Snow Days!

So growing up in utah, snow days were not the fun you get to miss school and stay home and play..lol well in cincinnati thats a different ballgame. they panic at and inch of snow. so when we heard a major storm was coming the panic started almost instantly. monday schools delayed or closed even though it wasnt snowing!! Tuesday brought 3 inches of snow and so wades school closed as did Nates work. We all laughed knowing that in utah 3 inches is a day in the park lol. then we heard the rest of the forcast. 1/2-1 inch of ice over night turning to 4 more inches of snow. now if u have never been through an ice storm its crazy and wicked! the rain comes down and instantly freezes. so we woke up today with 1/2 inch of ice and heavy snow falling! of course school was canceled and nates work as well. and though the first day of staying home and playing was fun, a second day confined to a small trailer didnt not sound as appealing lol. but the kids of course wanted to wake up and go play outside being utahns and missing playing in the snow lol. so here are a few snow pics of the snow day :) feels more and more like utah..except that thick layer of ice on everything lol

New Hair!!

Yes i went and got new hair today lol. Anybody that knows me, knows that changing my hair is like therapy for me. hehe. I love walking into a salon and walking out feeling like a new person. Its my one vice..hehe ok maybe i have more than one but its a fun one heh.

I started out with blonde hair just a couple months ago. and then i went brown with melissa, which i felt it was a mousy color so i turned it into black lol.

I know black isnt the best color for me, but its a fun one, but very high maintance to say the least .

So today i was going to have them lift the black and try a brown with caramel highlights. well lets just say that didnt happen lol. when she pulled the black out it went to this very pretty color of redish brown. She was so amazed she had gotten a usable color (guess that it usually goes fire red, or carrot orange lol) that she was like wow that color looks really good, u should try it. of course me being all game said sure hehe. and so a little while later i walked out a red head.

The pic doesnt do the color justice..ill have to try and find a better way to capture the color. its a really pretty dark red. with lots of different tones in it. im going to have fun with it for sure. and it really makes my eyes look green lol

So i guess for awhile im exploring the world of red hehe. Emma's first words to me were. "your not my mom, my mom has black hair lol" And of course wade said thats cool mom. hehe. and nate just sighed and said whatever makes you happy hehe.

So for now the red sticks..and we will go from there hehe

BTW nates job is going great. he is just excited to be working im sure. The ward out here is wonderful, we have been asked to someone's house for dinner at least once a week. so we are meeting lots of people hehe. And as soon as that first pay check hits we should be doing fine lol. Love ya all, miss ya lots :)

Pilates

My new favorite class.. PILATES. I was taking 2 zumba classes but i ran into an instuctor who couldnt keep a beat or count it lol..and the teacher in me just couldnt handle that class lol. so i decided to switch to pilates. this is my second week and i am loving it!! i feel so much longer and taller and straighter when im done. And finding all those core muscles and isolating them is intriguing lol i didnt know they were all there. we have an awesome instructor who will com around and show us if were pointing the right way or doing it right..lol but today i walked out of the gym feeling energized, and tall lol (this is a big deal u know lol)

anyway im loving all my classes really my kick boxing class..literally kicks butt.. she is awesome..doesnt let ya off easy yet does all different lvls and keeps ya going ...and keeps those muscles going too lol

my cardio shape with weights class is awesome too..alot of step arobics, weights stretches and so forth. and our teacher is so cute u just cant help liking it

zumba im not sure yet..due to wade's school being delayed because of cold weather i have only attened the one class with the teacher i just couldnt hack, so ill let you know this week how the other goes :)

And yes Nathan started his job!! yeah we were both soo relieved. He is doing enviromental work on site..really meaning going around making sure site is clean, fences up, and water where its suppose to be....he is on a 4 man crew and he said first day was spent getting lost on ohio roads lol go figure :) im sure he will enjoy it and were so gratefull that it started!!!

we just really feel blessed. it was struggle for sure, but i know we are where we are suppose to be, and doing what were suppose to do. thank you all for your concern and prayers and help!! love ya all and miss ya al tons!!

good news

yeah! we got the call we were waiting for! Nate should start work monday. what a long and very hard wait its been! not to say that having nate home that long was very strange..like getting to know him all over again lol.

but we survived! thank you all for your phone calls, and prayers. Ill keep you up to date on how it goes :)

The one thing we have started doing as a family is playing games. since we dont have a tv in the trailer just a comp to watch movies, the kids have taken a liking to playing board games and cards . its been alot of fun to see them learn the games we all loved as a kid! what an expierence this has been!

