YMCA

YMCA...lol yes im not kidding. Lebanon ( a sleepy little town 5 miles from us) boasts the biggest ymca in the world!! with facility a size you wouldn’t believe and so many things to do it takes a calendar to write down all your things, its amazing!!

My cousin michelle told me about the one here. she joined one in her last place and was amazed at all they do. in utah they are not so big..out here they are huge!! so she told me to go take the tour and check it out. so we did, and oh my word..there are not words to describe the place...

so needless to say we joined because i will have alot of time with nate working and living in a trailer does not promote physical activity lol. well let me tell you a little of what this means for each of us:

MOM: m/w- 45 min cardio kickboxing class followed by 45 min walking and weight session, t/th- zumba...ill let u know more about that later, followed by 45 min walking and weight session. f-45 min walking and weight session followed by a soak in the hot tub (located privately in the adult womens locker room!) s- 45 min power ball workout followed by walking and weight session. Lol fun huh

DAD: periodically on way home from work will be stopping to do some weights and stretches, and also soaking long periods in the hot tub ( located privately in the adult men locker room) plus sneaking in anytime with family to do activities.

WADE: m/w kids circut training (weights) followed by free time in the preteen hang out room ( no grown ups allowed but supervised by staff) which includes games, tv, computer, wii, work out equipment and overall cool room lol. possibility of karate or gymastics..hasnt narrowed it down yet lol..thinking soccer too..but who knows well keep ya posted lol

EMMA: 2 hour playtime every day moms working out in the child watch center with cousin ibrahim ( yes this is included in gym price..very awesome). then gymnastics on wed, and more fun time in kids activity room. Plus swim time when in the family aquatics center on family nights

This is just the partial schedule...doesnt include all the extra stuff, rock climbing, racketball..or elective stuff like soccer, swimming lessons, and anything else u can think of doing. im dreaming of guitar lessons, belly dancing lol...arts and crafts for the kids,....its amazing my mind is going so many ways...only missing time lol.

anyway you can see were all excited about this, and hopefully will help keep us doing things as a family as well as keeping us in shape! Go YMCA lol (as emma is singing it in background)

Getting ready for christmas

Getting ready for christmas in a trailer is a very interesting endeavor lol. Nate said no Christmas tree, and i said yes Christmas tree so we compromised and agreed on a 24 inch tree lol. so i went to micheals who had the cutest mini ornaments and trees all for 60% off( the luck of waiting till the last 1 weeks i guess lol) and so here is the result. The kids loved decorating it, and it took like 20 min lol. space saver really does work lol. we found a christmas station and we programmed it into the radio and we listen to it every night for ambieance. it is intersting how little of a space you need..the important thing is the spirit of christmas. We definatly have been trying to have alot of that this year. especially being away from family. we love and miss you all...and wish everyone a very merry christmas!!!!

our new home

After making it to mason oh. we got wade registered into school ( and what a project, u have to make a appt to fill out paper work lol but thats a whole other story) We found out that nates old neighbors live here and we got in touch with them and had dinner. they also teach a preschool and have kids emma's and wades age. so we have done alot of socializing this week :)

We found our new ward, and have been exploring the area. ohio is beautiful. they keep telling me to wait till spring and fall. but i think its very pretty now. with rolling hills and lots of trees(even without leaves)

we also survived our first ice storm, and school closures lol. lots of firsts....were still trying to figure out the villages/townships and all the other little oddities that are an eastern thing lol.

and of course getting lost...without the mountains u have to actually know where your going hehe.

my cousin michelle came in im soooo excited she is here too. Emma and Brahim play very well and so it should be great. all in all its been a very exciting and fun exprience.

Nate starts work the 28th...which put a damper on things, as he is going NUTS ( and driving me nuts too lol) staying home. but were trying to make the best of it.

thanks all for your prayers and concerns and we wish everyone a happy holidays!! and we miss you all!!

road trip to OHIO

Well we made it. after 4 days of driving. It took us 8 hrs to drive a 2hr stretch to wy (wy is officially on the naugty list lol) we stopped in rock springs and waited out the pass as they closed it due to 65mph winds. we were very happy to say goodbye to wy and hello to nebraska! we stayed at a cabela's rv park in syndey nebraska the kids loved that and we of course had to explore the store. after looking at the weather we decided to skip iowa and illinois and took a detour south to kansas city and missouri, stopping in a little truck stop halfway through missouri. next day was a drive through st. louis (tried to stop to see the arch but driving around with a trailer thatdidnt work lol) from st louis we went through louisville, ky and then up to cincinnati. After staying the night just outside of cincinnati, we headed through to find our park. lebanon's rv park was full so we scrambled to find one and landed in one in mason oh.
we didnt know at the time mason is one of the wealthiest cities around cincinnati. as we drove to the park the houses got bigger and bigger and bigger, till nate says i think we have the wrong place..just as we were about to turn around we saw a little sign for our park. off the road and sitting around a 7 acre lake was our new home. the lake is about 1 house away from us with unlimited fishing year round lol.

so finally we made it...hom sweet home...mason oh :)

yes im alive!!

Well For those of you who thought i dropped off the face of the earth i promise i haven't ...yet lol.
Nate's job ended in riverton a little over 2 weeks ago. very unexpectedly. So we debated what job to take next and so on. we came home one week to pack up the house for the people moving in... then we went back to riverton, wy to look for his next job. come to find out nobody's next job was till jan!! so we scrambled to find something anywhere for dec.

needless to say after many hours of praying and many calls later we found a job by cincanatti Ohio. yes thats ohio. We didnt know what to do about living..we didnt think my parents trailer could handle the trek. and so we were up in the air again about what to do. well another answer to prayers came in an email last friday. a lady willing to lease us her trialer till we can pay her. it has 2 bunks, a queen bed , is 28 ft and is a 2004. we were so excited. so home to utah we came (home without a home? kind of strange i know lol)

After a quick bout with strep(yup me...not emma lol) we are heading to ohio on friday dec 5. 24hrs of driving we should arrive..sometime sunday, or monday or maybe even tuesday depending on the lovely weather.

The positive things about moving to ohio:
-Nathans mission was in ohio..though further north. he is excited to show me it
-michelle black(a very close favorite cousin) will be living there too so i have a bud :)
-michelles' very cute little boy brahim and emma play very well! ! yeah emma has a friend
-this job should last 6mo to a year...so no more scrambling we hope
-we have our new trailer and the kids will have space(yeah especially for mom lol)

the not so positive:
-half way across country and not very close to family lol
-cold? lol did i say i love the cold..are u feaking kidding me..lol
-snow yes snow gets its own line seperate from cold...i mean its snow right..lol and i hate it hehe
-living in a trailer for a year? lol i know i knew what i was getting into but really hehe
-no seeing family for christmas..especially holly was very excited to spend time with her :(

ok so not too many negatives..but hey i have to have a few.

so ill keep ya all up on the trip down, prob wont have internet till we get there. so wish us all luck as we start the next great d'hulst adventure. lol.

love ya all...and thanks much for the many prayers i know have been coming our way...keep them up... they are helping greatly!