water. He's obsessed with water and it's the cutest thing! 

 EASTER!! Torbin almost got the concept of finding the eggs. He really liked the candy inside. :) He's a cutie!

 Torbin's mouth is full of candy so we got this awesome face out of him. But at least we tried to get a family Easter picture. 

April was full of Dance Concert. It turned out really well and I'm so proud of my girls! It was sad that it was my last concert, but it turned out really well. I choreographed a dance that the madrigals sang and it was so cool! I'll miss my girls and being part of great dancing, but I'm really excited to stay at home with my babies.

May will bring all sorts of excitement I'm sure. I have 11 more school days to teach and this little boy will make his entrance into the world around the 27th. Jon will have his 30th birthday and we'll have mother's day and lots of big family events... we'll see if I can document them better than I have with the last few months... :)