But now we can all get back to a regular schedule lol. you all know what i mean lol. ill keep you all up to date about how it goes :)

Struggling..but ok!

I know you have all wondered why i havent posted how wonderful nates job is and how we are really doing. i now i have been procrastinating this for one simple fact....Nate hasnt started his job. One thing after another, has left us without starting. Nate has a job, and were doing very hard trying to get him started. but it is a union job, and the company is hiring him so they are having problems with numbers, and things. Its the beginning of a job, and so they are trying to bring crews in and all. it sounds so simple...but not if you havent had a job for over a month!!

Anyway things are getting closer we know he will be in soon. We are stressed but we havent lost it...yet lol . we know you have all been praying for us, and we appreciate all the concern.

the ward has been marvelous here and taken good care us!! so as soon as nate starts well be doing fine lol ( at least i keep telling myself that)

Any way we love and miss ya all. were surviving and we know it will all work out in the end... last word we heard was a couple days. so..keep the prayers.

my beautiful and talented sister!!

My very talented and beautiful sister Hollyann and her dance partner Richard had an opportunity to compete at dancing with the stars live in san antonio.

10 couples gathered together during a preshow to compete for judges, they were narrowed down to 5 couples. the 5 couples then preformed at first of show and were narrowed down to 2 couples. These 2 couples ( holly and richard and fellow coworkers jenny and david) were picked to preform solos doing cha cha and jive later in the show. then the audience txted in there votes for the winner...drum roll. Yes HOLLY and her partner RICHARD were voted #1 with 73% of the vote !!! I am sooo proud of her! she has over come so much this year, and i know this was a major thing for her to preform in front of thousands of people and come out winning first place!

I just want her to know how proud I am of her. and that i love her soo much. and i know she has gone through the ringer this year but she is pushing her way to the top :) And that she is doing so well i am so glad she is my sister, and my best friend :) i love holly GRATZ!!

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!

happy birthday Emma

Emma's birthday was nov 9th. we celebrated it a little early as i needed to go home and pack the house.

so we picked out a special Tinkerbell cake. Bought tinkerbell the movie. and had sphaghetti (her favorite) lol . when daddie got home we opened up the tinkerbell tattoos and everyone had to put one on ( even the boys) Then she put on her tinkerbell costume and away we went to neverland lol. She had a blast and loved all her tinkerbell barbies we got (all the new ones from the new movie)

Dad didnt love that his tinkerbell tattoo didnt come off for a couple days lol..i asked if he showed all the guys lol.

I cant believe Emma is 5 now!! she is getting so big. she is such a drama queen. lol in fact her middle name should be drama. it fits perfect hehe.

She was sad she didnt have all her friends from preschool there ( she asked how they were al going to come to her birthday especially gabe and i didnt have anything to say to that...it was very sad) but of course daddy being there made it the best

things we love about emma

She loves to help clean. she will clean anything u ask ( unless its to pick up toys lol)

She has the most contagious laugh. the minute its out its loud and clear.

She loves her daddy to death..would do anything for him

She loves her best friend gabe. she talks about him all the time

She hates her belly showing, we have to have shirts long enough cause nothing can touch the" budda" lol

She loves to color, and play with little things, she is a collector..at any one time she can take a bag and fill it with anything she gets her hands on (usually paper that she has torn in pieces) she then carries it around all week.

She loves to watch movies and sing, she knows the words to any number of songs which she will sing full blast at any given time :)

we love her and so glad she is part of our family

happy birthday emma

my best freind

Wanted everyone to meet my best friend melissa. ive been thinking alot about her as im out here in my trailer all alone lol. Yesterday i had a bad day and all i could think of is if i was home i would have gone over to melissa's and we would have let the kids run crazy and talked grown up talk (rare indeed) lol about our crazy lives and husbands and kids and in the end feel better!!

Melissa and I met many years ago, before i even lived in corinne. we took foster training classes together in brigham city. we hit it off right from the start. we told each other after the classes wed stay in contact. so we called each other now and then as she adopted a little boy named gabe..and we adopted emma. then we moved to corinne. and she lives in honeyville so i gave her a call and we started to do things together. lets just say we could talk for hours and hours...we would get together and let the kids run, watch movies, go out to eat, or just sit and talk. we always said we evened each other out..as she is high energetic out going , and im more laid back and slow paced. she would always get on me for letting people walk all over me, and champion whatever cause i was on lol. and i would bring her back to earth ( she knows what im talking about lol)

And the strange thing? our kids emma and gabe became best friends too. its like they knew each other from the start. and even now since we moved they talk about each other and say how they miss each other.

I told melissa i think we were friends in the pre-exsitance lol we finally found each other and i told her no matter the space between us we will always be friends forever!!

So i wanted to dedicate this blog to my best friend melissa. i miss u, and im so glad you are my friend. You will always be a part of my life, and heart. and i pray we will always stay close ( cause im coming to crash ur house as i wont have one soon lol)

And even in the future, we will kick butt playing wow, talking movies...or just talking adult talk( y that rare stuff) i am so lucky to found a friend like you. you are like a sister to me and always will be!! love ya tons. and wish you the best always!!

dont forget me when u become a famous aurthur !! i better at least have one book dedicated to me hehe.

And i hope everyone else takes a minute to think of a special friend in there lives..and remeber how much we need friends!! to brighten our days and make them better!!

halloween!

Halloween !! these are my two scary kids lol. Wade wanted to be a clone trooper, and emma a pink pirate. we started the day out with the parade at wade's school. then me and emma went did some errands where everyone thought she was the cutest pirate they had ever seen lol. (thank goodness for walmart heh) then we took the kids to walmart for a candy costume parade. which turned out quite fun. they led the kids all around walmart by little signs on the floor, and each department decorated a candy bowl. lots of fun. the best was the craft dept. who built a haunted castle that you had to put ur hand in to get the candy. emma stuck hers in and the person behind touched her with something fuzzy, she jumped about a mile high!! lol then after that we waited for dad to come home and went good old fashioned trick or treating up around the schools in a cute little neighborhood. the kids loved it, and dad had a blast taking candy "tax" from each of the kids lol. then we got kfc chicken and came home and ate. all in all it was a great night. and the kids got plenty of candy for me to hide for a year! lol

weekend in casper

This weekend Nate got 1/2 of saturday off, sunday off. so we took a trip to the big ole town of casper wy. mostly because nate needed work clothes. but we took the kids to a fun restruant called Sanfords. And it was alot of fun...decorated in anything u could think of the food had a cajun flavor to it and was delicious. we ended the night swimming in a hotel and sleeping in real beds!! how lovely lol. the kids had a blast and it felt like a mini vacation!! I feel like we made the right decision coming out here. yes we have sacrificed alot, yet we are growing together in ways we never would have before. now about that bigger trailer lol..still holding out for the one with a master bedroom hehe.

pumkin patch

Nate got off early on sunday , came home and told the kids we were heading to the local pumkin patch. So we loaded up in the truck and headed out. what fun!! they had pumkins all over, different colors and kinds. It was a blast and a great treat for the kids. We loved spending some rare time with daddy, and getting to explore the pumking patch as we went. since were in a little trailer we decided carving pumking were out and were going to paint them instead lol. so thats todays project. ill post the results.

the kids are doing really well as is nate. we really enjoy being here with him..even if we only get him a couple hours every night. We love supporting him and helping him. this is our families togetherness...and i think it will bring us closer in the years to come. now it doesnt stop me from dreaming of a bigger trailer with a master bedroom lol....sigh i can dream cant I?

worst part of living in a trailer

The worst part of living in a 22ft camper trailer? when one of your kids get sick. yes emma.. you guessed it. lol . my girl that cant hold anything down if her stomach is a little ill...10 times ..sigh. yes that makes a little 22ft camper stink to high heaven!!

yes i felt bad, and and all that..but its hard to remeber that while trying to clean out throw up..from the floor and a bucket we luckily found...its not like u can just flush it down the toilet...sigh...ya i wont go into details.

Anyway. she is doing better luckily after im sure getting every bit out. Wade started school up here in riverton, wy yesterday...went well..except today the bus didnt stop where it said it would lol. so luckily a neighbor who drives her kids in to a nearby school offered to take him in so i could stay home with emma

Nate said the next area he thinks hes going to is kemmer. not sure what to think about that.lol. my mom used to teach there once a week, so i know it a little bit...my dad says its cold there..lol im finding wyoming is cold everywhere....and the wind? its crazy. my nails are splitting and bleeding no matter how much lotion i put on lol. so i keep reminding myself i really do love my husband...hehe.

meanwhile holly calls and tells me its cold cause she only reached 65 today...lol i want to shoot her...love ya holly....cause i think its finally warm cause its up to 4o hehe...

amyway were doing ok...surviving together...and im sure well remeber this little adventure for years to come lol. thanks all for your support and i miss all you guys!!

made a choice

Well after coming home and leaving nate. the family tried to get back to normal. but i just had this very ominous feeling i needed to be with nate. at first i thought it was just i didnt want to be alone without him. but ive done that before..ive left him for 3 weeks and was fine. the next morning wade came down sick and we sat on the bed and had a family discussion. the only reason werent following nate was wade's school..so i told him id let him decide...did he want to stay in his new school, or go be with dad. we talked about the pros and cons...and i really didnt pressure him at all. and he kept saying..mom i want to be with dad. i guess the week i was gone he had a very bad time in school...to the points i got a call because of his behavior..we are such a close family i know this has effected us all. so I said ok..lets do it..and we started to plan it, packing and going to go the next day to riverton. well then we found out about the incoming storm and decided the next day was going to have to be today lol. and we jetted to wy as fast as we could.

needless to say we scared nate to death lol and he didnt know what to think. but all that was put aside as we redied the trailer for the storm. well it didnt work..our heat tape failed and our water froze lol. but we weathered the worst storm theyve had all year lol. on sunday nate sat and gave all the kids blessings, in wades he told them that he would be blessed educationally because of his choice to be with his family over school. i had tears in my eyes when i heard this...what a blessing!! then he gave emma one and me one. In mine he told me that i would have the strength to see this family through this and keep us together and that i would also be blessed for my choice. what a reassruance that following the spirit is the right thing to do. i know this wont be easy..lol especially being crammed in this little trailer. but i know we will be blessed for our desire to be together as a family. nate is sacrificing for this family and in our way we can do the same to better the life of our family. i know we will all be blessed for our sacrifice. and that in the long run this will be our family closer together!!

I am so gratefull to have the gospel to be able to tell me what i need to do..for that small whispering guiding me in making the right choices. and though the road ahead is full of questions and unkowns..i know we will be together as a family and we will get through it :) love ya all. thanks for all your support. i will keep u updated about where we go next and whats happening.

single parenthood

Well I left my beloved husband in wyoming today. with heavy heart, i sent him off to work, cleaned the trailer a little so he could come home and make food and talk with the kids. and drove the 5 1/2 hrs to corinne. I walked into my house, and sighed. all my energy left me. can i do this? how do people do this? i know this is just till dec..and yet i want to break down crying. can i handle being a single mom till then..knowing there is no one to lean and and support me? no one to snuggle up to at night and hold me and tell me its ok? I have never felt so alone :(

I didnt realize how much just seeing him everynight meant to me. its like the absense of him hangs heavily in the air. like the whole house is sad because he is gone. And here i am going to try and maintain an order of peace and happiness while my heart is broken...as i left half of it in wyoming with him. i pray he is safe. and that he feels the love i have for him tonight. i pray he knows he means the world to me and that me and the kids feel a big loss without him. yet we know he is doing this for us. to help us survive. i love you nathan david d'hulst. forever your baby natasha

what a difference a day makes!

Woke up monday morning with a list of projects a mile long . who would have figured by monday night id be on a road to riverton wy. lol we got the call at 8pm wed night. if nate could make it to riverton wy by 7am the following morning he might have a job....enphasis on might!! As soon as i got the call i scrambled around to find babysitters, and figure out what do with myself and kids for a week lol. so emma went to grandma ovards, Wade went to nates' sisters house. and i drove nate to wy( so he could sleep if he ended up working a 12 hour day!!) so now im sitting here in a friends trailer ( were sleeping in the back of the van lol) wondering how i came here and how my life is going to change dramatically. We are coming home saturday or sunday to pick up a trailer for nathan to live in. then he is heading back. who knows when i will see him again.

im sad scared excited all in a nutshell. the pay is good so i cant complain about that. but i hate for us to be split up even though i knew this might be coming. im toying with the idea that as soon as he takes his second assignment in november we might pack up and join him. who knows...i hate to move the kids from there schools..especially wade. but at the same time..we are a family and all of us love spending time with each other and i dont know how good we would do apart..sigh. desicions. im wondering know if this is a sign that my texas plans are too fast. i know without a doubt that we are going there..but im wondering if my time and god's time are 2 different things lol .

Well i know it will all pan out in the end and i need to just be patient and let heavenly father do his thing lol. but wow..who would have known a week ago this is where id be!! silly me...borin sounds so good right now lol..nice boring life. :)